Quick Bits: News from the Christian Leadership Network

Leadership Moment

Janie and I, sometimes, joke about eating at the same restaurants, going to the same places for vacations, and so on. Perhaps it’s our way of combating all the other changes bombarding our life. In any case, we’ve concluded, “It’s our rut and we like our rut.”

On the other hand, ruts represent scary territory for the ministry leader. When maintaining the status quo becomes the dominant mindset, the eventual, but inevitable, outcomes are complacency, mediocrity, and irrelevance.

Even when nothing is wrong or when nothing is broken, leaders will challenge the status quo. Innovation and creativity are their watchwords. Things may have always been done a certain way – and that way may even still work – but leaders are always wondering, “Have we really arrived? Or, is there something better out there?” When the effectiveness of a church or the potential of an individual life is at stake, they can think no other way.

Some “leaders” fear challenging the status quo. What if I upset someone? What if we fail? But, real leadership implies risk-taking, experimenting, and even the possibility of failure. In their mind, leaders aren’t intimidated by any of those. What’s a little disappointment along the way when we’re striving to be the best we can be for the Kingdom? Just think of what we’ll learn along the way. And, imagine all the fun we’re going to have! As they see it, ruts are anything but fun.

For true leadership to occur, Andy Stanley insists that’s the only way a leader can operate. “The landscape of leadership makes courage an essential ingredient. It takes courage to challenge the status quo, to embrace our fears, to say no to the good, to make room for the best, to face current reality, and to dream. These five expressions of courage often elude young leaders, but are necessary for those who aspire to be leaders worth following.”

Bill Easum views a willingness to challenge the status quo as the distinction between “great” leaders and good ones. “Great leaders challenge the prevailing rules about how to conduct ministry, while good leaders work with the cards they’re dealt. Great leaders are never content with the status quo; they always have a holy discontent with the way things are.”

How do we do this? Let me suggest three very practical strategies:

Whether as an individual or as a congregation, we must be clear about our God-given mission. Otherwise, we may too quickly resort to a default mission of “business as usual.” Quite honestly, our culture and our church members are not impressed by a mission like that. More importantly, how does a maintenance mindset result in the cultural impact Christ intended for his church?
We must nurture a culture that welcomes and celebrates those who insist on asking the right questions: What if...? What might happen...? Why do we always do it this way? Is the way we’ve always done this really giving us the outcomes we envision?
We must develop an openness to new ideas. We all know the importance of lifelong learning. Even in his latter years, former UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, continued to seize opportunities to explore new possibilities. He put it so eloquently, “When I am through learning, then I am through.”

“Out there” is always frightening. Like the Israelites confronted with the daunting task of taking the Promised Land, it’s tempting to simply stay where we are now. “Here” is comfortable and known; “out there” means taking risks, maybe starting over. But, can we ever know real peace and fulfillment when we dig in our heels and simply stay put? Just keep in mind Virginia novelist Ellen Glasgow’s observation, “The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.”