Throughout Scripture and throughout our lives we are constantly reminded that nothing lasts forever. From Moses to Joshua, from Elijah to Elisha, from Paul to Timothy and Titus, even from Jesus to the Twelve. No one is indispensable in his or her role. In God’s kingdom we are all interim leaders, bringing all we are in Christ to serve for our season, then (hopefully) preparing well the next generation to receive the baton of leadership. I like how Paul expressed this to Titus in the verse above, “that you might put in order what was left unfinished.” Few leaders ever fully finish what God has called them to do.

Fourteen months ago, in the first week of March 2020, I huddled with my Digital Strategies core team in an AirBnB during a weeklong offsite retreat. In between meals and walks on the beach we prayed, assessed where we thought the ministry was, and discussed strategic future opportunities.

One morning I shared with the team my strong sense from Jesus that it was time for me to pass the baton.

I had contributed what I could bring to leading our global digital efforts. It was time for God to identify a new leader from among an incredible pool of spiritually mature and digitally talented people. We spent a few hours discussing what that role would need next and assessing bench strength. Then I asked each leader to email me privately the names of leaders whom they would willingly follow in the VP Digital role and the reasons why. My plan was to take those names to my boss and initiate a transition process the following week.

But Covid. One week later travel lockdowns kicked in and our digital team rose to the challenge. We instantly began working overtime to offer free global webinars to the body of Christ on how to do online evangelism, 1-1 discipleship and large group live streaming as the pandemic waxed. Two weeks later, we were informed of Cru’s presidential transition. It was not quite time to pass my baton. The ministry needed stability and acceleration for what turned out to be another year.

But the time has come. A few weeks ago I announced to our global digital team that after 10 years (time flies!) in this role I would be stepping aside by the end of June. My heart longs to shift more weight into the spiritual side of leadership and let the younger horses run. It is my conviction that we must constantly weave the next generation into organizational leadership. When your bench is that strong, people need to lead or they will leave.

The post It’s Time to Pass The Baton first appeared on On Leading Well.

Practice These Things

August 2020

“Train yourself for godliness. Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Do not neglect the gift you have. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”
1 Timothy 4

In the spring of 2003 the SARS virus hit East Asia hard. Airports closed and cities went into 10-day quarantine mode. The national campus team I led met twice each day to assess the situation, pray, and make the best decisions we could. More than a thousand campus staff and 1-year stinters from 12 partnering countries looked to our multinational team for guidance. I’ll never forget the day we received word that the government had locked down every campus in the country – as in literally locked the campus gates – with the students inside. No one was allowed to come in or go out, and there was no word on how long this would last. 

Over the next two months God showed us the true meaning of “student-led movements.” Of course we had used that phrase for years, but too often staff teams would become the dominant planners, recruiters, teachers, decision-makers, and doers of the ministry. All that changed in a flash. Staff roles were limited to prayer walks around the gated campus, ad hoc coaching, and occasional handoffs of much needed Four Spiritual Laws through the fence. Students lived four to eight per room. As anxiety and fear of death spread, the Christian students became movement leaders overnight. It was their friends who needed hope, their creative ideas that pivoted into new methods of evangelism and discipleship, their ministry that needed the calming presence of Jesus, and their movement that required faith-filled servant leadership. 

As difficult as those few months of dashed plans and pruning were, God used the events to accelerate the indigenization of our East Asia ministry. He deepened our trust in him and his ways. What we had been attempting to do gradually for two decades was unfolding in two months before our eyes. 

This story, along with many others, is why I believe that God is using this current COVID-19 season, as terrible and costly as it is, to advance his agenda among the nations.

After months of travel bans and social distancing I sense, along with my colleagues and partners, that God is pruning away some of the leafy, showy branches that don’t bear lasting fruit. Could the Spirit of Christ be calling us back to the basics while at the same time urging us to keep in step by adapting, pivoting, and trusting Him in fresh ways? What a great time to be alive as a missionary! 

I want to humbly offer seven lessons that God has taught me in making disciples and helping build spiritual movements. These observations flow from serving nine years as a local team leader in Texas and East Asia. Then, for the past 25 years God has allowed me to travel to nearly 50 countries serving and strengthening sisters and brothers who oversee ministry teams on campuses, in cities, in nations and across vast areas of the world. These practices bear fruit in every culture, among all races and ethnicities, women and men, and young and old. 

Paul, separated by distance from his protégé Timothy, offers this advice: 

1. Train yourself for godliness.
   Worship Jesus. Drink deeply daily from Jesus and his Word. Take time to pray, to walk, to get away from Zoom meetings and screens to enjoy our Savior. Do whatever it takes to fuel the furnace of your heart so that it burns white hot with reverence for the Lord of the universe. We don’t become godly by avoiding sin. We become godly by being with Christ.
   
