peak leading
-
Beat Resistance
Want to have a laser-focused vision?
Learn who you are in Jesus and how He comforts/heals your pain.
Let the life of Jesus flow through that wound to others.
I just finished teaching a series on mission at Discovery Church. (Click for the podcasts).
Vision has 5 cyclical stages: Bothered, Prepare, Do, Focus, Celebrate.
Your pain is your passion. You misery is your mission. Your frustration reveals your focus. Don’t waste the pain!
Happy growing.
-
Why This Tribe Must Spread
That video was recorded in May 2010. And my passion has only grown. So has the precision of the process.
There needs to be a voice in the wilderness proclaiming this message.
I wrestled for years with questions like “What is the most precise way to define transformation for the Christian?” “How does Jesus make a difference in our lives that is different from someone who pursues another religion yet becomes more peaceful and loving?” I wrestled these and many others questions down to the ground in the midst of a multi-year desert. I scraped the bottom of my soul so you don’t have to. (Ultimately Jesus did that for us both
)What emerged is the identity, mission, and community paradigm. A secure identity in Jesus overflows to a clear mission and attracts/builds community. This is the process the Father used to build the Son. It’s the same He’ll use for you.
But it didn’t stop there. A process emerged that helped people discern where the enemy was seeking to thwart this process the Father uses. The retreats became the vehicle to help this process become “concrete” in the soul. My goal was to have a process that could articulate the transformation that is laid out for us in scripture with the precision of the academy, insight of a sage, and the passion of a practicioner.
- As I watch Christian masculinity be defined in terms of UFC fighting and aggressiveness I anguish. I see desperate men who are trying to prove something to the world. They are in need of the gospel of Jesus to be experienced in their core fears.
- As I watch Christian leadership emphasize excellence I anguish. I see desperate leaders who are trying to prove to the world their worthiness. They are in need of the gospel to do a deep work in their hearts so they are content to overflow.
- As I watch Christian business leaders search desperately for mission I anguish. I see desperate men and women who are hardwired for action. They are longing to connect the dots between who they are and what they are to do in the world.
- As I watch Christian ladies be defined in terms of the global scandal of image management I anguish. I see desperate women who are longing to experience Christ as the defining reality of their lives over any other relationship they have.
There is a life that is free of proving, judging, suffocating under felt inadequacies, pretenses, and hurts. This life is possible. I’m dedicating mine to make sure you experience that reality.
Hope to see you at an event sometime soon.
-
Identity And Work Happiness- pt4
We all judge. We all read motives into others that aren’t there.
Hopefully our life trajectory is on a track to do that less and less.
Nothing will destroy and kill your ability to enjoy relationships at work like judging others.
You spend a lot of time with these people. Wouldn’t it be better to see them as people? Broken. Hurting.
Receive grace in Jesus for yourself. Pass it on them.
-
Identity And Work Happiness- pt3
Frustrations. Coworkers.
Got somebody in mind?
When you drop the need to prove you can be aware of the frustrations you have towards those you work with.
Let’s not be shallow. Drill deep on why they frustrate you.
Why does their inadequacy have to frustrate you and steal your joy?
Because you’re depleted. When you have nothing to prove to them you can approach them differently. You can approach them from the overflow of who you are in Jesus rather than scraping bottom trying to suck something from their soul.
This isn’t pink ponies and fairy tale hype.
1. Focus on how you feel towards that coworker.
2. Isolate one action in your mind you can do to see them as a human being with struggles.
3. Do that action to serve them.When your identity is secure in Jesus you can overflow to the world.
Comments?
-
Identity And Work Happiness
First there’s moving towards work you can be passionate about. Check here.
Then there’s learning to be happy where you are, even if it’s for a short season.
The first factor that gets in the way of your happiness is…wait for it…you.
You woke up today needing validation. You need justification. You want to be noticed. You want to be recognized. You think your boss is a jerk. (That might be true.) But what’s killing your happiness at work is that there is a deep need your work can’t meet.
Most likely your co-worker won’t listen to you and then respond…”you’re so worthy!” “your performance blows my mind” “I celebrate you…just you…and that you are here right now”.
And you may not be aware of it but you would love to hear something from them that would calm your internal anxiety.
Doubt this? Ask yourself:
1. What am I trying to prove to others at work?
2. Who do I need to believe that I am worthy, capable, etc?Learn to get this from Jesus. Invite Him into your need. You will show up to work not needing validation. (Though you can still enjoy receiving it.)
You will drop your search for validation from others.
Thoughts?
-
You Force Because You’re Insecure
Two scenarios:
1. A child that chooses to be mean or selfish.
2. A teen that argues back. Forcefully.Do you…
Ignore the behavior?
