A Brother’s Wisdom 3 – The Tongue Can Spark a Forest Fire

Sometimes you just cannot make it up! Here we are reading through the book of James, something I planned months ago, and being challenged by the simple words to be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger” because our “anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:19-20). No sooner has James challenged us with this wisdom and this week we had Congressman Joe Wilson yelling “You Lie” while President Obama was speaking to a Joint Session of Congress and Serena Williams verbally abusing a line judge at the US Open. They should have been worshiping with us on the Magic Mile!

This week we turn to the third chapter of James and let’s see if he might have another word for us this week.

Taming the Tongue
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters,d this ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters,e yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh (James 3:1-12).

James begins this lesson with a specific word to teachers, but moves quickly to the rest of his listeners. We must guard out tongues because they can do great damage in a few moments. Learning to bridle our tongues may be the finest thing we can ever learn – I am also convinced that this may be the hardest task any of us ever undertakes. James lays it on the line for us, the words we speak are a reflection of our heart. James is echoing here a brother’s wisdom. He may have remembered Jesus saying:

“Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37).

Or,

“Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:16-19).

Jesus was no doubt connected to God as he grew in wisdom and stature (see Luke 2:52) and he probably paid attention to the Rabbis as they offered instruction like the following from the Wisdom Tradition (Proverbs):

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence (Proverbs 10:11).

With their mouths the godless would destroy their neighbors, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered (Proverbs 11:9).

Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Proverbs 12:18).

A fool’s lips bring strife, and a fool’s mouth invites a flogging. The mouths of fools are their ruin, and their lips a snare to themselves (Proverbs 18:6-7).

Then James twist the rhetorical knife in our hearts as he reminds us that we were all created in the image of God.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:26-27).

Because of this, to curse another human being is to curse one created in God’s image (James 3:9).

Let’s return to the rest of the third chapter of James:

Two Kinds of Wisdom
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace forf those who make peace (James 3:13-18).

James closes his words with a challenge to resist the accolades of those who might applaud our “earthly wisdom” and to choose to wait for the “wisdom from above.” Paul reminded his listeners in Corinth that the gospel we preach, Christ crucified and risen, is a stumbling block to Jews who demand signs and foolishness to the Greeks who demand wisdom. Hear again Paul’s words:

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29 so that no onei might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Proclaiming Christ Crucified
2 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

The True Wisdom of God
6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory (1 Corinthians 1:18-2:7).

James invites us consider the wisdom we receive from above, a heavenly wisdom that begins and ends with God:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7).

Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path (Proverbs 2:9);

Therefore walk in the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the just (Proverbs 2:20).

So I invite you in the coming week to pursue the wisdom from above. Consider this week how you might “hold your tongue” (literally if you have to) in conversations with others. I know in my journey that the practice I developed in my eighteen month sojourn in Kenya of writing all my letters in a journal before transcribing them into an aerogram produced more thoughtful words, especially when I had a difficult word to say to a friend. My writing teacher in seminary said that I needed to write twenty words in a draft for every one word in the final copy – maybe we need to think through twenty words we might say before we open our mouths to say the first word.

Secondly, I invite you ponder these words from James: “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy” (James 3:17). Where in your life is God asking you to consider how to be pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruit, living and demonstrating no partiality or hypocrisy? Ask God for assistance in this task as you move through this week. May a harvest of righteousness be sown in peace in your life this week.

A Brother’s Wisdom 2 – Stop Acting Like a Christian and Be One!

We continue with our study of the book of James at Queen Street Church as we move into some of James’ most memorable lines of teaching. While I was praying and preparing this past week for this second lesson I checked out my colleagues at LifeChurch.tv who launched a sermon series “Stop Just Acting Like a Christian and Be One.” What a challenge!

I also remembered the joke from my childhood. A father asked his daughter, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The young girl responded simply, “A vitamin.” “A vitamin,” the father responded, “whatever gave you that idea?” “The cereal box” came the response. “Its says right there on the side of the box: vitamin … B1!”

So before we even begin today, let me give away my conclusion. Stop acting like a Christian and be one!

Let’s read what James has to say in chapter 2:

Warning against Partiality

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

This extended lesson about hospitality and the sin of favoritism is telling in our time (and every time). First, let’s make some general observations about the text that reveal the Jewish milieu that James speaks out of and into:

1. James question about favoritism in the first verse echoes Elihu’s argument with Job over God’s sense of justice. There he says God “shows no partiality to nobles, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands” (Job 34:19).
2. The royal law of scripture to love one’s neighbor is found in Leviticus 19:18, which God simply states: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
3. Again, James’ concern with partiality remembers the admonition to Israel’s tribal leaders that they “must not be partial in judging: hear out the small and the great alike” (Deuteronomy 1:17).
4. The clear word of judgment against murderers and adulterers in verse 11 originates in the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20:13-14 and Deuteronomy 5:17-18).

