Teammates

The Necessity of Adaptability

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Our world is constantly changing around us, from unpredictable weather systems to the reactions of people to one’s own emotions responding to our circumstances. A simple drive to the grocery store shows how we adapt constantly. We change lanes to avoid someone turning at a light, slow for slow-moving traffic in front of us, and end up taking a different route than planned because construction is blocking our preferred street. As leaders, we need to adapt to our circumstances all the time.

Assessment Skills

To adapt effectively, we need to recognize when a situation requires change. Adapting begins with recognizing that the current situation is not right or best. We need to learn to evaluate and assess so we recognize when a problem shows up.

In Exodus 18, Jethro comes to visit his son-in-law, Moses. He observes Moses meeting with the people to solve disputes and act as a judge.

Problem Solving

Once we recognize there is a problem, we need to clarify the problem and some possible solutions.

Jethro recognizes that this situation is wearing Moses out. He suggests a solution: Equip other godly men to serve as judges. Don’t carry it all yourself and expand your leadership.

Listening

When trying to solve a problem, too many leaders try to do it all themselves. Even when others try to suggest possible solutions, they often are ignored because the leader didn’t think of it himself. Adaptability invites the input of others and listening to their advice. Moses knew that the people needed someone to bring their disputes to. He was doing his job. But when he listened to the good advice of his father-in-law, he recognized there was another way to do things.

Exodus 18:24 says, “Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.” When Moses considered Jethro’s advice, he quickly saw its value and implemented it.

Teamwork

As you try to solve a problem, consider who may help you with the solution.

Moses listened to the advice he was given and handed off the work to a number of other leaders. Not only did it make his life a little easier, it also spread the load to others and gave others an opportunity to step up and lead with him.

Bravery

Adaptable leaders are brave enough to risk a new way of doing things as they look for a possible solution. It may be that the first attempt, or a few, aren’t the right ones, but adaptable leaders try enough options to find the right solution.

Ask God to help you be an adaptable leader who recognizes problems quickly and can discern solutions effectively.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

The Benefits of a Charismatic Confident Leader

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A charismatic, confident, skilled leader can be a great asset to a church. In the last post, we talked about the dangers of a confident and charismatic leader who doesn’t know how to equip and lead others. This post points out how a charismatic leader can be a great help.

A highly skilled, charismatic leader attracts people.

The truth is, a charismatic leader will naturally attract more followers than someone who is skilled and competent but quiet. People can see the charismatic leader and get caught up in the enthusiasm and passion this type of leader brings. That means recruiting volunteers and team members may be easier than for other leaders.

A highly skilled leader with a charismatic personality can use that to make inroads into new places.

A leader like this can often gain access to new places because of their confident, exciting nature. They are not afraid to make new friends or to reach out to potential partners, and when they do, they often bring so much excitement and passion that others are quick to want to work with this leader.

A highly skilled and confident leader can instill confidence in his followers and organization.

When the average volunteer in a church sees this type of person in action, they may become more confident in themselves and may be willing to try new things or use skills they are just learning because they can see how this leader does it. If he allows people to get close to him, he can lead by example, and his excitement and enthusiasm will rub off on others.

A highly skilled leader who learns how to equip others can multiply his efforts.

Unfortunately, often a charismatic leader, no matter how skilled, tends to leave others behind. Rather than equipping others, he attempts to do it all himself. After all, “if you want it done right, do it yourself”, or even “even if you want it done quickly, do it yourself”. What happens is that others around him, even if they are watching him, are not taught how to do what the leader does. Yet if the leader chooses to, he can equip others in the skills he is so proficient at, so that he doesn’t have to do it all himself and finds others who begin to learn and improve in the skills he is sharing with them.

A highly skilled leader who trains others can set a course that benefits the organization or church even when he is gone.

One of the dangers I have noticed with highly skilled, charismatic leaders is that when they leave the organization, everything falls apart because they did it all themselves. Everything fell on them. But the same leader can leave an equipped army of volunteers and other leaders if they are willing to slow down and deliberately train others to do what needs doing. If you are a charismatic and highly skilled leader, recognize that God gave you those gifts, not just to do the work of the church, but to help others become trained and equipped to do the work of the church. Use your personality and abilities to leave an ongoing legacy when you are gone.

Charismatic, confident, highly skilled leaders can make a great difference in the church if they will deliberately equip and train others to lead and volunteer alongside them.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

The Dangers of a Charismatic Confident Leader

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A charismatic, confident, highly skilled leader can be a great asset or a great danger to a church. In the moment, it can be exhilarating to be part of an organization that is run by such a leader, but over time, problems can begin to surface.

A highly skilled leader can tend to forget the importance of equipping others.

Leaders love to do the work they do. They enjoy the various aspects of moving an organization towards the vision and goals that have been defined – often by themselves. In their desire to do a good job, they easily forget about training others to learn how to do what they do. And it feels like a waste of time to slow down and train others when you can just do it yourself. A leader usually has more they want to do than they have time for, so doing things they don’t want to do, like equipping others, falls onto the “not so important” list.

