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The Master Plan of Evangelism

When I was just starting out in student ministry and grasping in the dark for direction, a mentor pointed me to a classic: The Master Plan of Evangelism.  Re-reading its pages pours fuel on my flames:

• It all started with Jesus calling a few men to follow Him.  His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow.

• They (the disciples) were impulsive, temperamental, easily offended, and had all the prejudices of their environment.  In short, these men selected by the Lord to be His assistants represented an average cross-section of society in their day.  Not the kind of group one would expect to win the world for Christ.

• We have NOT been called to hold the fort but to STORM THE HEIGHTS!

• In an age when facilities for rapid communication of the gospel are available to the Church as never before, we are actually accomplishing less in winning the world for God than before the invention of the horseless carriage.

• People are looking for a demonstration, not an explanation.

• We must always remember that the GOAL is world conquest.

• Those of us who are seeking to train men must be prepared to have them follow us, even as we follow Christ.

Guest Post

FROM JONATHAN:  My awesome wife, Amber, holds her Bachelor's Degree in Science from UIC and her Master's Degree in Clinical Pastoral Counseling from Ashland Theological Seminary.  Combine that background with 13 years as a pastor's wife and you get this guest blog post.  You can read her entire series, Wounds from the Church, all this week on her blog.  Very insightful and helpful material:

One of the number one issues for someone who has scars from a hurtful church experience is that of forgiveness.  How do you forgive when it hurts so stinking bad?  How do you avoid developing a root of bitterness in your heart?  This is one of the hardest aspects of moving forward after a wound from the church.  I believe the centrality of moving forward in forgiveness is the Gospel. 

I must always keep before me what God has done for me.  Jesus endured the wrath of God on the cross in order to rescue me from my sin.  Jesus was separated from God in order that I may be reunited with Him.  Paul David Tripp puts it this way in How People Change, “The trinity was torn asunder so that we can experience reconciliation and forgiveness.”  My motivation to forgive others comes from the forgiveness I have received. 

I am reminded of the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35.  Scripture makes it very clear that blessings do not flow from a heart of unforgiveness.  In fact, the Bible says that we cannot love Jesus and hate others at the same time (John 4:20).  Scripture also says that our enemy is not flesh and blood, but the ruler of this dark world (Eph 6).  Jonathan once rephrased it this way in a message, “If it has flesh and blood, it’s not your enemy!”  How freeing is that!?!

I know this all sounds great in theory.  Putting it into practice when you are hurting deeply, however, is a different matter.  It’s not easy!  Thankfully, the Bible also tells me what I should do when I am struggling with those who have inflicted hurt.  Matthew 5:43-48 tells the Christian that we are to love our “enemies” and pray for those who hurt us.  Luke 6:28 reinforces this same principle and says, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (NIV)  It is hard to stay angry and bitter when you are praying for someone and asking God to bless them. 

In the counseling world, we talk about triggers.  They are situations or thoughts that signal to someone that something deeper is going on.  I have learned to take those moments when my true enemy (Satan) brings up the past and my mind starts going to that negative place and use it as a trigger.  It is an indicator that I need to stop, pray for that person (or people), and ask God to bless them.  Through this process, I am the one who ultimately is most blessed!

This process does not start automatically.  You must make an active choice.  Forgiveness is not a one-time event.  Every time those thoughts or feelings pop up, you have to use self-control and choose once again, to forgive.  Eventually, your heart moves.  Scripture says that “As a man thinks, so is he.”  The more I can train my thoughts to pray for and bless those who have hurt me, the more likely I am to genuinely love my “enemy.”  This provides more fertile ground for Godly reconciliation to occur. 

I think one last issue with forgiveness is how it is lumped in with many misconceptions.  I cannot say it better, so here’s a list of what forgiveness is not from the Driscoll’s book Real Marriage.

