Leading in Transition

1. Leading is never easy. Sometimes it’s impossible.

That’s OK.

God can handle the impossible.

Be willing to lose.

2. Lead by anxiety, not bold vision.

Why?

3. Framing the question:

Not IF we will be faithful to our tradition, but how:

Take John Calvin …

A. Do what he did, say what he said.

B. Do for my situation what he did in his.

Imitate their style, or their faith? Their forms, or their creativity?

4. Lead by adding, not subtracting.

Look for win-wins.

Think garden, not tree.

5. Be a friend to yourself.

Your morale is a precious asset -- for you, your family, and the church.

Rejoice at the drop of a hat. Celebrate everything you can.

Indulge in mentors and friends.

6. Pay the price …

Think. Study. Pray. Suffer. Forgive. Communicate. Persist.

Also, remember the price

of not paying the price.

7. Have a patient urgency, and an urgent patience.

This transition may take 75 - 150 years.

Change your definition of success.

8. Get out more.

Out of the house, the church, the neighborhood, the city.

Expect the Holy Spirit to be with you on the green edge of mission.

Remember the outstretched hands of both/and.

9. Become bilingual.

Remember I Cor. 9.

Remember Paul’s struggle.

10. Ask yourself: what does God want to save?

Our institution?

The church?

The lost?

“The greatest obstacle to world evangelism is the church concerned about its own existence.”

“If you save your life, you’ll lose it.”

11. Trust the Scriptures more than your interpretations, and trust God more than your theology.

Our contemporary gospel is primarily

INFORMATION ON HOW TO GOTO HEAVEN AFTER YOU DIE

with a large footnote about increasing your personalhappiness and success through God.

with a small footnote about character development

with a smaller footnote about spiritual experience

with a smaller footnote about social/global transformation.

12. Draw bigger “circles of grace.”

It’s better to be excluded than to exclude, better to suffer than to cause suffering.

It’s like Jesus to extend grace while being excluded and suffering.

13. Honor the old and the young.

14. Don’t wait for permission.

15. Flock (but with birds of different feathers). Then disperse.

Emergentvillage.com

jordoncooper.com

xculture.ca

16. Teach.

Collaborative (not proprietary) content,

Complementary (not conflicting) differences.

17. Celebrate and enjoy the journey.

What grand mission can align the various missions alive in every healthy church?

A triangle of …

spirituality

community mission