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So as of today I have stopped reading books.

Don’t get me wrong I love to read, I read lots. I also think it has become a problem for me. So I’m going to do a little experiment with myself. Take a month off of reading any book or magazine or any published material for that matter.

Why? Simply because I think way more about what I am reading every day than I do thinking about God and what He might be saying. Sure I have lots of conversations in my head about what I have read and what He might think about those things. I try my best to be sensitive to His leading in order to provide pastoral care, etc. However, in my mind, I’m always discussing my ideas and my thoughts. Again, this is totally cool and not a big issue until that seems to be the primary conversation. It seems the conversation has circled around “ME” for the last little while. Of course with good intentions, serving His church and people around the world, but still around “ME.” So I’ve compiled a list of why I am fasting from reading anything other than the Bible for the next month.

1. I read way more books than I do the Bible and I feel like I’m suppose to stop for awhile.
a) Disclaimer – I know its not “bad” to read other books more than the Bible. It has though become a matter of conscience for me, to use some Driscoll language.
2. My reading of other books has started to encroach on my time in Scripture. This seems to be happening more frequently lately.
3. I feel more guilty and annoyed with myself when I haven’t read something “insightful” that day than if I read Scripture or not.
4. The first place I go to satisfy my thirst for knowledge, creativity and innovation is someone else’s research and opinion.
a) Again no “slam” on anyone else, I’m just not taking the responsibility to talk with God first.
5. I just read Scripture I don’t meditate on it. I read books and meditate on them it seems instead.

So, I know how the saying goes about leaders and readers. Seriously though, I’m done for awhile.  Perhaps I’m a crappy leader for not reading for awhile or taking things too far, or not far enough etc, etc… Today will actually be the first day I haven’t read a book or magazine of some kind in a very long time.

The plan is to stop reading until October 12th. Why October 12th? Because its the first Monday after Catalyst and I’ll probably be itching to read again.

What have you taken too seriously lately & are you doing something about it?

“Generation F” is a designation that Gary Hamel used in his Wall Street Journal Blog Management 2.0. For some, you may already be familiar with the term, for others not familiar with it, it stands for the “Facebook Generation.”  While not a surprising definition their expectations of their ideal work environment may be.  Generation F has become incredibly familiar with everything social media.  For those not sure of what social media is or how powerful it has become check out this incredible slideshow by Marta Kagan.  Generation F has fully immersed itself with social media.  Not only has social media become a way to communicate and interact for this generation, it has become the frame work for life and work.

Gary Hamels says it even better. “The experience of growing up online will profoundly shape the workplace expectations of “Generation F” – the Facebook Generation. At a minimum, they’ll expect the social environment of work to reflect the social context of the Web, rather than as is currently the case, a mid-20th-century Weberian bureaucracy.”

This is incredibly crucial for organizations and especially the church to understand.  Gary discusses 12 crucial elements that organizations must grapple with in order to attract, retain and engage the facebook generation. The full article can be found in Gary’s March 24, 2009 Management 2.0 blog posting

1. All ideas compete on an equal footing.

2. Contribution counts for more than credentials.

3. Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed.

4. Leaders serve rather than preside.

5. Tasks are chosen, not assigned.

6. Groups are self-defining and -organizing.

7. Resources get attracted, not allocated.

8. Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it.

9. Opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed.

10. Users can veto most policy decisions.

11. Intrinsic rewards matter most.

12. Hackers are heroes.

Some questions in closing.

So how does a church begin to interact and dialogue about these points?  How do churches engage Generation F that are attending their churches in light of the above points. Can congregants veto decisions, are groups self defining and organizing..what implications would this have to the standard small group model? Most churches struggle with serving and finding volunteers. What would happen if people just chose what they wanted to do, what impact would that have on ministry? Would we (the church) be ok “dropping” some ministries because people were choosing not to serve there. i realize it can be easy to go to extreme examples, but perhaps that’s another question. Are we willing to go to the extreme?

What questions would you have with Gary’s points?

Have you seen some churches excel at some points mentioned above? Or at least think they are on the right path?