• Forgiveness is not denying, approving or diminishing sin that is committed against us.
• Forgiveness is not naivety.
• Forgiveness is not enabling sin.
• Forgiveness is not waiting for someone to acknowledge sin, apologize, and repent.
• Forgiveness is not forgetting about sin committed against us.
• Forgiveness is not dying emotionally and no longer feeling the pain of transgression.
• Forgiveness is not a one-time event.
• Forgiveness is not reconciliation.
• Forgiveness is not neglecting justice.

So what are you holding on to?  Let it go!  This quote from Mansfield was a HUGE help for me in reframing my mind on forgiveness.

“Even if everyone involved in your hurtful situation instantly agreed with your perspective on the facts, it would not heal the damage that has been done to your insides.”

Nothing can change the past and the hurt you experienced.  You can change your future, however, by choosing to walk forward in forgiveness.

"Forgiveness is loving despite sin.  We do not forgive others because they are good or deserving, but rather because God is good and deserving.  Forgiveness is an ongoing lifestyle that is incredibly costly to us and lived out of love for God and others."  – Driscoll

"Let the name of George Whitefield perish so long as Christ is exalted"

Close friend to John Wesley and co-leader of the great revival of the 1700's, George Whitefield had an ability to preach that drew tremendous crowds.  One sermon in London's Hyde Park was attended by eighty thousand people.

Yet as stunning as his success was, equally stunning was the opposition that arose against him.  He wrote in his journal:

"I was honored with having a few stones, dirt, rotten eggs,
and pieces of dead cat thrown at me."

He was beaten, his pulpits were smashed, hecklers tried to drown him out, and one sermon featured a man trying to urinate on him.

Yet the deepest wound came at the hands of a friend - John Wesley. 
Wesley published a sermon directly attacking Whitefield's beliefs, painting George in hellish terms.  Tens of thousands converted under Whitefield's ministry turned against him.

You can hear the pain of the experience in Whitefield's words:

"Many of my spiritual children, who at my last departure from England would have plucked out their own eyes to give them to me, are so prejudiced by the dear Mssrs. Wesleys' dressing up (my) doctrine in such horrible colors, that they will neither hear, nor give me the least assistance."

Instead, many of his converts sent "threatening letters that God will speedily destroy me."

Amidst the sleepless nights and tears, the revival did not end.  Whitefield chose to forgive his friends, spoke lovingly of Wesley to others, and made sure his own astonishing success in ministry reflected glowingly on Wesley.  His constant refrain was, "Let the name of George Whitefield perish so long as Christ is exalted."

His impact on the founding generation in America alone was beyond any other.  John Adams once wrote:

"I know of no other philosopher, or theologian, or moralist, ancient or modern, more profound, more infallible than Whitefield."

And Benjamin Franklin wrote:

"He is a good man, and I love him."

Thus George Whitefield surmounted the wounds he sustained from fellow Christians in order to live for a higher cause and the hope of deeper impact on his times.

The confirmation of history is that we are not called despite our wounding and betrayal; we are wounded and betrayed because we are called.  And God yearns to make our pain redemptive in our lives.

(ReChurch)

Book Notes: Switch - How to Change Things When Change is Hard

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
just became one of my Top 5 leadership books.

You.  Need.  To.  Read.  This.

 

Look who else is.

Here are some of the insights I underlined along the way:

• What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem.

• Psychology 101: Brain has 2 independent systems at work at all times:
  Emotional (instinctively feels pain & pleasure)
  and Rational (deliberates, analyzes, looks to future).
  Emotional side is an Elephant and rational side is it's Rider.

• Changes often fail because the Rider can't keep the Elephant on the road long enough to reach the destination.

• The Elephant is the one who gets things done. Much of our daily behavior is more automatic then supervised, and that's a good thing because the supervised behavior is the hard stuff. It's draining and exhaustible.

• Change is hard because people wear themselves out. If things are to change, you have to engage the Elephant.

• If you reach someone's Rider but not their Elephant, they will have direction without motivation.

• What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity.