Use force and manipulation to get their behavior “in-line”?
ORAcknowledge that their behavior makes you insecure and recognize them as a unique person with a developing identity.
Please don’t give your children consequences attached to the Bible or church attendance. It’s much better if they individuate while at home when they can process with you.
Parents with a secure identity think with greater clarity in the heat of the moment. The issue at hand is more about you than them. Has anyone ever taught you how to have a secure identity in Jesus?
Comments?
-
Identity and Pastoring (Spiritual Leadership too)
I talk often about identity. Your core. Who you are. Just look around the blog.
I want to move one layer out from core identity to the next layer and apply it to pastoring (or any spiritual leadership).
I’ll go first.
I am God’s worthy son. That is the core of who I am. You may express your core with a slightly different nuance but the chief idea is that your identity (who you are) is separate from your mission (what you do).
A lot of spiritual leaders live an existence where they are not able to chunk these and process their life in a healthy way. Their identity is often wrapped up in their mission.
One of the clearest ways you can recognize this happening in the church world: the role of pastoring has moved from a family metaphor to a business metaphor.
I know as a pastor I have to operate or delegate with a certain level of business proficiency. (I have led in capital campaigns totaling millions of dollars.) But the metaphor of a parent should trump the metaphor of CEO for spiritual leadership.
What this means:
- You lead the staff like a family NOT like an organization. Yes this is messier. But healthier and better. I’ve led multiple staff teams. I’ve led paid and volunteer staff. Part-time and full-time. The family style of leadership is best.
- You lead the church like a family NOT like an organization. You might put off the building campaign if you ask this question: What’s the best decision to bless the church? (That question completely changed how we launched Discovery Church.) As a pastor I should challenge our church to step out. I should also comfort them. A generation ago pastors overwhelmingly comforted the church. Now the pendulum has swung the other way. Somedays each tweet can be a contest to see who can push harder.
Leading the church as a family doesn’t mean you have to be naive as a leader. We are to be cunning as a serpent and harmless as a dove. Think of a healthy father or mother. They will be relationally savvy and strategic. But they will lead their “family” to do what’s best for the “family”.
The future leaders of the church will learn to lead from who they are. They will not succumb to the pressure of others to “prove” their leadership by running in a business role. The church will return back to the family metaphor for spiritual leadership. It’s in the Bible
Comment away…
-
Identity and Doubts of Spiritual Leaders
Reality check: Many pastors and spiritual leaders do not experience what they invite people to enjoy.
Options:
1. Christianity isn’t as good as it’s been sold. Just as Jesus felt abandoned on the cross, we participate in the crucifixion and know this same feeling of abandonment. Hello disillusionment because you are here to stay.
2. Just keep hyping. Keep chugging along believing you will breakdown or breakthrough. But to this I say: Breakthrough to what? You will not slide into a renewed identity. You will not force your way into it either. A secure identity in Jesus is an experience of life you learn to receive.
3. We acknowledge there are deserts. There are disillusionments. There are seasons where we may feel abandoned by God. And we know we await a later greater reality. But we can have heaven. Now. Christ invites us to experience “times of refreshing” as Acts describes. This reality hinges on learning to experience who you are in Christ as your foundation. Your experience of your identity trumps the joy/pain of your mission and relationships.
I don’t know if you feel abandoned or not. One Catholic mystic said we all go through stages of: Wonder, Bravado, Disillusionment, Shattering, and then Glory. That seems to be true.
Your doubts are a part of you. Don’t stuff them. Invite Jesus into them. There is life on the other side of your disillusionment. Don’t believe the skeptics.
Comment away…
-
Connecting The Dots
1. The enemy seeks to threaten your identity with a lie.
2. That lie is the clue to where God wants to build your identity in Jesus.
3. That place where your identity is built reveals your mission.Your misery is your mission. Your pain is your passion. Your burden is your blessing to the world. Your frustration reveals where you focus.
This gives me insight into how God’s life flows through me in parenting, being married, pastoring, being a professor, and leading retreats.
You can have the same insight too. Start with the pain and lies.
Thoughts?
-
What Fuels You?
What fuels your mission?
Imagine a teacher. She’s not so passionate about teaching as she is that her students obey rules.
Somewhere obeying the rules protected her heart. Or not obeying them cut her heart.
I could imagine a 1000 scenarios. Maybe she got abused. Her father lashed out at her for walking the wrong way home. He said it was her fault she got caught in the alley. She bought into a lie. That lie? Obeying rules keeps you safe. The fuel for her false mission comes from a lie.
Most people’s missions are fueled by a lie. For me pastoring was fueled by a lie. Have you considered the source of motivation for your mission?
Comment away…