Intersection

is my classroom. Yesterday I bought a frozen pizza at Vons. I stood in line looking at all the bored people and the bored checker swiping each item across the counter. Then the checker switched out with another checker. This man began to drum on the items as he swiped them across the counter. His beat was accented nicely as he hit his hands on the side of the counter and even the register.

I watched as the people in line began to perk up. Some even started swaying with his sound. I looked at this man and said thank you. He responded with “no problem,” and I said… “no…thank you for making our time in the line enjoyable.”

Still, I wanted to tell him to spend every spare minute pursuing a career in drumming. Part of me wanted to grab him, pull him aside, and scream, “what are you doing at Vons… go start a band, be a street performer, try out for America’s got talent, put your music on youtube, get a twitter account, go chase your dream…” I wanted to pay for his lessons, give him a new drum set, or set him up with a gig.

Then I looked over my head at the people still in line. I saw them smiling, laughing, and moving to his drum beat. I glanced back at him, he looked at me with a smile, and without even missing a beat… he sent me a wave. In that moment I realized that this man does not need to quit his job at Vons to pursue a career in music. He gives his art right where he is needed. He changes the world one Vons line at a time.

Give your art freely and abundantly instead of always looking for a way to climb the ladder

In Rocky 3, Clubber Lang called Rocky Balboa a “Paper Champion.” Clubber criticized Balboa for being carried by his manager and never boxing tough fighters. Lady Gaga has a song “Paper Gangster” in which she sings how she is not “interested in fakers” or people that talk a bunch but can’t finish.

I often feel like Clubber and GaGa when I look pastors or even myself as a pastor. So many men and women in ministry seem paper-thin. I know I have moments each week when I act like a paper-thin pastor. Take a look at all the paper pastors leading our churches afraid to confront hypocrisy, faking like they have it all together, fearful of change, stuck in vision vacuums, unable to say no, unwilling to fire someone, and the list could go on and on.

Paper-thin pastors lead paper-thin churches that the world crumples up and throws away like a crappy flyer.

I have been waiting to publish this post for almost six months because I struggled with how to end it. Last Friday, I came across Proverbs 14:4 which reads, “without strong oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.”

I read about “rapid” growth or “explosive” growth in Acts and wonder why we do not experience that type of harvest in the church today… Pastors, you and I, we must stop trying to keep our stable clean. They were never meant to be clean and we were never meant to be paper-thin stable janitors. Too often we teach our pastors that they must lead like a deer. Nice. Safe. Pretty. And warm. I disagree. We need you to be an ox. A strong ox. Working hard for the harvest. Unafraid if things get a little messy in the stable because the mess is worth the harvest.

Is your pastor paper-thin? If she/he is then challenge her this week. Are you a paper-thin pastor? May this post challenge you.

Stop trying to read this fast to get to the next post in your reader.

Everyone in busy. Stop using it as an excuse to ignore people

Everyone is busy. Stop complaining about it.

Everyone is busy. Stop saying yes.

Everyone is busy. Stop trying to please everyone that is busy.

Everyone is busy. Stop trying to make yourself feel better with a packed schedule.

Everyone is busy. Stop.

Stop and you will shake people with your refusal to let your schedule rob you of their inherent importance

Yesterday, in one of my weekly meetings we were discussing servant-heartedness and someone said, “I think we are busy not servant-hearted.” I think he is right.We often ignore the huge distinction between service and busyness. We look at busy pastors and call them servant-hearted, but the truth is that they rarely serve their wife and children or even… themselves.

Busyness masquerades as service. We like to pretend that we have such a busy schedule because we are so deeply servant-hearted. However, most of the time we over pack our schedule for every and any reason other than service. I have become aware of a few reasons why I gravitate towards an over packed schedule. Take a look at this list. Do any of these describe you? What would you add to this list?

I over pack my schedule….

so I can have the ability to say, “I’m sorry I just can’t get together with you” to someone that I want to ignore.

so I can pretend I do not have time to sit and be with God.

so I do not have to surrender my life to Christ.

so I do not have to face my fear of failure.

so I can appear successful.

so that everyone will like me.

so that I will do what I have been taught and “work hard.”

so I never create conflict by saying NO.

so I rarely have to look in the mirror and see where I need to grow

Take a hard look at your schedule and your life and ask yourself, “Why am I so busy?” I quickly found that it is NOT because I am so servant hearted. I need to repent of my schedule… do you?