A highly skilled leader may portray a way of doing things that others think they can never imitate.

When a charismatic leader connects with people and leads them well, those without those gifts can tend to think they can never match up to that leader and how they lead. The leader may even portray their leadership as the one and only ideal way to do things. This means that anyone who does not have the same skills or even the same personality may come to the conclusion that they can never learn to do the same thing. Those watching may even give up on pursuing leadership at all because they cannot do it the way that this leader does it.

A highly skilled leader can make it all about themselves.

The temptation of a confident leader is to make it all about themselves. They may not mean to at first, but if people start following them and giving them accolades, the leader may begin to think they are really quite something. They may begin taking the spotlight on themselves, and being okay with that, rather than pointing them to God. When people come to church to hear the preacher and not to meet God, there is a problem. That leader needs to find a way to always keep pointing to Jesus and always give God the glory for any abilities he has.

A highly skilled leader can make others dependent on him.

A great leader recognizes that people can not depend on them but constantly and consistently works at building a team. No one should be dependent on one person. No one should depend on one counsellor or one pastor. If this happens, that person may be completely lost if that pastor moves on to a new church. A leader must develop a team and build up the larger body of Christ so that people will see they can depend on the larger church family and not just on the pastor. The pastor also needs to equip people to depend on God and not on individuals around them. Point them to Jesus. Give people skills that help them to depend on God.

If a leader functions like a boat in the water, leaving a wake behind it, leaders need to ask themselves what kind of wake they are leaving behind them. A highly skilled leader needs to recognize their responsibility to equip others to join in with the work that they are doing. Leaders need to learn how to develop a ministry that is not dependent on them and will succeed even if they are no longer around.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Discipleship Is Practical

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Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
Matthew 28: 19, 20

Discipleship is one of the key responsibilities Jesus gave to the church. As the verse above says, Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of others by teaching them everything that Jesus had commanded. Most discipleship is purely focused on teaching people spiritual truths: how to read and study the Bible, how to pray, how to hear God, and so on. These are incredibly important for every believer.

But I want to suggest that we need to recognize that discipleship is also very practical. Discipleship needs to include the practical aspects of serving and leading in a church. It might be as simple as helping volunteers plan how to set up for the next church potluck or teaching others how to run the sound board or set up the PowerPoint slides for Sunday’s service. It may include teaching musicians how to pick music, how to set up each of the instruments in the band, and how to do well at leading in music as well as leading in worship. Discipleship may include teaching a new chairman of the Elders board how to plan for and run a meeting. Even things like showing a new cleaning crew how to clean the church well is an aspect of discipleship. Don’t think you need to do all of these things as the pastor, but help those who know how to do these things to teach others.

I recently heard a volunteer complain that he was the only one who put away the chairs and tables after the potluck. Others saw him stacking chairs and hauling them away, but hardly anyone else stopped their conversation with friends to help clean up.

I understand and feel the frustration of a volunteer like that who sees a need and makes sure it is met. What needs to happen is practical discipleship. The volunteer who sees the need and knows what to do needs to learn how to recruit others to help, while respecting conversations that are happening. Sometimes it seems that doing things yourself is easier because you know what to do and where things go. It takes time to explain and show others how to do something, but unless you equip others, you will always be doing it by yourself, and what started out as a fun way to serve becomes a frustrating experience.

Here are some practical ways that the volunteer in the above story could disciple others. A first step may be to determine everything that needs to be done in this task, and the steps to make it happen. Sometimes these need to be in order and other times they do not, depending on the situation. A detailed sheet can be posted or handed out to new volunteers so they know exactly what is needed and how they can participate. For example, if a meal is planned, an appropriate number of volunteers can be recruited and shown the detailed to-do list. They can be clearly told what time to arrive so they will be ready for the event. The “discipler” who is used to setting up and taking down tables and chairs can still be there the first time or two to ensure that it is done right and that each new “disciple” knows how to do it.

Even if no recruits had been arranged beforehand, the experienced volunteer could have recruited a few people to help. Often, if people are asked and clearly told what is needed, they will respond. Unfortunately, those who know what to do often assume others do to, but that is not the case. People often need to be led, even in the simple case of putting away tables and chairs.

So practical discipleship includes recruiting people, preferably ahead of time, for a specific task. It involves having a clear understanding of what is needed, defined in a clearly written and posted list. And it involves the experienced one being available to guide the disciples until they know how to do it on their own.

Yes, discipleship must have a spiritual aspect and focus on growing as followers of Jesus, but practical discipleship is also highly important.

May God guide you as you disciple others in practical ways.

And please comment with suggestions of what has worked for you to do practical discipleship.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #7: The Encouragement of Fellowship

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*Training yourself to be godly may include fellowship and community.

