Climbing The Summit 2,000 Feet!

As the mountain climbers approached the summit, their entire bodies were about to give in to exhaustion. The climb had been demanding and almost fatal. One wrong move, one piece of equipment failure, a lack of oxygen, inclement weather conditions, or a lack of training, could all result in the climbers not only not reaching the summit but possibly going home in a body bag. But once you get to the top and have conquered the peak, all the suffering you went through to get there is soon forgotten, as your mind is racing with thoughts of this achievement!

I recently attended my first Leadership Summit sponsored by Willow Creek via satellite feed. The theme was, “Lead Where You Are.” Like mountain climbing, trying to reach the summit, I found each speaker a little more challenging, a little more profound. But once the two day event was over, I basked in the refreshing winds that are blowing through my heart as I heard the voice of God speaking to my hungry soul.

It will be my task over the next several blogs to highlight some of the speakers and what the topics they addressed mean to the church. So let’s put on our climbing gear and start to head up the mountain.

Bill Hybels' topic (He founded Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL.) was “Leading In A New Reality.” He claims, as we all know, that the church has been blindsided by an economic rogue wave. With this type of storm there is a need for constant action at the helm or the ship will sink. Bill highlighted four lessons that will help us steer through these turbulent times.

Philosophically, we need to act quickly and decisively. We need to be the church no matter what -- an Acts 2 church! The question is -- do we still believe that the local church is the answer, no matter what the times are? We need to be confident that He will teach us lessons we will never forget during these sea squall times. There is nothing like the local church when the local church is working right! How is your church doing philosophically?

Secondly, consider Kingdom Economics. The math makes no sense from a human prospective. Jack Welch (the famous CEO with General Electric) states:”In a crisis, cash is king.” I am sure that the economic times have led to many a discussion in board rooms about what to do. Willow Creek has developed the following plan that may give us a starting point of discussion. In their new budget plan they have decided that there should never be more than 50% of total revenues going towards staff salaries, which means there will be a need for more volunteer empowerment. Ten percent of all revenue will be given away -- notice they did not cut missions. Ten percent will be poured into where the Spirit is working -- I like the freedom here, to keep in touch with God. Fifteen percent will go into ministry. And 15% will go into running the physical plant. Right now people are hungry to hear about money management God’s way! And people will still give generously and sacrificially to God’s red hot visions!

Thirdly, look up the peak into the relational front. In this lesson Bill concentrated mostly with people who are on staffs. There are many churches considering or already going through massive staff reductions. He did make a reference to Jim Collins' new book, How The Mighty Have Fallen. A good question to start with is, “How many absolute key seats are in your organization?” After answering the first question the second would be, “Out of X number of key seats, what percentage are the right people?” What is our plan for filling the rest of the keys seats with the right people? Are we developing backup people for the keys seats we have? Bill stated, “that a fired up, gifted person, that God will do something great through, is the key person!” Sounds like a church planter, eh?

On to the last lesson, which deals with the personal level, we need a replenishment strategy in place. Don’t get to the place in which you are doing God’s work but it is destroying God’s work in you! We need to reinvent a replenishment strategy for the new reality. Find out what fills your bucket and go for it. Get wired with God more! The replenishment of our bucket (Roman 8:6) can be energized by life and peace with the Holy Spirit. When we are filled up, we will lead best. The temptation during these turbulent times is to work 24/7. We need to slow down and listen to God, and He will whisper in our ears, “in My time not yours”. We need to develop rock solid God confidence! What do people see in us these days, “Exhausted and fearful or confident in God”?