Religion, Prophets, & Leading from the Heart

As I began reading the Book of Amos this morning, I read the Introduction from The Message about religion and the role of prophets. While I don't usually share longer quotes here, I think this is well worth sharing. See what you think.

More people are exploited and abused in the cause of religion than in any other way. Sex, money, and power all take a back seat to religion as a source of evil. Religion is the most dangerous energy source known to humankind. The moment a person (or government or religion or organization) is convinced that God is either ordering or sanctioning a cause or project, anything goes. The history, worldwide, of religion-fueled hate, killing, and oppression is staggering. The biblical prophets are in the front line of those doing something about it.


The biblical prophets continue to be the most powerful and effective voices ever heard on this earth for keeping religion honest, humble, and compassionate. Prophets sniff out injustice, especially injustice that is dressed up in religious garb. They sniff it out a mile away. Prophets see through hypocrisy, especially hypocrisy that assumes a religious pose. Prophets are not impressed by position or power or authority. They aren't taken in by numbers, size, or appearances of success.

They pay little attention to what men and women say about God or do for God. They listen to God and rigorously test all human language and action against what they hear. ...

None of us can be trusted in this business. If we pray and worship God and associate with others who likewise pray and worship God, we absolutely must keep company with these biblical prophets. We are required to submit all our words and acts to their passionate scrutiny to prevent the perversion of our religion into something self-serving. A spiritual life that doesn't give a large place to the prophet-articulated justice will end up making us worse instead of better, separating us from God's ways instead of drawing us into them.

- from the "Introduction to Amos," The Message, my emphasis

Father, as one who seeks to be a leader after Your heart, I want to listen to You and rigorously test all human language and actions against what I hear from You. Help me to hear from You and move by Your Spirit today.

Is Our Group Healthy or Unhealthy?

I received a good question from one of our small group leaders today. I think this is a critical question that many leaders and groups are asking:

What are the top 3 things a healthy small group should be doing? Shouldn't it be more than just social, or just project driven?

Here's my response:

Below are the top 7 hallmarks of a healthy small group. Note that the first 4 deal with how a group should be focused and organized, and the last 3 deal specifically with what they should do.

1. Christ-Centered: Jesus is the real group leader. Life Groups meet in his presence and power and for his purposes. (Matthew 18:20)
2. Healthy, Growing Leaders: The Life Group Leader is growing in his or her faith by being involved in daily disciplines such as Bible study and prayer. (1 Corinthians 11:1)
3. Core Team: The group is led by a Core Team of 2-4 members who share leadership. No one leads alone. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
4. Goals & Plans: The group has a written “Action Plan” that includes a mission, goals, expectations, ground rules, etc. (Proverbs 16:3)
5. Connecting with One Another in Authentic Biblical Community: The group meets regularly & consistently, does life together outside of meetings, and regularly prays for and ministers to one another. Group members participate in a role (shared ownership). (Acts 2:42-47)
6. Knowing God: Group members are intentionally being discipled. The group engages regularly in Bible study and application. (Colossians 2:6-8)
7. Serving Others: Christ’s mission (Matthew 28:18-20) is the Life Group’s mission. The group regularly prays for their lost friends and is sharing their faith with others. The group is intentionally open to new people. The group is serving others together and/or individually (or has a plan to do so if the group is new). (Colossians 4:5-6)

The Result (a.k.a. “fruit”) of a Healthy Small Group is a group that is …

• Growing
• Reaching Out
• Reproducing

A Life Group (what we call our small groups at Northeast) by definition is (5) connecting with one another, (6) growing in their relationships with God (through a variety of means including study and application of the Word), and (7) serving others (which includes being open to new people). I think a healthy Life Group strikes a balance between those three things over time.

 

But don’t overlook #1. It is the most important one. A healthy, life-changing group focuses primarily on Jesus. The group focuses on Him and His real presence with them when they meet. It’s His power that transforms lives, brings healing to hurting people, and moves a group to make an impact on others. And a group MUST be all about His purposes and plans for them. The most unhealthy groups are all about their own individual ideas, plans, and expectations for the group. A healthy group is people in community who have surrendered their own agendas to Jesus’.

