The Difference Between Living IN the Past and Living OUT of the Past

by: Trevin Wax

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Does your church have a past?

Of course it does. Your church had a beginning, and the movement that birthed your church has a history also.

But does your church’s past have any meaning or significance in the life of your congregation?

The answer to that question does not come as easily.

LIVING IN THE PAST VS. LIVING OUT OF THE PAST

In a previous post, I wrote about the need for churches to live in 3-fold time, with proper attention devoted to the past events that constitute identity, the present tasks before us today, and the future hope that strengthens our witness.

Today, I want to focus on the first aspect — how a church can be rooted in the saving actions God has performed in the past and the sustaining grace He has shown to His people throughout history.

Whenever we hear about looking “backwards,” we feel a twinge of resistance. To look backward must mean we are turning back the clock, giving into unhealthy and nostalgic tendencies that hinder our mission, right? So the solution should be to free ourselves from the shackles of history and tradition in order to better adapt to our times.

This way of thinking makes good sense to many today, but it needs strong qualification. There is a difference between living in the past (with a nostalgic yearning for a golden age of yesteryear) and livingout of the past, which means we see ourselves in continuity with our forefathers and mothers in the faith.

A COMMUNITY OF MEMORY

In Habits of the Heart, sociologists from the University of California claim that a real community must be “a community of memory;” that is, “one that does not forget its past.” They write:

“In order not to forget that past, a community is involved in retelling its story, its constitutive narrative, and in so doing, it offers examples of the men and women who have embodied and exemplified the meaning of the community….” (153)

Lest you think the authors believe a community should look at the past through rosy glasses, they go on to mention how “painful stories of shared suffering” are just as important as recounting their community’s successes. Likewise, an honest community will maintain its “dangerous memories” of when it inflicted suffering on others, thus calling the community in the present “to alter ancient evils.” (153)

A COMMUNITY’S COMMON STORY

The history of your church is a vital component of the health of your church.

Psychologists have discovered that children who know more about their families (where they are from, who are their relatives, what are the milestones in the family’s journey, the story of their birth, etc.) are better equipped to deal with life’s challenges. Writing in The New York Times, Bruce Feiler describes a healthy narrative as “oscillating:” it includes the family’s ups and downs, victories and setbacks. The family’s identity is forged through trial.

What is a church if not the family of God? The common story of our heritage, our roots, our failures and successes – all of these elements have an identify-forging effect on God’s people. Our frequent celebrations of the Lord’s Supper reinforce our identity as followers of Jesus. A common story enables us to thrive in the midst of cultural challenges.

So how do we fight against the “tyranny of the now” that leads us to focus on the present that we forget our past and why it is important?

I see three strands in your church’s history, and each can help the church be a community of memory.

3 STRANDS OF YOUR CHURCH’S HISTORY

The first strand is the most important.

1. We are part of the people of God, who bear witness to the great story of our world.

As believers, we are children of Abraham; we have been grafted into Israel. So when we read biblical accounts, we are not merely reading about people as examples for us today; we are reading about Grandma and Grandpa. These are our fathers and mothers in the faith. When we read about the people of “the Way” in the New Testament, we are encountering the origin of the movement to which we belong.

Bearing witness to the great story of our world means we believe in God the good Creator, our rebellious descent into sin, God’s commitment to bring salvation, His choice of a holy people to be the vehicle for His good purposes in the world, His sending of the Messiah to die for our sin and launch new creation, and His commissioning of the Church to carry His gospel of love to the ends of the earth. Unless we are telling that story over and over again, our Church experience will shrivel up until it merely incorporates a religious aspect into an essentially secular life.

The second strand follows from the first.

2. We stand in a long line of saints who have sought to be faithful to Jesus.

American Christianity leans toward innovation and originality, which is why some of us try to leap over 2000 years of church history in an attempt to reach the pristine faithfulness of the New Testament church. But the New Testament churches were not exactly pristine, and neither is all of church history worthy of being discarded. Rooting our churches in 2000 years of church history (through biographical studies, quotes from important theologians, readings from the church fathers) reminds us that we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before.

It’s true that the Church has gotten things wrong, and the Church’s heroes are, like the main characters in the Bible, flawed. For these reasons, we must not glorify the past or seek to conjure up a “golden age;” we should instead give people hope that just as God has used broken vessels and sinful people in the past, He can continue to do so with us in the present.

