The Catalyst Church Leadership Creed, pt.2

The Catalyst Church Leadership Creed is this:
    As many people on the mission with Jesus as humanly possible.

What does this mean, exactly? For me it means that our leaders leverage their resources (time, talent, & treasures) toward encouraging people to join with Jesus on His self-proclaimed mission to "seek and save the lost" (Luke 19.10).  Let me briefly unpack the component pieces.

"As many people" refers to the necessity of helping people engage in a meaningful, practical way with the mission we are called to.  From a management standpoint, leading as few people as possible for any given task or project is the typically preferred norm.  Oftentimes a management-oriented leader will essentially ask, "What is the bare minimum of people I need for this task?"  They will then attempt to recruit that many individuals to be a part (minus several if they have the tendency to "do-it-all" themselves).  Catalyst Church leaders don't see it this way.  Instead, they recognize that we all grow the most when we are actively involved in things that challenge and stretch us to attempt and accomplish more than we thought we could. We all derive a sense of ownership and vital belonging when we invest of ourselves into something larger than ourselves.  Personal spiritual growth and fulfillment is not a spectator-sport - it requires an active engagement.  Catalyst Church leaders seek to get people out of the stands, off the sidelines, and into the game.  The question isn't "How few must I involve?"  Rather it is, "How many people can I possibly get involved in this endeavor?"


"On the mission with Jesus" identifies what we are really all about.  Our Leadership Creed could have stated "As many people involved in the church...," but then it would have meant an entirely different set of priorities. As Reggie McNeal puts it in his book, Missional Renaissance,

"…the target of God's redemptive love is the world, not the church ('For God so loved the world,' Jesus said; not 'for God so loved the church'). This means that God is always at work in the world, not just in the church…. His efforts are not shrink-wrapped down to church activity, nor is he hamstrung in his progress by waiting for the church to join him in what he is doing" (44). 

This isn't the time or space to go very far down this path, suffice it to say that being involved in the activities of a local church and being actively engaged in the missional pursuit of Jesus are not always the same thing.  If they were, then Jesus neglected to mention such a seemingly-important aspect in His Great Commission ("Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…" Matthew 28.19-20 NASB).  Catalyst Church leaders coach others to discover their own unique, gifted, God-planned contribution to the mission.  In a practical sense then, it is the task of Catalyst Church leaders to help eliminate the roadblocks to fruitful, fulfilling involvement in what God is already doing and desires to do further. 

"As humanly possible" reminds us of the simple truth that we are leading people - flawed, weak, beautiful, capable, flighty, creative, resourceful, sometimes-idiotic-but-always-loved-by-God people.  Oh, and leaders are people, too.  Put us all together and it's amazing we get anything done at all!  Levity aside, however, there is a truth in here that Catalyst Church leaders recognize: we have been tasked with a role and a responsibility to lead others using all the personal resources we have at our disposal. It may sound like something of a clichéd add-on, tacked to the end of our creed without much significance – but that isn't how I see it. I believe it to be vitally important that Catalyst Church leaders recognize the inherent limitations in what we are about – we cannot do more than what we can do. In all that we do and lead others into we must remember that it is the Holy Spirit of God that leads individuals further into relationship with Christ and it is the Holy Spirit who desires to provide the primary leadership in their every day. We are called to partner and participate in this Spirit-led process.

So there it is, the Catalyst Church Leadership Creed. Is it a secret-formula to true effective leadership? Probably not, but at the very least it will serve to unify our leaders – no matter what area they lead in – onto the same task and with the same goal in mind.

 

 

The Catalyst Church Leadership Creed

This may turn out to be the wackiest association I've ever come up with – but for some reason it works well in my mind (that statement should be warning enough!). For the last several months, in conjunction with the name-change for our local ministry from Colfax Assembly of God to Catalyst Church, I've been attempting to formulate a motto or creed for the numerous leaders within Catalyst Church. Not an easy task, I assure you. We have a great collection of leaders – with more added each month – that run the gamut from Executive Leaders (our official Board of Directors and spouses), Pastoral Staff, Ministry Directors over various areas, Task-Force leaders, and on and on. Some are elected by the congregation; some are appointed by me; some are paid; most are volunteers; all are gifted and called to the task of leading this congregation of Christ-followers known as Catalyst Church. Therefore, coming up with a single statement to serve as a rallying cry for all of them has been no easy task. That's when I landed on the concept of a shibboleth.  A shibboleth is a word or phrase used as a proving-ground of affinity, similar to a password but without the secrecy.

Now hang-on, this is where my association gets a bit odd: shibboleth is Hebrew for ear of corn and its roots as a "password" hale back to a story in the Old Testament book of Judges, chapter 12. As the story goes, the Israeli half-tribe of Ephraim has refused to aid their neighbor the Gileadites (another Israeli tribe) as they were being marauded by the Ammonites (decidedly NOT Israeli). Gilead was given favor by God and prevailed over the Ammonites. The tribal leader of Ephraim, incensed that he missed out on an opportunity for glory and spoil, turned it into a spitting match between cousins. Ironically, war broke out between the two tribes (who cares at this point who was in the right or wrong, to be honest). Gilead was again prevailing, which caused many of the Ephraimite fugitives to flee across the Jordan River. Here's the drama: the crossing points were used by all the tribes of Israel and foreign traders alike – so distinguishing who was from the tribe of Ephraim proved nearly impossible. The Gileadites came up with the solution of a password – not in the form of a secret word at all, but rather a particular word that Ephraimites could not pronounce due to their tribal dialect. That word – you guessed it – was shibboleth. Ear of corn. It seems the Ephraimites could not pronounce the sh sound at all, they pronounced it with a hard s instead – thus sealing their fate at the river's edge.