 

Sounds like maybe your group is not agreeing on what your purpose is? The answer is this: What is Jesus calling your group to be and do? The answer is no big secret or mystical riddle. Jesus told us why we exist in the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

Hosea 14 Prayer

My Father, I confess that going my own way has brought me down. I have suffered the consequences of trying to go my own way without You. So now once again I return to You. Forgive me of my sins and graciously receive me, so that I may offer you a sacrifice of praise.

Government programs can't save me, nor can my own strength or intelligence. Never again will I make a god out of anything or anyone else.

Thank You, Father, for Your love and longsuffering for me. I know that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate me from your love. Thank You for your complete healing of my faithlessness. You, O Lord, are like a refreshing dew from heaven!

Father, deliver me from evil, help me stay away from anything that competes with my devotion to You. You alone are my God. You alone are the One who truly looks after me and cares for me. Your paths, O God, are true and right.

On 3 ... Point to the Group Leader!

What--or, more precisely, who--is missing from many small groups? In my last post, I wrote about the model of small groups many of us have taught for years. But we were wrong. We were leaving out what was most important.

The power for small group health, growth, and multiplication comes not from a model, program, or even one’s leadership abilities. It is vital to remember that God owns everything.We are simply managers. You are not the real leader or shepherd of the small group under your care. You are not the center of the group. If everyone in your small group sat in a circle, closed their eyes, and then simultaneously pointed to the group leader, they should all point upward!

“The Best Small Group Leader Ever” prayed to the Father about his group:

I spelled out your character in detail to the men and women you gave me. They were yours in the first place;Then you gave them to me, And they have now done what you said. They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that everything you gave me is firsthand from you. (John 17:6, 7,TheMessage)

Jesus modeled steward-leadership well for his followers. He knew they really belonged to the Father, but that the Father had given them to him to lead as an act of stewardship.He modeled for them, and us, that everything God gives us is firsthand from him: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing.Whatever the Father does, the Son also does” ( John 5:19, NLT).

In other words, Jesus always pointed up!
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This post is adapted from Chapter 1 of The Pocket Guide to Burnout-Free Small Group Leadership (Touch Publications.)

Leadership Is Not a Solo Act

For several decades, small group leaders have been taught that leading is a solo act. I've seen (and even used) a model that pictures a small group leader sitting alone in the middle of a circle, surrounded by all the members of the group. That picture illustrates that the leader has been given the sole responsibility for finding, inviting, shepherding, calling, praying for, discipling, and ministering to the rest of the group—a group usually consisting of 8-12 people.

In 1991, Carl George introduced what he called the “Meta-Church” in his book Prepare Your Church for the Future. He said that a healthy group consists of people at various spiritual levels and is led by a “leadership nucleus.” This nucleus is comprised of the leader, apprentice, and a host.

For years, church leaders have understood the need for the leadership nucleus, but it didn’t solve many of the problems in small group leadership. Leaders still burned out. Many groups did not grow or multiply. For all the great structures, designs, and birthing protocols, a couple vital ingredients were still missing.

I’ve seen little evidence that these leadership nuclei were ever taught how to operate effectively as a team. That’s a major reason I wrote The Pocket Guide to Burnout-Free Small Group Leadership, and in that book I show specifically how these leadership nuclei (or what I call Core Teams) work together. But there’s something even bigger missing from George’s picture of a healthy group. Something vital and essential to spiritual leadership.

I think I'll leave you hanging there for a day or two. I'll blog on what's missing here next time!

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This post is adapted from Chapter 1 of The Pocket Guide to Burnout-Free Small Group Leadership (Touch Publications.)

How God Parents Brats (Like Us)

God's children are like spoiled brats. God cares for us in His mercy and grace, and we take advantage of Him. We want our own way.