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Read Time: 10 Minutes (Please share your comments)

So I have been thinking about this idea of “experience.”  Culture is seems obsessed by it actually. And by experience I mean feeling some kind of ownership in the process, the conversation regarding the topic at hand. One of the reasons why facebook and Twitter have emerged so rapidly is because they provide not only a voice, but an opportunity for dialogue. Not just messages but conversations. I think of those auto response emails one gets online saying, “don’t respond to this email because no one will read it.” While there are definite times and reasons for these kind of emails to be used, but the example is indicative of what culture does not want. Don’t send me a message, lets dialogue about this. This value has played out most recently in the area of management training, team building training, etc. There have been countless books on how to lead well, how to create trust, team building, most of which centers on creating an environment where an employee feels as if they are heard and responded to. The difference today vs 5-10 years ago is that now culture as a whole not only wishes for this but is starting expect it as well. ie the it’s not just the employees that need this, customers now do as well, and I believe more so as we head farther into the future. Personally I believe this is a good thing. Primarily because I love change, but there is always value to me in action stemming from dialogue. While thinking about my desire for action, I realize that I think there is some ambiguity around the word and expectation of experience. When talking about creating an “experience” sometimes people are talking about different things. Primarily I believe there are two important factors and many subsets of considerations, but two things are paramount, in my opinion.

1. Don’t Send me a message, have a conversation. The old model of communication was a monologue. The position of authority was given the “right” to speak. If you weren’t in that position, you had the “right” to listen. I realize that is overly harsh, but am just trying to make a point comparing differences years make in how we communicate, feel worth and feel engaged, which ultimately comes down to being valued as an employee, customer and ultimately human being. I recently read a quote defining “dialogue” on one of the most read articles about social media currently on the web. It said, “Dialogue is transparent, inclusive, authentic, vibrant, consumer-driven. It is Not, controlled, organized, exclusive, product-driven, and on-message.” Simply put, participating in dialogue, as defined above, creates valued “experience” for your colleague, employee, customer and fellow neighbours. And as a side not, but a very important one, transparent means that others can view, comment and join the conversation at any time. Why is that, because millennials, Gen Y’ers care very much what their friends think.  While one on one, intimate conversations are still very important, the credibility to have those conversations comes out of the global transparent conversation.

2. Share the activity. This is what well run organizations and leaders have done well (for the most part) over the past many decades. What I believe is great is that organizations, leaders who engage in the above point of having vibrant, transparent conversations now have the right to call people to action. But as more and more companies, non-profits, etc are finding out that it is becoming harder and harder to call people to action without first having the dialogue. A dialogue that empowers people in the process and outcomes.

Next Steps and Comments.

Some of these next thoughts are borrowed from the presentation Gary Hamel gave at Leadership Summit.

• You’re either going forward or backwards, you’re not standing still. Most organizations end up shackled to one model, when it atrophies so does the organization. (Are you changing how you communicate and create experiences for your audience? If not are you slowly dying?)
• An organization often misses the future because its unpalatable. Deal with the future by facing the facts. Learn from the dialogue, acquire a new taste. One can still eat healthy even if you are cooking with different spices. (I’m not saying to change your values, doctrine, mission, etc. How you deliver, from generation of ideas to implementation most likely could use a facelift)
• Listen to the renegades. Humility is not only a virtue it is also a survival strategy.
• Look at everything you do and ask, “What hasn’t changed in 3-5 years.”

As you know, I am a pastor and besides being passionate about leadership and faith i am passionate about the local church. I absolutely love it. However a common knock on “church” is that it often lags the change process by approximately 10 years. I realize there are different opinions on if the church should change, how fast, etc, etc. I’m all for solid, conservative Christian doctrine, but I am all for trying new ways to engage not only culture but the people sitting in the pews week in and week out. In my own context we are trying to push the boundaries, it is a process that does take time, must be walked out carefully as change is always a process. However i am passionate about unleashing the shared creativity and generating innovation on a large scale and dialogueing about what could be.

So here are some comments from Gary regarding church specifically. Agree or disagree?

• Every organization is filled with orthodoxies. We’re in a race to uncover and challenge our orthodoxies. if they stand up great, if not what will you do?
• If things haven’t changed in 3-5 years is it because we have explored other options or because we are stuck in tradition.
• Compare yourself to other churches. Are you doing things differently (unique to your culture) or are you doing the things the same.
• Why is church a lecture not a discussion? (how do you see a discussion taking place?)
• Top down structures will not last.
• God expects us to be unconventional in how we do His work.
• Every idea gets a fair chance (is this a reality in your church?)
• Participatory, open source need to be the norm.
• The early church was institutionally weak, we need to try disorganized communities. (I would argue this needs to be part of the organized movement. ie how does a mega church adopt this? Not just have it be a cell model?)
• Our churches need to be the most vibrant, resilient and adaptable institutions in the world. God doesn’t have a plan B. The church is it.