   
2. Command and teach these things.
   What are “these things?” It is the message that all who believe in Jesus Christ can find mercy and eternal life. That he is the King eternal, immortal invisible, the only God (1 Timothy 1:16-17). That’s really good news. He is the one against whom the nations rage. We are not calling people to join a program or learn some information, though these can be used to help others learn and grow. We’re not offering training so that people can self-actualize or live their best lives now. We offer to journey together with people in following this King. Sound the deepest spiritual note in your teaching.
   
   
3. Be a spiritual leader.
   Paul urges Timothy to set an example, or tupos. A tupos was the impression or stamp left by the strike of a metal die, as in making a coin. No matter what challenges beset you in your city, culture or team, the primary way to make a godly impact is to set for other believers an example in the way you speak, conduct yourself, love people, trust God, and keep yourself pure. Godliness crosses every cultural barrier and never goes out of style. Sound the deepest spiritual note with the way you live.
   
   
4. Be intentional about your own growth.
   Train. Practice. Immerse. These imperatives echo Paul’s encouragement in Romans 12:8, “to the one who leads, lead with diligence.” We are to lead with careful and persistent effort. There is an art and science to leadership. Creativity and diligence wed them together.
   
   I’ve led multicultural teams for more than 20 years. One of the most helpful tools I’ve used is the Position Focus along with a minimum of three conversations each year. I encourage staff I serve with to craft their position focus with the same careful artistry as you would give to a watercolor painting you want to display, a poem or song you will perform, an artisan meal you’re creating to share with others, a custom triathlon training regimen, or a sermon you will preach. Take time to dream and imagine how you want to spend your best time each day serving the Lord. 
   
   You are unique. Don’t neglect the gift you have. You’re not a universal gospel soldier or a replaceable widget. God has called you to lead and serve at this specific time and place in history and you have the opportunity to create something beautiful while on mission.

5. Lead strategically.
   Understand selection, focus, prioritization and timing. This is the strategic part of ministry. Strategy is about choices. The strategic leader resists the pull of the good, popular, urgent, expected, or trending things so that she can focus on being obedient to God’s agenda. Jesus was strategic. He did not respond to every request for his attention, time, or presence. We tend to love big crowds and large numbers in Cru, which can deceive us into equating quantity with kingdom impact. 
   
   Jesus invested his time differently. In the 58 or so days of his life we have recorded in the gospels, he prioritized time like this: 1 – 3 – 12 – 70 – 5,000. His best time was spent communing with his Father. Then with Peter, James and John. Then training the twelve and the seventy. Then the crowds. Even when crowds pressed in Jesus remained remarkably present and attuned to individuals with spiritual or physical needs. He maintained a Spirit-filled margin. 
   
   Becoming proficient in digital ministry right now is your strategic opportunity to learn how different tools help you engage meaningfully with your 1, 3, 12, 70 and 5,000.
   
   It took me about five years in active field ministry to believe, at a conviction level, that focusing my best efforts on a relatively small number of prayerfully selected faith-filled learners is the lever God uses to change history. If you haven’t recently read “The Master Plan of Evangelism” by Robert Coleman, I highly recommend it. This short book will save you from years of mistakes and misaligned efforts in keeping the programs and activities going.

6. Entrust the ministry to others.
   As we learned during the SARS crisis in East Asia, God uses crazy events to release ministry into others’ hands. We frequently refer to 2 Timothy 2:2 as our basis for spiritual multiplication. The energy in that verse comes from the imperative verb: entrust. Risk is inherent when entrusting something valuable to another. We are to entrust the very valuable gospel message and the leadership responsibility of broadly proclaiming that message to other people as rapidly as the Spirit leads. We can err in waiting too long (“they’re just not ready”), or in moving too quickly by empowering people without proven character. Either mistake will stifle a genuine movement of God. Could God be using this pandemic to nudge you to take greater risks and release people? 

7. So that all may see your progress.
   The higher the visibility of your leadership role, the more you are called to grow in public. Jesus wants to close the gaps between what I say, what I believe, and how I walk. This is sanctification, and it results in deepening personal integrity. My leadership is not only about what I say or do, it is increasingly about how I respond in difficult private conversations, team meetings, and public situations. When I blow it, I need to apologize or ask forgiveness in the appropriate sphere (private, team, or public) that the offense occurred. 
   
   Leadership isn’t about being the one who knows all the answers or gets it right every time. We all need (and crave) feedback. Godly servant leaders don’t fear asking about their blindspots. Your team knows you’re not perfect. They want to know that you know it too.

