Guiding Christian Leaders for Ancient Mission in the Contemporary World

This Week in Mission – November 23, 2008

 

I spent the last few days in Detroit leading seminars for UMC’s … a day with teams from large churches, and a day with pastors and staff from both conferences. It was refreshing to experience such earnest engagement with the principles of servant empowering leadership and transformation. Perhaps these hard economic times are again opening the door for innovation.

 

One issue proved to be a real sticking point: the ability of church leaders to fire leaders. This is true wherever I go, in whatever denominational or independent church I work. Churches are reluctant to follow even the best HR practices of other non-profits, and refuse to fire staff or dismiss volunteers. They think it is somehow unkind and worldly … forgetting that Peter and Paul did the same thing many times for the sake of love for the stranger and mission effectiveness. The real accommodation to culture is not that the church won’t fire leaders, but that the church believes its priority is to protect privileges.

 

Anyway, there are several principles to be followed if a church is to be able to fairly, reasonably, and effectively fire paid and unpaid workers.

 

1)       You can’t fire anybody if there is no culture of trust.  

2)       You can’t fire anybody if you have not previously identified anticipated measurable results. 

3)       You can’t fire those whom you have not trained and consistently evaluated. 

4)       You can’t fire individuals unless there is a universal expectation of accountability. 

5)       You can’t fire anybody without giving them a reasonable chance to change. 

6)       You can’t fire anybody without defining reasonable deadlines. 

7)       You can’t fire someone without concrete, visible awareness that you, too, can be fired.

 

Personally, I think these principles are so obvious that they hardly require explanation. Yet I discover again and again, even in large and otherwise effective churches, that these principles are ignored or forgotten regularly. If any of these are unclear, just ask. I would be glad to expand the explanation.

This Week in Mission – Nov. 17, 2008

 

As I travel, I continue to do skype coaching with individual pastors. (If anyone is interested in my “coaching covenant” let me know). In these darker economic times, pressure mounts on reprioritizing program and budget. But I see also that pressure mounts for clergy to refocus their own energy. More clergy are saying to themselves (and God): “I have to think differently … behave differently … learn new things … and reinvent myself.”

 

Here is a partial chart for the “reinvention of onself” (3 out of the five changes). You can see the key strategic moves … what you start and, even more significantly, what you stop doing.

 

Reinventing Yourself

Most clergy were raised in churches, and trained in seminary, to lead churches that will inevitably die.

 

Reinvention #1:                   From Chaplain to the Members … to Enabler of the Family

                                                Answer the Key Question                  Stop “Theologizing”

                                                Prioritize the Stranger                          Stop Visiting Everybody

                                                Enliven Worship                                  Stop Worrying about “Good Worship”

 

Reinvention #2:                   From Enabler of the Family … to CEO of the Church

                                                Immerse in the Mission Field             Stop Administrative Meetings

                                                Multiple Small Groups                         Stop Doing It Yourself

                                                Build and Model Trust                        Stop Worrying About Losing People

 

Reinvention #3:                   From CEO of the Church … to Empowerer of Disciples

                                                Get a Spiritual Life                                Stop Micro-Managing

                                                Redeploy Staff                                      Stop Questing for Quality

                                                Decentralize                                          Stop Worrying about Gaps

 

It is the third reinvention that seems counter-intuitive to many pastors. What worked for them in growing churches to get out of the box, actually begins to work against them as they step beyond the box.

 

Tom Bandy

This Week in Mission – Nov 8, 2008

 

I have completed another week here in New Orleans working with a dozen urban and exurban churches for redevelopment and outreach. We’ve come a long way in 18 months … and have a long way to go. The most exciting thing for me is the reports from clergy and lay leaders about how their lives have been changed … new attitudes, fresh hope, more life. Where once there were dead eyes, now there are beating hearts.

 

Some churches have made excellent programmatic progress in hospitality toward new lifestyle segments, alternative worship options, small group multiplication, and some property development. Others are still facing serious crises of survival … but I think with more self-esteem and faithfulness, and with a greater sense of ultimate purpose and direction.

 

The following excerpt is from an article that arose from my prayerful reflection on this recent mission trip in the “Big Easy” … It will also be on my blog.

 

Tom Bandy

 

The Mentoring Ladder

 

                Mentoring is the cornerstone of leadership development. It’s historic roots lie in the strategy of apostolic succession, when apostles passed on credibility and authority to a next generation of disciples. There is no curriculum for this. It is a living translation of the experience of Christ engraved on the unique life context of another. What is it like to actually experience mentoring?