God's chosen children, the people of Israel, did this over and over. I read Hosea 11 this morning. This chapter reads like the transcript from an interview with a loving mom and dad whose kids have gotten in trouble. There is so much emotion in these words. This chapter shows God's character as much as any passage in Scripture.

I know how I feel when my kids act like spoiled brats. I try to help them; I provide them with what they need; I lovingly take care of them; I sacrifice for them ... and then they use me for their own selfish desires. God's children did that to Him. I do that to Him. I try to imagine how God must feel about that. But He is not a mere mortal like us. He is God (see v. 9). He is so patient and longsuffering.

In this passage, God simply tells His children the consequences of their own decisions and actions (vv. 5-7). They are responsible for the consequences of their behavior. God says He will not punish them as His burning anger tells Him to (v. 9), but He will also not remove the natural consequences of their own choices. This is just good parenting!

"Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah and Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. No, I will not punish you as much as my burning anger tells me to. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy" (Hosea 11:8-9).

I often feel that way about my own kids when they mess up. How could I give up on them? How could I just let them go? I love them too much. I may get very angry with them, and I will let them deal with the consequences of their actions so that they will learn and grow, but, even as a mere mortal dad, I will never give up on them.

God's compassion for us is far greater than we can know. Jesus had the very same compassion for people (Matt. 9:36). Note the word overflows. His compassion to His people overflows out of His compassionate heart--His compassionate nature.

God's compassion overflows into you, leader. Are you putting yourself into a position to receive? When we spend time with God each day, He pours into us to overflowing (John 10:10). Our hearts become like His, filled with compassion that can then overflow into those around us. This is where Leading from the Heart begins!

Good Seeds, Bad Seeds

You reap what you sow. This leadership principle is so pervasive throughout the Bible. I came across it again today in Hosea 10. The prophet said:

Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you (v. 12).

This verse of grace--God's unmerited favor--stands out in the middle of all the verses around it that display God's judgment on Israel. He is still offering mercy and love if they will just repent. Regardless of how much we go it alone, God still desires an intimate relationship with us. He wants to shower righteousness on us ... if only we'll turn back and seek Him.

Did the Israelites accept God's grace? You probably know the answer:

But you have cultivated wickedness and raised a thriving crop of sins. You have eaten the fruit of lies—trusting in your military might, believing that great armies could make your nation safe! (v. 13).

This is so sad. The good seeds from verse 12 fell on hard and rocky ground, and did not produce good fruit. Instead, seeds of wickedness brought the fruit of sin and lies. Satan is the deceiver and the father of lies. His seed produced its fruit. Like crabgrass, Satan's deceptions grow best in the hard ground of our hearts.


Father, do what you must to plow the hardened ground in my heart. Till up the hard places--the areas of my heart that I've left exposed, that I have not tended to. Father, I do not want to allow Satan to put down roots into those areas, and where he already has, Lord, I ask that you carefully till and then cultivate those areas for You. I ask You, my Father, to soften all those places of my heart that have become hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Soften them and then plant Your good seed into my heart so that I may be able to produce a crop of righteousness for You. I know, dear Jesus, that I cannot bear fruit on my own. I desperately need You to do in my life what only You can do.

Should Christian Leaders Set Goals?

One of my hallmarks of a healthy small group is Goals and Plans: The group has a written “Action Plan” that includes a mission, goals, expectations, ground rules, etc. I've written about goals, plans, wins, and intentionality often in my posts at www.smallgroupleadership.blogspot.com. (Go there and see labels for "goals and plans," "group health," "intentional," and "win.") Obviously, I believe in the importance of a group having goals and plans. I've seen vivid evidence in the small groups at our church who developed goals and plans that lead to health, spiritual and numerical growth, and leadership development and deployment.

The other day, however, I began to question this value.

In their book, A God-Centered Church, Henry and Melvin Blackaby say that setting goals "comes straight from the world and the culture around us." OK, so that sentence jumped off the page and got my attention!