• All change requires three things:
  Direct the Rider (provide crystal-clear direction),
  Motivate the Elephant (what looks like laziness is often exhaustion),
  and Shape the Path (it's not a people problem, it's a situation problem).

 

Direct the Rider by:

• Finding the Bright Spots -
  Reject analysis paralysis by focusing less on problems and instead on any bright spots!  Bright spots provide not only direction for the Rider but hope and motivation for the Elephant.

• Archaeology is true but useless. 
  Instead, ask, "What's working right now and how can we do more of it?"

• Script the Critical Moves -
  Too many options, even good ones, can freeze us and make us retreat.  The more options the Rider is offered, the more exhausted the Rider gets.  Decision paralysis deters people.

• Change = new choices = creates uncertainty. 
  Ambiguity is exhausting to the Rider; uncertainty makes the Elephant anxious.

• Inertia and decision paralysis will conspire to keep people doing things the old way.  To spark movement in a new direction, you need to provide crystal-clear guidance.

• Point to the Destination -
  When you describe a compelling destination, you're helping to correct one of the Rider's greatest weaknesses - the tendency to get lost in analysis.

 

Motivate the Elephant by:

• Finding the Feeling - Influence emotions, not just thought.

• Change is NOT: Analyze - Think - Change. 
  
  Change is: See - Feel - Change!

• "We can change behavior in a short television ad.  We don't do it with information.  We do it with identity."

• When people fail to change, it's not usually because of an understanding problem.  Smokers understand that cigarettes are unhealthy, but they don't quit...

• Shrinking the Change -
  People find it more motivating to be partly finished with a longer journey than to be at the starting gate of a shorter one.  That's why the conventional wisdom is that you don't publicly announce a fund-raising campaign for a charity until you've already got 50% of the money in the bag.  After all, who wants to give the first $100 to a $1 MILLION fund-raising campaign?!

• The Elephant within us is easily demoralized - - it needs reassurance.
  You need to lower the bar.

• You need quick wins to get fired up.

• When you engineer early successes, what you're really doing is engineering hope.  Hope is precious to a change effort. 
  It's Elephant fuel!

• Growing Your People -
  Everything can look like a failure in the middle.

• Failing is often the best way to learn, and because of that, early failure is a kind of necessary investment.

 

Shape the Path by:

• Right behaviors do not evolve naturally!

• Tweak the Environment - this is about making the right behaviors a little bit easier and the wrong behaviors a little bit harder.

• What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. 
  You've got some control over the situation.

• If you change the path, you'll change the behavior.

• Building Habits -
  Because we instinctively try to fit in with our peer groups,
  behavior is contagious.

• Why are habits so important? 
  They are, in essence, behavioral autopilot.

• The value of action triggers reside in the fact that we are preloading a decision.

• The hard question for a leader is not how to form habits but which habits to encourage.

• The habit should serve the mission!!

• Checklists simply make big screwups less likely; they provide insurance against overconfidence.

• People fear checklists because they see them as dehumanizing... 
  Well, if that's true, grab a pilot's checklist and try your luck with a 747.

• Rally the Herd -
  In ambiguous situations, we all look to others for cues about how to behave.

• Behavior is contagious!

• In situations where your herd has embraced the right behavior,
  publicize it.

 

More resources from the Heath Brothers:

•  Made to Stick pdf

• Switch framework pdf

EntreLeadership for Church Planters: Unity + Loyalty

Dave Ramsey will not tolerate gossip at this company.
They have a No-Gossip Policy; it's actually one of their Core Values!

Proverbs says, "Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles."   EntreLeaders of Church Plants need to make unity and loyalty a big issue before it becomes a big issue!

People don't naturally unify; they must be led to do so.

Long-term unity and loyalty in church plants are so rare, which is why when we see it, we are attracted to it.  Unity is intentionally created when we give up personal gain and glory for the good of each other.

Think Band of Brothers.
Intentional loyalty is contagious.
When someone has your back, you can't help but have theirs.

