Priorities

Work     School     Marriage     Family     Friends     Church     Hobbies

In what order would you put these?  When was the last time you thought about what is the most important to you, and refocused on those things? 

When was the last time you thought about what was the most important thing to the people with whom you are communicating?  How can you refocus on those things?

How would your sermon fare on a Reality Competition Show?

I really like reality competition television.  Mike and I passively sit in judgment over the dinner made out of cracker crumbs and seaweed and the clumsy waltz featuring the aging television star.  It is easy to be critical when you aren't the one being forced to create haute couture out of toilet paper and gum, MacGyver style.

Recently, however, we had reason to be disappointed in a contestant of Design Star on HGTV.  Given the task of designing a room for a little boy, whose very basic requests were "locker room" and "bunk bed," she managed to design a sad space with neither feature.  She created what she thought was good design, not what the child (or his parents) expected.  Though he responded politely during the reveal, the last camera shot is of the little boy with his back turned to the room.  It was as if he was so disappointed he couldn't pretend, so he just looked away.

This episode made me think.  Are we designing church services for ourselves, or for the guests?  When was the last time you asked a guest what they thought about a church service?  Not if the coffee was hot or the people were friendly (hopefully both were), but do you know if they understood the message, knew how to apply it, and felt some connection to God they didn't feel before they got there?  Do you think about these things as you are planning your services?  How about the words of the worship songs?  

Here's an example of an old hymn that you might sing in your church:

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;

And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;

And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

Out of context, this could be pretty freaky imagery to the unchurched visitor.  Fountains of blood? Drowning sinners?

The contemporary version cleans it up a bit, but there is still the same basic imagery:

There is a fountain full of grace and it flows from Emanual's veins
It came and it healed me
It came and refreshed me
It came and washed my sins away!

When you plan and practice your worship music, whether traditional or contemporary, do you think about the lyrics from an outsider's perspective?  What language could you use between songs to explain it to a guest?

Listen to the culture through your guests, friends, the media, and apply what they are longing for to your church services.  Give them the basics - a spiritual bunk bed and lockers.  Design a service around the foundational elements of the faith so that guests won't be disappointed.

Listen up, you brood of vipers!

It is important to consider the opening to your message.  The words (including songs, videos, stories, and announcements in a church setting) that precede your sermon/presentation can open minds and hearts to what you are going to say.  The first line you speak helps people to decide how much more they want to hear, like the opening line of a sales pitch.

John the Baptizer was preparing the way for Jesus, but John wasn’t the storyteller Jesus was.  Many people may be so taken aback by the whole "brood of vipers" thing John says in Matthew 3:7 that they miss the really good advice he gives that brood in the next verse.  I love the way the NLT puts it: "Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.  Don't just say to each other, "We're safe..."  (Matthew 3:8-9a).

Every once in a while, we need to shake things up and tell people how it really is.  John was pretty good at this.  But in today's boardroom, worksite, or church, we can't call people a brood of vipers very often to get their attention (and if you do, you may end up with your head on a platter). 

There are better ways to get people's attention.  We should be concerned with our opener.  How do we get people interested in what we have to say?  What’s your opener?

[It matters too, that once you have their attention (as John the Baptizer undoubtedly did), you have something interesting to say…something that could possibly change their lives, that no one else has said to them in just that way before, that truly makes a difference.]

Communicating for Change

According to John Kotter, "People change what they do less because they are given analysis that shifts their thinking than because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings."

When attempting to motivate change in others, are you communicating to people's minds or hearts?

Kotter, J. P. (2002). The heart of change: Real-life stories of how people change their organizations. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Cats & Other Annoyances: A Leadership Lesson

My cat taught me a leadership lesson this weekend.  Since I've given her a really good life for nineteen years, I figure it's about time she gave back, but it was not in a way I would have hoped.

For the past year, KaLeo (who was born in Hawaii, where this means "the voice," because she's really chatty) has become an alarm clock.  At around 5:30 a.m., she starts complaining that we are not up yet.  Mike gets up and pours her some milk and begins getting ready for work.  He leaves after 6 am, at which time she comes in and gets started on me.  She tries to pull down the covers with her claws, pats me on the face, and walks all over me, all the while meowing incessantly.  I finally succumb, rolling out of bed to give her water and food and open the blinds (so that she can have a sunbeam later).  By the time I exit the shower, she is already fast asleep in the guest room, her morning task of annoying me beyond measure accomplished.  Each day, I find her in the same spot when I return home nine hours later.  This has become our routine.

Sunday, Mike was out of town, so I was the object of her attention at 5:30 a.m.  She would not leave me alone for almost two hours, while I stubbornly refused to move from my bed.  I spanked her and tossed her from the bed, to which she immediately returned to continue the harassment.  Why do cats not understand weekends?  Finally, at 7:20 a.m., my alarm clock rang and I exited the bed.

Later, sitting in church, I was feeling a bit guilty for my reaction that morning.  God spoke to me in that moment.  “Maybe I wanted you up at 5:30 a.m.  Maybe I sent a cat to annoy you because you won’t get up on your own to be with me.”  That’s the truth.  I didn’t think God was awake at 5:30, let alone want me to be.  I apologized as best I could to KaLeo by giving her a lot of attention when I got home, and I apologized to God for not wanting to get up early enough to meet with him.

