Effective vs. What? Part 1

Efficiency has always been important to me. I remember as a child thinking of efficiency. My room was my greatest laboratory for efficiency. The way I arranged my room had to be in such a way that eliminated mess, prevented extra effort, and created the most comfort. I distinctly remember the placement of my night stand was crucial.

Getting dressed in the morning was an exercise of efficiency. I would wonder, "What is the most logical and efficient system for clothing myself after a shower?" It is obvious right!? Underwear, socks, shirt, pants, shoes. Duh. But I took it a step further. "How could I arrange my closet to facilitate this kind of dressing pattern?" Yeah. I was a special child.

I do not know if this was an attempt to have some sort of control in an out-of-control world or if I was just straight crazy. What I do know is that I cling to that still. I still measure success or failure in work or home based on how much I can do with what I have been given.

This psychosis went to a whole new level when I made Christ the Lord of my life. I placed a lot of pressure on myself to be the most effective Christian I could be. This was of utmost importance! Then I read this passage in God's Word:

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

- 1 Peter 1.5-8

How do I live up to this standard!? This quickly turned my faith-based salvation into a heretical works-based salvation. Working my hardest to please God with my efficiency plagues much of my life. That's why I was rattled when Doug Fields at NYWC said this:

"You don't need to be super talented to be super effective." - Doug Fields

What? He is mistaken, right!? In order to be effective, we need to be the most talented, hard-working, well-rounded person. Is this not what we want around our teenagers our families?

How have you tried to earn approval from God?

Whose Accomplishment?

Are you tired of trying? Had enough with all this striving?

What they did . . . 

Adam tended a garden. Noah built a boat. Abraham fathered a nation. David built a kingdom. Solomon built the Temple. Paul planted churches. 

Who God says they are . . . 

Adam is good. Noah is righteous. Abraham is faithful. David is chosen. Solomon is wise. Paul is sent.

What we do . . . 
Love. Read. Pray. Attend. Serve. Sacrifice. Sing. Speak. Sin. Forget. Fail. Injure. Hate.

Who God says we are . . .
Beloved. Known. Heard. Present. Sent. Sacrifice. Charming. Forgiven. Remembered. Victor. Heir.

You are not the sum of your actions. We cannot keep telling ourselves that we need to do a little bit more. We are His. That must be enough.

"We cannot find our significance through what we do. We find our significance through who God says we are." - Harvey Carey

How can we be reminded of WHO we ARE over the noise of WHAT we DO?

Read. 

Here's a good start from Donald Miller's Storyline Blog: My Identity in Christ. Let these titles sink in. Memorize the passages. Allow these names to define you.

Cease.

Nothing reminds us of how much we rely on Him like resting from work and allowing life to go on without us. Take a vacation, a day off, a fifteen minute break.

Gather.

Spend time with friends who love you for who you are. Surrounding yourself with people who could care less what you have to offer is refreshing.

You are not what you can accomplish. You are what God has accomplished. 

Looking BEYOND

One of the greatest aspects of National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC) is how the Youth Specialties (YS) team affirms our calling to youth ministry. There is nothing more encouraging than someone saying in various ways "What you do matters!"

Mark Matlock, the president of YS, during the first Big Room of NYWC challenged us to look BEYOND. The busyness of ministry has a way of forcing us to continually focus on the minutia: the right settings on the presentation software, the water level of the Keurig, the trash taken out in the youth room. Matlock and YS called us to look BEYOND those things to the bigger picture.

"We are running offense and defense for teenagers to have access to the Word of God."

What a terrific description of youth ministry! Citing Matthew 19, he explained that there is so much that can hinder a child, teenager, and adult from having access to Jesus. Our job as youth pastors is to defend that access and advance that access to those who are blocked, indifferent, or rejected.