Now the obvious lesson within the Christian community is that Paul teaches us that in Christ their is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female (see Galatians 3:28). We can add neither rich nor poor, neither black nor white, and dare I say it this week Republican nor Democrat for we are made one in Christ. We cannot walk in these doors and start making distinctions about who is honored or not honored, who is great and who is small, who is welcomed and who is rejected. It may be in the world’s DNA and its brokenness that causes us to make those distinctions, but in Christ it is not acceptable! Let me say it plain, whatever ways that we want to utilize to separate people make no sense in God’s eyes. Why? Because mercy triumphs over judgment (verse 13). Mercy does not simply mitigate judgment – mercy trumps judgment! (Paul promises this as well: “For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Let’s return to James’ words to the dispersed Jews:

Faith without Works Is Dead

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

Now another debate ensues. Do we agree with Paul or James about the importance of faith and works? Let’s compare Romans 3:28 and James 2:24:

“For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law” (Romans 3:28).
“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).

As we begin this discussion we need to remember a few things. First, Paul wrote his letters after James did, but if we “read the bible straight through” James’ arguments come after Paul’s and seem to be a corrective. Not so, James is speaking to a different audience at an earlier time than the time period of Paul’s audience. Martin Luther, the German reformer of five centuries ago, would say that people may be saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. That is, true faith is not an opinion (even demons believe in God), it must have an outward expression.

Second, James and Paul use the word justified in differing ways. To James the word justified points to that moment in eternity when we stand before our creator and judge to account for our lives. For Paul to be justified points to that moment when our sin is made right before God through Christ’s atoning act. Centuries later, John Calvin would state “as Paul contends that men are justified without the aid of works, so James will not allow any to be regarded as justified who are destitute of good works” (see his Institutes, 3.17.12). John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement summarized the position this way:

1. They do not speak of the same faith: St. Paul speaking of living faith; St. James here, of dead faith.
2. They do not speak of the same works: St. Paul speaking of works antecedent to faith; St. James, of works subsequent to it (John Wesley, Explanatory Notes on the New Testament, James 2:24).

Perhaps we can say with a contemporary word “its not whether you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk.”

In just a few moments we are going to come to table to feast together. At this meal we are reminded of the atoning work that Jesus did for us. We break the bread and share the cup in remembrance of what God did through the death and resurrection of Jesus and we break the bread and share the cup in anticipation of that great day when we shall all be gathered at the gospel feast. And then we depart …, but this week. We cannot simply leave this place with James’ word echoing through our brains, so I have some homework for you to do this week.

This week:

1. God has placed someone in your life who is “poor” and someone who is “rich.” They may be a different color of skin, live in a different part of town, vote for a different party, be richer or poorer than you, etc. Whatever that distinction you treat them differently, maybe even with partiality or neglect. What difference would it make in your life if you saw them as God sees them? Now here the key, I am not asking you to ponder WWJD – what would Jesus do? No this week its WWJHMD – what would Jesus have me do? And when you have pondered, live into the Nike slogan and JUST DO IT! No excuse about time, money, resources … JUST DO IT!

2. This next week we are going to put ourselves into service. During the time that has been our early worship service we will gather here in the fellowship hall, break into teams to go out and pick up our friends from Carver Court, return to share in a light meal together, move into Sunday School, then worship together, and take our young friends home. Now I know how we are … we move away from Sunday and slowly forget what we have promised to God, so today each exit from our sanctuary will have someone with a clipboard available to take your name and number as you leave so that we can remind you of what you have promised.

3. Finally, as we write God’s word on our hearts, memorize with me: “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:17).

Too Old, Too Young, or Too …?

I found a couple of posts at Fast Company this week that challenged my thinking about how I see the audience that the web can attract to what we do in churches, non-profits, businesses, or even (God-forbid) politics. The first was a post from Richard Brooks in response to a colleague’s assertion “Our target audience is too old for blogs. They’re too old for Tweeter (sic). They’re too old for Facebook. I don’t see our audience reading blogs.”

Brooks responds:

“Do you mind if I add my .02?” I asked. Since I made and served coffee to our guests already, they may have felt indebted to me, but in any case they asked me to continue.

“Blog posts are just like Web pages; each blog post you create is another opportunity to rank well at the search engines. You don’t have to worry whether your audience reads blogs, just if they use the Internet and search engines. (And I assume you do believe that, otherwise you wouldn’t have an e-commerce store.) Your blog posts can attract that search traffic and either funnel the prospect to your site or we can e-commerce right to your blog itself.

