Empowerment, Innovation, and Sliced Bread

Organizations must learn how to change to respond to the world as it is in the Twenty-first Century. The world is rapidly changing and organizations must adapt or innovate to this change. Adaptation is making adjustments to existing practices for improvement. Innovation on the other hand tends to look for future trends and make preemptive changes to grow their customer base. The hope is that these improvements will meet the expectation of the consumer. Innovators often create things that customers didn't even know they needed. No one knew that they needed a device to store and play their digital music until Apple develop the Ipod. They created a solution to a need, before the need even existed.

Innovation is empowering!

 

Innovation comes from a person's creativity or their ability to create. Although most organizations do not encourage their employees to create, every employee should be able to offer creative solutions to their companies that make their jobs easier and faster, satisfy the customer, or bring in more revenue to the company. Many organizations have seen the benefits of encouraging creativity and have developed programs and have started to establish a culture of creativity. Creativity and innovation is the key for organizational success in the modern world.

Apply this to the church

 

For a few years now, I have been studying change. I have seen many churches struggling to grow in today's world, while other churches seem to be thriving. Many researchers have studied this phenomenon and have written many good books on the  subject. The facts speak for themselves. The majority of growing churches are less than twenty years old. Many of the large archetype mega-churches, although have a very large weekly attendance, have leveled off. Many mega-churches that are making a difference and seem to keep growing have adopted the multi-site paradigm. Meanwhile, every church is faced with change. The simple fact of the matter: every established organization, church or otherwise, must change with the times or continue their decline.

That leads to my other interest; understanding why some churches struggle to change and others don't seem to? We all can agree that change is inevitable. Looking in the mirror each day and watching our children grow up tells us that life is always moving forward and that everything changes. As it turns out, this is a very complex question and not easily answered. It is safe to say that I will not be able to answer the question in one blog. However, I have one observation that will help.

Churches must innovate. I heard one church health expert say that churches must adapt or die. This is true, but I am suggesting that churches should not merely adapt, they should innovate. The definition of adapt is to become adjusted to new conditions. The definition of innovate is to make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products.  You might be thinking that they sound the same. However, there is a nuanced difference between the two concepts of change.

First, adaptation is doing thing differently to solve the problem. For example, a church that has leveled off starts to decline. All the church leaders and members notice the drop off in attendance and offerings. They begin looking for something or someone to blame. All of the usual suspects are named--economy, possible conflict, the non-denominational churches that have lured many away, spiritual warfare has been waged against them, the location of the church, the state of their facilities--the list goes on. The next obvious step is to look at the churches nearby that seem to be growing and learn from them. Established churches cannot change their core values or their doctrine, but they can change other things that seem to attract people, so they begin adapting according to what "seems to be working" in other churches. They change worship style, they begin small groups, they start a children's ministry in the park, or change their name with the hopes of reversing the declining trend.

 

Many of the adaptive changes some churches undertake do not make considerable differences. I can list over twenty churches that I know of personally that have undertaken adaptive changes with minimal results. They instead should be innovative and look for different ways to accomplish their mission in creative ways. Churches that adapt, see the their problem as losing members, but their real problem is what it always has been--reaching the lost and ministering to the hurting, and discipling new converts. The reason that the church was founded is the same today as it was then. The solution is to find creative ways to accomplish their mission.

 

One innovative church in New Mexico found a creative way to reach people in their community especially the youth. They started a nonprofit organization. The purpose of the nonprofit was to help stop unwanted teen pregnancy in their community by promoting abstinence. This message was one that they could take into the High Schools and Community College. The nonprofit was awarded a grant to purchase a truck that the bed raised up into a rock climbing wall. They would set this truck up at parks, local events, fairs, and anywhere youth would assemble. All events were co-sponsored by the church and all of the workers at the events would wear shirts with the church name and logo. Depending upon the venue, they passed out tracks, shared their faith, and invited them to church. Since the nonprofit was its own entity, they did not receive money from the church and had the ability to raise their own funds. If memory served me, the nonprofit eventually paid the salary for the youth pastor who served as the Director of the nonprofit also.