We are bound to repeat the mistakes of our spiritual ancestors if we are unfamiliar with the temptations they succumbed to. Likewise, we are likely to fall into cultural captivity without the witness of ancient Christianity alerting us to our own cultural blinders.

The first two strands are important for all Christians. The third is important for a local church.

3. We belong to this particular people for this particular time.

Here are the questions that arise from this strand of church history:

• How did your church begin?
• What movement was it a part of?
• What is your church’s purpose?
• What are your denomination’s distinctive beliefs?

I know of a church that recently went through a revitalization process. The church’s style today is contemporary, and yet the congregation lauds the founder of the church and the leaders demonstrate how the present state of the church maintains the original mission in its DNA. The shared story that emphasizes the original purpose is what pushes the church forward, as part of a movement that has continuity with the past.

KINGDOM OUTPOSTS, NOT LIFESTYLE ENCLAVES 

The authors of Habits of the Heart warn against the dissolution of communities of memory. “Where history and hope are forgotten and the community means only the gathering of the similar, community degenerates into lifestyle enclave,” they write.

Too many of our churches tend to be “gatherings of the similar” rather than, as in Scot McKnight’s terminology, “a fellowship of differents.” The Church should be refreshed in remembering our identity is rooted in the Scriptural story of our world, in line with the faithful saints of God through the ages, and embodied in particular congregations that serve as outposts of God’s kingdom.

> Read more from Trevin.

 Would you like to know more about the importance of your past history and its connection to your present health? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Living IN the Past, Living OUT of the Past, Past, Trevin Wax, history, present

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Vision Must Be Birthed in the Heart Before It Is Grasped in the Hand

by: Michael Kelley

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Antione de Saint-Exupery, the French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator, once said, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

So true. This quote reminds us of the importance of vision, that we all need something big and grand birthed in our hearts. In fact, we actually need it more than we need to grasp all the specific processes to get there. It’s true in building ships, and it’s true in discipleship.

Use the Right Tools

But often in our churches as we seek to lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, growing further up and further in, we tend to jump past vision and into process. The exhortations abound, and so do the systems that go along with them. We inundate people with Bible reading plans, Scripture memorization tools, helpful hints to deal with the bad breath and moody attitudes that come with fasting, and nice moleskin journals to record our deep and profound thoughts.

These are all good tools. In fact, they’re more than good; they’re essential (though the moleskin might be debatable.) We need processes whether in building boats or in making disciples. There’s no doubt, in the case of building ships that people do indeed need to collect wood. They need to shape hulls and fashion masts. They need to process the right formulas to know about things like buoyancy and weight limits, wind patterns and ocean currents.

But they also need to breathe the sea air. They need to feel the freedom of the wind in their hair and get a sense of the adventure that lies on the other side of the ocean. That wind and smell is what fuels the processes that must be in place in order to actually get the work done.

Don’t Skip the Vision

In the church, the strategy of discipleship can never trump the vision behind discipleship.

Think about what the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12: “So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

This is process. It’s work. It’s a continuous, strenuous effort employed one decision at a time by which we work out our salvation. But notice too that Paul didn’t jump there immediately. Instead, he helped the Philippians “breathe the air of the sea” in the first 11 verses:

“Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:1-11).

Smell that? That’s the salt in the air. That’s the vision for the wide-open sea. That’s the imagination arresting vision before us as disciples of Jesus. We are following this One who is above every other, and as we are, we are being made like Him in our obedience.

This week, don’t be too quick to gather the wood. Maybe it’s time to help them feel the wind.

>> Read more from Michael here.

Do you need help with casting a vision for your church? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Michael Kelley, Vision, Vision Pathway

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5 Reasons You Need to Take a Global Missions Trip

by: Bryan Rose

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Local church ministry can be the most demoralizing and challenging, yet amazingly fulfilling and rewarding, of callings. Regularly placed near the bottom of any ranked list of occupations, pastoring well requires consistent time away to recharge and reconnect with your family and, especially, with God. Most pastors take regular vacations, often for multiple weeks in a row to get beyond the “Next Sermon Syndrome” that comes with only one Sunday “off the clock.” Other times away for church leaders include conferences, sabbaticals or retreats that provide encouragement and engagement away from tending to congregational needs.

After just experiencing a week away, on a short-term trip with my middle-school-aged daughter, I have come to appreciate the sense of rest and refreshment that only time-off working-in global missions can provide.