I believe God is using this current COVID-19 season, as terrible and costly as it is, to advance His agenda among the nations. How might the Spirit of Christ be calling us back to the basics while at the same time urging us to keep in step by adapting, pivoting, and trusting Him in fresh ways? 

As you enter a new season of ministry filled with changes, know that I am praying for you as you practice these things. 

Ken Cochrum serves as Cru’s Vice President of Global Digital Strategies.

The post Feeling Stuck? Practice These Things first appeared on On Leading Well.

Instead I’d like to offer two rock solid biblical principles that transcend any circumstance and always bear fruit: Lead with courage and care.

Lead Them Out, Lead Them In
We observe people leading with courage and care all through the Scriptures. I’ll highlight two examples. The first is when Moses prayed to the Lord for a successor. In Numbers 27:15-17, Moses asked God “to appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” God then instructs Moses to choose Joshua and commission him in front of everyone. God says that “at his [Joshua’s] word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in.” 

This rhythmic action, repeated three times, demonstrates balanced leadership. We lead people out into the mission, into spiritual battle, into difficult places where there is real danger and risk. Then, we lead people back into community, into rest, into healing, into safety and care. Then back out, then back in. Depending on the level of intensity, some people may need more time and care to recover from battle fatigue. They may not be able to head back out immediately with the rest of the team. That’s ok. The mistake for a leader would be to completely stop leading out in courage because someone needs care for physical needs or emotional wounds. It’s important for you, as a leader, to take the time to personally connect with anyone on the team who is hurting, injured, or in distress. Nothing can replace that personal touch. Then, while ensuring the wounded are cared for, perhaps by another team mate or someone with needed expertise, the team is summoned with courage to press on in the mission. It’s also critical that as a leader you take regular time away from the battle for self care. 

A second example is Jesus’ first encounter with the disciples following his resurrection. The gospel of John recounts that “on the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” (John 20:19-21). Major crisis. Panic. Fear. Hiding. Uncertainty about the future. What was Jesus’ first word? Peace. Then we are told “the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” A good test for me as a leader would be: When things aren’t going well is my team glad to see me show up? Do I bring words of peace? 

Finally, verse 21 models Jesus’ perfect balance as the Chief Shepherd. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” Do you see Jesus’ care, followed by the call to courage? Jesus leads them in with peace, then immediately sends them out into God’s mission. In the next verse we are told that Jesus breathed on them and commanded them to receive the Holy Spirit. Our caring God does not send us back out into battle alone!

My prayer: O Jesus, in these challenging times, enable us to lead with courage and care, to lead your people out into mission and back into healing community. Give us your strength to do that again and again. Amen.

The post How to lead now? With Courage and Care first appeared on On Leading Well.

Today marks Day 7 of working full-time from home for me and my wife Ann. We’ve figured this out fairly well over many years of doing this. We have two separate rooms with multiple screens set up and doors that close so we can focus without interruption and avoid those awkward “your camera’s on?” moments. We’ve also rediscovered the old-school joy of spontaneously reaching out with a personal phone call to people we care about.

I have written a lot on virtual meetings. One of my blog’s most popular posts on this topic is from 2011 and I published a book about leading over distance in 2013. All this to say you’ve probably been building your virtual muscles for awhile, but the stakes are higher now.

I’m not a prophet, but my take is that after the quarantines lift we will not return to business as usual. That’s good. World culture just made a huge mental shift. Remote work is here to stay. It’s our job as leaders to master the art and science of agile meetings and remote management.

My colleague Erik Butz and I have been doing virtual meetings for more than fifteen years together. He has honed the craft. His team recently published a curated list of “Tips for Working From Home and Virtual Meetings” that I’m sharing with his blessing. It has great stuff on mindset, schedule, getting the tech right, being human while getting work done, and several links to helpful resources.

A few highlights I found helpful this week:

1. Simulate your daily work routine. Get up at the same time as normal, start working at the same time as normal. Take a “normal” lunch break. Have an end time. Let your family know what you’re planning for “office hours” and when you can take breaks to engage with them.
   
2. Set up a good work space. Although it’s tempting to do work from your bed, in front of the TV or on the kitchen table, it’s best to establish your workspace in a specific and consistent spot in your home. This allows that space to signal “work” to your brain. It will also help your job to not intrude into the lives of other household members and ideally it will be a space where you can focus and concentrate.
   
3. Keep engaged with your co-workers. Working from home is a discipline that won’t come naturally to all. Replace hallway conversations by initiating text or chat messages to check in with people. Especially if you are feeling disconnected – proactively reach out to your team leader or teammates. Set up team video check-ins to give updates on work progress and also video call break times when everyone can connect informally, catch up, and pray for one another.
   