Preaching, teaching, and modeling unity and motivation over your people is key.  As Zig Ziglar once said, "People say motivation doesn't last, well neither does bathing, that is why we recommend both daily!"

Ramsey sees gossip as disloyalty:

If one of my leaders or I catch a team member gossiping we will warn them once, then we will fire them.  Gossip is evil, insidious, and contagious.

Problems or gripes are fine, but they must be handed up to leadership.  Problems or gripes that are handed down ot laterally are by definition gossip and run the team member the risk of being fired.

Hand your negatives up and your positives down.

Yes!  This is TRUTH!

In my experience, gossip is the #1 weapon of the Enemy in tearing churches apart.  Jesus said that He would build His church; gossip never builds up, it tears down.  When gossip is tolerated, the church community is put in harm's way. 

Small minds talk about people, mediocre minds talk about events, and great minds talk about ideas.

Protect unity and loyalty in your church plant at all costs - stamp out gossip!

And grab Dave Ramsey's new book, EntreLeadership, for more insights!

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WHAT'S NEXT FOR JON

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EntreLeadership for Church Planters: No Magic, No Mystery

Why do some church plants seem to take off like a space shuttle
while others flop?

Two books offer answers: Ben Arment's
Church in the Making: What Makes or Breaks a New Church Before it Starts
and Dave Ramsey's EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches. 

Let's delve into a bit from the latter:

Overnight Success is an illusion.

"If I just had..." needs to be struck from every church planter's thinking.

There is no magic, no mystery.  Only the Momentum Theorem. 

Momentum is not a random lightning strike, it is actually created:

Focused Intensity over Time multiplied by God = Momentum!

Focus keeps you, well, focused.  Fear and greed distract you.

Intensity is about caring deeply about something. 
In this case, your church plant's vision.

Focused intensity over time is what you have control over in your life:

One of my beliefs is that you should study, interview, and when possible hang out with people who are better than you in an area you want to win in.  If you want to get in shape don't spend a bunch of time with couch potatoes.

Focus and intensity are finite.  God is limitless. 
When He enters the equation, unstoppable momentum occurs!

Passion sells.  "There is no energy in logic, only in emotions."
You will only sacrifice when you passionately believe in the outcome.

There are no overnight successes.  Only the Momentum Theorem in action!
More on this from Dave Ramsey here.

 

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WHAT'S NEXT FOR JON

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EntreLeadership for Church Planters: Get A Spine!

Continuing our look at EntreLeadership through the lens of church planters...

Church Planters are faced with tons of decisions.
You have to make a move or you won't move.
Your church plant and core team will be paralyzed when you are.

In EntreLeadership, Dave Ramsey points out that there is an easier way to make hard decisions:

You put all you dream about in jeopardy when you are indecisive.
Nothing gets killed by your gun when all you say is,
"Ready, aim, aim, aim..."

Decision paralysis drives your team crazy and chokes up momentum.  The Bible says that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways - - EntreLeaders must make up their minds and resist "squirrel theology" (indecision caused by fear will get you killed like a squirrel darting back-and-forth in front of a car!).

Ramsey offers simple solutions for getting a spine:

- You can't be afraid of criticism.  It comes with the territory if you're doing anything of scale that matters.

- Never make a decision when you're angry.

- Set a self-imposed deadline.  It creates action.

- The more money involved the more you should slow down.

- Have lots of options.  "Options are power and therefore options remove fear."

- No good options?  Create options!  Search for more!

- Information is King.  Titus said, "We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them."

- Decisions set you free: "There is tremendous energy and peace that decision-making brings."

Church planters are notorious for kicking the ball slowly down the field but never scoring the easy touchdown.  The church leader with steel in his spine not only creates forward movement for the organization, but also inspires hope in his people.  And when you're creating something out of nothing, hope is valuable!

EntreLeadership covers many more ways to overcome decision paralysis, but you get the picture.    Want more?  Watch Dave Ramsey explain the Two Marathons.

