Things Keep Changing

Change is an important part of our lives and an important thing to consider in spiritual leadership.

I recently read somewhere that the knowledge bank of humanity doubles every 2 years and that by the year 2020 it will be doubling every 73 days. I've heard a few variations of the rate of change but the statement is accurate enough to challenge us with the impact of change on our culture. This is not simply a technological explosion but it is an information explosion that leads to constant flux and change in our lives and in the organizations that we lead.

Remember the Oldsmobile television commercial from a few years ago... images of vintage tank-like Oldsmobiles were replaced with racy and sleek new Oldsmobiles. The voice over said, "This is not your father's Oldsmobile." I think that was a couple of years before they stopped making Oldsmobiles so the advertising strategy could hardly be considered a success. You can't change an image that has been impressed upon generations just by saying something has changed.

Perhaps if we are trying to catch the attention of a generation that thrives on change we should embrace true change instead of just trying to point out that we are somehow new and improved. I suppose that if you have to call attention to the fact that you have changed then the change is probably not all that remarkable and it definitely isn't organic.

After the Oldsmobile commercials gained popularity I heard people cutely modify the phrase and saying it with that deep announcer-like voice... "This is not your father's church." The inference being, "Hey, look at us, see how much we've changed." You've seen it and it's kinda pitiful. A church that does everything just like they always have but they tweak a couple of insignificant things and start touting their relevance. Oh my.

Constant change is a part of our culture like never before in the history of mankind. We shouldn't force change just because we want to be trendy but change comes when we realize our effectiveness is waning. We open ourselves up to change when the things that we value most are starting to slip away. Change is, or should be, an organic response of our passion to reach people that Jesus loves.

I'm glad that some things never change. That is a comfort to me. There are constants that keep us anchored. The core of the message itself does not change but the methods are constantly morphing.

So, how does an organization or church face the inevitable need for change? Well, a lot of complex discussion could be had on this topic but I'd prefer to just make a simple statement about it.

If the organization that I lead needs to change to be effective, relevant, loving, concerned, or reflective of Jesus...then I must change first. When I embrace deep change in the ways that I respond, the ways that I lead myself, the fervency with which I pursue God, the reflection that I am of Christ, then and only then will I be able to lead the kind of organic change necessary to effectively minister to this generation and the ones behind it.

When I become, as a leader and as a person, unwilling to embrace organic changes that are clearly and obviously necessary for the fulfillment of the mission then it's time for me to step aside.

May I (we) be continually transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Transition...Movin' On

The cat is out of the bag. I'm leaving staff at Lakeview Church. Going to the district office to build stuff that will help pastors. I'm looking forward to the transition in an odd way.
Yesterday I noticed that I've been so light hearted. I didn't really know why. I'm not anxious to leave Lakeview. I thought it might just be the pressure that lifted -- and then I figured it out. I've been struggling with this decision for a long time and now that the decision is made I feel the pressure off.
The application...just decide, it aleviates a lot of inner turmoil.
One of my goals is to be a quicker trigger puller. This experience will reinforce that.

Blogging

After messing around with blog for a few months and reading many other blogs I'm finally coming to understand what I want to do with this. I'm actually starting to figure some things out that were a reach for me until now.
I now have a facebook page...check it out... just search "David Delp" and it should pop right up. Or, to make it easier, just click here.
I added a twitter box to my face book. Twitter is an extremely interesting new tool (new to me) using SMS to make posts to a mini-blog. Very interesting. I'm still thinking about the ramifications for communication.

There you have it!

The Other Side of the Fence

When I was the Pastor of a church in northern Indiana I had a neighbor named Ed. Ed was a bit of an aggravation to me because he didn’t keep his yard up very well and he let weeds grow in his flower garden. Thankfully my yard was fenced and it created a very neighborly boundary between our yards.

Other than the junk in his yard Ed was an okay guy and I made it a point to be friendly and engage him in conversation with the hope that a divine encounter would one day arise and I would be able to share with him what Christ meant to me. I felt like Ed and I were friends.

Sometimes I would hear a lot of yelling going on in Ed’s house. Sometimes there was some yelling going on in Ed’s yard. I was glad that I wasn’t Ed, that I didn’t live in Ed’s house, that I didn’t have Ed’s yard with junk in it, and that I had my family and my life instead of his.

Did I mention that Ed was a Jehovah’s Witness?

It finally happened. One Saturday morning, the only day of the week that I could sleep in, a knock came on my door. I got up and went to the door barefooted and in my bathrobe determined to get rid of whoever was at my front door. I opened the door and Ed was standing on my front porch wearing a suit, a pressed shirt, a tie, an overcoat, a hat, his best shoes, and a briefcase in his hand. You see, Ed had to perform some good works to try to earn his way into heaven.

“Ed, hey man, what’s up?” I said as I looked over his shoulder to see if I could see his car in the ditch because he must have surely been on his way to somewhere.

“Could I come in and talk with you for a few minutes?”

“Uh… well… sure… come on in Ed.”

I was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

You guessed it. Ed opened his brief case and pulled out some copies of Watchtower Magazine, the little Jehovah’s Witness pamphlet, and proceeded to ask me questions about my spiritual state. He didn’t ask me for the standard ten cents to cover the cost as others before him had. I started to squirm.

I said, “Ed, I’m a pastor, I love Jesus, He lives in my heart, you know that.”

He said, “Yes, but your Bible is full of errors and our Bible is correct.”

We bantered back and forth until Ed finally delivered his entire spiel. I was steaming. Ed packed and left. I said something nice to him as he left.

When I closed the door it hit me. I was Ed’s big fish “project”. He didn’t expect to win me over to become a Jehovah’s Witness but boy down at Kingdom Hall this story would play really well. I wondered if he would tell them I had my bathrobe on. I got angry. I felt used. I wasn’t sure I still liked Ed. For months prior to this we had talked over the fence in my back yard, we talked about kids, and flowers, and grass, and even the fence itself. He never said one thing about God; in fact when I would mention things about God he always quickly changed the subject. If he wanted to say something to me why did he have to dress up and bring his briefcase to my living room on a Saturday morning? What was wrong with a Tuesday evening while leaning on the fence?

You see, Ed wasn’t concerned about me – I was his project. I didn’t want to be like Ed so I wasn’t interested in any spiritual lessons from Ed.

The Holy Spirit spoke to me in that moment. People don’t want to feel like they are your project. They want to feel that they matter to you.

Here are some actions we can take:
-Pray for “divine encounters”. Pray that God will open doors of opportunity for you to share the love of Christ with someone.
-Preach the gospel to everyone you meet, and if necessary, use words. In other words, preach the gospel by demonstrating care and concern for others.
-Take the time to listen to people’s stories. You must be genuinely interested in others before you can impact their lives.
-Build authentic relationships with people and listen to them before you demand to be heard.
-Write down the names of five people that you care about and that you would like to have a divine opportunity to share Christ with. Then wait for the door to open – God will open it!
Listen to people because you care about them.

It is amazing. When you show people kindness and you have a genuine interest in them it opens a door for you to share with them the greatest treasure that you have.