New Life Assembly

Christ and Culture: A Conversation

Keith and Nick Fatato share a conversation on the meaningful ways that Christ followers can observe and engage with the culture at large, and insert ourselves into spiritual conversations that take place around us:  Download 15 Christ and Culture

Monday (it's early) Morning

It's early on Monday morning.  Kids are still asleep, and since we were out a little later than normal last night, I'm hoping they'll stay that way for a little while so they're not too grumpy when they wake up. 

Great, great day yesterday, despite a lower attendance and some kind of sickness that wiped out half of the worship team.  Yesterday was our conversation with Nick Fatato on the topic of Christ and Culture, and I thought it went over very well.  We had some good interaction with the congregation, and then I had some great conversations afterwards as the people I talked to were really trying to figure out how to put into practice some of the things we touched on in the conversation.

I think we definitely hit on the typical Christian responses to culture, which include the condemning, accusatory tone and then the creation of a kind of alternate, parallel, Christian universe - both of which seem to stem from our desire to be holy and to "separate" ourselves from the world.  As Nick said repeatedly yesterday, we believe in being holy, but we also believe in engaging the world in meaningful ways so that we can communicate the message of the gospel in the world.

One of the early comments was that the approach we were advocating was for us to think of ourselves as cross-cultural missionaries, and I think it's a mindset that's very accurate.  The church has taken a far too antagonistic posture towards the American culture, pointing out its ills and doing very little to be redemptive in the midst of culture.  It was our hope yesterday that we might provoke our church to think of a better way forward - a way forward that would seek to listen to and understand the culture (expressed in things like films, books, TV shows, music, etc.) and then to engage that culture with the message of life and hope in Christ.

So I hope you're fully engaged in your culture this week - whether in your family, workplace or school.  I hope you find there the opportunities to listen in on the things that matter in your world, and seek ways of making the connection between Christ and your culture.

I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) with another post in the "Good to Great" series.  Until then....grace and peace be with you.

Good to Great: A Culture of Discipline

I have a feeling that before I finish this blog post, something is bound to self-destruct in my computer, due to its inability to process more than two posts a week.  Nevertheless, we press on in pursuit of greatness...

I think most people don't like the "D" word - discipline.  Given free rein, I'll slide towards freedom over responsibility most every time.  Given complete license to do what I want, I'll often choose that over what I have to do, procrastinating the necessities until later.  So this chapter about a creating a culture of discipline really hit me between the eyes.  Collins asserts that companies that make the transition from good to great consist of disciplined people who are incredibly disciplined in their thoughts and from those thoughts take disciplined actions.  They are tenacious about their one thing we discussed in the last post, and will go to seemingly extreme ends in order to make sure they adhere to that concept in every aspect of their organization.

Yet, he contends, these companies seem to balance freedom and responsibility.  Because they have done the difficult work of getting the right people on the bus, they have confidence in their ability to think through the issues facing the company, and to take disciplined action to resolve problems and capitalize on opportunities.  There is a clear belief in the system they have created, and yet a freedom to create within that system that continues to allow the right people to experiment within the bounds of the system.  It's that balance that is, I think, particularly difficult to strike.

When I heard Collins give his talk at Catalyst, one of the key points I took away was the need for a "stop-doing" list to coincide with the "to-do" list I already have.  He said that our tendency is to just keep adding to the to-do list, and never eliminate anything from it.  Even as I write it, it sounds ridiculous, and yet true.  But he says that the disciplined organizations (again, made up of disciplined people) knew what lay within their hedgehog concept and were passionate about eliminating anything and everything that didn't move them closer to that goal.

Churches (and pastors) tend to get stuck here, I think.  We get comfortable doing certain things on a weekly, monthly, or even annual basis, and we never question whether they are helping us achieve the goal of seeing the lives of people in our churches and then in our communities transformed by the gospel.  Reading this chapter I was encouraged to think through some of those things again, to try to take a look with fresh eyes at what we're doing, and what we may need to stop doing to become more effective.  That, of course, applies also to me personally as the leader.  I have to be willing to not do certain things so that I can focus on the few things that I can do that will help us become a great church.  Lots to think about there for me. 

I think I'll take tomorrow off.  All this writing is exhausting me.  I'll be back on Monday with the regularly scheduled weekend reflections.

Good to Great: The Hedgehog Concept

I'm working from home this morning because Rita's taking the day off and this way I can see her for a few minutes on my breaks!  One of the advantages of a flexible work schedule, I would say...