You and I need to fight for something. All of us long to take our stand and join the battle. Even if we do not think of ourselves as courageous we cheer for our sports team, we believe in our brand, and we stand in line for our favorite foods. In small ways, we fight for those teams, brands, and restaurants. All of us actually are fighting for something, but most of us fight for things that do not matter that much in the face of the needs of the world.

Here is where you come in… We need you to give us a battle cry. And it needs to be better than “Go Lakers” or “iPhone 5!” or “That’s what a hamburger is all about.” We fight for meaningless things because nobody has the courage to stand up and rally us. Nobody has the courage to believe in us. Nobody has the courage to confront us with the real battle that needs to be fought.

So please give us a battle cry that matters. OR let us continue to stand in line for the iPhone 5.

You need these three people in your life to sharpen you. Yes, sharpening does hurt.

1. The Pusher

You need somebody that will call you out, sit you down, pump you up, and challenge you to do better. This is the person that applauds when you fail and chews you out when you try. This guy doesn’t give wisdom and advice he gives you opportunities to fall on your face. If you don’t take them this is the guy that is there yelling and screaming at you until you take the risk. You need a pusher in your life.

2. The Mentor

You need a coach. Somebody to learn from. This is the woman you listen to with everything you have. You sit at her feet and soak it all in. The mentor is the guy that won’t tell you what to do, but will be there when you succeed or fail just waiting for the teachable moment. She tells stories, shares wisdom, and you need her in your life.

3. The Hater

Yes! You actually do need a hater. You need somebody to test you in your love. You need somebody to test you in your commitment to your work. You need someone to challenge you in your beliefs. You need a person that will look at you and reject both you and your ideas. You need somebody to be under your skin, somebody that is angry at you, and will send you mean messages. You need a hater in your life. Why? Otherwise your love is weak, your work is dull, your commitment will falter, and your beliefs are meaningless.

One last thing you need to do is avoid being the last one and strive to be the first two in the lives of other people. Do you have these three people in your life?

Last week I recorded a Laker game. I did everything possible not to hear the score of the game. Why? Well, watching a recorded game when you know the end score is not too exciting. This principle causes problems for many Christian people. We say, “God has already won to war in Jesus.” We say this to give ourselves hope and fuel our passion to live Christian lives.

However, this also may be why so many Christians become stagnant and churches stall. Since we believe the war is already won many of us go through the motions of our faith, and become mechanical in our worship. We sit on the couch and watch our lives pass by without excitement because we know the outcome. It is as if we are watching a recorded war and we already know who wins. So why fight?

While the war for the redemption of humanity is won the battles for every soul are not. A mindset has crept into our churches and has turned many of us from soldiers into wealthy consumers. We care more about what a church can give us than how we as the church can fight in these battles by serving those in need. The reality that we are victorious in the war should move us fearlessly into these battles. May we stop settling to watch a boring recorded game and call it the Christian life.

Yesterday I announced an effort our church has put together to bring relief to people suffering in Alabama and all over the South. If you didn’t catch it please click here and find out more about the “Best Stuff We Own Sale.” In a nut shell, we are selling some of the best stuff we own to raise money to help those in need. So why the best stuff we own?

I’ve been wrestling lately with this statement I hear a lot and have even said myself “there are too many causes to give too… so… I can’t give anymore.” We utter this statement in the morning and then drop 50 dollars on a movie date since we got extra butter on our popcorn. In my mind, the issue is not that we have too many causes but too few people willing to sacrifice. We have a shortage of people, willing to give not what they can afford but what will make their life uncomfortable or maybe even hard.

I am working hard to live this. I confess, I am not the best at it. I struggle to let go of my comforts in an effort to help those in need. BUT! W=e are are selling the best of our stuff because people matter and they deserve the best of us. Just merely “being”  people, fellow human brothers and sisters in need, they have earned the right for us to sacrifice for them. So I encourage you today whether you are participating in the Best Stuff We Own Sale or not… please consider the cost with you only give what you can. The cost is not your pocketbook but people suffering while we watch movies.

