Sometimes, you just have to buckle down and get things done. (or, you know, carry on)

I’m less than two weeks away from graduation at Fuller. And all that’s keeping me from it are a paper and a final exam. That’s exciting. But between doing some research and making plans for next year at work, hanging out with friends, and spending time with my wife and our new dog, motivation on this paper is a little lacking.

But sometimes, you just have to focus in and get things done.

I mean, I actually like writing. When I pull myself away from the interweb long enough to think deep thoughts, it’s actually kind of fun. But then there’s all this other stuff that pulls my focus away. Like, you know, blogging.

But sometimes, you just have to clear your mind and get things done.

I was reading something Mark Batterson wrote recently about Parkinson’s Law. It says projects will fill the amount of time you give them. The more time you have for something, the more time it takes. It’s so true, isn’t it. Especially for the perfectionist type. It’s always on deadline. Because that’s the only way to get things done.

And then I was thinking about this awesome post by Jason Jaggard. It talks about how the future you needs the you of today to make the tough decisions you need to make to become the you you need to be. (Read the post. It makes sense. It’s good). And, you know, that “discipline” thing of getting things done when you don’t feel like getting them done and working ahead when it would be easier to procrastinate is one of those things the future me needs me to get better at now.

So yeah, it’s time to get this sucker done.

(But David and Joey – if you read this – “get it done” in this case means “make progress.” I’m turning it in on Thursday. Not Tuesday. If given the option, things take as long as they have time to take. Parkinson said so!)

(Photo from swissmiss)

This is so encouraging to read – especially from a church with the size and influence of Life Church:

The American Church is not lacking for “cool” pastors. Like a single guy who is trying just-a-bit-too-hard to impress a girl, some churches are simply trying too hard to be cool.

I’m very encouraged to see a shifting in direction. For years, many of us seemed focused on:

• Designing relevant church experiences.
• Producing entertaining videos.
• Creating inviting environments.
• Crafting sermon series to draw a crowd.
• Writing sermons with shock value and plenty of humor or stories.

While all of the above can be effective tools, many of my friends are intentionally moving in a stronger direction. So many great Christian leaders are seeing far better results with:

• Bathing a sermon in prayer.
• Fasting regularly.
• Practicing personal confession and repentance.
• Preaching from the overflow of time alone in God’s word.
• Caring deeply for others in biblical community.

I’m thrilled so many leaders are placing less emphasis on being cool and more emphasis on being like Christ.

Relevance matters as long as we define relevance as meeting people where they are at a point of need. But it’s so easy to spend time fighting a battle we won’t win. We can have fun and tell great, meaningful stories. That’s good and important. But if it’s about the flash and cool-factor alone, we’ll never beat Hollywood, Comedy Central, or even SNL! Creativity is great, but there’s something more to our message.

Ben Arment’s a guy I’ve been following through his blog for at least four years – through his work as a church planter, to relaunching that same church with a new name and location, to packing up and moving to Georgia to work with Catalyst.

(It’s amazing the lessons you can learn from a guy you’ve never met. Thanks for sharing your life online and answering random emails Ben!)

Well, he’s off on a new adventure – moving back to Virginia Beach to start a production company. That’s all I know. I’m sure he’ll give more info soon.

But that’s not exactly what this post is about.

In the comments, he said this about his wife’s view on it all:

ainsley told me yesterday that she has been praying since the age of 18 that she would be “unsafe” as a parent and christ-follower in the eyes of her kids

Wow. I love that.

We always want safety – for ourselves and – I’m guessing here – even moreso for our kids. Trusting God in times when it’s risky sets such a powerful example of what it means to follow Christ…

A Chinese Proverb…

From a free download (279 Days to Overnight Success).

People often talk about “leadership as influence.” If people are following you, you’re leading. But it’s less often that we talk about whether we’re worth following.

Brad Lomenick wrote recently about the call to leaders in Philippians 2:

Starting with verse 2: “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus….. who emptied Himself…. the form of a bond-servant…. humbled Himself…. by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

And then, in verse 14, Paul lays the smack down again- “do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent…. children of God.”