The authors go on to say, "As servants of the most high God, we don't have the right to determine the direction of our lives or our church. God alone sets the purposes, objectives, and goals for His people."

Does this fly in the face for you, your group, and your church? Should you stop setting goals and making plans? Well ... yes and no.

I see plenty of Biblical support for making plans and setting goals:

• "May [God] grant your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans" (Psalm 20:4).
• "Wise planning will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe" (Proverbs 2:11).
• "Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty" (Proverbs 21:5).
• "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).

The issue is not whether we should or should not set goals or make plans; the issue is whose goals and plans!

• "The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, purposes of his heart through all generations" (Psalm 33:10-11).
• "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed" (Proverbs 16:3).
• "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" (Proverbs 19:21).
• "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (Galatians 3:3).

Several pages later in their book, the Blackabys say, "Instead of asking, 'What should we do this year?' we need to ask:

• What is God doing this year, and how can we join Him?
• What adjustments do we need to make in our lives in order to fulfill God's purposes for us?
• What does God want to accomplish in and through our lives this year?
• What has He been saying to us as a church [or small group or team] that we must carefully obey?"

I put these questions in a bullet list because I believe these are GREAT questions to ask your small group, ministry team, or leadership team.

Leading a small group--or anything in the church--from the Heart starts with the idea that we exist and gather in HIS presence under HIS power and authority for HIS purposes ... not our own.

How are you developing goals and plans in your group or team? Bathe the process in prayer and lots of listening. Ask the questions, above, and use them to shape the direction of God's group that He has entrusted to you.

No More Leader Burnout

Don’s small group started smoothly and seemed to go well the first several months. Within the first year, Don called me to tell me he was stepping down from group leadership. When I met with him to ask what happened, he told me about his increasingly frantic pace of life and the overwhelming amount of time and energy required to facilitate weekly small group meetings and keep up with the members of his group.

Joel Comiskey writes, “All cell leaders face the ‘tyranny of the urgent.’” He is absolutely right. Unfortunately, dealing with the urgent all the time leads to stress, frustration, discouragement, and eventual burnout. Don’s predicament as a leader is nothing new. As a small groups pastor, I see it all the time.

Christian counselor, author, and speaker John Townsend provides a cure to leadership burnout using the following mathematical structure:

RESPONSIBILITIES / RESOURCES ≤ 1

In the ideal world, he says, you as a leader should have an equal amount of (or more) resources compared to your number of responsibilities. When you become frustrated and burned out as a leader, on further inspection you will find that you have far more responsibilities than resources.

There are two ways to remedy small group leader burnout: reduce your responsibilities or increase your resources (or both). Don did what lots of leaders do—he chose to eliminate his responsibilities by abandoning the position. Don could have easily chosen to add resources had he known this option was available. Townsend suggests that one of the best resources to battle leader burnout is people. By adding people to the leadership role, the resources outweigh the responsibilities and small group leadership becomes fun and quite fulfilling.

Over the last several years I’ve invested a lot of time studying team building. And for a very good reason: I was not very good at it! Like many leaders, I thought I could and I even needed to do it all myself! Not only was I burning out as a leader, I was also keeping others from using their leadership gifting. So I started reading everything I could get my hands on about team building. I attended seminars, browsed web sites, and spent time with people who are great team-builders.

As I’ve grown as a team-builder myself, I’ve discovered that it’s really not difficult; in fact it’s made leadership more fun, encouraging, and rewarding. In my latest book, The Pocket Guide to Burnout-Free Small Group Leadership, I share what I’ve learned about turning a small group into a soul-winning, care-giving team.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll share portions from this book in this blog. I really believe that the principles in the book can transform your group. I’ve seen it work in our groups at Northeast. (I share a few of those stories in the book.)

By the way, The Pocket Guide to Burnout-Free Small Group Leadership is available in both a printed and digital format. Click here for more information.

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This post is adapted from the Introduction of The Pocket Guide to Burnout-Free Small Group Leadership.