This church didn't adapt, it found an innovative solution to accomplish its mission. It didn't just find a new way to slice bread, it found an alternative to sliced bread. 

Do you have a story of how a church found an innovative way to accomplish their mission? I what to hear about it!

Please submit the story below.....

 

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Tips to Become a More FIT Church Leader

I have proposed that the term CHURCH FITNESS is a better descriptor than CHURCH HEALTH to describe the state in which we desire to see the church.

(See my article in Churchleaders.com)

A FIT CHURCH must have a FIT PASTOR, but we often see pastors that are stressed and over worked. This is especially true with pastors of churches that have leveled off or are in decline. It is very important for these pastors to be fit and strong.

Fitness has been defined as a set of attributes that people have or achieve that relates to the ability to perform physical activity or the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities. Exercise is the primary method for a person to achieve fitness.

Applying this idea to the church as a body, I have defined CHURCH FITNESS as having the life-giving breath of God in its members with the ability of each member to function together effectively toward the fulfillment of its unique God-given mission.

For a church to become FIT, it is necessary for each member to become fit--especially the church leaders. The following activities done daily will increase strength, contribute to the fitness of the whole person, and ultimately increase the effectiveness of the church leader.

1. Do a daily physical activity such as a brisk walk.

2. Do a brain exercise, such as counting to 100, then counting backwards from 100 to 1.

3. Have a positive emotional moment each day by watching an inspirational video or looking a pictures of loved ones.

4. Engage people everyday that you do not already know and shake their hands.

5. Raise your hands and worship God for a period of time each day.

These activities may seem random, but there is an explanation for each one. Exercise is an essential activity for a person to become FIT. When a person exercises, their muscles are strengthened, the ability of the heart to bring the vital oxygen to the rest of the body grows, and the whole body increases its ability to function properly. But physical muscles are not the only areas of a person that needs daily exercise. There are five "muscles" of the body. They are physical muscle, cognitive muscle, emotional muscle, social muscle, and spiritual muscle. Positive activity in each area will strengthen the leaders and give them strength to bring their church into health and fitness.

Activity in each area should be processed through what I call the Philippians 4:8 filter. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Therefore, truth, honor, righteousness, purity, loveliness, good repute, excellence, and praise are the standard to which all activities are held.

The first way to become a better church leader is to exercise their physical body.

Engaging in any physical activity increases fitness. Many studies have shown that physical activity helps the body in many positive ways including the prevention of insulin, it reduces the risk of cognitive decline, lowers the risk of strokes, boosts the immune system, and heightens the ability to fight off illnesses such as colds and flu. An inactive lifestyle increases the changes of colon and breast cancer, heart attacks, increases the loss of lean muscle, increased bone loss, increases the feelings of depression and makes weight gain more likely. Many hard working pastors do not have the time or the inclination to exercise daily. However, studies have shown that any amount of physical activity positively affects the body. Find a physical activity that can fit into your daily routine. Something as simple as walking around the block or your building will reap many positive results.

The second way to become a better church leaders is to exercise your brain.

Researchers have done many studies that indicating the legitimacy of brain exercise and its benefits. Brain exercise has been linked to faster thinking, better memory, greater focus, creativity, better listening, and even a better mood. A simple daily activity like counting to 100 and back again to 1, helps focus the brain and builds will power by accomplishing a repetitive task like counting. Besides this activity, there are many brain exercises which bring results. One researcher suggests practicing "mindfulness". Mindfullness is actively paying attention to your immediate surroundings as though you are experiencing it for the first time. Mindfullness helps the brain to process information through all of your senses--how things look, how they sound, how they smell, how they fool. Exercising your brain daily will help you become a better leader.

The third way to become a better church leader is to exercise your emotions.