 

                Mentoring is different from coaching, although both are important. Coaching focuses on planning, problem solving, team, and programming. Mentoring focuses on the inner work of leaders: attitude, integrity, stress management, and perseverance through temptation, and the myriad ways leaders wrestle with the devil in their own cultural wilderness.

 

                Once churches accommodated to the public education strategy of North America, mentoring dropped out of importance. We have religious institutions with a lot of great programs … implemented by professionally certified clergy who strive mainly to live a “balanced life” while remaining faithful to an uncompromising God. Meanwhile seekers are looking for mentors who lead an “unbalanced life” surrendered entirely to the mysterious mercies of God. In brief, coaching produces great managers, and mentoring produces potential martyrs.

 

                Since we are inexperienced in this, it is helpful for pastors, staff, and lay leaders to understand the experience of being mentored. Think of it like the rungs of Jacob’s ladder, extending from earth into heaven. There you are, Jacob, lying on your back amid the stones of the desert and the complaints of your parishioners, wondering how you can ever ascend the heights of spiritual leadership.  Father Abraham is your mentor. There are five rungs to the ladder.

 

                Sharing: The first rung on the ladder is the ability to share your life struggles, confess your insidious temptations, and face your hidden addictions. In return, the mentor shares his or her experience of Jesus Christ. This is the incarnational moment, what current jargon calls “thin space”, when the disciple first feels the breath of God on their neck and their pulse accelerates with non-rational joy.

 

                Habits: The second rung on the ladder is the ability to customize spiritual habits for daily living. This is akin to wearing corrective shoes that improve incredibly bad posture. At first … indeed, for some time … they pinch and hurt as the body is hammered into shape. Eventually, the habits that were our first inclination are replaced by habits that become “second nature”. Habits include prayer, Bible reading, guided meditation, physical labor, social service, and spiritual conversation. The mentor models his or her own habits, and helps shape your personal discipline.

 

                Accountability: The third rung on the ladder is the willingness to be held accountable to a spiritual life. The disciple sheds layers of personal ego and defensiveness to accept criticism. Criticism comes primarily through the mentor … or the complete stranger … for God uses both to discipline a Christian lifestyle. Repentance and realignment leads to closer self-awareness and heightened compassion.

 

                Action: The fourth rung on the ladder of mentoring is the courage to act with precision and compassion. One’s life becomes an arrow fired directly to the bullseye of human need. The instinct for injustice becomes sharpened, and the disciple sees victimization unambiguously and reacts instantaneously. The mentor not only guides the disciple to see evil, but models for the disciple reckless, self-effacing, sacrifice.

 

                Acceptance: The fifth rung on the ladder of mentoring is acceptance in spite of the failures and frailties of spiritual living. It is the wholly undeserved embrace of love, and an entrance into a serenity hitherto unknown. The forgiveness of the mentor is only part of acceptance. The profound part is the willingness of the mentor to take upon himself or herself the hurt or sin of the one being mentored … literally taking on the regret or guilt of the disciple … and relieving the disciple of their suffering.

 

                What is it like to be mentored? It is a progression from the inkling of Christ to the fullness of Christ. The mentor begins as a spiritual guide, and ends as being the face of Jesus himself. Where in heaven’s name do these mentors come from? They emerge from exactly this progression of experience. Once disciples, now apostles; now apostles, they take one new disciples. It is an apostolic succession that originated with Jesus and the Twelve.

 

                In my constant journey as a church consultant, the one thing consistently missing in institutional church life is mentoring. It is also the pearl of great worth for which a spiritually bankrupt culture longs.

 

Tom Bandy

This Week in Mission – Nov. 2, 2008

 

Recently I attended the American Academy of Religion Convention in Chicago. This is an annual routine of mine for over 25 years … and one way I try to keep current with international movements and theological trends.

 

For the first time the AAR (over 5000 international participants) separated its annual meeting from the SBL (Society for Biblical Learning with another 5000 members). The former now mainly focuses on the study of religion, and the latter focuses mainly on the study of the Bible … but clearly what has gone missing is the “practice of Christian discipleship”.

 

The book displays notably lacked publications in practical ministry, Christian living, and Christian mission. Senior editors from Abingdon, Zondervan, and Catholic presses are all left wondering where they should display their resources.

