Equipper Blog

“God can work by what means he will; by a scandalous, domineering, self-seeking preacher; but it is not his ordinary way. Foxes and wolves are not nature’s instruments to generate sheep. I never knew much good done to souls by any pastors, but such as preached and lived in the power of love, working by clear convincing light, and both managed by a holy, lively seriousness. You must bring fire, if you would kindle fire… Speak as loud as you will, and make as great a stir as you will, it will be all in vain to win men’s love to God and goodness, till their hearts be touched with his love and amiableness, which usually must be done by the instrumentality of the preacher’s love… If love be the sum and fulfilling of the law, love must be the sum and fulfilling of our ministry.”- Richard Baxter, The Practical Works of Richard Baxter

What is it you actually do as a pastor or ministry leader? Is it your job to teach others and preach sermons? To administrate various programs or ministries? To lead the elders or deacons? If you view yourself as a teacher first and foremost you will certainly teach those in your church. If you view yourself as a CEO, you will certainly manage the affairs of the church. But will you necessarily love those in the church?

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A paradox has emerged in this new millennium: people have enhanced quality of life, but at the same time they are adding to their stress levels by taking on more than they have resources to handle. It’s as though their eyes were bigger than their stomachs.

– David Allen, Getting Things Done

It’s more than likely that you’ve heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking about “busyness” in the last year or two. Slightly less likely, but still entirely possible, is that you’ve heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking on “gluttony” during the same time.

It’s highly unlikely that the two were connected. But maybe they should have been.

Why do we say yes to so much? Is it because we are guilt-ridden, co-dependent angst monkeys who lack the willpower to say no? No. We say no to a million things a day. Usually to things that are good for us, but still…when we want to, we know how to say no just fine, thank you.

Is it because we have a drive towards self justification that works itself out in our work and an ever-increasing load of commitments through which we seek to earn the favor of others and God? In part, yes…

But maybe it also has something to do with our appetites. You know, our appetites for recognition and “importance.” To be liked, appreciated, admired. Even our appetite to “get things done.” And honestly, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But like all things in this broken world, left unchecked by the Spirit and un-submitted to God, our appetite to be liked and our desire to achieve will run out of control.

I’ve been thinking about busyness as though it is a problem to be managed – increase my productivity and I could, of course, accept and keep more commitments, more on my plate… more to feed my ego.

Maybe the problem with busyness isn’t it. Maybe it’s me. Me and my ego and pride.

Conceived of this way, busyness isn’t an issue of time management and productivity, it’s an issue of desire. When is enough, enough? When am I doing enough good things through which that God-given desire to feel productive and useful in this world can be fulfilled? When do I cross the line between finding satisfaction in the good day’s work I put in and trying to find my identity through an ever-increasing load of ego-enhancing commitments?

I spend a lot of time thinking about how people can be more productive in ministry. And don’t get me wrong, I want to continue to work on productivity/time management and all the rest. But until I work through the inner issues of why I try to do so much, all the productivity hacks in the word really just add up to enabling.

In other words, most days I don’t need any more help being productive or managing the stress of work. I think I need help in managing my appetite for applause and the stress of opportunity.

I fear my busyness is simply a sign of my gluttony.

-by Bob Hyatt

Director of Equipping and Spiritual Formation

How the Learning Pyramid Impacts
My Preaching and Teaching
– by J.R. Briggs

You’ve probably seen the Learning Pyramid before. Since learning about the pyramid a few years ago, it has been a tremendous tool in my preparation and presentation when preaching a sermon, teaching a class or equipping ministry leaders in a training event. Sadly, for the first several years I focused too much on how I was teaching and not enough on how people learn. Even more, I noticed how often I focused almost entirely on just talking at people. No wonder people couldn’t remember or put into practice what I was teaching!

Of course, as the National Training Laboratories has found in their research, the more we push down into the pyramid, the more people retain what they’ve learned. In my teaching preparation I often pull out the pyramid and think, “How far down the pyramid can I push this teaching?” I don’t get down to the bottom every single time, but I absolutely make sure I don’t remain only in the 5%/Lecture category. (Sometimes, in my more courageous and creative moments, I’ve wondered if we turned the pyramid completely upside down how people’s learning process and retention would be impacted).

