Starfish and Spiders

I’m in California this morning to meet with a group of pastors on denomination concerns. It’s my first time back to California since moving to Houston three years ago. Although today I am in So. Cal (Long Beach) and home during my West Coast Season was No Cal (Menlo Park) – it still very much feels like California. I’ve quickly been reminded of things I’ve missed and things I haven’t.

Flying out yesterday I nearly completed reading a fascinating leadership study, "The Starfish and the Spider: The unstoppable power of leaderless organizations."

Two quotes keep rattling around in my head:

"put people in open systems an they will automatically want to contribute [and contribute their best]" (wiki is a great example)

And my favorite thought:

"When you give people freedom you get chaos - but you also get incredible creativity"

The book is filled with examples ranging from the Quakers role in the abolition of slavery to the creation of Alcoholics Anonymous to the Apaches (both the Native American tribe and the operating system underlying most of the internet) to Craigslist and wiki as successful leaderless organizations.

A great read that I’d highly recommend for anyone interested in leadership.

5 Questions

I’ve set aside time away during that coming week for study, planning and preparation for the fall. It’s also a week in which Kim and I will be enjoying some time away together. During the week I will reflecting on my leadership and one of the tools I’ve found helpful is a series of 5 questions written by Perry Noble, an amazing pastor in South Carolina (and a huge Clemson fan).

They are great questions for all of us and especially those of us called to leadership.

#1 - Am I Listening To The Voice of God? My job as a leader is to listen to and obey His voice. Scripture says in Isaiah 2: 22 that we are not to fear man, but the Lord. What is it that the Lord is telling me to do that scares me to death because I know “they” will not approve? Listen to the voice of God because…He is Sovereign!

#2 - Am I Taking Risks? The thing I never want to do is to play it safe. What is the risk that God wants me to take?

#3 - Am I Understanding How Big God Is? On my journey through Scripture I am understanding more and more how HUGE God is…and how much more He desires to do. One of the problems with the modern church is that we limit God. Why does the church limit God when Jesus said what He said in John 14: 12 ? Why can’t God grow a church like He did in the book of Acts? Why can’t entire communities be transformed? Why can’t we see things happen in our time that happened in Scripture? Is He not the same God? God is so much bigger than my greatest fear or obstacle!

#4 - Am I Surrounding Myself With The Right People? One of the privileges I have is working with an unbelievable staff. All we have is a bunch of common men and women who are in love with Jesus! (Sort of like Acts 4: 13 ) AND–everyone here believes that GOD CAN DO AWESOME THINGS. AND also–no one here has their own agenda…they are sold out to the vision of this church. You either have vision or division…and God works through one and not the other!!!

#5 - Am I Giving It My Best? I am called by God to give my 100% absolute best in all that I do. One of the temptations of ANY pastor is to slip into cruise control and “take it easy.” AND maybe that works for some people; however, I just can’t. God hasn’t called me to go at 50%…nor has He called me to pursue a ministry with a “that’s good enough” philosophy. I figure if God gave His very best for me by sending Jesus to the cross…I am called to offer my best back to Him. (If you REALLY want to see how God feels about leftovers–check out Malachi 1: 6 – 14! ) As a husband, father and leader I am to give it my best in all that I do. That doesn’t mean that I am perfect…I am FAR from that, but…it does mean that all that God has called me to do that I should embrace and do with all my heart…knowing that He will make up the difference!