As leaders, it is our responsibility to model this. Quit griping, grumbling, disputing, and arguing, and start leading, serving, encouraging, and uniting.

So true. Michelangelo said to “criticize by creating.” The best leaders bring change by creating a new reality.

Ok, so I probably eat about one of these every two to three years. But I thought this was hilarious. It’s also good to see BJ Novak is a little different than the character he plays on the Office .

Conan looks like a GIANT next to Stephen Cobert.

That’s all…

We’re at the end of a discussion about why bivocational ministry is a needed, and positive, idea for the church. To read the beginning, go here.

6. It forces you to build teams

I mentioned it in the first post, but one of my biggest struggles with bivocational ministry has been this idea of focus. I really believe it’s powerful when someone can discover their core passions and giftings, hone in on the thing they do best, and run hard toward that goal. Seth Godin talks about the power of being the best in the world at what you do and not letting other things distract you from that focus.

Well, if you’re ministering bivocationally, you’re guaranteed to have a divided focus. How does that work? First, I think it’s important to do your job well. I would never want my employer to feel like they’re getting anything less than excellence because I’m a Christian involved in a church. So, “slacking” (giving anything less) in that arena isn’t an option.

Instead, you have to realize you can’t do it alone, focus in on your core gifts, and build good teams to do the work of supporting the church structure. I think the core leaders’ main jobs should be meeting with, encouraging, and investing in other leaders. Honestly, all churches should look like this. But in a more traditional model, it’s easier for the main pastor to believe he or she can carry the load alone. Often they’re talented people who can carry it – at least for a while. But it ends up wearing them down, hampering the growth of the church, and robbing others of the chance to use their gifts. But when you’re bivocational, you have no choice! You can’t do it alone! Your first goal has to be building a team to sustain the work of the church.

–

So there are a few of my thoughts. As we wrap it up, I think it’s important to say that “bivocational” isn’t just about having to have a “secular” job (though something outside of the Christian world is helpful). Instead, it’s about your machine for making a living coming from outside of the church. I believe pastors are perfectly within their rights to “make a living” from ministry. That’s not the issue. It’s about what is sustainable for new models of church. So whether it’s a job in a separate field in which you’ve been trained, as a manager at the local Starbucks, or as the head of a non-profit that supports and enables the church, I believe that something outside the church that keeps you in the community and engaged with society can be healthy for both the church, and the minister.

We’re in the middle of a discussion about why bivocational ministry is a needed, and positive, idea for the church. To read the beginning, go here.

5. You’re just like anyone else

I know. We all want to be special. But here’s the deal. It’s always a challenge when a pastor gets up in front of a congregation and tells them they need to spend time with God daily and look to follow God and serve others. “Sure,” most of the people think, “It’s easy for you to say. That’s your job! I don’t get to have my ‘quiet time’ at work.”

When you’re bivocational, you have a job that plays by the same rules as everyone else. You have to be wise about your job, your family, your ministry. You also have an opportunity for friendships outside of the church. You get to share life with people who aren’t Christians. It can happen when people are vocational pastors as well, but it’s much more difficult. Plus, if you want to talk to someone on the plane or at a sporting event, the conversation won’t end as soon as they ask, “What do you do?”

We’re in the middle of a discussion about why bivocational ministry is a needed, and positive, idea for the church. To read the beginning, go here.

4. It’s sustainable

The truth is, church planting (and church “long-terming”) has to look different as our culture changes. As I mentioned earlier, it takes a lot of resources to do church the way we’ve been doing church. Planting a church bivocationally means you’re not in a rush to reach a certain number of people so their tithe can support your salary. When you’re in a rush, it’s easier to gather a big crowd – mostly of Christians transferring from other churches – than it is to do the work of getting outside, meeting people, and building relationships. When you gather a big crowd, there’s less of a need to get out, listen to people’s needs, and serve the community. It’s easy to feel successful with just a Sunday show.

Sustainable planting also means you’re not in a rush to reach a certain type of person with a certain income so their tithe can support your salary. Instead, you can focus on anyone – college students, people in the margins, lower income people.

That slow growth means that more of the people who join your church/community may join because they’ve come to Christ from relationships within the community. That’s a powerful way to grow.