As I have traveled these past few days, I have noticed that our team has really developed over the past year. I have noticed 4 specific things that have characterized us as we have evolved. For us, these are incredible traits and ones that have come natural. I praise God that even though leadership development has not been something that we have had too much of an emphasis on; we continue to grow as leaders. It is incredible how the Lord has brought great leaders to our team and how well we seem to gel together and learn from each other. Here we go…...
1. Flexible
Over and over again, I see all of us working together for the common good. It is obvious to me that you are flexible with your lives for the sake of the mission. We step up for each other when we need it. We carry the weight of others when necessary. We do things that are not fun and are ok when we are pushed out of our comfort zone. When things don't go as planned, we work together to press on and don't get too carried away or overly frustrated. I am so grateful for how flexible our team has become. I know that being in a growing ministry isn't easy. Our responsibilities at times grow and we have to re-alaign our lives in order to stay ahead. However, we have always stayed flexible and worked together as a team.
2. Communication
One of the most frustrating things that we have had to go through over the past 2 years has been communication through technology. We don't have office space, many of us have other jobs and family responsibilities; yet everyone has worked extremely hard to keep good and clear communication. Beyond that, I have notices when things have not been communicated well, we go the extra mile to address those things. We communicate respectfully to each other and think the best of one another, which is hard when you are reading a screen. One day I pray that this won't be as difficult as it has been, but we are doing a great job with our communication.
3. Humility
One of the sad things within teams is power trips among the players. At Netcast it is obvious that we are not dealing with these issues. I have seen us serve each other, take the lower role for the sake of others, honor opinions that are different than ours and pursue humility. Of all the great characteristics that our team has, this is by far the greatest. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. This week while in Cali, I was confronted by a very proud man. He was asking me questions by making statements. This man was well versed, theologically sound and bold. Yet, his proud persona was extremely ugly. At the end of my meeting with him, he said he was both excited for us and frustrated. Excited at how we were being used by God, but frustrated because he wasn't being used in similar ways. Pride was seeping out of every sentence he spoke. And in the end, his own personal confession was clear…"God isn't using me." Here is a man who is intellectually solid, but his character was flawed. Pride will hinder God's favor and hand on our lives and ministry. Lets continue to look to the cross for our humility. He must increase, we must decrease. Lets continue to honor each other and fight for righteousness rather than fighting to be right.
4. Responsible
Being gone for two weeks for most church planters and pastors would be a terrifying things. Not for me. I could not be more confident in our team. I know with all my heart that you love our ministry, our God, our mission and each other. You take responsibility for the things that you commit to. You work hard and you work unto the Lord. I can always trust that if we say we will do something, it will get done. I never have to worry about people pulling a no-show, neglecting tasks, or blaming others for mistakes. You have shown incredible responsibility in your efforts to see Netcast become a Kingdom minded influential ministry. When you see things broken, you fix them. When you notice flaws, you work on them. I am so bless to have this team with me. I am so blessed to serve along side of you. I am so blessed to be counted as one of you.
I love you all more than you could ever know. I love your families more than you could ever understand. Thinking of you reminds me of Paul's words to the Philippians when he wrote:
Philippians 1:3-7 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace.
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Unity among Netcast Church.
Over the past few weeks I have had numerous conversations with numerous pastors of churches in numerous different stages of life and ministry. Among some of the conversations that I was having, the idea of having a united leadership team kept coming up. Because of that, along with a few personal reasons, I wanted to share this.
The number one priority of the enemy is to bring division. Since he cannot bring division between God's people and God himself, the next best thing is to bring division among the bride of Christ, more specifically its leadership. This can be created in numerous ways. Sexual sin, financial scandals, pride, etc…. But in my experience, this disunity starts in very subtle ways and eventually snowballs out of control. Because of that, I feel this is important for all of our partners / leaders to wrestle with this.
It is vital that we continue to fight for unity among ourselves. With the nature of how our culture typically communicates through occasional meetings and email we will have to work extra hard to fight for this. To add to the chaos, we have an incredible church, full of very gifted people with strong leadership capabilities. And, many of us are wired very different. If we are not careful, the strong personalities we have and our unique individual wiring will cause us to see our differences as hindrances rather than strengths. This is the first tactic the enemy uses in bring division. For the sake of the gospel, we have to remember how the enemy attacks and fight together for purity, humility and love of one another.
Here are 6 guidelines for us to think through as a church. I didn't come up with these, but am using them to guide my thoughts.