Of all the good chapters in Good to Great, I thought the chapter on the hedgehog concept was the great chapter - the one that I've found myself re-reading several times since I finished the book.  Collins talks about an ancient Greek parable that says "the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing."  He says that foxes are cunning creatures who are able to devise many ways of attacking a hedgehog, but the hedgehog continually returns to the one thing that will save him from the fox - rolling into a ball and pointing his spikes outward.  Collins relates this to two different kinds of companies.  On the one hand are the companies who see the complexity of the world and pursue various and scattered ideas in all different directions.  On the other hand are the good-to-great companies, who see the complexity of the world, but are able to come up with a single, unifying concept that they can work with.

To get to this "hedgehog concept" Collins encourages us to look at the intersections of three circles, which are the answers to three questions.  (1)  What can you be the best in the world at?  (2) What drives your economic engine? (3) What are you deeply passionate about?  He asserts that if you can find the place where those three overlap, you can find the unifying concept around which you can build a great organization.  The good-to-great companies had a single ideal that drove them forward in their success, and they pursued it relentlessly.

It has gotten me thinking about our church, and asking where those three intersect for us?  I still don't have an answer, but I can see how crucial the question is for our long-term success.  I've said for a long time that I want New Life to be a great church, and I think the potential is there for it to be a goal we realize.  But to do it, I think we're going to have to understand what we can be the best at, what will drive our discipleship engine (because I think that's the key factor in a church), and what we're deeply passionate about.  If we can do some digging on those (and I think we did some already in creating a mission, vision and values) then I think we can really drive towards becoming the great church God wants us to be; a great church that will have a great impact on the communities of South Kingstown and Narragansett.

Good to Great - The Stockdale Paradox

For some weird reason I woke up before 6 this morning with an awful lot of energy, so I've been returning emails, and feeling highly productive and thought this might be as good a time as any to blog some more thoughts on Good to Great.  It's highly likely this post will be interrupted by my oldest child stampeding down the stairs looking for breakfast, but it's a chance I have to take.

The third principle Collins brings out regarding the good to great companies is their willingness to confront the brutal facts about their current situation.  He keys in on just how imperative it is that companies were willing to take an honest assessment of their position in their markets.  He specifically contrasted two grocery store chains - A&P and Kroger.  A&P was the leading grocery store chain in the US, at one point with gross sales that ranked second only to GM among all American companies.  When they began to falter, however, they were unwilling to deal with current reality, instead they actually chose to ignore things that were right under their nose - particularly the reality that the grocery store industry was changing.  When they started a sort of pilot project store to gauge what people wanted it showed them exactly where the industry was headed, but because they didn't like the conclusions, they shut down the store.

Kroger, on the other hand, was faced with the same challenges:  multitudes of stores and capital invested in the old school grocery store.  Instead of hiding their heads in the sand, however, they chose to confront the reality that the world was changing under their feet, and took action to be prepared for the change.  Collins writes that, "Kroger decided to eliminate, change, or replace every single store and depart every region that did not fit the new realities.  The whole system would be turned inside out, store by store, block by block, city by city, state by state."

Collins tells us, however, that equally important as confronting brutal facts is maintaining an unwavering sense of optimism and hope that the company will succeed in the end.  It's a paradox, of course, because you must first see just how bad things are before you can believe they need to change.  And once you see how bad things are, it's quite possible to lose hope that they could ever change.  So some see the reality and don't ignore it, but instead accept it, and just throw up their hands about it.  But the good to great companies saw it and didn't accept it, they worked to change in the midst of it buoyed by great faith that they would overcome the obstacles in the end.

I think they applications for the church are stunning in this chapter.  I can't tell you how often I've thought that much of the church world is burying their heads in the sand about the brutal reality that what we're doing, by and large, is not working.  I know of some highly effective churches, but for each one of those I could name another 2 or 3 that have completely lost touch with reality. 

And yet, I am eternally hopeful about the church because I believe that it is God's purpose to use the church to advance his Kingdom in the world.  I don't think he's ever backed off of that redemptive proposal that we would go into all the world making disciples of all nations.  That calling has never been rescinded, and so I have great hope in the church as a whole.  My question is whether the individual churches that make up the larger church will have the courage required to confront reality, and will have the faith required to make the needed changes to be what God is calling them to be in a world that has most definitely changed underneath our feet.  It's my hope that New Life will be one of those courageous churches who meets the challenges with our head up, our eyes open, and our hearts filled with hope.

Monday Morning

Good Morning!  I'm back to the grind for what I hope will be a full, normal and even (perhaps) productive week.  As we get closer to Easter my blood starts pumping faster, and particularly now as it seems like we're really gaining some momentum as a church.