Having served as a pastor in local church ministry, I feel the need to clarify that I am not referring to the touristic hotel-based “video shoot with village kids” mission trips that some pastors take. I am talking about the heavy-lifting, funky-smelling, dudes-snoring on bunk beds mission trip in which you actually put your hands to the plow of the Great Commission. One of those short-term trips when you get on the plane and realize that the longest week you could have imagined flew by in a blur of constructive activity, cross-cultural relationships and deeply meaningful conversations.

What if we seek the ease of white sand on a cool ocean breezed beach, when the right perspective on how God has called us to live can only come with the weight of wet concrete in a rusted-out wheelbarrow on a steep, bumpy dirt path. 

Here are five reasons every leader needs to regularly take a short-term global missions trip:

1. Leading well requires occasional opportunities for following.

Short-term mission opportunities give Type-A leaders a chance to just do “whatever” needs to be done, without the burden of figuring-out what that “whatever” is. Much can be learned from stepping back and willfully, sometimes forcefully, not being the solutions and planning point person for a few days. If you always have to be the leader, and avoid any situation where you are not in complete control, it is highly likely you can grow as a Christ-follower in significant ways. The discipline to not take over, to lay the reigns down and just follow someone else’s lead will sharpen our leadership tools if we will practice it. In the end, you bring a healthy humility back to your staff after your way was not the “better” way for once.

1. Hard work fills while you are being emptied.

There is nothing more frustrating than closing the office door at the end of a busy, hectic ministry day, and not having any physical evidence that anything actually was done. Meetings, phone calls and empty inboxes lack the satisfaction that the rock piles, shovels and sweat of a short-term construction project can bring. Using physical strength as a part of a spiritual project in a third world country is game changing for corner-office-private-bathroom-type leaders. Literally relying on God for the ability to complete 15 more “missionary minutes” of intensive labor reminds us that this kind of reliance is just as effective, and just as necessary, for everyday ministry back home.

1. You will never be closer than when you are far away.

Following Jesus’ Acts 1:8 mandate to be His witnesses to the world may take you far away, but you will never be relationally closer to your family, to friends or to God. Co-laboring together with others forms a bond in the Spirit, as you see God at work in ways that only He can account for. The knowing smiles, laughter and shared stories in the church lobby bring an unfathomable depth to community across the congregation. Getting off the social-media handheld-device grid for a few days also reminds you that your love for your family is more than a series of heart emojis. And then there is the opportunity to serve side-by-side with a spouse or child… it doesn’t get any better than seeing someone you love loving and serving people. 

1. Local mission is fueled by global perspective.

Our occasional willingness to fly around the world to share the love of Jesus can be mighty convicting when we regularly hesitate to walk across the street to do the same. Short-term mission trips are great reminders of our nonnegotiable calling to love people, and can be a flywheel to Great Commission living in the everyday. Leaders benefit from the chance to gain a fresh point of view on their local-church mission by looking back across a country or ocean and remembering that the Gospel message is just as needed right where they minister the other 51 weeks of the year.

1. Ministry plans are more effective when interrupted.

Something regularly fails to go as originally planned on a short-term missions trip, and that is exactly why you might need to take one regularly. Having to improvise and adapt when the situation changes reminds us that we can make the plans but that God directs the steps. Thinking fast and adjusting to complete an objective, often without notice, places leaders in a responsive posture as the Holy Spirit leads. As a result, we realize a greater depth of effectiveness than we could have ever asked for or imagined in the first place. Seeing God’s plans, not ours, come to fruition brings perspective and builds confident improvisation when one of our carefully crafted home-church ministry plans require rethought.

No matter your reason, one thing is for sure… time spent emptying yourself to serve someone else is the most Christ-like work you will ever do in ministry.

Maybe it is time to get off the grid and get on the grind of a short-term missions trip.

> Read more by Bryan.

Tags: Bryan Rose, Global Missions Trip, Short Term Missions

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Leaders Taking These Actions Drive Their Team Nuts

by: Carey Nieuwhof

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If you lead, you are more than aware of the incredible responsibility you have toward others. Leadership, by definition, is not a solo sport. You’re leading others, and how you do it ultimately determines how effective you are as a leader.

It also means you need to become exceptionally self-aware of your weaknesses.

If you think about it, the leaders you’ve probably liked the least have been the least self-aware. In my view, self-awareness is a leader’s best friend. (Here are 4 things self-aware leaders know that others don’t.)