We are selling the best stuff we own simply because of pictures like this that represent people’s lives.

Last week I called out 20-somethings that will not shut up and work. I believe with all my heart that most young people simply do not work hard enough. While young people must seize their opportunity and work hard in every free moment there must also be an intentional investment from the generation above us. But the way in which to invest should change dramatically.

Typically, the discussion regarding an investment from the older generation involves mentoring, equipping and training. All three of those are important and needed avenues of investment. However, these three investments often understand the responsibility of the older generation as one of passing along “how things are done” or “what they have learned to be true.” In this context the young person must sit at the feet of the older person and learn. Again this is valuable and has an important place, but in a world where the Internet is changing everything minute by minute the value of “how things are done” decreases minute by minute as well. Instead, there is a superior way to invest.

The reality is the old mentality of learn from me, earn your stripes, and you’ll have a voice someday will simply fail every time in this new culture. Driven young people look at that system and say, “why should I wait for you to tell me I’m old enough to do what I can launch online tomorrow for free.” The older generation must begin to see their investment in the younger generation as one of collaboration, mutual learning, and empowerment.

To the older generation,

Both sides need to shut up. 20-somethings need to stop complaining, and we need you to stop voicing your disdain for the new system that the Internet has created. We need you to collaborate, empower, and be in a relationship through which we both learn. Instead of training people to do the same thing you did recognize that the cultural landscape has changed dramatically and seize the opportunity to collaborate with young driven people that understand how to navigate and leverage that landscape. Stop equipping young people with the tools that you used twenty years ago and instead empower them with your resources, time, wisdom, and your network so that together we may more effectively use the new tools that young people understand. Finally, in the context of mentoring pass on less of “how things are done” and invest more in mutual learning and sharing of stories. This type of mentoring leads to love across generational lines. We being to fight for each other.

Young people are hungry to collaborate, we long to see you empower us, and we crave a relationship in which we both learn. This is your opportunity to invest in the leaders that we are working within a new system. Value their leadership. Value the new system. Shut up and invest. Specifically, invest by seeking to collaborate, empower, and learn together. It will make all the difference.

I am a twenty-three year old man. No, I do not play Xbox four hours a day. No, I do not go to bars every night. No, I do not live at home while my parents fund my bar hopping Xbox playing lifestyle.

Happy Hour.

Drunken Nights.

Relational Drama

These are the glory day stories that us “20-somethings” tell. We hate our jobs and we hate the system that tells us to wait our turn to lead. In fact, we believe that the system should give us a chance to lead because… well, we are entitled to it you know. We worked our butts off in college and paid a ton of money (or our parents did) for our piece of paper on the wall. So when the leaders above us don’t give us what we want.

We scream UNFAIR and rebel with our Xbox controller in hand.

To every 20-year-old that has ever screamed “unfair” you need to ask yourself this question: if you led an organization or a company and you looked at “you” as potential leader… would you give that person a chance? Would you really?

Here is the better question: why don’t you give yourself a chance? Stop wasting hours on Xbox and instead read books, blogs, and articles about your industry. How about not spending every night at the bar but instead stay home and listen to a podcast about how to improve your skills? Skip the parties every weekend and instead spend less than you would on beer to attend a conference on leadership. See your free time as precious moments to be maximized to their full potential.

There are so many resources available to us. There are so many opportunities and space for us to lead. Stop complaining, wasting time, and then complaining some more. Instead, go out there and take it. Shut up and work.

Yes, I am calling you out. Yes, I am pissed off. Here is why… Because if you are 20-something and you continue to waste your life it makes us all look bad. Your lifestyle makes me look bad. Your choices make me have to fight harder to earn the respect of leaders because a “23-year old can’t be trusted.” So if you won’t value your opportunity for your own sake please do it for my sake. I am tired of having to climb the walls that you have erected. I will climb them because I want it. Do you?

Write me off as judgmental if you want, but like it or not we are in this together. This is our opportunity. Put down the Xbox controller and take it.