4. Get some fresh air. Get outside for breaks and take a walk around your neighborhood if you can. Spending time outside and seeing some nature lowers stress, helps you relax and clears you mind. 
   
5. Get some focused work done. Take advantage of the opportunity to work on tasks that require deeper thinking, planning and prayer. This could include writing, developing plans and proposals or creating content that requires extended periods of undistracted time.

Download the doc for more tips. May God bless you and establish the work of your hands.

The post Tips for Working from Home and Online Meetings first appeared on On Leading Well.

The global spread of COVID-19 has required businesses, institutions, ministries and churches to change the way we operate. Many conferences, trainings, meetings, worship services, Bible studies, and other in-person gatherings are being canceled. Some churches have stopped meeting face to face altogether. Many ministries are no longer sending missionaries onto campuses and some entire nations have gone into lockdown. 

But the mission to which God has called us hasn’t changed. Jesus Christ offers life and peace in a world consumed with fear and death. This is a God-ordained moment to step up and help the church pivot in the mindset and traditional approaches to face to face ministry.

Here is a short, curated list of proven ways that digital tools are being used to minister across distance without being face to face.

Pray. Pivot. Get practical.

The post COVID-19 and Ministry at Social Distance first appeared on On Leading Well.

For Love. Love is my word for the year. I was down to two options and brought them before my prayer partners. They asked, “Do we get a vote?” “Sure.” “It’s love,” came their response. They affirmed my desire to grow in listening and selfless “agape.” I want to grow in more deeply loving God and loving people. 

For Spiritual Vitality. The fullness of the Holy Spirit brings joy and lightness to life that is otherwise inexplicable. Earlier this month our executive team met for our annual five-day offsite retreat. We spent the first 36 hours in prayer, listening to the Lord, opening the Scriptures using lectio divina, and creating space for Jesus. I returned from that week so deeply refreshed and filled with hope. My heart is making melody to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19). I want to taste this fruit daily in 2020.

After God’s Own Heart. I’m currently studying King David’s life and many of the psalms he wrote. When we walk among the heroes of Scripture we seek to imitate their faith. Here is what I am praying for you, and for myself, in this new year: 

“Lord, make us leaders after Your own heart. May we serve with integrity of heart and skillful hands, inquire of You before every big decision, worship and sing with passion, repent when confronted with our own sin, and fast and pray to draw near to You. As You did with your servant David, Lord, please give us victory wherever we go. Use us to fulfill Your purposes in our generation.”

The post Three Prayers for 2020 first appeared on On Leading Well.

Every cyclist in a paceline takes his or her turn riding up front for a few minutes “pulling” the group. Pulling in the lead spot requires up to 40% more effort than the person riding immediately behind! There is no way the group could go as far, or as fast, if one or two people had to pull the entire way. So we rotate. We share leadership. This requires a lot of communication because people riding in line can’t see cars, people, or debris as clearly as those up front.

During the last hour of the ride people are tired. Increased fatigue highlights the importance of staying together and keeping alert. At this point the body needs continuous water and calories, or else the brain gets fuzzy. All it takes to cause a serious crash is for one tired rider to lose focus for a moment, overreact by braking too hard, or touch another rider’s wheel. 

It’s during this final hour when my body is screaming that my brain makes a lot of connections between cycling well and leading well.

There Is Power In The Spirit

In the non-profit ministry in which I serve our team is about halfway into the implementation and execution of our shared 2019-2020 Digital Strategy goals. God has shown up. Lives are changing. Small teams around the world are creating more contextualized gospel content than ever before. 

But many of my colleagues have confided to me that implementing the vision is a lot harder than it looked. Some fatigue may be setting in on our long ride toward digital maturity. It’s not surprising. Projects look so easy on a consultant’s whiteboard with lots of bulleted lists in colored markers.

But innovation and change leadership is hard work. Failures, missteps, and conversation fatigue abound. We need perspective and power to stay the course.

Lately I have been meditating in the book of Galatians. Paul’s words give me fresh energy: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). Paul’s command to keep in step with the Spirit comes from a military term that means “stay in line, follow!” The verb is plural in form. Paul is not exhorting a believer to be filled by the Spirit alone (though that’s important, too). He is calling the community to keep in step, stay in line, move together, in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Friend, are you fatigued in the middle of a long pull? I pray you will experience fresh power as you keep in step with the Holy Spirit. Let’s stay alert and agile. Let’s communicate. Let’s watch out for debris and adjust quickly. Let’s share leadership and pay attention to what God is doing around us so that we can move farther and faster together. If we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

The post There Is Power In The Paceline first appeared on On Leading Well.