 

I saw few major themes in global Christian resources … more of a collage of many diverse interests. The ferment of publishing about the person and work of Jesus Christ (Christology) continues, although the protagonists are no long the Jesus Seminar vs. traditionalists, but rather (I think) the “western perspective” vs. the rest of the emerging Christian world.

 

Here are the books I picked up for future reading … and you may hear me comment on them in weeks to come:

 

Earthy Mysticism: Spirituality for Unspiritual People by Tex Sample (Abingdon)

The Crisis of Younger Clergy by Lovett Weems (Abingdon)

Dirty Word: The Vulgar, Offensive Language of the Kingdom of God by Jim Walker (Upper Room!!!)

Who Will Be Saved by Will Willimon (Abingdon)

 

Missional House Churches by J.D. Payne (Paternoster!!!)

 

I also gathered several more volumes of The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scriptures (Matthew and Romans) from Intervarsity Press.

 

Many will want to know that the Wesley Study Bible will be released in February 2009. This is an impressive edition that includes text notes from a large variety of practitioners and consultants (including me), connections to Wesley’s writings, and lots of good stuff. See Wesleystudybible@cokesbury.com.

 

Tom Bandy

Currently New Orleans

This Week in Mission – Oct 20, 2008

 

My seminar on Long Island is on the theme “Rediscovering Credibility”, based in part on my books Why Should I Believe You and Mission Mover. It’s pretty clear that many established churches want three “impossible things”:

 

• Growth without change;
• Depth without discipline;
• Direction without leadership.

 

The frustration of clergy is pretty clear. They struggle to counteract these impossible expectations because so many churches separate responsibility and authority. Clergy are given the responsibility to grow, go deep, and focus the future … but none of the authority. The authority is reserved for councils and committees who tell leaders what to do, and absolve themselves of responsibility to do it.

 

Now here is the next challenge. I suspect that many establishment clergy also want three “impossible things”:

 

• Change without growth;
• Discipline without depth;
• Leadership without direction.

 

Now it is the laity who are frustrated. They struggle to counteract these impossible expectations because clergy are unwilling to stake their careers on mission. Laity are encouraged to have the passion to grow, go deep, and focus the future … but none of the calling. Without recognition that laity are called … not just gifted … there can be no real mutual accountability with clergy.

 

Church transformation and personal transformation go together.

 

 

 

 

This Week in Mission – Oct 6, 2008

 

I led a seminar on “Spirited Leadership” at Green Lake Conference Center in Wisconsin … guiding leaders to implement the servant empowering organization model. The mixed group of independent, evangelical, and mainstream leaders generated great discussion … but it was interesting to see how regardless of institutional orientation they still shared many of the same problems.

 

Even churches that began as “polity driven”, and churches that began as “pastor driven”, still ended up several years down the road burdened with bureaucracy. Why? I think it is because North American culture is addicted to power and suspicious of trust.

 

The exercise of power is normal, but obsession with power is not. Reasonable skepticism about leadership is normal, but chronic distrust is not. I suspect that the extreme selfishness of the “me” generation has undermined the integrity of pastoral succession and institutional procedure, so that the only “fall back” position has been “bureaucracy”. Obsessive power leads to chronic distrust, which leads to bureaucracy as the compromise.

 

It became apparent to all of us in the seminar that team-based, bottom-up, high-impact organizations are only possible if rigorous expectations of spiritual growth allow power to be shared … “given away” in an atmosphere of reasonable trust. Accountability for mission attitude and high integrity must have a higher priority than accountability for skills and competencies. Unfortunately, in the “boomer” world, it is often just the opposite. Selective mediocrity requires more courage than quest for quality.

 

 

This Week in Mission – Oct 13, 2008

 

I received a great affirmation at the close of my consultation with a church in Nashville. The recommendations were pretty challenging, but at the end of the night one of the patriarchs and his wife told me “they had been skeptical about hiring an outside consultant, but now they were sold!” She was nearly in tears with enthusiasm, and he was asking for more resources.

 

My reflection is that this happy conversion of controllers did not happen by accident … or overnight. It wasn’t even my doing (at least, not directly). This church had a visioning team, and some pretty aggressive lay leaders who were determined to change the church. For 6 months we traded email and gave coaching … the widely read Kicking Habits and Moving Off the Map. Along the way, they let go a staff person who was clearly not on board … and supported the senior pastor whose give for mercy was hindering change.