As a short cut, here are 7 common things leaders do that drive their team nuts. I know this because I have driven my share of team members nuts over my years in leadership.

1. Underestimating how much work it takes

You’re in an incredible position of trust as a leader. When you say things, your team does its best to make them happen.

But some leaders are notorious for underestimating how much time a task will take.

Sometimes leaders fall into the trap of thinking they can be like God and simply speak things into being: And the leader said “Let there be a fourth weekend service” and it was so. Of course, the leader hasn’t properly estimated the impact this is going to have on the parking team, the guest services team, the kids ministry team, the student ministry team, the production team or the music team.

Underestimating how much work something takes can seem like an initial advantage because it makes seemingly impossible things happen. But it can also be incredibly demotivating to your team when you significantly underestimate how much work something will take. Often leaders are afraid to ask how much work something will take because they fear leaders will say no. If you have a good team, that’s almost never the case.

They just want to know that you know and appreciate the effort and will allocate the budget and the staffing the proposal needs. And if you don’t have enough budget or staffing, often your team will say yes anyway and make it happen. They just need your encouragement and understanding of what it will cost them.

If this describes you, next time take the time to sit down with your team and think through how much work it will take to get you there. Then plan for it.

The fix can be that simple.

2. Impulsive, emotion-based decision making

I asked my amazing assistant what I do that drives her the most crazy. This was her pick.

Yep, leaders are passionate. Even impulsive.

They are used to creating something out of nothing. Sometimes that’s good, as in Hey, why don’t we launch two campuses at once? Or hey, why don’t we start a podcast and see if anything happens?

Often, the impulsiveness and emotion are driven from a place of discontent with the status quo. That is, after all, the impetus to change.

I may be bothered by something I think needs fixing immediately. I may be discontent about a situation I think the entire team needs to address immediately. But, to paraphrase Bill Hybels, not all discontent is holy. Sometimes my discontent comes from having a bad day, or being moody, or just deciding something on the spur of the moment.

And then I almost always reverse the decision the next day or the next week. Or bump what was priority #1 down to priority #32 because it just isn’t as important any more.

That’s frustrating for people.

I’ve gotten better at this, but when my assistant senses it’s happening, she’s become great at asking “So are you serious about this or is this just how you feel in the moment?” Often that shakes me out of the moment and I’ll say “Right…I’m probably just upset about something. Let me sleep on it.”  Or I’ll ask her what she thinks (or check with some other leaders) and they’ll tell me I’m just worked up about something and I need to relax.

Just because you’re upset about something as a leader doesn’t mean it should become the top priority of the organization.

3. Being indecisive

I’ve seen indecisive leadership sink more than a few ships.

Your job as a leader is to make decisions that make things happen. That doesn’t mean you make decisions all by yourself. The best leaders always involve a team in their decision making. But you still need to make a decision.

What makes decision making hard at a senior leadership level is that it’s only the toughest decisions that make it to you. All the easy decisions already got made long before they reached your desk.

And that can lead to delay. Delay leads to paralysis. And paralysis leads to stagnation and decline.

Delayed decision-making demotivates your team.

So make a decision, and create a process for making sure decisions get made regularly and quickly. Sure, every once in a while you need to take a long time to make a decision. But far too many leaders use that as an excuse.

Decide.

4. Being too decisive and not valuing input

Every problem has a flip side, and the flip side of being indecisive is being too decisive.

Some leaders make instant decisions without any input from anyone else, and that is also frustrating to their teams. I think it’s a good practice for every senior leader to be a part of something they don’t lead. I work with a couple of organizations on the side where I’m not the senior leader or where I sit on the board. It helps me realize what it feels like to not be the senior leader.

So I know that I really appreciate it when CEOs ask for my opinion, when they value my input, when they seek my counsel. Even if I disagree with their decision, I know they consulted others, and that gives me confidence in their decision.

As Andy Stanley has so aptly said, leaders who refuse to listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing significant to say.

5. Creating an unsustainable pace

You can be tempted to burn the midnight oil as a leader. Most great leaders do at one time or another.

But leaders can also create unsustainable pace for their team.

Your team feels guilty about going home long before you do. And when you’re pounding out emails at 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. 7 days a week, it makes your team feel lazy. It also makes you look incredibly unhealthy.