I thought it was another great weekend all around.  Any time I can combine copious amounts of college-basketball-watching with time spent with my son, it has to be a good weekend.  Though, yesterday afternoon when I came home from church, got my lunch ready and flipped on the TV to catch a few minutes of a game before taking a nap, Jacob did look at me and ask, "Dad, is basketball still on?"  I guess he's full up on March Madness.

Service yesterday was good again (minus the time where I made the single dumbest comment I've ever made publicly, you know what it was if you were there, if you weren't I'll save myself from a second public embarrassment...).  When we started we were about half full, when we broke after the first song we were just about full.  I seriously think we are maxing out our capacity right about now.  I've thought about taking the tables out of the sanctuary, but so many people really love them that we're going to have to start getting creative with seating soon, especially when we have 100 people show up for Easter!

Of all the messages (3) I've taught on redemption, I think I loved this one from Ruth the most.  Ruth's story is just so personal, so human, so relatable for all of us as human beings.  God's activity is not dramatic or even apparently miraculous, but it's there nevertheless.  It was an encouraging reminder to me (and hopefully you) that even in the things that seem like "chance", God is behind the scenes orchestrating our lives in such a way that he puts us in precisely the right position at precisely the right time so that our lives can have the maximum influence possible.  Ruth's position in the line of David, and ultimately of Jesus, could easily be described as fate - but it seems clear to me the message of her story is that God was working in all of the circumstances to bring about redemption for Ruth, and ultimately redemption for Israel.

I'm very excited for next week's conversation on Christ and Culture with Nick Fatato.  I think we'll have some good dialogue about the ways that Christ-following people can interact and intersect with the culture, and hopefully give us all some food for thought about ways that we posture ourselves towards the culture around us.  I think you'll be inspired, challenged, and maybe even provoked to think a little bit about your own unique position in the culture of your family, your neighborhood, your school and your workplace.

I'm already at work on a three week series of "Conversations with Jesus" that will run the first three weeks (including Easter) of April.  Should be a great time to invite a friend to come hear what Jesus might have to say to their lives.

May his grace surround and sustain your heart, and his peace fill and guard your mind this week!

First Who, Then What

I had great intentions last week of a series of posts based on Jim Collins' book Good to Great, and then my kids got sick and my whole routine was thrown off.  Though I'm used to it by now, it's still a little frustrating when it happens.  So today's the first day I feel a semi-normal day is in order again, and so it's the first chance to get back to those posts.

In the good to great companies, Collins asserts that their way of hiring staff followed the principle "first who, then what" - meaning that it was more important to get the right people involved in the organization than it was to fill roles that seemed to be priorities.  Not only was it key to get the right people involved, it was equally important to make sure that the people who were in a wrong fit were either moved to a different position, or moved out of the company altogether.

Those companies that practiced the principle found that they were able to more effectively meet the challenges of uncertain times because their focus was not on hiring for positions, but on hiring people with the right character, and the right competencies to navigate difficult situations.  When you have the right people involved from the beginning, they don't need to be micro-managed, because you trust that they can accomplish the necessary tasks to succeed.  They took time to make the right decisions and hire the best possible people up front, which is difficult to do, but pays off in the long run.

At the end of the chapter Collins distills it this way:  "The old adage 'People are your most important asset' is wrong.  People are not your most important asset.  The right people are."  I can't tell you how much this resonates with me and my understanding of my own life, and my own desires for leading the church.  I want to do ministry with people I can trust, with people who are committed in relationship to each other, and who are then committed to doing something great together.  A friend of mine says that it's important to process relationships before tasks, and I couldn't agree more.

I've made mistakes in this respect, sometimes looking at the gifts and talents of people as more important than their fit into the relationships of the church.  It's a mistake I don't want to make again, because it's such a difficult one to reverse.  But I am committed to being rigorous about making "who" decisions before "what" decisions.  Right now I'm privileged to be doing ministry with people I know are invested in their relationships to one another.  To take another step in our growth as a church will involve now getting all of those good, talented and committed people into positions where they can use their gifts and talents in the most productive ways.

If all goes well, tomorrow will be a chance to talk about confronting brutal facts while never losing faith.  It's always fun to look at brutal facts, right?

Monday Again

Good Morning!  I'm still drinking tea with honey trying to soothe my throat and hopefully regain my voice for next Sunday, since it didn't happen for yesterday.  I'm considering a vow of silence for a couple of days to let my voice rest.  I'm sure some people would be happy with that choice...