1. Let’s avoid gossiping.
The New Testament warns against gossiping. Gossiping is anytime we talk about one another to someone other than that person. Gossip is talking without the motive of seeking to be corrected ourselves and united to the person we are talking about. Among us, there should never be any gossip. Never!! The mission is too big and a local church is to fragile. All of us should search our hearts and repent of this sin immediately if necessary. If your brother has sinned against you, annoys you, bothers you, frustrates you, etc…Go directly to him / her and nobody else.
2. Let’s identify evidences of grace in each other and speak them to each other and about each other.
This is such a powerful opportunity for encouragement. It is so easy to get frustrated in church world. The bible calls us family, and we all know that families fight. However, for every negative thing we see in one anothers lives there should be 10 things that we see that is evidence of God's grace in their life. We have got to check our hearts and ask the question “why is it so easy to see the negatives yet so difficult to see God's grace.” Fight to see the evidence of Gods grace in our lives. Beg God to show you that in one another and pray fervently for a deep love for one another. Outside of God's miraculous grace, this cannot be obtained.
3. Let’s speak criticism directly to each other if we feel the need to speak to others about it.
Criticism is necessary. We all must get better at what we do. Whether it is parenting, the way we speak to one another, spiritual disciplines, our commitment levels, gifts and talents, etc...we should all desire to get better at what we do. And, the primary way we get better is when we can lovingly come along side of one another and offer helpful critique. Lets always fight for unity by speaking critique to one another as a means of encouragement. Hold one another accountable to this. Go directly to one another, and don't wait to do this. Do this personally and never offer criticism through email or text. Unity is to valuable and fragile, therefore we must handle it with care.
4. Let’s look for, and assume, the best motive in the others viewpoint, especially when we disagree.
In such a technological world, most of us are typically behind a computer when conversing. The downfall with that is it's nearly impossible to know a persons motive since you can't see body language or hear tone. Especially when we disagree. We have always got to assume the best of one another. This is not an option, this is the only option. Every great relationship is built on trust. Not just trust that we will do what we say, but trust even when we don't come through for one another. Here are some questions to ponder...How have we lacked trust lately? Who do I not trust and do they know that I don't trust them? Is my lack of trust, my issue or theirs? How have I assumed the worse?
5. Let's think often of the magnificent things we hold in common.
For every difference we have, we have 100 things in common. We all love Jesus. We all love the bride of Christ. We all love Netcast and want to see this local body flourish. We all love one another. We all are committed to a vision and mission....and the list can go on. Always remember that there is much more commonality to celebrate than there is differences to point out. How often do you just praise Jesus for how He has unified our church? I pray that we grow in this area.
6. Let’s be more amazed that we are forgiven than that we are right.
Let’s shape our relationships by the gospel. I want to fight for righteousness rather than fight to be right. In church world, this may be our biggest temptation. There are seldom times where there will be one “right” way to do something. In actuality, there are multiple of ways to do the things that we do together as a team. As Netcast grows and our influence grows, our tendency will be to fight to be right, and in the process neglect our desire for righteousness. Because of that, I am calling us to out-do one another with honor. As we fight to out-do one another in honor, our pride is crushed, humility is birthed and Jesus can continue to anoint and bless our lives and ministries.
All of you are like family to me. I pray that God gives us a special unity. Join me in fighting for this through prayer and dedication. It is our spiritual act of worship. Worship well Netcast!!
- Pastor Matt
The number one priority of the enemy is to bring division. Since he cannot bring division between God's people and God himself, the next best thing is to bring division among the bride of Christ, more specifically its leadership. This can be created in numerous ways. Sexual sin, financial scandals, pride, etc…. But in my experience, this disunity starts in very subtle ways and eventually snowballs out of control. Because of that, I feel this is important for all of our partners / leaders to wrestle with this.
It is vital that we continue to fight for unity among ourselves. With the nature of how our culture typically communicates through occasional meetings and email we will have to work extra hard to fight for this. To add to the chaos, we have an incredible church, full of very gifted people with strong leadership capabilities. And, many of us are wired very different. If we are not careful, the strong personalities we have and our unique individual wiring will cause us to see our differences as hindrances rather than strengths. This is the first tactic the enemy uses in bring division. For the sake of the gospel, we have to remember how the enemy attacks and fight together for purity, humility and love of one another.
Here are 6 guidelines for us to think through as a church. I didn't come up with these, but am using them to guide my thoughts.