It is a joy to be part of a church family that truly loves each other and cares for each other. There are some churches where people are truly experiencing fellowship as they encourage each other to become more like Jesus.

Hebrews 10: 19-25 gives a great description of what this fellowship can and should look like. It begins with a reminder that all believers are together in their relationship with Jesus. “We” can boldly enter the Most Holy Place – we – not just you, or just me, but the idea is that “we” can. And not just the people of the Old or New Testament. Not just Jews.

He is using inclusive language – as in “we are in this incredible journey of relationship with God together.” We are all on the same road to heaven, not on a bunch of unrelated individual roads or journeys, but we are on this journey of relationship with God through faith in Jesus together.

And then, in verses 23 -25, the author describes how we should be encouraging each other in our life with Jesus.

Verse 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm…

Let “us” hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm. “Us”. We are not clinging to that hope – that life raft – by our self. Our hope in Jesus is not something we have to hold onto alone. We are invited to hold onto our hope in Him together!

Verse 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Let “us” think of ways to motivate one another. This may require a little creativity, we need to find ways of encouraging each other. The NIV says it like this: let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

The Greek word for “spur” actually means: provocation, stirring up, sharp disagreement. We are to provoke one another to good deeds.

So the NIV is right. A spur in the side of a horse gets it moving. A spur in your side from a Christian brother or sister may get you moving in the right direction as a follower of Jesus – provoking you to consider getting involved in acting out your faith. We are to stimulate our brothers and sisters in their journey with Jesus.

Our journey with Jesus was never meant to be a solitary voyage. I have a friend who loves canoeing. This summer, he went on a 10-day canoe trip, all by himself. While that is fun for him, that is not the right picture of the Christian life. The Christian life might be best pictured by a voyageur canoe, or those Chinese Dragon boats. It is many people working together and pulling in the same direction.

Verse 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another…

There are some who think they can have a personal faith in Jesus and a relationship with God, and they don’t need anyone else. That is not the picture of the Bible. We need to be intentional about meeting together. This is about more than joining others in a worship service but to meet together to encourage each other in our Christian life.

We need each other. We need to meet so we can spur each other on. We need to live life in connection with each other.

To encourage one another is to give one another courage. There are times one person has more courage than another. One person’s faith is stronger at one point than another. One person is discouraged or un-couraged and needs to be en-couraged!

Let’s finish with something practical. Here are some “Fellowship Questions” you can ask of each other when you meet with another believer. Move beyond the weather and sports and the latest hobby you are learning to finding ways of encouraging each other in our walk with Jesus.

1.         What have you been reading in the Bible lately?

2.         What have you been learning about your walk with Jesus?

3.         Do you have sense of how God is using you or wants to use you to love and do good deeds?

4.         Where are you discouraged or feeling down in your life?

5.         How can I encourage you or pray for you today?

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

The Joy of Connecting with Teammates.

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I had the privilege this past week of spending a day with others who have a similar role as I do. We don’t actually work together on the same projects or in the same church, but we are all part of the same denomination functioning in the role of transition pastors. There is a special joy in connecting with people who know your role and the situations you face because they face those situations, too. In the past, I was able to connect with fellow rural pastors and pastors in the same region. We may not all serve the same church, but we can connect and relate to shared experiences because of our similar roles.

It may feel like getting to know and spend time with these teammates takes too much time or effort that could be used for other priorities, but I have personally found value in connecting with others who understand my roles.

They understand the frustrations and joys.

    When I met with rural pastors as a rural pastor, I knew that they understood what small-town life was like. They understood the realities of serving a smaller church. When I meet with transition pastors, they know what it is like to face church conflict and to try to mediate it. Transition pastors know what it is like to help churches, to fall in love with them, and then have to move on to a new assignment in a year or two.

    When you are talking with others who know your role, you can share jokes and stories that they understand. They are “in the know” because they do the same things you do. Other transition pastors know the frustration of churches that do not want to change, even though they know they need to. They understand the joy of a board catching God’s vision together as they plan vision and strategy for the church.

    They can provide ideas and advice.

    When I meet with transition pastors, I know they use similar tools and processes as I do in helping churches transition. Transition pastors know what it is like to help churches build on the past to look to the future. One of the benefits of my recent meeting with other transition pastors is to learn about how they handle particular situations. Most of them have more experience in this role than I do so I love to soak up ideas as they talk about their ministry.

    They can pray for me with understanding and clarity.

    One of the joys of meeting with others in similar roles is that we can pray for each other with an understanding of the situations we face. Often we don’t even have to finish our story and the others are already smiling or nodding or even crying as they have gone through similar situations. They can pray for me, and I pray for them, with clarity because we have seen very similar situations where we have served.

    I encourage you to find others who are in a similar situation as you. You need to find “your people” so you can have people around to encourage you and help guide you as you need input and wisdom from them.

    Keep looking up,

    Andy Wiebe