 

Meanwhile, the team did tremendous research gathering data and perspective for the “Congregational Mission Assessment”. We relied on the great demographics and lifestyle segment research from www.missioninsite.com. Staff, council, and core leaders were well prepared and ready with questions. A spirit of openness pervaded the church before I even got there. Finally, the District Superintendent was totally aware, on board, and conveying urgency.

 

Now this was (and is) a pretty “stuck” church. And it still took a lot of listening, diplomacy, and planning to develop the package of recommendations. Some of the recommendations are pretty challenging … a few are rather expensive. Nevertheless, the outcome was especially positive. The lesson to learn is that a consultation can leverage big change (without splitting a church), but it requires the pre-work of some persistent volunteers.

 

 

This Week in Mission – Oct. 1, 2008

 

Friends,

 

From time to time I do free “Wednesday Seminars” in behalf of Net Results, adding them onto my travel plans. We had a remarkable 153 people in Columbus last week … rather large for a “seminar” and certainly enthusiastic.

 

One of the most interesting exchanges occurred with an Indian couple currently serving a church in the Columbus area (she is the pastor). We had been talking about mission targeting worship and credible leadership … and her question was about the respect and authority “ethnic” pastors are given by both congregation and denomination to lead change. (”Ethnic” is her term, referring to any leader clearly not “American”).

 

She also made the telling observation that one of the shocks she was overcoming was that she came from a truly “truly Christian state” in South India … expecting to find basic Christian behavior in America … only to discover how “un-Christian” American culture really is. They were also shocked at the lack of Christian spirituality and discipline among church people.

 

I think it is hard for them, and other church leaders “from beyond”, because their enormous maturity in Christian life hits against the insidious racism of both culture and church here. Capable of extraordinary leadership, they tend to be patronized by denominational leaders and ignored by congregational members. So now they are beginning to shift their own attitudes … they came expecting to be pastors in a Christian environment, and now they are repositioning themselves to be missionaries in a pagan country.

 

Being a “missionary” brings a whole new set of risks and expectations …

 

Tom Bandy

Currently en route Milwaukee

 

This Week in Mission – Sept 29 08

 

Friends,

 

Here I go again .. .still traveling … still consulting … still teaching. Today I complete a “Net Results Free Seminar” in Columbus Ohio, with over 150 attending. We talked about the synergy and sidetracks of church growth .. and the strategies for life-shaping worship, serious accountable adult spiritual disciplines, and mission action. (Anybody interested in such seminars ought to contact me).

 

I was intrigued by the passion of the interaction, and by the readiness of clergy, staff, and lay leaders to take risk for the sake of the Gospel. What was most interesting?

 

Well, the most interesting insight was the comment by one pastor that his mind was blown by the recognition that seekers are no longer on a “quest for quality”. True, “boomers” are still looking for the program that will meet their needs. But he realized that the merging post-boomer generations are not. They are looking for mentoring relationships, and for churches that will empower them to grow spiritually and personally, even to the extent of acceptable mediocrity, and opportunities to learn from mistakes. Big difference.

 

Tom Bandy

Currently Indianapolis

Follow Up to Sept. 27, 2008

Thanks for your responses to the questions about conflict. Our seminar in Fort Wayne tried to respond to all these questions directly or indirectly … my basic responses are inserted below. I can comment on other thoughts at the same time. Caution: this is a long post, so wait until you have time to digest it.

 

Tom Bandy

Currently Toronto

 

How do people who dislike confrontation deal with conflict?

            (Conflict Avoidance patterns)

Forum Comment: For me, this took coaching, mentoring, therapy, and setting up informal systems of accountability in my life, as well as a key formal accountablity. The coaching and mentoring was from more experienced leaders who knew how to productively engage in conflict. Counseling with a gifted pastoral counselor who was deeply familiar with the unique nature of church conflict. Together, those people comprised the informal systems of accountability. The formal accountability consists of clarifying and embedding the DNA and formal agreement that I m-u-s-t be accountable for attendant results — regardless of the conflict it might cause. Finally, and most importantly, a journey to a clearer centering on Jesus equips me for dealing with conflict (which I typically dislike). Ok…one more: I’m learning to like it.