“According to some recent surveys the fastest growing segment in Facebook is women 35 and over. A lot of ‘grandmas’ are joining Facebook because that’s where they can see their grandkids’ photos. The average age of someone on Twitter is 31 (which means a lot of people are older).

“A strategic combination of search engine optimization and social media marketing (along with some hard work) can definitely increase the quantity and quality of traffic coming to your Web site. Plus, with social media you can better engage your audience and get feedback from them on what your next products should be.

“You might end up being a little ahead of the curve for some of your audience, but better to be a little ahead than behind.”

So there I thought to myself, I have been making some wrong assertions. I wonder who else has?

Then I read Lindsay Pollack’s interesting reflection on her new assistant and what she brought to their work together. Pollack is a member of Generation X and her assistant is of Generation Y. She offered the following observations in her post “Why I Love My Gen Y Assistant.”

1. She brings up things that never occur to me.
2. She’s just tech-ier.
3. She understands personal branding.
4. She’s not really into the 9 to 5.
5. Her energy is phenomenal.

I give thanks that God has placed members of the Gen X, Gen Y, Boomer, and Silent generations on my team. It often makes for interesting conversations and usually means that we can make better decisions together than we could make separately. The above posts also remind me that I need think through the positives that each staff person (and their generation) brings to the table and avoid the easy cliches about a generation’s supposed shortcomings.

Join in on the NINES Conference

Recently I have become intrigued with folks who challenge each other to say something powerful in a short time. First I met the folks at TED Talks who moved their live conference format to the web. At their conferences a wide variety of speakers had exactly fifteen minutes to present an idea. They now have taken their “riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world” to the web with over 500 talks available online.

Then last month my colleagues Doug Ward and Dennis Peay introduced me through their tweets to a similar event in Raleigh called Ignite Raleigh. At that event presenters had 5 minutes and 20 slides with to meet the challenge “enlighten us, but make it quick!” By the way, you may want to check out Derek Brown’s “What Would Jesus Tweet” presentation.

Now the folks at Leadership Network and Catalyst have combined to bring together 70 presenters who were asked the question “If you had nine minutes to talk one-on-one with thousands of church leaders, what is the one thing that you would tell them?” The result in a series of nine minute videos that start running at 9:09 AM (CDT) on 09/09/2009. Its free, you can eat and drink your own snacks, check your email, send a tweet, and update your Facebook status and never leave home! What’s not to like!

For more information and to register click over to The NINES Conference now!

Learn to tell your story …

We live out a stories about who we are, not a list of propositions. This may not seem obvious to some of us, but its true. Kaihan Krippendorff, one of Fast Company’s Expert Bloggers, noted the following in a post yesterday about the power of narratives:

When humans first started to communicate with each other, they did so by sharing stories. They kept their history and traditions alive by spinning a tale to connect a sequence of events. Because this has been going on for so long, there is something instinctive in our brains that makes us attuned to narratives and stories.

Stories are how we learn. As Iacoboni explains, “Early on in life we learn a lot of things through stories. As a child, you listen to your parents and teachers and you learn lessons from their stories about right and wrong. When you go to bed, you are told stories. There is something almost primal about our evolution and development that leads us back to listening to stories.”

So to be a great communicator, a person needs to understand the importance of using narratives. To get people excited about a new idea or thought, he or she needs to be a great storyteller.

I appreciate that Krippendorf left us with homework.

1. Does my company have a story? Where did we come from and how did we get here?
2. Can I craft my company narrative in a way that other people can relate to?
3. Can reliving my company narrative on a daily basis make my business stronger and more focused?

I got to get to my homework now, so why are you still reading?

What’s in a name? Mission or Church?

Brad Abare over at Church Marketing Sucks described traveling to Hawaii for a co-worker’s wedding. While there they worshiped at Blue Water Mission, a new church in downtown Honolulu. Brad was struck by the name and it got him to thinking about “Another name for church?” Brad posts the following:

Mission. I think I like it. The word “mission” conjures up all sorts of things in my mind, including:
* Intentionality and focus
* A task or duty to be completed
* Sending out or being sent
* A haven and refuge
* A spiritual place
In other words, mission sounds a lot like church!

Brad left me with the question what defines church? What does the word church conjure where you live? For those who are leaders of other organizations and businesses what words describe what you do? Do they make sense to a broader public? Just wondering …

Customer Service — How Much Is Enough?