I have a very strong appetite for work, but I’ve let my team know what my expectation for them is.  Just because I work long hours (on a variety of things) doesn’t mean everyone has to.

One of a leader’s chief responsibilities is to create a sustainable pace for their entire team.

6. Working too few hours

Sometimes leaders end up working too few hours.

That’s perhaps even more demotivating that working too many hours. Always work as hard as you expect your team to work. Even harder (but see above).

Leaders who phone it in have no place in real leadership.

7. Expecting others to put in more than you’re willing to put in

Leadership requires your all.

If your organization requires donations, contribute—sacrificially.

If your organization requires volunteers—volunteer for something, even though you get paid for your staff role.

Never expect more from your team than you’re willing to personally put in. That doesn’t mean you should always be first in and last to leave. You have to focus on roles in which you can contribute most. But it does mean you should be willing to go the extra mile.

When a leader is working less passionately fewer hours than their team, the team loses both passion for the mission and respect for the leader.

What Do You See?

These are 7 ways I think leaders can drive their teams nuts.

What would you add to this list?

> Read more from Carey.

 Would you like to know more about developing as a leader in ways that doesn’t drive your team nuts? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Carey Nieuwhof, Driving Your Team Nuts, Leadership

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10 Steps You Know You Should Be Taking to Grow Your Church – But Aren’t

by: James Emery White

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What if I gave you a list of ten things that any church could do that would bring almost immediate renewal and growth?

Would you be interested in the list?

Most would be.

So here it is:

1. Simplify your structure by putting the authority to make most decisions related to the practice of ministry in the hands of those with responsibility. Translation: let your leaders lead.
2. Hire young, platform young, program young. Why? You attract who you platform, and most churches are growing old.
3. Become more contemporary in terms of music and graphics, décor and topics, website and signage. It’s 2015. Really. You can check.
4. Stop preaching and start communicating. There’s a difference.
5. Shift the outreach focus away from the already convinced toward those who are not. It’s called the Great Commission.
6. Prioritize your children’s ministry in terms of money and staffing, square footage and resources. Do you really not know, after all this time, that the children’s ministry is your most important ministry for outreach and growth?
7. “It’s the weekend, stupid.”
8. Help everyone find their spiritual gifts and then help them channel those gifts toward ministry.
9. Target men. Get the man, you tend to get the family.
10. Proclaim the full counsel of God without compromise or dilution. All you get with a watered-down message is a watered-down church. And a watered-down church has nothing to offer the world it does not already have.

Now, what if I told you that the vast majority of churches already know this list. Not only do they know the list, they would agree with most if not all of it.

But they refuse to act on it.

It’s true.

And the reason tends to be the same, in church after church, around the world: they don’t want to change.

Which brings up another list.

It’s the list of the seven last words of the church:

“We never did it that way before.”

> Read more from James Emery White.

 Would you like to know more how to take steps to help your church grow? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Church Growth, Growing your Church, James Emery White, Leadership

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3 Ways to Reimagine Your Church’s Dashboard

by: Daniel Im

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When you think of Tesla, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?

For most people, it’s electric cars, but what if I were to tell you that this was not going to be their greatest legacy? Yes, they did vastly expand the driving range of an electric vehicle from 73 miles (117 km) to 200 miles (320 km) on a single charge. Yes, they did reimagine the electric car and the way that it is powered. Yes, they did open up the black box on their technology patents so that other car manufacturers can benefit from and improve on their technology. However, since electric vehicles only account for one percent of the market, unless more people begin to buy electric vehicles, Tesla’s impact will be small, if not negligible. In addition, with the recent report that revealed Tesla loses more than $4000 on every Model S car that they sell, the future is looking dim for them.

Although Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, may want his company to be remembered for electric vehicle technology, he might actually be inadvertantly writing his legacy elsewhere. Even more than their advancement in battery technology, I believe that the greatest impact that Tesla will make in the automobile industry is from their dashboards. After all, while only one percent of customers might buy an electric car, one hundred percent of vehicles have dashboards. Have you ever seen the dashboard on a Tesla? It feels like a thing of the future. Not only have they gotten rid of all the manual dials and gauges and made them digital, but they have also reimagined what a dashboard could be. I wouldn’t be surprised if other car manufacturers quickly follow suit. Here are three ways that Tesla has reimagined the dashboard.

1. From static to dynamic. Most cars still have manual gauges to change the temperature, measure the RPM, or change the radio station. In the Tesla dashboard, everything is digital and dynamic.