You know, I really enjoyed writing the bullet point list last week for the Monday update, so I think I might just adopt it as a permanent fixture:

• Thanks to Mark and Sheryl for stepping up and helping lead worship yesterday - my voice was an absolute wreck, and I hope I didn't drive anybody away with the scratchy vocals on the three songs I lead.
• I just love the feel of what's happening at New Life right now - new people every week who seem to really engage with what's happening, so that's very positive.  We definitely have some challenges ahead, but the momentum is great right now.
• Felt like, despite the voice, I preached my guts out yesterday.  I'm passionate about making sure that we all know that we have a choice in the path we take with our lives, and I'm even more passionate about making sure that we all choose the path that's going to lead to ever-increasing light and life in Christ!
• Had someone after service tell me they were glad their kids were there to hear the talk about choosing the right path - I've felt like the last couple weeks I've been able to communicate to our youth a little bit, which is always a good feeling.
• Yes, I really do like U2.  Yes, their new stuff too.  Secretly hoping to go to their concert at Gillette Stadium in September....I guess it's no longer "secretly" either, since it's on here :)
• If we have 100 people show up on Easter, we're going to have a space problem - that would be an AMAZING problem to have!
• I hate having sick kids...Aislinn is still knocked out with some kind of virus or something.  I'm hoping she'll be over it soon.  Jacob has managed to escape so far.
• My kids are really spectacular kids.  I'm so proud of the people they are becoming.  God has some great things in store for both of them, and I'm so glad he has given me the privilege and responsibility of leading them in right paths.
• The next two Sundays are going to be great - next week we talk redemption from the book of Ruth and then the following Sunday I'll be having a "conversation" with a good friend (Nick Fatato) about the intersections between Christ and culture.  That will be a really practical week for you to think about how your faith works itself out in the world we live in.

Grace and Peace.

Renovating our Hearts: Paths

This week we looked at the connection between the work God does in our hearts and the paths we walk with our feet, challenging us to "walk on" in the direction that God has called us to follow:  Download Paths

Level 5 Leadership

Good Morning!

I stayed up way too late reading last night, so I'm dragging just a little bit this morning.  I'm feeling like a second cup of coffee may be in order for me to get through to lunch...

Yesterday I mentioned that I wanted to take some time to blog through the concepts advanced by Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great.  So this morning's topic is centered on the leadership provided to these companies that made a leap from good to great.  Collins says, that he "gave the research team explicit instructions to downplay the role of top executives so that we could avoid the simplistic 'credit the leader' or 'blame the leader' thinking common today."  Despite that instruction, they found that leadership of a particular kind was critical to the success of these companies.

They developed a 5 tier hierarchy for categorizing leaders, from Level 1, a highly capable individual, to Level 5 - a leader who blends personal humility and professional will.  He contends that these leaders walked in the paradox of not thinking too highly of themselves, and yet having a perfect understanding of their mission to build something great.  The Level 5 leaders were not interested in being so great that the place would fall apart when they left, rather they were concerned with building a company that would have enduring greatness even after they were gone.

Because of that drive, the Level 5 leaders displayed a remarkable penchant for doing the "right thing" even if it was the hard thing to do, even if it meant shouldering their share of blame for the failures.  Collins describes this as the difference between a window and a mirror.  The comparison company executives often looked out the window to find someone else to blame for the issues.  The good to great leaders were willing to look in the mirror at themselves.  At the same time, they were quick to look out the window to give credit for successes to those with whom they worked.

So, since this quality is all about leadership, it was a "mirror moment" for me as I read it and then thought about its implications.  My own tendency is to be strong on the personal humility aspect of leadership and weak on the professional will aspect.  I have rarely struggled with taking my share of blame for our issues as a church, in fact, I sometimes wonder if I've taken too much blame, but that may be another conversation. 

But I haven't been as driven to see us become great as I would like myself to be, and as it seems that Collins thinks is necessary for us to be.  I heard a podcast a week or so ago (an ESPN production of all things) in which the football analyst being interviewed said, "Remember, never confuse hope with a plan."  That quote stuck with me.  I've been strong on the hope, and much weaker on the discipline to create a plan and stick to it.  In that sense I think I've managed to chase different concepts around, hoping to hit on one that would make me (and us) great.  I feel like I'm coming out of that mode now, which is good news for me personally and for us as a church.

Collins says there are no 10 steps to Level 5 leadership, but that there is an interrelationship between this kind of leadership and the other disciplines described in the book.  He encourages his readers to pursue those disciplines and then see where they take you in your leadership.  So, with that said, I'll close out this post on leadership by inviting you to come back tomorrow for a glance at the "first who, then what" principle.