Tuesday Teaching: A Leader's Reading

The first chunk of Daniel 9 is fascinating in what it implies, rather than what it says.

It features Daniel as a young man coming to grips with his faith, current events, and what the times demanded of him.

Easily lost in a quick reading is repeated references to what Daniel found in 'the books' - words from God that had guided his people for years.

Daniel went on to become one of the most courageous, insightful, and wise leaders in the history of Israel - really, in the history of any nation.

And a lot of that had to do with the fact that he was an avid reader. And every great leader will be too.

Where can we look to learn?

1. God's word - what we have today as the Bible. Learning leaders make it a lifelong quest to study, mark, learn, inwardly digest, and apply the Bible to their lives.

2. People. Attach yourself (in a non-creepy way!) to wise, older men and women who have learned a lot by living well, making mistakes, and bouncing back. People aren't books, but they live stories.

3. Biographies. I'm never without one going on my Kindle or on the coffee table in my library. Can't overestimate the power of reading about a life well or poorly lived.

Read Eric Metaxas on Bonhoeffer, Timothy Dudley-Smith on John Stott, Martin Gilbert on Winston Churchill, Robert Caro on Robert Moses (an utterly brilliant book which is the best illustration of the corruption of power you will ever read), David McCullough on Harry Truman, and Peter Drucker on himself (his Adventures of a Bystander, which is a book I never get tired of, ever).

4. Talk to others about what you are reading. I have friends who enjoy theology as I do, mysteries as I do, history and biography as I do. To find someone who loves the same kinds of books you do and is willing to talk about them is to make a friend!

How about you? What are you reading these days?

Tuesday Teaching: Waiting For God

Isaiah gets right to the point in verse one of chapter 64:

"Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!"

Ever felt like that?

"God, I need you. There's no mistake. This isn't a hangnail or a sinus headache or a bad day. I need you. I need you so bad and I need you now. I need you to rip the veil that separates you from us and get here now. I need you. Can you please hurry?"

And then Isaiah goes on to paint a picture of this heaven-rending, action-oriented, right-now God.

Mountains quake and fire catches and water boils and nations tremble and mountains quake again.

And sometimes God shows up that way.

But lots of times he doesn't.

Maybe you are in a place where you are looking for a heaven-rending God right now. Or three weeks ago.

You are tired of waiting, of things not changing, of pain enduring and circumstances lingering.

You're tempted to get impatient, bitter, to take matters in your own hands.

I'm guessing Isaiah was as well. After all, he's calling on mountains to quake and tremble and God to act like a MMA athlete.

And then he catches himself. Verse four:

"From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him."

There is a causal relationship here between our waiting and God's acting.

If you are like me, you hate to wait.

I am awful at waiting. In line, in traffic, for news, for kids, in pain and uncertainty.

I wish I were better - had more fortitude and patience and trust and faith. But I don't.

But here it is - God acts for those who wait for him.

If you are in a place where you want God to rend the heavens, that is OK. You're in good company. Isaiah and all that.

But remember that he has not forgotten you - that he never could forget you - that to forget you would be foreign to everything he is.

And that, in time, he will act. And because he is good, so will be his actions.

No eye, no ear, no one has ever seen anything like it.

Impossible Choices

The world is marking the 20th anniversary of the unthinkable Rwandan genocide these days.

In all of the tales of horror surrounding those dark days, there were tales of hope and heroism.

One was the story of a young man who was one of only twelve people pulled out alive after being buried under a pile of 3,000 corpses in the town of Murambi.

Not too long ago, his terror began anew when those who had committed the massacre were released from prison.

One of the nation's leaders asked him "How do you manage?"

His reply: "I could not do it unless I was convinced that these impossible choices are leading us somewhere".

The impossible choices he had in mind were the efforts in Rwanda to acknowledge the pain of the past, bring reconciliation into the present, and to insure a future free of such horror.

But he had made impossible choices along the way himself, on a personal level.

Choices to survive, to live, to forgive.

My guess is that you may be facing your own impossible choices at this moment.

To forgive.

To trust again.

To step away.

To lean in.

To risk.

To love.

To get back off the mat one more time and keep fighting.

Simply to go on.

A great life is rooted in and flows from such impossible choices. They are only impossible in the moment.

In retrospect, they are the choices that lead you somewhere.

They lead you to greatness.

Tuesday Teaching: Do You Want God's Provision?

We all want what God has.

Better stated, we all want what God can provide for us.

And that's only natural. After all, in the model prayer, Jesus made no bones about saying we should pray "Give us this day our daily bread".

"God, please give me money for my kids' medical bills."

"God, please give me the ability to pay the mortgage, the rent."

"God, please help me pay for food next week."

There is nothing wrong with asking for God to provide for us.

And the good news is, he does provide.

In my experience, his provision often takes this shape in our lives.

Pain + Persistence = Provision

Life has pain in it. We face it for various reasons. Some are cause and effect; others are seemingly random; others seem simply cruel.  But we all have pain.

In the face of our pain, God says "Will you be persistent?"

Persistent in seeking Me?

Persistent in being faithful?

Persistent in standing by your friend?

Persistent in doing the right thing, no matter the loss?

Persistent in continuing to hope, believe, hang on, have faith?

Pain meets persistence and God says "I can trust this person with a measure of my resources".