So as a pastor, a leader, a humble servant of Christ. How are you playing this out in your life. I’d love to hear on what you disagree with. Examples of how this does or does not work, both personally, organizationally, etc, etc.

I do have some reservations on some of the points above, but overall in my opinion I’m all for trying something new. Then again, i always have been. Personally, as a leader wherever you are, do you feel like you lose some “power” in the above model. If I’m honest, I feel a sense of “loss” when I think of some of the potential outcomes. I would argue that is the selfishness inside of me. Yet I am very excited about the potential gains. A last thought from Gary.

“The leaders job today is less vision, command,and control and more focused on mobilizing, connecting and supporting.

Honestly the above comment played out makes me feel like “less” of a leader. Perhaps that is the problem, leaders actually like the power. The greatest leader, Jesus said, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” Matthew 20:28

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It’s amazing how fast your trivial concerns will disappear.Ok, so this might irritate, agitate, or even be a relief for some to hear. Feel free to agree or disagree. First off I don’t like listening to or hearing whining and I hate it when I do it. Even its definition invokes annoyance, especially when I think of “nasally complaining”  ugh.  :)  ”to utter a low, usually nasal, complaining cry or sound.” Before I go any further let me share some context.

Over the past 3 weeks my good friend Rob Chartrand, Senior Associate at Beulah Alliance Church has been preaching on being “True Faced” He did a great job and you can also check out his blog here. This past week, part three of the series, he spoke on “identity” and the reality that very few people know our identities. He spoke on the need to be vulnerable, to share who we really are, the good and the bad, and to trust the community around you. To allow them to walk with you. On the way home his sermon started a dialogue between Naomi and I. Let me explain.

Rob shared a story about a young girl he knew for a long time. She seemed happy, full of life, the joy of the party. It took years, but eventually she revealed her true identity. She was abused, raped and hardly knew who she was let alone that she was loved. There is a happy ending in that she was restored and now helps children going through similar struggles. We just debated the various nuances of why it took so “long” for her to let people know her “true” identity. Now I realize there are tons of reasons and much better ones than this, but we started discussing that perhaps people delay because of how annoying the people are who consistently complain. Or as I like to say, consistently whine. Now, I am a go get ‘em kinda guy. I’m not talking about drive, life circumstance, etc. I’m just talking about that some people need to whine week in and week out and perhaps those who have much more serious issues in their lives don’t want to share because they don’t want to be considered a complainer or whiner. Because just think about how annoying the complainers sound to those with major life issues that are walking alone.

Now on to our thought on that drive home.

Yes, please be “True Faced” and be willing to be vulnerable and allow me, others and/or the church to walk with you. Being vulnerable and walking with a community is NOT whining. It is extremely important for all of us to do. So if you have hurts, bottled up pain, please be brave and share, this post is NOT about you.

Now for the current and future complainers. Sunday is not the place for you to come week in and week out to whine, complain, view life through doom and gloom glasses. You have an inheritance far greater than you can imagine. Those with Christ have reason to be concerned with the world around them and trials that come their way. I realize that everyone goes through periods of life when we just whine. I’ve done it and will most likely do it again. But please someone, in love, tell me to smarten up and stop whining. Being true faced in this instant is to say, “I’m sorry God, I’m having a hard time being thankful. Please forgive me, I’m not trusting you. Please allow only wholesome and uplifting talk come out of my mouth. Friends, church, if I ever start complaining hear me out, once. After that please hold me accountable to start trusting God. Help me to see the good to be thankful.

Being true faced is being vulnerable and allowing people to walk with me, to hold me accountable.

True Faced is not permission for me to gripe week in and week out.

I hope I have loving and comitted friends who will be able to hold me accountable when I am just whining and using that as a cover from becoming truly “true faced.” Simply am I sharing hardship in order to be vulnerable and allow accountability & support into my life or am I complaining just to complain, to gain sympathy, to find someone to validate my bad attitude. Trials are a reality to walk and journey with together. Whiners don’t seem to want to start the journey to change, they just want a partner, preferrably another whiner.

James 1:2-3 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

You can listen to Rob’s sermons here.

Any thoughts? Am I way off? Feel free to agree or disagree. Just sharing a car conversation that I have still been thinking about.

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