One Chance

Still trying to detox from Catalyst a few weeks ago and want to share some of the nuggets from each speaker. Joel Houston from Hillsong shared a powerful quote:

"Remembering that you're going to die is the best way to avoid the trap that you've got something to lose."

You know who said that? The late Steve Jobs. We've all got a limited amount of time on earth for our impact to be shared and felt. We worry about risk and worry about what we might lose if we go out on a limb. But we only get one chance.

I thrive on risk and taking chances, because I want to see God move in mighty ways. How sad it is when the Church forgets how to takes chances, or worse, knows what it looks like but just refuses to do it. Risk for risk's sake is dumb. And, the purpose of life is not to take risk. The power of the statement from Jobs is that we have to understand that we should use every ounce of life we've got to accomplish our personal mission. For those of us that call ourselves children of the Most High God, that means living out His mission.

I recently heard someone say that if you can think about your eulogy and what you want said at it, it would sure help you understand how to live your life. That's essentially the message hear. That eulogy is coming 10, 30, 40, 50 or 70 years from now. Will you have spent every ounce of life you had during your time on earth? I hope so. And I hope there's some risk in there, too.

Personal Responsibility

I'm reading over all these 'follow up' rules in Exodus after God gives His people the 10 commandments. Boy, they are demanding. I don't really understand them all, but I don't have to. I trust God. I understand that things were different then.

But something really sticks out at me. Like this one:

"If a man's bull injures the bull of another an it dies, they are to
sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally.
However, it it was knon that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did
not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and the dead
animal will be his." Exodus 21:35-36

You don't get to shun responsibility. We live in a world where no one wants to be responsible. But we are. We will stand before God as responsible. Parents are responsible for their children. Coaches are responsible for their teams. Leaders are responsible for their organizations. Presidents and CEOs are responsible for their companies. Pastors are responsible for their churches. Pet owners are responsible for their pets. WE. ARE. RESPONSIBLE. You can't get rid of it. So embrace it. Shoulder that responsibility and cross your t's and dot your i's. Be on top of things. This honors God. Irresponsibility brings dishonor to God, particularly if we call ourselves Christians. Irresponsibility is annoying. Responsibility sends a signal of maturity and understanding that the world desperately needs. If the buck stops with you, whether that be for your family, team, or organization...stop the buck. I think it's one of those lessons from God that we've forgotten.

Good Enough?

"Good is the enemy of great." That was how Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, opened his talk. It's funny because a friend of mine was talking about the same quote this morning. It seems a little off, doesn't it. Surely bad is the enemy of great. Maybe 'worst' is the enemy of great, right?

I think Collins is right. Good is the enemy of great. Good convinces us that we're okay. Good tells us to stop trying. Good lies to us that we don't need to strive for something better. Good lies to us and stops us from reaching our fullest potential. We settle for good. Is all you want is for your family to be good? For you business to be good? For your faith to be good? For your impact on the world to be a good one?

You are better than than. You were created for more than than. God created the entire universe, the stars, moon, planets and galaxies. He created every living tree and plant, every animal and every element, and He said that they were good. He created humans...and He said that they were "very good" in Genesis 1:31. Very Good. Not good. Very good. The Hebrew word is "mehode." It means exceedingly, greatly, abundantly, might, force, much. You were created to be exceedingly good, abundantly good, mightily good, forcefully good...greatly good. Don't settle for good in any area of your life. Strive for greatness. Be a great mom. Be a great employee. Be a great parent. Be a great restaurant patron. Be a great driver. Be a great disciple of Jesus.

Richard Bell, veteran college football coach, had a saying:

"Good, better, best.
Never let it rest.
'Til your good is your better,
And your better's your best."

Never. Let. It. Rest.

The Burden Only Leaders Know

I'm still kind of detoxing from Catalyst last week. If you don't know what Catalyst is, it's an awesome Church Leadership conference, and I'm lucky enough to have it in my own back yard. I take a billion notes during the conference, and as kind of my own personal way to go back over some of those notes, I thought I'd take some time over the next week or so share some thoughts with you.

In one of his talks, Andy Stanley talked about a stark reality for leaders: The more successful you are, the less accessible you become. It is a hard reality for some people to take. The problem is that people want to be in a vibrant, thriving, growing church, bank, restaurant, school or business. But, the more it grows, the more the primary leader is going to have to draw back. Simply put, leaders HAVE to figure out a way to balance between these two truths:

• You can't shut it all out


• You can't take it all in

You've got to live somewhere in between. Every leader has to GET this. Every parent, every business owner, every coach and teacher, every boss, every ministry leader. You can't do it all, but you have to do some of it. The problem is picking what to do. How do you do it fair?