1. Let’s avoid gossiping.
The New Testament warns against gossiping. Gossiping is anytime we talk about one another to someone other than that person. Gossip is talking without the motive of seeking to be corrected ourselves and united to the person we are talking about. Among us, there should never be any gossip. Never!! The mission is too big and a local church is to fragile. All of us should search our hearts and repent of this sin immediately if necessary. If your brother has sinned against you, annoys you, bothers you, frustrates you, etc…Go directly to him / her and nobody else.
2. Let’s identify evidences of grace in each other and speak them to each other and about each other.
This is such a powerful opportunity for encouragement. It is so easy to get frustrated in church world. The bible calls us family, and we all know that families fight. However, for every negative thing we see in one anothers lives there should be 10 things that we see that is evidence of God's grace in their life. We have got to check our hearts and ask the question “why is it so easy to see the negatives yet so difficult to see God's grace.” Fight to see the evidence of Gods grace in our lives. Beg God to show you that in one another and pray fervently for a deep love for one another. Outside of God's miraculous grace, this cannot be obtained.
3. Let’s speak criticism directly to each other if we feel the need to speak to others about it.
Criticism is necessary. We all must get better at what we do. Whether it is parenting, the way we speak to one another, spiritual disciplines, our commitment levels, gifts and talents, etc...we should all desire to get better at what we do. And, the primary way we get better is when we can lovingly come along side of one another and offer helpful critique. Lets always fight for unity by speaking critique to one another as a means of encouragement. Hold one another accountable to this. Go directly to one another, and don't wait to do this. Do this personally and never offer criticism through email or text. Unity is to valuable and fragile, therefore we must handle it with care.
4. Let’s look for, and assume, the best motive in the others viewpoint, especially when we disagree.
In such a technological world, most of us are typically behind a computer when conversing. The downfall with that is it's nearly impossible to know a persons motive since you can't see body language or hear tone. Especially when we disagree. We have always got to assume the best of one another. This is not an option, this is the only option. Every great relationship is built on trust. Not just trust that we will do what we say, but trust even when we don't come through for one another. Here are some questions to ponder...How have we lacked trust lately? Who do I not trust and do they know that I don't trust them? Is my lack of trust, my issue or theirs? How have I assumed the worse?
5. Let's think often of the magnificent things we hold in common.
For every difference we have, we have 100 things in common. We all love Jesus. We all love the bride of Christ. We all love Netcast and want to see this local body flourish. We all love one another. We all are committed to a vision and mission....and the list can go on. Always remember that there is much more commonality to celebrate than there is differences to point out. How often do you just praise Jesus for how He has unified our church? I pray that we grow in this area.
6. Let’s be more amazed that we are forgiven than that we are right.
Let’s shape our relationships by the gospel. I want to fight for righteousness rather than fight to be right. In church world, this may be our biggest temptation. There are seldom times where there will be one “right” way to do something. In actuality, there are multiple of ways to do the things that we do together as a team. As Netcast grows and our influence grows, our tendency will be to fight to be right, and in the process neglect our desire for righteousness. Because of that, I am calling us to out-do one another with honor. As we fight to out-do one another in honor, our pride is crushed, humility is birthed and Jesus can continue to anoint and bless our lives and ministries.
All of you are like family to me. I pray that God gives us a special unity. Join me in fighting for this through prayer and dedication. It is our spiritual act of worship. Worship well Netcast!!
- Pastor Matt
The type of Leader I strive to be.
Recently, I was asked to answer this question..."As the lead pastor of a growing church plant; what type of leader do you strive to be?" Below were my thoughts....
Servant: Paul tells those with the gift of leadership to lead with diligence (Rom. 12:8) Jesus tells us that the greatest among us shall be our servants. I believe that to be true. My job as the leader of Netcast is not to Lord my authority over our staff or congregation, but rather diligently serve our congregation. For me, Servant Leadership is about stewardship and not ownership. Netcast will be better off if I steward the direction of the church by leveraging other leaders within, rather than me Lording my leadership over others. By seeing my job as a servant, it frees me from trying to always get my way and having others within the church exist to serve me and my vision.
Bold Visionary: As a leader, one of my primary responsibilities is to guard the mission and vision of the church. Because of that, I spend a lot of time creating ways to re-itterate, cast and share the mission and vision of the church. In any organization, people will come in with their pre-concieved thoughts on how an organization should be run or the direction the organization would be heading in. For me as a Leader, it is vital that I keep the church headed in the direction that God has given me. This at times takes a lot of boldness and courage. Especially as a young leader, there are times when more seasoned people come along and would like to tweak some things within the church. It is in those moments where I need to humbly and boldly make sure Netcast does not move away from the direction that God has given us. Too many leaders move away from the original vision of the church in order to keep others happy. This can be destructive to an organization.