So, how on earth could I possibly think that particular story would serve as an inspiration for our Catalyst Church leaders? Are they to start using a password amongst themselves and kill everyone else?  Probably not the best plan.  Like most words in our language shibboleth has evolved into a different meaning and usage over the centuries. It now refers more to a statement that differentiates a role between members of a community. An identifying slogan, if you will. Similar to the Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared," which serves to both define and identify their task. Think of it as an oath given to declare one's solidarity with a cause.
And thus, after many months of wrangling, test-marketing, cutting-and-pasting, crumpling up and tossing out, starting over, etc….I've landed upon this statement as the Catalyst Church Leadership Creed:
    "As many people on the mission with Jesus as humanly possible."
 
Stay tuned for my next posting as I shuck the husks off this particular ear of corn so we can all see the kernels (I know, that was a terrible allusion, but I'm leaving it).

 

Floyd

Please don't hate me. I'm afraid that if I tell you what I did this morning you'll think me the worst example of a human being ever. Worse than a telemarketer or an IRS agent – maybe even worse than president of an insurance company (is that even possible?). This morning I made an old man cry.
I had breakfast with Floyd, a young man who is 87 years old. Before you react to the oxymoron in that sentence let me assure you that it's no mistake: his body may be 87 and in a semi-constant state of pain and misery, but his passion and his will remain far more than just an echo of his youth. He is a minister of the Gospel and has served his Lord faithfully for decades in churches both large and small. Now he finds himself preaching and ministering to a tiny little group of people out in the middle of Nowhere Eastern, WA in a church that looks to be straight off a Hallmark card - and, to be honest, he's somewhat frustrated. His frustration stems from the fact that he knows there is still so much he can do for God's Kingdom – but he knows that time is against him – and every morning his body renews its rebellion.
As I sat and listened to his undiminished passion I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me: This is what it can look like, you know. A life lived fully in service to Christ doesn't ever really end. In my best multi-tasking fashion I tried to listen to Floyd's conversation while also holding a silent conversation with the Holy Spirit.
Me: "How so? Clearly, he can't have too many years remaining."
     Are you so sure that life lived fully in service to Christ has an ending point?
Me: "I was…until You asked that. Go ahead, I'll shut up."
     What is he doing right now?
Me: "Sharing his passion and frustration with me."
     Is that all he's doing? Could his words right now have a larger purpose?
Me: "How so?"
     Palge mayim.

Now, let me interject an explanation at this point. One of my favorite passages in Scripture is found in Psalm 1.1-3,
"Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
but who delight in the Law of the Lord and meditate on His law day and night.
They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers."

The Hebrew transliteration for "streams of water" is palge mayim. Here's another one of those instances, however, where the English language fails to convey the full meaning (that's a whole different Soapbox of mine for another time). Palge mayim means far more than just streams of water – conjuring up the image of a babbling brook, meandering through a pasture, gently feeding the roots of the tree that finds itself lucky enough to have sprouted next to such a convenient source of nutrition. Palge mayim is more closely translated as irrigation channels. Think about the difference between a stream and an irrigation channel: streams happen wherever the topography allows (combination of gravity and softened dirt or shapeable stone, forced upon by a supply of water); irrigation channels are cut into the earth in the exact spot that they are wanted. A stream feeds the roots of the tree more by accident than anything else – fortunate tree! The sole purpose of an irrigation channel is to supply the life-giving water to the tree or crops. There is nothing accidental about an irrigation channel - it was placed where it was for the purpose of feeding the tree. Now reread those verses of Psalm 1 with that understanding.


Let's get back to my conversation with the Holy Spirit:
Me: "Palge mayim. I love that truth."
    He is acting like a palge mayim to you. He isn't just sharing his passion and frustration to get it off his chest. He's feeding your roots.
Me: "Ohhh"
    He's sharing his life lived fully in service to Christ with you – that's the "water" he has to share.
Me: "Ohhh" (Yes, I usually interject such brilliant responses to the Holy Spirit.)
    Will you plant yourself next to him so that he may feed you?
Me: "Are you kidding? That's why I love meeting with him."
    Then tell him what I've just told you.


Don't you just love it when the Holy Spirit demands instantaneous action on a newly-taught insight? Me neither – but I obeyed. I opened my Bible (OK, actually it was a Bible app on my smartphone) and shared with Floyd my understanding of that passage in Psalm 1. I highlighted in my explanation the intentionality displayed by the one who carved out the irrigation channel so that the tree could be fully fed and remain vitally alive and fruitful (prosperous!). I made sure to mention that it was no accident that the irrigation channel and the tree were in the same place together – that this was the intent all along. I felt a little sheepish "instructing" Floyd on a passage of Scripture he's probably preached and taught several thousand times more than I've even read it, but I needed to be certain that he caught the weight of that passage before I proceeded. Then I paused (giving the Rapture a chance to relieve me of what I knew I was supposed to say next).

"Floyd, you may not have the largest congregation around, and there may not be a whole lot of obvious fruit in your ministry right now. But you are a palge mayim for me. You may feel like the best years of your ministry are behind you, but I need to learn from your wisdom and experience. You are far from finished."

You gotta believe me, please: I don't normally enjoy making old men cry – but today I think it was worth it – not to mention I got seriously watered at a moment when I needed it most.