2. From single-function to multi-function. If you look at the dashboard in a common vehicle, you’ll have single-function gauges. In the Tesla, you have the ability to display anything you would like on your dashboard. For example, you could measure the energy consumption on your car, while adjusting your car’s height suspension, and follow your GPS all at the same time. Your dashboards are digital screens.

3. From incremental to exponential advancement. Most of the advancements in cars are incremental. For example, instead of a manual temperature dial, you could have a digital gauge that acts like a thermostat. For Tesla, they broadened their field of thinking, combined disparate thoughts and concepts, and completely redesigned their dashboard, which has resulted in exponential advancement. Other companies are quickly following suit.

What if we took the ways that Tesla reimagined the dashboard and applied it to our church’s dashboard? Here are a few thoughts on reimagining your church’s dashboard.

Reimagining Your Church’s Dashboard:

1. From static to dynamic.

There was a day where we would evaluate the effectiveness of our church solely based on three measures: attendance, giving, and groups. Now there is nothing wrong with those measures, the only issue is that they’re measuring past events—they’re lag measures. They’re also static because you can’t affect them, you can only read them. What would it look like, instead, if we were to move from evaluating static measures to dynamic measures in our church? In other words, what would it look like if we began thinking in terms of lead measures for our church? To understand the difference between lag and lead measures, think about weight loss.

A lag measure is when you weigh yourself on a scale. A lead measure is when you track how many calories you’ve eaten in a day. Lag measures are responsive and static. Lead measures are active and dynamic. Basically, lead measures impact lag measures; they drive the results of lag measures. So what would it look like if we began measuring the things that dynamically affected attendance, giving, and groups? What if we began measuring the lead measures that were going to drive our lag measures?

• For attendance, what if we began measuring things like, the number of touch points we have with our congregations during the week? Or how relevant our services are to the lives of our church members? Or how loud the congregations sings during worship?
• For giving, what if we began measuring things like, how often we connect the offering time to the vision of our church? Or whether or not people see the relationship between giving and life change? Or what about the trust factor? Do people in your church see you as being transparent and trustworthy?
• For groups, what if we began measuring things like, the number of life stories we received? Or the number of missional opportunities engaged?

The fact is, the more time we spend thinking through and crafting the right dynamic lead measures, the more our static lag measures will be affected—and hopefully improve.

2. From single-function to multi-function.

Instead of just measuring single components, like the number of small groups, or weekly attendance, what if we began cross analyzing how things affected one another? In other words, what if we developed new gauges that measured more than one thing? Or how things affected one another?

For example, instead of measuring just the number of small groups, what if we measured the number of small groups cross analyzed with the frequency that they meet, the location of the city that they’re in, and the number of times they engage in missional activity? By analyzing that situation, you might actually discover a new location for a potential church plant or campus of your church! That’s the beauty of multi-function dashboards. They’re more strategic.

3. From incremental to exponential advancement.

The reason Tesla was able to reimagine the dashboard was because they were looking elsewhere—they were broadening their field of thinking. If all they did was strive to copy what other car manufacturers were doing, then they would not have been able to develop such a different type of dashboard. In the same way, if you want to move from incremental to exponential advancement in your leadership, then make sure that you are reading books outside of the ministry world. For example, if you’re a church planter, read books on entrepreneurship. If you’re regularly preaching, study the best TED talks. If you’re a campus pastor, study franchising. If you’re a children’s pastor, then study adolescent development.

What do you think would happen if you reimagined your church’s dashboard? What would it look like if you began measuring different things? And measured them in a different manner? Just as Tesla reimagined the car’s dashboard, I hope this post will inspire you to reimagine your church’s dashboard and the metrics that you use to measure success.

Check out more blog posts like this and other helpful pastor and church planter resources at NewChurches.com.

> Read more by Daniel.