 

My Response: The real issue is not personality, but mission focus and spiritual life. I don’t like conflict myself … and it is my nature to avoid it if I can. But it is the clarity and passion for mission (reaching the stranger, changing the world, sharing the Gospel) that demands confrontation. Either confront whatever blocks mission … or expect to be confronted by God. If someone threatened the well being of your family, the most timid person would become a warrior. Once we see even strangers as “brothers and sisters in Christ”, we stand up for them with equal courage. Now this mission focus doesn’t happen automatically. It only happens as we deepen our spiritual lives … experience the real presence of Jesus Christ. 

 

How can we lead change without alienating people?

            (Veterans vs. newcomers, olders vs youngers)

Forum Comment: You can always lead without alienating people by living deeply in the love and grace of Jesus. You can NEVER lead without people alienating themselves from you. So don’t even try to keep that from happening. Live filled with grace, truth, hope, faith, and love, and let aliens be aliens.

 

My Response: It is true that for a few people any kind of change is simply a threat to personal power. One cannot avoid alienating those few. But they are few. The diversity of membership, age, and perspective can get along together, and accept change, if three things are in place: credible spiritual leadership, a foundation of trust, and multiple options. I have talked about each of these three at great length, and won’t go into it here. But if you have respect for leaders (staff and board) as spiritual leaders … and a consensus about values, beliefs, vision, mission … and provide options for style, learning methodology, a relevancy … then most people will accept change. 

 

How do you change a church with a long history of control or conflict?

            (Overcoming controllers, fighting with shadows)

Forum Comment: By changing yourself. Get centered on Jesus, get clear on what you are called to be and do, and do it faithfully, authentically, lovingly. Never blink. The church will either follow and change or it won’t. Give up the need to know ahead of time. Just do the right things — always — give the rest to God — and realize that the worst that can happen is they throw you out. Not a big deal.

 

My Response: As a general rule, I think the “ratio of recovery” is about 1:5. A year of control requires 5 years of trust building to change corporate culture. You can accelerate that with more intense leadership development, rigorous accountability, and trust building. But it still takes several years to change corporate culture, liberate a church from corporate addictions, and develop reliable healthy habits. That’s why the “5 year mark” can be so important … controllers will try to drive out pastors within five years, so that corporate culture doesn’t change.

 

I think it is true enough that a history of conflict can be resolved by getting centered on Jesus. But I am not sure that the best advice is “don’t blink”. This is because negative corporate culture is not faced down by a “blink”, but by a long, intense, sweaty stare. It may take five years to “stare it down” … you experience all seven stages of control. In order to endure and persist, you need a pilgrim band and a spiritual life.

 

How do you build accountability?

            (Acquiring and firing volunteers)

Forum Comment: Clarify and embed the DNA. Claim authority. Invest authority in others. Be consistent. Be prayerful.

 

My Response: One the foundation of trust is laid, accountability is developed by the universality and consistency of the four basic accountable habits: mission attitude, high integrity, skill/competency, teamwork. You hire, train, evaluate, and fire everyone, and do it universally among all leaders of the church, and do it in a predictable routine. You establish consistent “fair practices” in which people are given reasonable time and coaching to change … and consistent “disciplinary practices” in which people are fired if they are unwilling or unable to change. One this is universal and consistent, you can fire people without it becoming a personal or political issue.

 

Churches should always start building accountability with staff, hospitality teams, and worship teams. This is where the new habit of accountability will be most visibly modeled for everyone … and reveal the greatest positive result. The expand that accountability to the board, education, outreach, and other leaders.

 

How do we lower stress in congregational transition?

            (Move beyond personal preferences)

Forum Comment: You lower stress in a transition by not being stressed. That takes prayer, fasting, journaling/meditating on Scripture, living from a posture of gratitude and joy.

 

At the same time, you can’t control the stress in others. Don’t even try. Moving beyond personal preferences means raising the bar to focus people on the authentic mission of the body of Christ and, along with that, clarifying and embedding faithful DNA. The very act and process of doing this will evoke stress. So you just do what the nurse does before she sticks the needle in your arm. She says, “This is going to sting for a minute.” So — we know, in broad strokes, what will happen, and what could happen — both positively and negatively. Tell everybody what you know. Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/) said it perfectly yesterday: “It’s easy to be against something you’re afraid of. And it’s easy to be afraid of something you don’t understand.”

 

My Response: The one way you do not lower stress is be reducing mission urgency. However, you can lower stress by expanding mentoring relationships. Stress is not really the result of “changed programming”. Stress is really the result of programming change that has outstripped leadership development. Therefore, if you (and the staff or key leaders you coach) invest more time mentoring leaders, overall stress goes down. There is a great deal more to be said about who, how, and what you mentor … but for now I will leave it at that. 