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WHAT'S NEXT FOR JON

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EntreLeadership for Church Planters: Passion

It sounds obvious, but if you're not absolutely oozing with irresistable passion for your church plant's vision, you can't expect anybody else to be passionate either! 

You're the leader.  You set the bar and guard the bar.

Dave Ramsey defines an EntreLeader's passion this way:

Passion causes things to move,
and passion creates a force multiplier.
Passion actually covers a multitude of sins.
EntreLeaders care deeply, and that is basically what passion is.

Bingo!  If God has birthed a dream in your heart, bursting with authentic enthusiasm for that vision is what causes people to join your team, entrust their money, and follow the leader. 

I am convinced that Christ-followers are absolutely dog-hungry for EntreLeaders who will paint a compelling vision of what the local church could be and should be in their community.

Clarity sharpens focus.  Laser-focused, passionate, Spirit-empowered witnesses turn the world upside-down!

Ramsey goes on to say:

As a leader, if I know you care deeply (passion!), then when you screw up, I will be quick to give you a second or third chance.

When you're church planting, you're going to make mistakes. 
Passion covers a multitude of sins!
When your team knows your heart, they will believe the best.

It is the EntreLeader's job to insert passion and passionate people into the organization's processes and outcomes.  

If you are lacking pure motivation and do not care deeply about your church plant's vision, how do you expect everyone else to?  Fuel your passion. 

Besides EntreLeadership, another way to refuel your passion is through an event my friend Perry Noble is opening up to pastors: ReAwaken.  Check it out.

Bottom-line: Do whatever it takes to get passionate about God's mission and set yourself on fire! 

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WHAT'S NEXT FOR JON

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EntreLeadership for Church Planters

When you combine leadership
(someone who guides and inspires others)
with entrepreneurship
(someone who organizes and assumes risk for a venture),
you end up with, EntreLeadership
(the process of leading, causing growth and prosperity).

Rather than write up a standard review of Dave Ramsey's fantastic new book, EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches, I thought this week I'd unpack principles from Dave's book for church planters.

Creating something out of nothing is the job description for two types of professionals: improv-comedians and church planters.  The latter are the kamikaze-warriors of the church world, chasing a dream birthed in their heart by God to reach people who never darken a church door.

While church plants are the best way to evangelize lost people, the risks and failure rates are high due to the Law of the Lid.  As Dave explains:

"There is a lid on my organization and on my future, and that lid is me.  I am the problem with my company and you are the problem with your company...  You want to know what is holding back your dreams from becoming a reality? 
Go look in your mirror."

That is TRUTH!  Anybody can blame others and make excuses when things fall apart; it's the EntreLeader Church Planter who can courageously take responsibility, ruthlessly self-evaluate, and grow past the lid they allowed to contain the dream. 

Please don't tell me the sad story of how all the odds were stacked against you and the people just didn't understand - - the Bible says that the anointing drops from the beard!  As goes the king (church planter), so goes the people (church plant).

As Dave says, "You're the one person you can change the easiest. 
You can decide to grow."

Want more?  Here's the 1st chapter of EntreLeadership FREE.

Also, get the EntreLeadership podcast and follow them on Twitter!

More insights for church planters throughout the week. 

 

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WHAT'S NEXT FOR JON

For the latest updates on what's next for me,
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David Gergen's Team Operations

David Gergen, who served under four presidents, offers in Eyewitness to Power what he calls "universal truths" about team operations (p.184):

1. Every leader needs a strong team, starting with a strong, compatible right-hand-man.

2.  The team should include a mix.

3.  Within the staff, lines of authority should run up and down.  They shouldn't run sideways, in a circle, or look like a plate of spaghetti.

4.  The team should hammer out as many questions as they can out of earshot of the leader.  They should always keep him informed - no surprises - but should take to him only those questions they cannot or should not solve among themselves.  Don't overload him.

5.  The leader needs an enforcer - someone who can make sure others toe the line.