 Would you like to know more about developing dashboards for your church? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Daniel Im, church dashboard, church's dashboard

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3 Simple Steps for Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

by: VRcurator

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On a recent morning text to our team, Auxano’s Founder and Team Leader Will Mancini posed the following question to be asked of church leaders:

Would you like to know more about stepping outside of your comfort zone? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Comfort Zone, Decision making, Staff Development, Todd Henry

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Navigating Your Vision – Lessons from a Balloon Pilot

by: Dave Bair

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In addition to my role on the leadership team at Church Community Builder, I have a somewhat unique set of skills. For most of my life, from childhood till today, I have been involved in ballooning. I am a hot air balloon pilot and spend much of my free time flying and participating in ballooning events. On the surface, the experience of flying balloons may seem unrelated to my day job … but in reality, it has helped me be a better leader. When we launch the balloon, we frequently have the intention of landing in a specific place. Unfortunately, balloons don’t have steering wheels, so we have to use the winds available to navigate to a landing. Much like leading people or implementing system change, there are some variables that a balloon pilot can control and many circumstances they cannot. I have learned how to plan for the things that I can control and respond to the forces that I cannot, while still aiming at specific target. Here are three lessons leaders can learn from piloting a balloon.

Make a plan, but keep it fluid

Prior to any flight, there is a plan. You don’t want to get in the air and then just ‘figure it out’. We could plot a path on a map and use a ruler to draw that line, but our actual journey won’t work out that way. There are obstacles along the way we have to go around, and there are well-worn paths we can use to move a little faster or a little more easily, even if they are not perfectly on track to our destination.

Look at the path above. I started in the top left corner of the map on that flight, and landed within five feet of where I wanted, after 40 minutes and 5 miles. Something interesting to note about this path: If you look closely at my launch, it initially took me backwards from the goal. This is common in ministry as well. There are times we have to close down a ministry and shrink before we can grow in the right direction to achieve our vision. Planning is important — it is a must. But even in the best plans, there will be things that come up that were not anticipated. We don’t know what we don’t know. Planning is not something that is done once and complete. There are always in-flight adjustments that must be made.

You can’t always head straight for the target

When we see our vision, or our landing place, we usually cannot just go straight there. You can’t tackle every problem straight on. You may notice that the first half of the flight was very straight, but not in the right direction. If we had continued in that direction, we would have missed our target by a long shot. That path was not direct, but it was setting us up for the last half of the journey. I recently worked with a church that was growing a teaching team to reduce the dependence on the senior pastor. The quality of the preaching went down for a time, but it set them up in just the right way to really thrive.

When you divert, it is easy to get distracted

I remember this flight. After I had crossed the river and was in the wide open spaces again, I almost gave up on the vision. There were many great landing places that would have been ‘just fine’. I had to keep my mind fixed on the destination. Specifically, I had special guests on board and I wanted to show them a great picture opportunity.

As you approach your target, you may be tempted to let down. It has been a hard and long journey getting here and you may find yourself asking if this is close enough. This ‘good enough’ syndrome is tempting for all of us, but should be resisted. If I had landed somewhere else, my guests would have had a great day. They would likely not have known what they missed out on. But by pushing on to the target landing spot, they had much more than great day. They had a spectacular experience that was awe-inspiring. Even when your path twists and turns, you have to keep your eye on the prize and go the whole distance.

Your Next Move

You have a vision; now plot a path. That path will have diversions and convenient stopping points, but you can ensure your path gets you to the goal. Identify those distraction points as best you can so that you can remind yourself and your team there is a bigger destination in mind, even though this one seems nice enough.

> Read more by Dave.

Would you like to know more about navigating your vision? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Dave Bair, Navigating Your Vision, Vision, ballon

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12 Fun Facts About the Vision Frame for Church Leaders

by: Will Mancini

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What is the Vision Frame? I’m glad you asked. It is a simple napkin sketch or whiteboard drawing that is used to represent the five irreducible questions of any ministry. It pictures mission, values, strategy, measures and vision and relates them in a way that is more meaningful and memorable. Read the complete overview.

For now here are some fun facts about the Vision Frame which debuted in print in the book Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision Capture Culture and Create Movement.

1- BIRTHPLACE: The Vision Frame was born on a napkin sketch in 2001, in Clear Lake, Texas when I was playing and doodling at my desk. It is now 14 years old and sometimes wakes up with pimples.

2- CHEAP LABOR: When the Vision Frame first hit the road consulting, I was simply begging my seminary buddies to bring me in for staff retreats. I would come as long as they paid my airfare and bought lunch.

3- BILINGUAL: The Vision Frame speaks two languages— it can enter a meeting on classic planning and hangout in the missional conversation. This language roughly corresponds to leaders over 40 years of age (classic lingo) and leaders under 40 (missional lingo). In other words, the Vision Frame is proud to be multigenerational tool.