 

How do deal with special situations:

(Staff conflict, external community conflict, conflicting churches)?

Forum Response: Staff conflict: You taught me this Tom. Have a clear grievance procedure. Also, have a clear leadership procedure. I hire, fire, run my staff. Other than claims of moral or ethical transgression, they have to work all conflict out with me directly, and I with them. The final call belongs to me. If I’m smart, I’ll give the final call to them in non-critical situations. But it’s mine to give or not give.

External community conflict - Build a high flying team to address it. As lead pastor, lead. There is no more important arena for a lead pastor to lead effectively than in the commuity.

Conflicting churches: I haven’t experienced this as ever being worth the energy. You go your way, we’ll go ours. Perhaps we’ll meet again. We don’t need to be clones, just drawing from the same source.

 

My Response: The background to this question is that external community, denominational, or competitive church disputes can “spill over” into the congregational life. This may happen because of family ties, or small town gossip, or members wearing many other external “hats” of responsibility. Even in churches that think they have a clear DNA, this “spill over” reveals that the reputation of the church in the community is actually more vague, ambivalent, or sullied that the church leaders think. They may have clarified DNA … but they have not embedded DNA. So look carefully at how rigorously or carefully you train members, nominate or appoint officers, train emerging leaders, and design external communications.

 

How do I take care of myself?

            (Maintaining integrity, spiritual strength, and emotional stability)?

Forum Comment: Clarify and embed your own DNA in yourself. Stay true to who you are called to be and what you are called to do. Read Cloud and Townsend over and over again (the “Boundaries” guys). Live a life of spiritual discipline (Foster and Willard are helpful for me).

 

My Response: Many leaders manage time to build in family time, physical exercise, intellectual stimulation, and so on … and discover that in the “business” of leading God’s mission a merely “balanced life” is not enough. I cannot stress enough the importance of three things: you have to enjoy the “real presence” of Christ; you have be really, really clear about your personal mission in life; and you have to participate in a pilgrim band. Again, I talk about these things often, and won’t repeat things unless you ask me to. Suffice it to say that I find most clergy spiritually unhealthy because they are so caught up in ego, career, or management (the antithesis of each of the three positive things above) that they burn out or give up.
 

What is the right timing for intervention?

            (Healthy and unhealthy conflict, taking sides as a pastor)

Forum Comment: Only if I feel deeply and assuredly called to be in this church and fight the good fight with all my might — and — if I was clearly not making it happen through the normal course of leadership. Otherwise, I’d just move on.

 

My Response: In my new soon-to-be-released book “The Planning Guide”, I talk about evaluating ministries and ministry leaders in two ways: Acceleration and Impact. Acceleration has to do with the speed of mission; impact has to do with the result of mission. Leaders should be monitoring acceleration and impact all the time. Sometimes there are statistical measurements; sometimes you rely on intuition. But whenever you see the speed of mission decelerating, or the results of mission declining, then the faster you intervene, the better. When a pastor uses these things as a guideline for intervention, then it is clear (s)he is intervening because of concern for the mission, and is not just “taking sides” or protecting a faction. 

 

Do I ever give up hope?

            (Taking conflict personally, controllers and money, moving on)

 

Forum Comment: Nope. I might give up a position…a role…a location. But never hope. There is always a way to lead, serve, love, and live in service of the Kingdom of God. Never let a specific church, group, person, situation…rob you of your hope. Follow Jesus. There’s always hope in that.

 

My Response: Church leaders are sinners (i.e. trapped by the fundamental existential anxieties of life) like everyone else, and I suspect that the more successful clergy become, the more susceptible the are to suddenly losing hope. Always remember that the response to feelings of hopelessness is never continuing education … it is always courage. There are three basic acts of courage. The courage to participate (engage, build relationships, and throw yourself into the fray) always comes from your experience with Jesus the Spiritual Guide and Perfect Human. The courage to separate (stand out, risk all, and withdraw from the expectations of the world) always comes from your experience with Jesus the Promise Keeper and New Being. The courage to accept acceptance (own your own forgiveness, radical humility) always comes from your experience with Jesus the healer and vindicator.

 

So if you are hopeless … get courage. Get courageous by connecting with one of these six experiences of Christ.

 

I apologize for the length of this post … please feel free to ask further questions about any piece of it.

 

Tom Bandy

Currently Toronto