Wednesday, July 27, 2011

22 Principles for Leadership While Navigating Change

(Presented at the Georgia Baptist Convention Music Conference, FBC Snellville, July 22, 2011)

1. Be Future-oriented, but informed by your past. Change happens more rapidly now than at any time in human history, and it is not going to slow down. When you are riding in a buggy it is one thing. But driving at 70 mph requires always keeping your eye on the road ahead.

2. Be indigenous. There is no point in being an “embassy” in the midst of your culture. Speak the language of the culture: “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Cor. 14:19). Do it in such a way that a lost man “will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” (1 Cor. 14:25).

3. Be Evangelistic. Always highlight the good news of forgiveness in Christ Jesus.

4. Know your congregation. A “First Baptist Church” is not usually a church plant. You are working within parameters.

5. Do everything as well as you can do it—excellence.

6. Use a worship team to process, analyze, gain feedback, and plan the worship including the messages.

7. Love your people and be determined. Your love will do more to build unity and help people through transition than any arguments you may come up with. Especially in regard to worship, people are dealing with feelings not logic.

8. Listen. People will say that you do not listen if you fail to do what they tell you to do. But listen anyway. Listening is important because you learn things. It also tells people that you value them and love them.

9. Be honest. My leadership of worship is not about hearing God speak from heaven: “Sing hymns” or “Use guitars.” I am on my personal pilgrimage. I am fallible. I make mistakes. I am doing the best I can with the people God has given us to provide worship that brings us into God’s presence.

10. Be who you are, not who “they” want you to be. You will wear yourself out trying to be somebody you are not.

11. Give people permission to experiment and to fail. Some things we do only once and scrap them.

12. Use the gifts of your people. Equip the people for works of service. Every minister is an equipper.

13. Be faithful to God’s Word. Preach the Word. That is and should be the main event in worship.

14. Emphasize prayer. Call people to the front of the church to pray. Include prayer in all of your meetings. Keep up your personal prayer life.

15. Do the little things. It looks overwhelming when you take it all in, everything that has to be done. But sit down at your desk, pick up that telephone, and begin to make the calls that are your priority.

16. Cultivate a climate of peace—do not be anxious. Your anxiety is communicated to those about you, and it does not assist the Holy Spirit in his work.

17. Develop Rhino Hide. People are going to criticize you no matter who you are or how talented. You want to remain sensitive to others while learning how to go on joyfully and peacefully after hearing criticism.

18. Be the leading worshiper.

19. Stay for awhile. You cannot lead a church through change if you leave as soon as you hit choppy seas. Some things come with long tenure that come with nothing else.

20. Have the wisdom to know when to compromise so that you can keep going forward. You will not get everything you want every time.

21. Don’t covet your friend’s church or his worship leader or his choir or his facility or his budget or his praise team or anything else about your friend’s church.

22. Count your blessings every day.