Monday morning, KaLeo waited until 6:30 to begin harassing me.  I looked at the alarm clock, wondering why it had not gone off at 6:20, then realized that I had forgotten to change it from Sunday’s wake-up time.  Had KaLeo not wakened me, I would have been late for work.  Yesterday’s annoyance was now today’s salvation.

What if we looked at all of the people in our lives like God wanted me to look at KaLeo?  What if, instead of reacting in anger or disappointment, we were thankful for their annoying behavior, because it brings us closer to God?  And, as communicators, how can we react positively to people who seem to be annoyances, but may actually be God’s messengers?  I have asked God for wisdom to be able to understand and persevere through “annoyances,” and to teach me to respond with joy.  I hope you will as well.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
                                                                         ~James 2-5

Make an A+ on Your Next Presentation

"A successful principled presentation is the offspring of 60 percent planning and development prior to the event, 20 percent delivery proficiency, and 20 percent environmental and situation-specific factors, such as the setting, the audience, technology glitches, and so on." *

In terms of a grade, you would make an F if you only focused on one of these things. You can have the right graphics, videos, music, and props and get a 20 on your presentation.  You can be an excellent speaker - an entertainer, even (read this http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2011/spring/whatdoesgodthink.html for more on that) - but you will only get a 20 on your presentation for proficient delivery.  But, thorough preparation alone will also get you a failing grade.  Planning and development delivers a grade of 60. 

So, how do you not only get a passing grade, but an A+ for your presentation, whether it is to staff, congregation, or customer?  You have to excel at all three.  Planning is important, delivery is important, and the environment is important.  Overemphasizing one creates a subpar presentation.  Focusing on all three puts you at the top of the class.

How are you focusing on all three for your next presentation/sermon?  Where could you improve? 

Putting Flesh and Blood on the Data

Arianna Huffington, recently ranked 10th on Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business 2011, offered excellent advice to those of us who desire to communicate more creatively in the church.  When asked what book has changed the way she sees things, Huffington's choice was Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story by Peter Guber, in which 

He writes about the magic that arises when you take relatively soulless information like poll data, facts, and figures and channel them into a story with a purpose -- in the process putting flesh and blood on the data. So I guess it didn't so much change me as provide an eloquent affirmation of the power of using narrative to connect with people.

Sometimes we communicate the facts of the gospel without putting "flesh" on it.  Using creative stories can put the facts into context - the context in which it first existed and the context in which the listener can apply it - and help your communication to connect.

Trendy Churches

Last week there was a report in the ASTD Learning Executives Network newsletter, LX Briefing, about UPS.  The article stated that "ninety-nine percent of UPS's advertising dollars are spent using social media outlets or other Internet-based sites." Editor Ruth Weiss tells us that "UPS—which hires up to 50,000 part-time and seasonal workers per year and relies heavily on young workers to fill many of those positions—is using social media tools to recruit new hires. Matt Lavery, managing director of talent acquisition at UPS, realized that to reach a larger group in the prospective employment pool, UPS needed to go where those between 18 and 25 years old were looking: Facebook and Twitter."

In this week's news, McDonald's is spending a billion dollars (according to Forbes) "to make its stores more appealing to its customers." They want their customers to hang out in their stores, like in Panera and Starbucks. This is another example of how corporations ride current trends (the success of the community-friendly atmosphere of Starbucks) in an attempt to attract and retain customers. (The difference is, Starbucks/Panera doesn't have a PlayPlace or serve greasy fast food. This is an entirely different customer, whom you are not going to win over with pleather seats and soothing, earthy green and dijon paint colors.)

Every leader must choose which trends are useful for their market. Will a coffee-shop atmosphere attract new people to your church? Will social media? Will either keep people there for discipleship and accountability? Are we riding a trend because it works for someone else, or because it will help us to creatively community the gospel in our context?

Just for fun (and a bit of truth), watch this video: What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church? A Parable

27 Square Inch Bag

I wrote a post about creative communication.  Then I read Andrea Swarthout's blog posting from Japan, and she did a much better job of demonstrating creative communication than what I had written.  In 111 words, she told a story, caused reflection, and pressed for action.  That's creative communication.

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27 square inch bag

Tomorrow is the 2 month anniversary of the earthquake in Japan.

Tonight they had a story on the news about families who lived within the danger zone around the power plants. They were finally allowed to go back to their homes today by a caravan bus. They were only allowed to take out what they could carry in a 27 square inch bag (about the size of a small garbage bag). They were given 2 hours. So what about you? If you had been removed from your home for 2 months, and were given 2 hours, what would you put in your bag?

Please remember to keep Japan in your prayers.

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Through a Mirror Darkly

"When a team works together in an other-centered manner, it mirrors the creativity and mutual regard that is derived from God himself" (The Leadership Bible: Contemporary Leadership Principles from God's Word, p. 383).  


Most of us would not say that our teams are perfect reflections of the Trinity.  We are a dim reflection of the unity and creativity that God created us to be in His image.  How can we become more like that image?  In what ways can we be more other-centered to bring our team to a true reflection of God's "creativity and mutual regard"?