4- PERSONALITY: The Vision Frame is notoriously hard to get to know and even comes across square at first. But once you get to know it, it becomes a best friend that you will always want around.

5- NO FAVORITES: Since the Vision Frame is truly model neutral, its works for any faith tribe, ministry model or philosophy. It loves church planters, turnaround leaders, and megachurch pastors just the same. It truly has no favorites!

6- HAPPIEST DAY: Anytime a church leaders go up to a white board and shares the five irreducible questions of clarity around a box, square or anything that remotely looks like a Vision Frame.

7- SADDEST DAY: When the Vision Frame read Tim Keller’s Center Church and it was never mentioned.  It’s feelings were hurt since so many books in the missional conversation where mentioned both good and bad. After all, how can you talk about “theological vision” without a Vision Frame?

8- TRACK RECORD: Church leaders search for “Vision Frame” 400 times per month on the internet; it sells the same number of books per month after 8 years.

9- TRAVEL: The Vision Frame has spent the most of its travel time all over South America, Korea, Germany and Switzerland. The Spanish version is Iglessia Unica. The Korean version of Church Unique is literally translated, “Your Church in 10 Years.”

10- SECRETS: The Vision Frame secretly believes that when Jesus was drawing something in the sand, it was probably looked like a frame.

11- STYLE: The Vision Frame is the only organizational approach to clarity that actually uses a picture to transmit the key ideas. Patrick Lencioni, Jim Collins and Peter Drucker have similar irreducible questions but never made them visual or fashionable. Furthermore the Vision Frame has icons decorating it and a 52-page gorgeously designed visual overview dedicated to it. Get it here—requires e-mail.

12- KISSIN COUSIN: The Vision Frame has a related tool, the Horizon Storyline, which debuts on January 1st of 2016:  God Dreams: 12 Vision Templates to Find and Focus Your Church’s Future. While the Vision Frame will be a little jealous there are many shout outs to it in the book.

> Read more from Will.

Would you like to know more about the Vision Frame? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Church Unique, God Dreams, Vision Frame, Will Mancini, auxano

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Mixing the Color Palette of Your Leadership Team Brings Better Results

by: Eric Geiger

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With our leadership team, we use the Insights Discovery tool to help each other understand our unique personalities. The tool is validated and has proven helpful to our team in serving and communicating with one another. Our Auxano consulting team often uses the tool when consulting with churches.

Though there are variations of each color (based on your secondary color), the tool helps team members know their towering personality when it comes to serving on a team. The tool focuses on the strengths of each personality type, while also giving insight into the potential downsides of each.

A “red” is strong-willed and purposeful, a “yellow” is enthusiastic and persuasive. A “blue” is precise and deliberate, and a “green” is encouraging and sharing.

It would be a mistake to think that only a “red” can lead a team. Based on the people on my team (our colors are really diverse), I have learned to appreciate more the leadership effectiveness of people wired differently than me. Not all leaders are wired the same way. Based on my observations, here are the leadership personalities of each color.

Red: Directional leadership

Some are wired, and feel most comfortable, providing directional leadership. Clarity is the gift a directional leader gives to an organization. A directional leader is driven by purpose, values bright and helpful ideas, and is determined to push things forward. Without directional leaders on a team, purpose and direction will wane over time.

Yellow: Inspirational leadership

Some are built to inspire others. While a directional leader leads with the strength of the idea or the mission, an inspirational leader leads with relationships. An inspirational leader excels at investing in people and inspiring people for action. Without inspirational leaders on a team, mission can feel mechanical and purpose can feel cold.

Blue: Operational leadership

Some are built to build processes and systems that enable the organization to succeed. An operational leader has the ability to create culture and serve people by wisely implementing structures and systems that help. Without operational leaders on a team, mission will not gain traction, as there will not be systems beneath the surface.

Green: Collaborative leadership

Some are built to build consensus, collaboration, and encourage team members in the midst of exciting or challenging times. A collaborative leader excels at lateral leadership, bringing others together who are not in his or her “reporting line.” A collaborative leader makes everyone better and has the trust of the team. Without collaborative leaders on a team, silos can develop and team unity can suffer.

Hopefully the team you lead and the team you are on is a diverse mix of leadership personalities. If not, something is missing. People who are different than you make you better.

(If you would like an Auxano navigator to walk your team through the process, you can inquire here)

> Read more from Eric.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Insights Profile, Leadership Personality, Leadership Team, Personality, insights

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