Humility: Let me clarify here. Humility for me is something I strive for and not something that I have obtained. Personally, I think that a pursuit of humility is key to the success of any organization. Humility for me simply means that I take time to recognize that I am not always going to be right, my heart at times can deceive me, and it is better to lead with people than always lead people. Although I am the leader at Netcast, I rarely make decisions on things without the counsel of others. This allows me to make sure that I have the most qualified people at the table helping us make decisions. I believe that a plurality of leadership is always the safest way for an organization to be lead. Now, I am not proposing that there is not a overall leader within an organization, but rather that the overall leader pursue humility and plurality for the sake of the organization.
Servant: Paul tells those with the gift of leadership to lead with diligence (Rom. 12:8) Jesus tells us that the greatest among us shall be our servants. I believe that to be true. My job as the leader of Netcast is not to Lord my authority over our staff or congregation, but rather diligently serve our congregation. For me, Servant Leadership is about stewardship and not ownership. Netcast will be better off if I steward the direction of the church by leveraging other leaders within, rather than me Lording my leadership over others. By seeing my job as a servant, it frees me from trying to always get my way and having others within the church exist to serve me and my vision.
Bold Visionary: As a leader, one of my primary responsibilities is to guard the mission and vision of the church. Because of that, I spend a lot of time creating ways to re-itterate, cast and share the mission and vision of the church. In any organization, people will come in with their pre-concieved thoughts on how an organization should be run or the direction the organization would be heading in. For me as a Leader, it is vital that I keep the church headed in the direction that God has given me. This at times takes a lot of boldness and courage. Especially as a young leader, there are times when more seasoned people come along and would like to tweak some things within the church. It is in those moments where I need to humbly and boldly make sure Netcast does not move away from the direction that God has given us. Too many leaders move away from the original vision of the church in order to keep others happy. This can be destructive to an organization.
Humility: Let me clarify here. Humility for me is something I strive for and not something that I have obtained. Personally, I think that a pursuit of humility is key to the success of any organization. Humility for me simply means that I take time to recognize that I am not always going to be right, my heart at times can deceive me, and it is better to lead with people than always lead people. Although I am the leader at Netcast, I rarely make decisions on things without the counsel of others. This allows me to make sure that I have the most qualified people at the table helping us make decisions. I believe that a plurality of leadership is always the safest way for an organization to be lead. Now, I am not proposing that there is not a overall leader within an organization, but rather that the overall leader pursue humility and plurality for the sake of the organization.
6 Leadership Lessons I have learned in Church Planting
I was recently asked to share some of the leadership lessons that I have learned in my 14 months as the church planter of Netcast Church. I thought I would share them with you guys.
1. Authority is easy to give away and very hard to take back. Take your time giving away authority to others because once you give it away, it could cause major disunity and problems if you have to take it back.
2. Building teams are vital. Most leaders neglect the importance of team building. Without other strong teams within an organization, the organization will never thrive.
3. Allow other leaders to lead. We want Netcast to be a place where God sends leaders to lead and not leaders to always be led. For the health and benefit of Netcast, it is important that I free people to lead out in their gifts. If there are people who are more gifted than I am in certain areas, than I have to encourage and free them to lead out in their giftedness.
4. Competence, Character, and Chemistry. For me as a leader, it is vital that the people on my team, have these three characteristics. I learned this from a leadership book I read about 5 years ago and it is so true. You can never allow someone with great abilities but little character to be a part of the leadership of a church. In the same way, if someone has great character but can't keep a commitment, than they are unqualified to lead. Lastly, if they have great character and are competent individuals, but lack chemistry with the other people within the organization, than we cannot allow that type of dis-unity. In order for a person to be a leader at Netcast, they have to have personal character, they must be competent and they myst have chemistry with other people in the organization.
5. Encourage diversity in giftedness. Anytime you have all of the same type of people on a team, than you will struggle to get better. Without diversity, you will rarely be able to see an organization with a critical eye. It is important that you have enough diversity among a team that we are continually getting different perspectives on any given issue. The only thing that you need to be careful about with this type of approach, is keeping unity. When people come to the table with different perspectives, it is vital that they all do so with great humility and honor towards others.
6. Wins go out, losses stay in. At Netcast, whenever we get a "win" (encouraging email, someone becomes a christian, etc…) we make sure that we spread that news throughout the entire church. Those are great ways for us to encourage the church. However, when we see a "loss" (discouraging email, harsh critic, etc…) we make sure that stays within the leadership of the church and we deal with it there. This is vital to keeping positive momentum within an organization.