Pastoring a church, or church work in general, can be very emotional. It is critically, important for the leadership of a church to maintain a positive emotional outlook. Finding an activity such as viewing an emotionally inspiring video, looking through a family photo album or other memorabilia  that brings positive emotional feelings helps the mind, body, and spirit feel better. As human beings, we are emotionally affected by different things. It is important that we have daily positive emotional stimuli and exercise our emotional muscle.

The fourth way to become a better church leader is to interact with people, especially those that we do not know well.

Imagine the impact it might have upon your life and the life of your church if you shook the hand of a stranger every day. This action would necessarily require social interaction with the community each day. This activity exercises the social muscle of the body. Human beings are social beings. Even introverts seek social interaction. I fear that the proliferation of social media on the internet has decreased meaningful face-to-face social interaction. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram makes us feel connected to celebrities and people that we will never meet. We know more about people, but do we really "know" them? There is nothing that can replace the physical connection we have when we shake someone's hand. The face-to-face interaction required by hand-shaking is one of the most effective ways to exercise social muscle.

The fifth way to become a better church leader is to spend dedicated time worshipping God.

The apostle Paul tells us one of the reasons that God's wrath will be poured out on the wicked is that they have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served created beings rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). Humans are designed to worship God their creator. The most significant thing we can do as Christians on a daily basis is to worship God. To tell the truth, without worshipping God, everything else seems futile. Worship is exercising spiritual muscle. Other spiritual disciplines are important for spiritual growth, but none are as important as worshipping God.

Exercising our physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual muscles are the keys to holistic personal fitness.

CHURCH FITNESS relies upon fit leaders.

I want to hear from you. Please leave a comment below about your thoughts on this post or on CHURCH FITNESS in general.

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Empower Your Life by Thinking!

Mom, "I can't stop thinking!"

The walls of my boyhood home must have been very thin. I remember one restless night trying to go to sleep. Mom detected my restlessness and said with a loud voice from her adjoining bedroom, "Jimmy, go to sleep!" My reply was something like, "I can't get to sleep, I can't stop thinking!"

Let's try an experiment. For the next 60 seconds try not to think about anything.

Times up....

Pretty hard isn't it? Have you ever wondered why you think about the things you think about? I have (maybe I have too much time to think). I am sure that some researcher somewhere has received  grant money for research into thinking patterns and why we think about what we think about. I am more interested in what the Bible says about our thinking. A Bible study into "thoughts" and "thinking" gets quite involved. Ultimately we learn that our thoughts come out of the state of our hearts (Mark 7:20-22 for example). Instead of jumping into that whole study, I just want to stress three points regarding our thoughts.

1. What we think about matters.

There are many scriptures that indicate that our thoughts matter to God. For example, "The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but gracious words are pure in his sight" (Proverbs 15:26). Ultimately, thoughts merely reflect what is in our hearts, but we know that God changes hearts every day (Romans 12:1-2). This leads to our second point.

2. We have the ability to control our thoughts.

Although we do not always exercise the power to control our thoughts, we have been given this ability. People are guilty of thinking habitually--that is we tend to fall into patterns of thinking. This is often because of our environment. The computer programming phrase comes to mind--garbage in, garbage out. This applies to virtually every area of life and is the reason for Paul's admonition:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatsoever is true, whatsoever is noble, whatsoever is pure, whatsoever is lovely, whatsoever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Philippians 4:8

3. We can determine many outcomes in our lives by controlling our thinking.

Think about the power of this statement!

This statement is true.

If we think about positive, Godly things, then we will have more Godly positive outcomes in our lives.

The opposite is also true.

If we think about negative, worldly things, then we will have more negative ungodly outcomes in our lives.

This is true for the Christian and for the non-Christian! This is a natural law that applies to all mankind. There are many laws that apply to mankind--give and it will be given to you, love and you will be loved, tithing (there is a blessing for all who give a 10th to God, I know several non-Christians that feel strongly about tithing). Thoughts have a resonance or frequency that can be heard by God and I believe can be detected by others. I would rather my life resonates positive, Godly, up-lifting "vibrations" than ungodly, faith-killing, fleshly "vibs".