As you think about your preaching and teaching, consider the following questions in each level of the pyramid:

Lecture: what are one or two ways I could increase the effectiveness and engagement of what I am communicating to people?

Reading: how am I encouraging people to read in the midst of the teaching (the biblical text, a quote on the screen, a handout, etc)? What are ways I could include reading materials, either during my teaching or as a take home resource?

Audio Visual: are there natural and creative ways I can use videos or songs to illustrate this point?

Demonstration: instead of simply teaching on this abstract concept, can I demonstrate it right on the spot? Can I call a volunteer up and simulate a role-playing exercise? Or can I give a specific and concrete example of someone who has recently lived out this concept in our community?

Discussion group: rather than listening to me communicate, can we carve our time and space for people to interact with each other? If so, what will they discuss? What questions or texts can I give them as prompts to their discussion? And what will they do with that information?

Practice by doing: Are there ways in which people can live out and practice what they just learned from me in the next 5 minutes? In the next 30 minutes? By the end of the day? What challenge(s) can I give them to attempt this?

Teaching others: Is there opportunity for someone courageous enough to come up and teach (or summarize) what they’ve learned in the process? If they’ve not done it effectively, how can we celebrate their willingness, while also offering suggestion or correction? If people have done it effectively, how can we affirm and celebrate both their willingness and ability to do something difficult in the moment?

One of the primary differences between those who make it for the long haul in leading and ministering to others and those who don’t is the level of self-differentiation they are able to achieve. Self-differentiation is the ability to separate one’s intellectual or emotional functioning from that of family or other groups. In other words, it is the ability to know who you are without reference to who others believe you to be. This happens when your identity is rooted in something other than the transitory—your job or title, the esteem with which others hold you or the way you feel about your current performance. For the Christian leader, self-differentiation depends on our view of ourselves as the beloved of God, children of a God who cares for us because of who we are and accepts us because of what Christ has done.

Leading in a church setting is especially challenging for our self-differentiation. We’re often expected to respond not just to the needs but also to the wants and preferences of a very diverse community at all stages of spiritual development. We’re looked up to by some and looked down on by others; we’re seen as the solution by some and the problem by others. In all of this, we’re dealing with our own spiritual development and with our identity as leaders and members of the very communities we’re also trying to lead. Trying to be “all things to all people” is a sound missiological principle, but doing so without first having a grounded core identity—dependent not on what people think of us but on what God thinks of us—will quickly have us running in twelve different directions at once and losing our mission orientation. “Doing God’s will means at times resisting the loving appeal of nervous friends who offer us another, safer agenda”—or resisting the nervous preferences of our community or fellow leaders.

One of the things that has been most valuable to me in my quest to be the leader God means me to be is: Knowing the difference between to and for.

Elders face a constant temptation to feel responsible for their community, their spiritual well-being, their marriages and their continued presence and involvement with their community. The problem is that as a community grows, as more and more marriages struggle (and perhaps fail) and as some decide to walk away from your church (and even the faith), that weight on your shoulders increases exponentially. Feeling responsible for others when we have no control over their behavior quickly leads to leaders who either try to control the behavior through whatever means necessary or who burn out under the load.

The good news is that you are not responsible for anyone in your community. As an elder, you have responsibilities to them. You have the responsibility to love them, to teach them, to carefully and lovingly correct and exhort and encourage them, but you are not responsible for what they choose to do with that. Your responsibility includes doing all you can to point them to Jesus, but it puts the results firmly in their choices and the work of the Holy Spirit.

The same holds true with the overall community. We tend to take responsibility both when things are going well and when they aren’t, when we’re growing and when things feel stagnant and dead. In both, we overestimate both our influence and our responsibility. As leaders, we don’t make the church grow—God does. Our responsibility is to discharge our duties faithfully as elders and then leave the results up to God. We are responsible to our communities to be the best leaders we can be, to offer the best we can in terms of spurring others on toward love and good deeds and sounding a clear call to be the church Jesus had in mind. Ultimately, God is responsible for his church and its members, not us. The outcomes of our efforts rest in his hands, not on our shoulders.

– by Bob Hyatt

(This is an adapted excerpt from Eldership and the Mission of God: Equipping Teams for Faithful Church Leadership– Check it out here)