God will always provide, but he may well provide in abundance for those who meet pain not with anger or manipulation or coldness or despair or bitterness or exclusion or shrewdness or a power-grab...but with persistence in faithfulness, kindness, love.

Then we get to experience his rich and overwhelming provision.

Tuesday Teaching: You're Free To Go

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free..." - Galatians 5:1

I have never met a single person who says "I love the feeling of being trapped".

We don't enjoy being hemmed in, tied up, held captive - whether it's to a job we don't like, an addiction we can't beat, or a situation we can't extricate ourselves from.

We long to be free.

Here's the deal.

Jesus is all about freedom. "I came to set the captives free", he said. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free", Paul said - using a double affirmative to make his point.

This freedom may be external - God getting us out of our situation, bondage, addiction.

Or it may be internal - God giving us peace in the middle of a situation we will have to endure for a while.

But, we're not meant to be, or to feel like, captives.

At a church yesterday, I had the chance to walk with the high-capacity, high-commitment staff as they discerned the One Word they believe describes them and the church they love (part of the Intentional Difference process).

The word was "Liberators".

Or "Libertadores", in Spanish.

There is simply no better word that a church could have.

It's Jesus' heartbeat. For you.

Whatever that thing is that holds you back, ties you down, occupies your energy and effort...it's been defeated already.

On the cross, Jesus took on his shoulders all captivity and enslavement. He paid for it with his life, bled for it with everything he had.

You don't have to be a captive anymore, to anything.

Reducing Your Personal Fear Factor

Several of the boys recently took a field trip to the Kings Mountain battlefield near us in Charlotte. It was the site of an under-appreciated battle during the Revolutionary War.

It's a nice spot with a pleasant little hike up to the monument which crowns the mountain.

Boy #4 make the hike and decided he was lord of all he surveyed. His mom glanced away for just a second and he made a break for it.

No fear.

(I still think it's funny she took a moment to capture the picture as he careened towards disaster!)

Boy #2 was the same way as a toddler. At the beach, he would be out with the dolphins in under thirty seconds, terrifying all of the adults on shore.

I'm not that way. I tend to see the glass half-full, tend to be anxious, tend to imagine worst-case scenarios.

It's quite a character flaw.

But I'm not content to stay that way. I want to have no fear. 

And there's good reason to desire that.

Jesus said once that "There is no fear in love, because perfect love casts off fear".

When I am afraid, it is because I have a failure of imagination when it comes to seeing and receiving love. Imagine life free of fear - the adventures you'd have, the stories you'd be able to tell.

So, how do you reduce your personal fear factor? Three ideas...

Choose to see life as an adventure, not an ordeal.

That's simply a matter of resolve and conviction. Whatever comes your way will - more than likely - not kill you. Even if it does, there's adventure there. Some of the bravest, hardiest, most adventuresome people I have ever known have been those staring down terminal diagnoses.

Don't be afraid to leave things behind.

There are sacred things we must stick to, no matter the cost. 

There are very few of these. 

If it's a job, a house, a town, a church, a sick relationship - and it's sucking the life out of you - leave it behind. It doesn't need you. You don't need it.

A good and bracing question is "What can I leave behind?" 

A soul-killing question is "What do I have to hold on to?"

Know that you are loved.

Jesus spoke with precision. It's not bravery that casts out fear. Or guts. Or ignorance. There are some things to be fearful of.

But love - perfect love - eliminates fear.

If I can hold on tightly to the fact that I am loved - that nothing can ever eliminate, mitigate, relativize, or minimize that love - I have the resources I need to scamper across mountainous monuments and swim with dolphins.

You don't have to be afraid.

Tuesday Teaching: To Dominate, or to Serve?

Once, Jesus' disciples were squabbling over who held pride of place in their organization. Jesus cut them off with a terse statement:

"Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant" (Mark 10:43b).

Sounds simple, right?

Only, we never seem to get it right.

During the height of the power of the former Soviet Union, there was a phrase which captured the regime's political philosophy - "Kto kovo".

Translated, it means "Who dominates whom?"

The answer, it was implied, tells us who the winner is.

If you dominate, you are hold all the cards. You can impose your will, craft your desires into policy and procedures, protect yourself against your enemies, secure your control, guarantee your influence.

You've won.

Only, you haven't - and the scrapyards of history are littered with those who have subscribed to the philosophy of dominance. Many of them were terribly successful for a time. But, in the end, they fade into the shadows.

Most of us aren't quite so brazen as the former Soviets about our desire to dominate.

We cloak our need to control in lots of ways - "I need to make sure quality standards are met". "I've worked too hard to get here to let it slip away now". "I have the chance to devote my energy to this place; my (customers, congregation members, employees) just can't see everything I see". "Weak leaders get left behind". "Things are tough here - a visionary leader is needed to turn the tide".

But all come from the same place - I gotta win. Who dominates whom?

Jesus turns the power scale upside down.

He gets the desire to dominate. His disciples hung out with him all the time, and they still had it. But he also knows that domination will wreck families, marriages, churches, friendships, organizations of all kind.

You simply can't lose if you position yourself as a servant. A strong servant, to be sure - one with an unassailable sense of who you are and the values you hold.

But a servant, nonetheless. Counting the interest of those you serve as more important than your own. Choosing to believe that your family's or organizations deeply held values are more important than you, your pride, your position.

Leaders serve, and servants lead.

How would those you love and lead describe you?