Conduct

Working at Panera Bread because the new offices don't yet have internet or phone access.  After sitting here for hours, in the same booth sipping my iced tea that I paid way too much for, I am beginning to lose my patience.  Not because of any circumstance necessarily, but honestly because I have so much to do and all I can think of is how certain body parts are crying out in pain from this booth, and how I am going to smell like toasted focaccia bread when I get home.  :-)  

As my patience grows thin, I am reminded of a scripture I heard this morning in Philippians:

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.  Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel..." Philippians 1:27

Paul wrote this in a letter to the Philippians, reminding them that they are to live all of the qualities of Christ whether he (Paul, their "pastor") is present or not.  Qualities like compassion, kindness, patience, gentleness, humility, honor, hope, faith and love, to name just a few.  I am embarrassed to say that several times today I failed to uphold more than one of those qualities. 

Today, it seems that Paul was writing to me directly.  Do I conduct my life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ no matter what I am doing?  Do I represent Christ the same when I am "working" as children's pastor at People's Church as I do when I am at home or with my friends and family - or sitting at Panera Bread, or in rush hour traffic?  Hmmm...good question.  How about you?

Moving Too Fast

Does it seem that the world is moving too fast lately?  Examples:

• My son is less than a month away from getting his drivers permit.
• My 44th birthday was 2 days ago - where did 43 years go?
  
• The first week of my new job as Children's Pastor at Peoples Church has already passed.
• My last post was 16 days ago...ugh.
• It's already 11:45 and I have accomplished very little.

Time is racing by!  Lately I have been feeling the heaviness of how short our time is on this earth.  

'He who testifies to all these things says it again "I am on my way.  I will be there soon."' Rev 22:20 The Msg.

I am blown away by how much there is to do, and it begs the question - Why is everything so urgent?  Immediate deadlines:  relaunch of Peoples Church including total overhaul of children's ministry by August 17th (remember, I came on staff July 15th). Over at LC.tv the Tulsa campus is launching a 7th experience this weekend (decided last week).  School starts earlier than ever in less than 3 weeks.  Blog updates, emails, telephone calls, newsletters all need to happen to relay the urgency of God's plan.

Why do we do this to ourselves?  Why retool an entire church?  Why launch more experiences, pushing staff and resources to the limit?  Why set deadlines that are seemingly impossible to achieve?  Why not just slow down and maybe smell the roses a bit?

Why?  Because God is moving faster, and we have to move with Him.  As each day passes, we are one day closer to His return and it is our responsibility to make sure that every ear has heard the Truth of hope through Jesus Christ.  Each night, as I lay my head on my pillow (right after I remind myself that I need to fit some time in to wash the linens this weekend), I pray for the energy and stamina to keep up with the One who is omnipresent, and ask that since I can't be at all places at one time, that He move me purposely, albeit swiftly, towards His destination.  I pray that as things swirl at a pace that few people could have ever imagined, He keep my focus on the one true purpose...to share the love of Jesus Christ to those whose paths I cross.

Leadership Attracts Talent

Funny how things come full circle. More than a week ago I posted about talent, and how I admire talented people. This past week, I was amazed and more than a bit challenged by several of the extremely talented people I admire. How did I get so lucky to be in the presence of such genius?

A little background: Each year LifeChurch.tv presents a sermon series called At the Movies. A few years ago we began decorating the campus lobbies with various movie scenes - which quickly became a "competition" between campuses to see who could decorate the best. Well, the Tulsa campus has lead the pack the past 2 years, and this year looks to be no exception.

I have been blessed to be a part of this tradition since its inception 3 years ago...blessed to put in 4-18+ hour days in a row; blessed to twist vines and make cave walls and tree trunks out of butcher paper until my fingertips bleed: blessed to navigate the scissor lift within inches of the freshly papered walls while my legs shake from fatigue; blessed to maintain some measure of decorum (albeit not much) when I find out we need 1,000 more feet of butcher paper.

Blessed to watch a vision come together; blessed to see dozens of people put all of their heart and soul into something bigger than themselves; blessed to watch the faces of those who come into the church for the first time during this series; blessed to be a part of what will hopefully be hundreds of changed lives; blessed to be surrounded with talent beyond my imagination.

I asked myself many times during those 18 hour days - What will happen to me when I leave this place and all these gifted people to venture where God has me next? Will I ever be able to be a part of something so big and so amazing again...after all, I have no Talent! Honestly, I became very afraid! Then, at 2:00 in the morning as the Associate Pastor and I were 20 feet in the air hanging the last of the paper, it came to me...Share the vision, and the talent will come. A truly humble leader will attract talent.

That's why the Tulsa campus of LifeChurch.tv does what it does so well...it is staffed with humble hearts gifted with leadership that the people follow. Each weekend there are close to 300 people who volunteer to make 6 experiences happen with excellence. Every time we put out the call for people to serve the community through missions or serve each other through life groups, they answer. When we ask them to help us transform the lobby after they have already put in 8-10 hours at their real job, they appear.

But with the gift of leadership comes a huge level of responsibility - first - remain humble, and second - be a leader to those whom God is calling you to lead.

So although I don't have artistic talent, I pray that I will always remain humble and recognize those around me whom God has gifted. While I will likely never be able to paint, sculpt, act, sing or play a musical instrument, I hope I will always recognize and admire those who can...and encourage them to use their gifts in such a way to honor God and inspire people.