Happy New Year

After a long summer absence, I think it is time to get back to this blog. If you noticed the absence, then I am honored. If not, well—join the busy club!!

As we head into the fall, I am reminded that THIS has always been my New Year. January 1st has never held much for me except the turning of a calendar page and writing the wrong year on my checks (back when we had those paper checks) for a month or so.

As a youth worker, this is when new programs start, new leaders step up to the plate, new kids enter the program and new ideas are attempted. Fall is the start of everything new. This is true from a parent’s perspective as well—each child moves into a new school experience and the year feels different from last spring. And, of course, for kids—this is a new year as well. Some step into a new school, enter middle school for the first time, finally hit high school or are going off to college. It is all new—and new things are both exciting and a bit scary.

So, as your programs hit a new rhythm; and as your kids experience new things; and as families find something new this fall—my question is, “What’s new with YOU?”. Is all the new stuff just on the calendar….in the programs….and on the outside? Youth ministry is becoming addicted to a dizzying array of programs, speakers, rallies, conventions and anything with David Crowder. It is fairly easy to crank up something in these areas, but it may be tougher to hit the reset button in your personal or spiritual life.

In the midst of the craziness, leaders often forget to find time to connect to something new in their soul….and the pressure to fake it gets bigger and bigger. We have to stay with Jesus and find the space we need to listen…really listen to our souls.

It is a new year. I know we don’t make many New Year resolutions any more—but I wonder about each leader’s need to hit the reset button once in a while. What do you need to do this year that will keep you more focused—and more intentional in the hidden areas of your life? What do you need to start this fall to help you soul? What do you need to STOP doing to renew your spirit?

I wish I could give you 5 easy steps to having a great new year. That’s what we love in American Christianity today. But, I am just not there. Find your own answer to the healing you need. Don’t rush past it to the next program. Breathe….and wonder what you might need to do this year to have a really good year.

God bless…

Change is never neutral

Leadership is about the business of change—we think about it, talk about it, preach about it and are always looking for it. Without knowing it, change is a core aspect of what it means to be a leader. We are asking individuals, groups, churches and organizations to do something different—to CHANGE.

Think about it. How much of your preaching, teaching, study groups, visioning meetings, leadership planning has change in there somewhere? We want kids to think differently, act differently, be more caring, less hostile, read more, swear less, etc, etc. We want our churches to evangelize more, be more inviting, be less rigid, be more caring, drink better coffee, etc.

We are always thinking and talking about change. But, I would like to suggest something that we may forget. It is a simple phrase I never let go of:

CHANGE IS NEVER NEUTRAL

NEVER.

I don’t care if YOU think it is a great idea and are excited about it—to really implement ANY change is difficult. It costs something and it is why most of us talk about change in other people but do so little changing ourselves. Let’s be honest—we all resist change. That’s why most of us have quit making new years resolutions!!

And, it gets harder as you go from:
Changing your mind to Changing your attitudes to Changing your behavior to Changing institutional behavior.

Each level gets increasing complicated. Simple declarations and yelling at people just don’t seem to produce change—yet, we keep going back to these.

CHANGE IS NEVER NEUTRAL

Here are four mistakes young leaders often make when it comes to leading change that I would like for you to consider.

1. Only listening to the innovators. These are the creative people (a VERY small minority) who LOVE change. They stand in line for the iPhone4 and love your new ideas. But, they are weird…so you can’t only listen to them!!
2. Forgetting how important VISION is. You must declare the reason, the goal and the hoped for outcome of any change attempt. If THAT doesn’t capture them, the change will fall apart.
3. Not building a guiding coalition. If you want to lead change in an organization, you must get a wide variety of key people to buy into it, invest in it, and consistently preach it. Without this, your singular efforts will fall on deaf ears after a short while.
4. Taking resistance personally. We often see people’s resistance to change as a personal attack—instead of seeing it as a natural part of the human condition. We need to give a safe place to discuss the successes—and the failures—we have experienced as we all try to change. Without this safety, we all learn to fake it and pretend we are changing.

So, have I lost my idealism about change? No, not at all. I still believe that God is in the business of changing people. “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation….and for helping people live righteously.” (my paraphrase of Rom. 1:16-17) God is calling us to change. I believe in it.

But, let’s not let our idealism get in the way of our practicality. Change is tough. We need to love people while they struggle with change, resist change and fall down in their attempts to change. Keep calling them back to the grace of God—but don’t stop CALLING them to something….to change. It is a great tension of the gospel.

Now…go change something.