Appetites (Thoughts From Catalyst)

Last week, the CrossPoint staff attended the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. It’s an annual conference where more than 12,000 leaders come together for 2 days to hear some of the best leaders speak. There’s so much to process and I’m still going over my notes and even purchased audio of the talks so I can listen again to catch the things I missed the first time.

But over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some of the quotes/thoughts that I’ve been wrestling with since the conference.

The first thought that really stuck with me was from the first session with Andy Stanley. Andy, referencing the story of Jacob and Esau from Genesis 25,talked about appetites that can never be satisfied. Those he listed were:

• Progress
• Responsibility
• Respect
• Win
• Growth
• Fame
• Achievement
• To Be Envied

Andy talked about some or all of these desires can control leaders. These desires are natural and God-created but sin distorted them. Let’s face it: we’re human, so once sin entered the picture we crave these because we’re always looking for the bigger and better.

But what really stuck with me was this idea:

“We’d all sale our birthright for the right bowl of stew. What’s your ‘bowl of stew’?”

Andy’s challenge to all of us:

1. Reframe – Look at it from God’s viewpoint and in light of what He’s called you to do. Ask: “Ten years from now, I want to be…” Let that guide your decision-making now.

2. Refrain -Do what’s wise and control your desires. Don’t let them control you.

The Status Quo

I’m reading an awesome book titled Tribes by Seth Godin. Seth is a great mind on marketing and business. Check out this portion from the book:

The Difference Between Average And Mediocre

Management often works to maintain the status quo, to deliver average products to average people. In a stable environment, this is exactly the right strategy. Build reliability and predictability, cut costs, and make a profit.

Traditional marketing understands this. The most stable thing to do is push a standard product to a standard audience and succeed with discounts or distribution.

But for tribes, average means mediocre. Not worth seeking out. Boring.

Life’s too short to fight the forces of change. Life’s too short to hate what you do all day. Life’s way too short to make mediocre stuff. And almost everything that’s standard is now viewed as mediocre.

Is there a difference between average and mediocre? Not so much. Average stuff is taken for granted, not talked about, and certainly not sought out.

The end result is that many people (many really good people) spend all day trying to defend what they do, trying to sell what they’ve always sold, and trying to prevent their organizations from being devoured by the forces of the new. It must be wearing them out. Defending mediocrity is exhausting.

Seth is not a believer as far as I know. Obviously, he is writing to business leaders but he could just as easily be writing to church leaders. For most unchurched or dechurched, they see church as irrelevant and not important to their life. Boring. And many churches are stuck in their ways and have allowed themselves to become mediocre because of an unwillingness to change their methods (not the message) to the current culture.

God has blessed us at CrossPoint. To see the numbers of people we have coming each week and the great stories of life change that He’s doing through the ministry. And that’s awesome! But there’s two takeaways from Seth’s idea:

1. CrossPoint could very well become a mediocre church if we get settled into how we do things. As I’ve heard Perry Noble say, “today’s contemporary church can be tomorrow’s traditional church”. We always have to evaluate, grow and above all seek God’s leadership for CrossPoint. Sooner or later, leaders will come face to face with the need to change things they originally set in place. That’s when you have to decide if it’s about reaching people or “doing things the way we’ve always done them”.
2. While we’re seeing great things at CrossPoint, there’s still a great majority who still view church, any church, as irrelevant. So while we think CrossPoint is great, there’s still a world out there with hurting people who need Jesus. We need to do whatever we can to reach them.

Leadership = Influence

Leadership is influence and nothing else – John Maxwell

Some have tried to make it about a title or position. I’ve even heard people say “If you give me the title/authority, then people will see me as the leader.”

A title or position will not earn or “buy” influence. It will only buy you time to learn leadership skills. Leaders get things done. They don’t wait for a title or position to produce. Show yourself worthy to be followed first by putting in the effort up front.  Trust and influence come later because they have to be earned. This will produce followers, which is the true test of a leader. There’s an old saying: “He who think he leads but no one follows is just taking a walk”.

The disciples battled with this thought. They argued who would be the greatest among them. Jesus put an end to that discussion real quick when he said:

“If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:35 NIV

Jesus modeled being a servant leader. Great leaders understand this principle. First you have to be a servant in the small things and if God allows He will move you up.

Because of Jesus’ model, the disciples grew in influence. They took the Gospel to the world and the message continues over 2000 years later.