1. Authority is easy to give away and very hard to take back. Take your time giving away authority to others because once you give it away, it could cause major disunity and problems if you have to take it back.
2. Building teams are vital. Most leaders neglect the importance of team building. Without other strong teams within an organization, the organization will never thrive.
3. Allow other leaders to lead. We want Netcast to be a place where God sends leaders to lead and not leaders to always be led. For the health and benefit of Netcast, it is important that I free people to lead out in their gifts. If there are people who are more gifted than I am in certain areas, than I have to encourage and free them to lead out in their giftedness.
4. Competence, Character, and Chemistry. For me as a leader, it is vital that the people on my team, have these three characteristics. I learned this from a leadership book I read about 5 years ago and it is so true. You can never allow someone with great abilities but little character to be a part of the leadership of a church. In the same way, if someone has great character but can't keep a commitment, than they are unqualified to lead. Lastly, if they have great character and are competent individuals, but lack chemistry with the other people within the organization, than we cannot allow that type of dis-unity. In order for a person to be a leader at Netcast, they have to have personal character, they must be competent and they myst have chemistry with other people in the organization.
5. Encourage diversity in giftedness. Anytime you have all of the same type of people on a team, than you will struggle to get better. Without diversity, you will rarely be able to see an organization with a critical eye. It is important that you have enough diversity among a team that we are continually getting different perspectives on any given issue. The only thing that you need to be careful about with this type of approach, is keeping unity. When people come to the table with different perspectives, it is vital that they all do so with great humility and honor towards others.
6. Wins go out, losses stay in. At Netcast, whenever we get a "win" (encouraging email, someone becomes a christian, etc…) we make sure that we spread that news throughout the entire church. Those are great ways for us to encourage the church. However, when we see a "loss" (discouraging email, harsh critic, etc…) we make sure that stays within the leadership of the church and we deal with it there. This is vital to keeping positive momentum within an organization.
Because I cannot....Colossians 1:9
Colossians 1:9 says it all.
As I am getting very close to moving to Beverly, MA; I am just overwhelmed with both joy and anxiety as I seek to begin to do what the Lord is calling me to do. If you would have asked me 2 years ago as we were starting to think through the church plant and all that we envisioned, my thoughts about this would have been totally different. I honestly used to think that I could do this. I used to think that, "if I just preach good enough" or "if I am just funny enough" or "if our music is just anointed enough" or "if our welcome team is just nice enough".........etc etc etc; then we will have a great church plant. I now recognize that I am nothing; just a pawn in the hands of a loving and gracious God.
The past 2 years of my life have literally been life altering. I want to thank dudes like Wagoner, Gene, Dave P, TJ, Pearce, my team and board, my A29 assessment team, and the many others who have come around me to both encourage me and rebuke me. Most importantly I want to thank my wife and kids who have loved me so well though all of the transition and have modeled Christs love so well through this.
As I was with the Lord this morning, I came across a verse that I have probably read 100 times, but today it hit me hard. Colossians 1:9 says "since he day we heard of you we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding."
Paul gets it and sadly I have not gotten it. Theologically I understood it, but my heart was deceived to think that I was more than I am.
As I am moving to a dark area of our world, where sin and paganism, idolatry and wickedness, unbelief and doubt, are all the norm; the only way to fight this is prayer that "God" not "Matt", will fill people with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. So, today I am praying as I type, as I read and as I drink my coffee. Lord, for those who I meet in Greater Boston and have an opportunity to love and tell about Christ; fill them with the knowledge of your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.....because I cannot.
Amen.
Spending March w/ Jesus 3-7-09 "Jesus tells us to Self Evaluate"
Sermon on the Mount
Read Luke 6
Read Luke 6
6:42 How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
This is such an important principle to implement into your own life. Its is the principle of "self evaluation." Self Evaluation is what will build strong marriages, strong relationships between kids and their parents, and pretty much all other relationships.
When Beth and I get into arguments, it is important for us to first look at ourselves before taking a stand or pleading a case to the other person. I literally do all that I can to walk away from situations and ask myself the following questions:
1. What did I do against God and the person?
2. How did I sin?
3. What should I have done different?
4. How was I insensitive?
5. How can I react Godly?
The only way to humbly look at these questions and answer them with accurate honesty is to look at Christ and the Gospel. When we have Gospel lenses, we are able to humble ourselves to situations. Through the gospel, we can see our wretched sin and the measure of Gods grace. It allows us to lose all pride and be able to acknowledge who we truly are (sinners by nature) and submit to the authority of Christ.
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