Seth Godin challenges me on a regular basis with his leadership and communicating advice. His simple piece, Spare No Expense!, actually is a piece challenging folks to consider sparing some expense on customer service. Consider the following graph:

Seth describes the graph this way:

In the chart, for example, (a) represents the cost of good signage at the airport, or clearly written directions on the prescription bottle or a bit of training for your staff. It pays off. Pay a little bit and you help a lot of people to avoid hassles. The utility per person isn’t huge, but you can help a lot of people at once.

(b) is the higher cost of a bit of direct intervention. This is the cost of a call center or a toll free number or an information desk. You’re paying more, you’re helping fewer people, but you’re helping them a lot.

(c) is where it gets nuts. (c) is where we are expected to spare no expense, where the CEO has to get involved because it’s a journalist who’s upset, or where we’re busy airlifting a new unit out to a super angry customer. The cost is very high, the systems fall apart and only one person benefits.

Here is where it gets tricky. The “spare no expense” desperate attempt to satisfy one can kill the whole enterprise. We often think that if we “spare no expense” we can make a problem or a problem customer go away. And here’s the killer, once we have done this for one person we have set a standard that now must be met for all customers. Organizations need to think this one through. Seth suggests we learn to say internally, “we need to be disciplined and help more people, even if that means that some special cases will fall through the cracks.” It hurts when some people walk away disappointed, but “spare no expense” may ultimately mean destruction.

Leadership Is Exercised in a Context

Norman Wolfe, over at Fast Company, commented today on a colleague’s blog about the context of leadership. His colleague, Paul Walker, looking on the current situation in the USA observed that our nation needs a giant team-building exercise. Wolfe counters that while the intent seems good, we need to pay attention to the context of our life together as a nation state. We exist in a system of checks and balances that create a different game than often happens in successful companies. The following fleshes out his point:

Our government was set up to achieve certain ends; it was designed primarily for control of power. Our three divisions, executive, legislative and judiciary were purposely designed to ensure no one function could gain complete control of our nation. Checks and Balances was the designing objective.

And as for organizations who “explore ideas to find the best way instead of playing win/lose games” I have to remind you that our whole society is based on the adversarial principle (a win/lose game). Our founding fathers recognized that we were unlikely to find A Solomon the Wise to discern the truth or the best solution so they set up our system based on the idea that the truth can best be is discovered by opposing views being voiced and through the “jury of one’s peers” truth would emerge. This is the basis of our legal system and it is also the foundation of our Two Party System. It was once said that the political extremes define the issues and the moderates pass the laws. We need a return of the moderates to act as “jury of one’s peers.”

The problem we have is not one of team building but organization design. We designed it to have opposing positions compete with the belief that the best solution would emerge from the conflict. We could of course redesign our system and create one that relied on the same principles of business. However business is governed as much by market forces as they are by leadership team dynamics.
Government was never designed to run efficiently, it was designed to control misuse of power and given that we are dealing with humans playing with immense powers, I am not sure I want to change the design.

As I read his post, I pondered the intricacies of most church structures and find myself asking “do we have clarity about what our decision making structures will produce? Do the rules of the game allow us to align ourselves with God’s kingdom purposes? Where can we learn (and unlearn) from business and government organizations?” More importantly to me, what questions am I not asking?

Ed Stetzer on Equipping for Success

Ed has been at the work of supporting new church plants in the Southern Baptist church for years. When I met Ed several years ago I was impressed by his self-deprecating humor and passion for the hard places in ministry. Surely, like in the business world, one of those hard places is launching a new venture. In his piece Equipping Church Planters for Success he identifies the following components of a support system:

1. Use of a Behavioral Assessment to measure 13 key qualities developed by Charles Ridley helps suggest who has the potential to succeed in this task.
2. Boot camps to teach the skills and energize the candidate make a significant difference.
3. It seems obvious that church planters need mentors and supervisors, but we have failed with some of my colleagues to provide this support.
4. Each planter needs to be in a support group. Friends whatever you are doing, find a posse. My team has been meeting for 15 years and they have seen me through the my ministry successes and failures.

Check out Ed’s article for all the details.

Seth Godin on why there are not more leaders

In Seth Godin’s recent book Tribes (2008) he notes the following reasons that there seem to be few leaders in the workplace. Read this snippet:

Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead.

The scarcity makes leadership valuable. If everyone tries to lead all the time, not much happens. It’s discomfort that creates the leverage that makes leadership worthwhile.

In other words, if everyone could do it, they would, and it wouldn’t be worth much.

It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.
It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail.
It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.
It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.

If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader.

Some of this sounds like Adam Hamilton’s recent description of “leadership by nausea.” That is, if the decision you are making as a leader makes you ill, you are probably on the right track!