I’m not concerned about being criticized for taking risks to reach people far from God. I’m concerned about not being criticized.
Recently I was invited to teach a breakout session at a conference in Chicago based on my book, Holy Shift. The topic was so popular among church leaders that we ran out of seats!
I had fun sharing my journey in comedy and ministry, the unique story God is writing at Life Church Michigan, and equipping church leaders in my jam-packed breakout with comedy tools that will help them reach more people far from God.
Because I love church leaders and I want to see you go further, faster, here is the full video as a free resource to your team!
This 8 minute+ filibuster for a scene in NBC's Parks and Recs was entirely improvised in one take by Patton Oswalt. You must watch this:
The leadership take-away?
Improvisers (comedians who create comedy on-the-spot) must read widely.
Reading widely equips you to think on your feet faster.
Its a time-tested secret of all the finest comedians: read widely.
Reading widely enabled Patton Oswalt to create an epic movie-pitch non-stop for over 8 minutes, weaving together a priceless monologue on Disney, Star Wars, The Avengers, and X-Men.
Leaders that read widely are better equipped in the heat of the moment to take action.
Jay Leno is back in the news this week throwing nightly hissy fits over his impending replacement on The Tonight Show by the popular Jimmy Fallon of NBC's Late Night.
For his part, Fallon is handling the trickle of news updates with self-depricating humor and grace, not taking pot shots at Leno. If anything, Jimmy is literally picking up the phone and reaching out to Jay. Very classy.
It's sad to see Jay Leno slowly self-implode. We've been down this road before with Conan O'Brien, who was also forced out of Tonight. Only now the tables have turned and public sentiment is for Fallon, not Leno.
I have always admired how O'Brien handled his forced resignation. There are many leadership lessons to glean from his approach and attitude. From the blog archives, here are my thoughts on what to do when you have been Leno'd.
Conan O'Brien was interviewed recently by David Letterman. I picked up a solid yet unlikely leadership lesson from him.
Don't throw the past under the bus, even when you have been Leno'd.
This was an awesome-sauce interview.
Here's the thing: Conan didn't throw the past under the bus. Sure, Letterman was publicly sniffing for dirty laundry to air (that's what gossips do), but Conan did not dishonor NBC.
Leaders don't throw the past under the bus, even when they're Leno'd.
There is no honor in tearing down people and organizations... especially in church-world.
Jesus purchased the church with His blood. That's HUGE! God loves the church, created the church, and declares the church to be Christ's bride! Have you ever talked smack about another man's wife? Imagine doing that to Jesus Christ!!
If a church has hurt you in the past, that does not give you the right to muddy its name. If a church leader has disappointed you in the past, they are not your enemy (see Ephesians 6:12!!). Forgive and let go.
Leaders understand that integrity is doing the right thing even when it hurts. Trust me, I've felt hurt a lot over the past year. But I've found that God is honored most when we talk smack the least.
If you're a leader who has walked through the fire, allow Isaac's experience in Genesis 26 to be your model. Isaac was misnderstood, dishonored, and shunned over and over again. But he doesn't fight back. He submits to the Lord's will. And verse 28 is a beautiful display of the gospel.
The late Dr. Martin de Maat had a profound impact on my life (I wrote about that here). He was not only my professor and mentor, he was a close friend (Martin was even one of my wedding groomsmen!).
Dr. de Maat taught me so much not only about improvisational-comedy, but more importantly about the joy of doing life together:
"What happens... in being with each other in acceptance and Yes And-ing each other, is that you as an individual start to believe in yourself because you begin to see yourself in the others' eyes.
Your ensemble, your group, your team, your committee, is the one that's believing in you and you pull it together to do it for them.
You know, it's simply recognizing you're not alone. It's love and unconditional acceptance.
You put yourself in a place of support, unconditional acceptance and love for who you are, the way you are and your uniqueness, and what you do is grow. You surround yourself with people who are truly interested in you and listen to you, and you will grow.
And it doesn't take much to start advancing you, it doesn't take much of that support, it doesn't take much of that love and that care and you can do it. You can play act with people. You can be in a state of play together."
This is how comedians create new material. Yes And leads to trust leads to contagious unity leads to childlike creativity. Its how leaders might lead teams in the 21st Century.
I love what Martin would say about the group dynamics of creating comedy through Yes And:
"There's a lot of laughter that goes on. Since we're laughing together, we're true community. It's a very safe place to confront your fears. The minute somebody says, 'Perform!' your fear comes up..."
As we Yes And, may we as leaders embrace contagious unity and laughter.
By refusing to perform and instead choosing raw, authentic community, we may just lead at a higher, deeper, more spiritually-sensitive level than before...
When you are creating comedy on-the-spot without a script, you don't have time to pause, think about things, wish you had more props to play with, or think deeply about what your next line will be.
Because the spotlight is hot, the audience is waiting, and crickets are death to comedians.
In improv-comedy, you Just Do It. Take a risk. Jump. Fail harder.
The same principle applies to leadership. Nike was onto something when they coined the phrase, Just Do It. It's ok (and fun!) to move fast and break things!
When I was studying comedy at Second City, a documentary crew caught up with the mainstage actors. When the comedians asked for an audience suggestion and "Driver's Ed" was yelled back, they had to spring into action and just do it.
No time for an actual car to sit in - just do it:
This same principle applies to leadership.
Sometimes you don't have the car on-hand; you gotta lead forward and just do it.
Paralysis kills forward movement. Nobody is inspired by hand-wringing.