Stanley says that fairness ended in the Garden of Eden, and I'm inclined to agree. It won't always be fair. This is especially hard to swallow for Christians. We would all like to believe that our pastor can lead a dynamic ministry, plan out-of-this-world sermons and worship experiences and be available to all his/her members at the drop of a hat. And it simply can't happen. I tell my folks in our membership class that if I come see them in the hospital that they have either just had a baby, or it's really bad. Of course, if they're not pregnant, they really don't want me to be there, then! The truth is that it's not really true, but it's a signal I send to all our members to know that I simply can't be there all the time for everyone, and the models and systems I put in place now have to be ready to take on growth.

The nuance for leaders is to understand what situations need massaging. One student may need some extra attention to get the lesson learned. One player might need 30 minutes after practice a couple times a week to excel. One parishioner might need coffee everyone once in a while to discuss some things. One child might need a hug more often than another. It's the leaders job to pick those situations wisely because they can be crucial for the entire organization, and they keep leaders connected to the 'ground floor' of the organization, no matter how big they get.

Do for one

Awesome day at catalyst. A lot to take away...

-Do for one what you wish you could do fir everyone.

-Choose the disciplined pursuit of greatness.

-Jesus is enough

-Be present

I'm grateful Jesus is present with me and it's always a privilege to be present with 13,000 leaders.

Reckless

They give you tickets for reckless driving, you know. Maybe they should give tickets for reckless driving. I was talking about this Proverb with my Men's Breakfast Group this morning:

"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings
healing." Proverbs 12:18

What a passage. We have all spoken recklessly. Maybe our temper got shortened, maybe our buttons got pushed or we got really annoyed. We've all had that happen. The thing about words is that you can never put them back in. You can't take them back. Reckless words represent a dark part of our heart, and when we speak them, the person to whom we say them knows that dark part is there, and it is very difficult for them to look at us the same way again.

The tongue has so much power. Power to pierce -- power to heal. How are the people around you experiencing your words? Are they damaging? Are they nagging? Do they sound like fingernails on a chalkboard? Or...Are your words soothing? Are they healing? Do they bring comfort? I have found that we most often use reckless words with the people we say we love most. It makes no sense, but it's what we do. We take out bad days on those we love. When we do that, we are chipping away at that relationship. The right words do the opposite. They build that relationship. I think words can be reckless in two main ways:

• What we say. The words we use matter. Some words simply shouldn't be spoken. They are ugly and hurtful. No matter what you mean, there are some words or phrases that simply shouldn't come out of our mouths. They are reckless. They're different for different relationships, but we probably know when we've said something that is out of bounds.


• How we say it. Sometimes, simply the tone in our voice says something completely different than the words we speak. We should be careful about how we say things. Is it dripping with sarcasm? Is there a cynical tone? The truth is many folks want remember what we say, but they'll remember how they felt when we said it.

Let our words be healing and not reckless.

Those Who've Gone Before Us

My grandmother's birthday is today. I think she's 95. Really, there's not too much difference between 93 and 97. Once you get to that point, every year is just an accomplishment that you've added one more year to a really large number. She lives in South Florida a long way away, so I don't get to see her much anymore. But I'm grateful for her.

I love listening to stories of old people. When I talk to her now, I want to hear about the past. I want to hear about her life growing up, I want to hear more about my grandfather (who I barely knew), and I want to know what her parents were like. She is my last living grandparent, and every day that passes I know is a gift. Someday soon, a part of my past, my family history, will be gone.

I've found that my generation does not appreciate the past and the generations before us like we should. Every generation thinks they have it all figured out when their in their 30s and 40s. I think in our 50s and 60s we become less sure if we've figured out. In our 70s, we've lived long enough to know that we were wrong when we thought we had it figured out, and in our 80s and 90s, we realize that we were trying to figure out the wrong things. There is too much wisdom in that WWII generation, and it will someday soon be gone. In my lifetime, there will come a day when there is no longer a person alive who was alive during WWII. The world has changed a great deal since then, mostly for the better. However, there so many lessons in that history. So many lessons in those lovely people.

I'm presently reading Exodus, where the Israelites are trudging through the desert for 40 years. People that started that journey at 40 were 80 by the end of it. When God commanded them to "Honor your father and mother," it meant something. Don't go running off without them. Don't forget them and leave them for dead in the desert. Slow down and treasure them. I move pretty fast in my life, but I know I need to slow down and listen a little to the wisdom of the past, especially those in my family. I'll bet you do, too.