We have to look BEYOND the overwhelming busyness of ministry and be reminded that we are guardians. We are guardians of precious, life-altering news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are guardians of a broken, messy movement called the Church. We are guardians of a dangerous, radical way of life that is to be lived out in our homes, our schools, and our workplaces.

How can we look BEYOND?

Change our measure of success. 
Are you measuring your success by how many teenagers are present at programs or how much they are transformed into Christ's likeness over time? When you sit back to say you've succeeded, what is it that has happened? Jesus' measure of success was not the number of His followers or positive responses to His teachings and miraculous works. "Go and sin no more." "Not so with you." "I have come to seek and to save that which was lost." How do you measure success?

Remind ourselves and our teams. 
Can you say in one sentence what you are seeking to do in your ministry? Mosaic Youth Ministry exists to connect teenagers to God. It is not easy, but it is simple. We were all far from God at one point. To be connected means to be daily yielding our will and receiving His grace. How can you remind yourself and your team why you do what you do?

Celebrate successes.
Stop regularly to celebrate all that God is doing through your ministry. Ask your team for stories of "wins" they have experienced. Share "wins" that you hear with the rest of your team. Nothing energizes a team like knowing the team is making strides toward the goal. How do you share stories with your team?

"Looking BEYOND my messy desk, out the dusty window, and to the beautiful horizon reminds me that we are not the sum of our tasks."

Looking BEYOND my messy desk, out the dusty window, and to the beautiful horizon reminds me that we are not the sum of our tasks. We are made for more. We are the guardians and messengers of the greatest news and adventure on earth. How do you look BEYOND?

Dangerous Activity

I love to write. I love to think out loud. 

I find my most creative problem-solving happens when a trusted friend helps sort through my thoughts. That is why blogging has always been attractive to me. I read blogs and find them captivating. They engage my mind and heart. 

However, blogging is dangerous. In a world of opinion sharing and reactionary comments, it is dangerous to think out loud. This has always fueled my procrastination.

In a world of opinion sharing and reactionary comments, it is dangerous to think out loud.

I can remain silent.

We read and judge without thoroughly understanding the thoughts or the thinker. My ideas are mine. They may remain unheard, but they will not be misunderstood. Being misunderstood is dangerous in a world of tweets and texts. We carefully craft our image so no one could possibly think ill of us. We do our virtual eggshell walking and hope not to make anyone upset.

I can get louder.

If we can just offer the right combination of words or a perfectly cutting meme, those who have it all wrong will finally see the error of their ways! Every post is a chance to change someone's mind. Each comment is an opportunity to set their thinking straight. Unfortunately, this hardly works. The fight is pointless. No one is convinced to capitulate by lobbing idealogical grenades from behind our fortified computer screens. 

"No one is convinced to capitulate by lobbing idealogical grenades from behind our fortified computer screens."

What is the common theme? 

Fear. We fear that we could be misunderstood. We fear those we care for are wrong. We fear that we might be wrong. Fear drives us to do some crazy, sad things. 

What is an alternative? 

Humility

My insecurities express themselves in over-confidence. I know. It does not make sense, but that is my heart's reaction to fear. Admitting our weakness paints a giant bullseye on our backs. But humility drives out fear. What if we admitted we may not have all the answers? What if we came to the realization that were ALL in process? When we start from a place of "You might be right; I might be wrong," our defenses go down and our willingness to understand goes up. 

Courage

What are you scared of? I fear a lot. Fear of failure. Fear of being misunderstood. Fear of hurting those I love. Courage is not ignoring fear. Courage is recognizing fear and acting anyway. If those fears were managed, tamed, put in their place, could sharing our ideas be more possible?

"Courage is recognizing fear and acting anyway."

So here it is: I am blogging. I am exploring these ideas. I am no expert. I could be wrong. I WILL be wrong sometimes. Explore with me. Be my sounding board. Offer perspective. 

You can silently judge me. I will not hear it. You can angrily correct me. I will hear it. Or you could be a part of a conversation that leads us to a better place.