Category Archives: Mindset

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The Fog Has Lifted – What Do You See Part #2

The Renewed Church

As the church emerges from the Fog of Covid, what exactly are we looking at? Barna Research recently released the state of your church webcast in which 5 crucial questions were asked about the state of the North American church.[1]

What is the state of your church?

How thriving is it? Think of “thriving” as the organizational dynamics of the church. How well is that going?

How are people doing in your church? Are they flourishing or not?

How are you doing? What’s the state of your heart?

And, perhaps as crucial, how do you know? What means do you employ to measure what matters in ministry?

Perhaps for the very first time in modern church history, churches are being faced with the challenge to figure out their unique DNA as a church. This means that using someone’s model will no longer sustain my church for the longer arch of time. Simply because they succeeded does not equal, I will succeed post covid. Borrowing from Frederick Buechner’s Venn diagram for determining personal calling and vocation, today’s churches need to merge their great, driving passion (the Great Commission) with the world’s great need (finding deep satisfaction and rest for our souls). In this intersection, you’ll be able to see more clearly what your calling is as a church. When you’re clear on your calling as a church, you can start to define and refine the data you’ll look for as indicators that people’s lives are being transformed.[2]

So, what is required for church leaders to renew their church in such complex and quite troubling days? Barna Research Group suggest 5 shifts in our thinking should occur to truly arrive at an accurate understanding of the state of each church. There are no cookie-cutter short cuts any longer. Each church must stand on their own merits. Consider these 5 shifts.[3]

  1. A renewed Church requires Christian leaders who honestly and objectively evaluate the impact they are making. The stakes are high. Jesus warned that it would be better to be weighted down at the bottom of the sea than to mislead people. Ministry models and impacts should be evaluated with this same intensity. Fir example research clearly shows that two in three young adults raised as Christians walk away from their faith as they move into adulthood. This massive dropout problem will require more careful consideration than simple platitudes.
  2. A renewed Church needs leaders who are in tune with the flourishing of the people they are serving and discipling. The New Testament description of being a Shepherd places a high value on knowing people. The question becomes; How well do you know the people you are serving? What tools are being used to obtain this information.
  3. A renewed Church requires contributors and participants in gospel mission, not just consumers of gospel content. This is perhaps the key shift that should occur for faith leaders. For example, research indicates that 96% of church leaders say they desire to have lay driven ministries in their church. Yet only 9% of church leaders say they have an effective strategy on how to develop people’s giftedness for ministry.
  4. A renewed Church needs leaders who are self-aware about the condition of their hearts before the Lord. Scriptures contain numerous illustrations of God’s interest and care for our heart-health as one of the more compelling parts of our witness. Leaders have a greater responsibility to lead from a healthy-heart position than others. WHY? You have an opportunity to lead a host of other people for eternity’s sake.
  5. A renewed Church demands that we rely more on the Lord’s power and presence than on our strategy or smarts. Our strategic efforts should be vessels they Holy Spirit can use to being people into the presence and power of a Holy God. The real question is, does our strategic models accomplish this?

[1] David Kinnaman. A Vision For A Renewed Church. The State of Your Church Report. copy-rite 2022.

[2] Fredrick Buechner. Your Deep Gladness & The World’s Deep Hunger. http://www.calledthejourney.com/blog/2014/12/17/frederick-buechner-on-calling ACCESSED 14 March 2022.

[3] The State of Your Church Report copy-rite 2022.

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The Fog Has Lifted – What Do You See?

Resilient Leaders Needed

Dr. Packiam writes about the late Rabbi Jonathon Sacks who went in for a Medical Check-up after being named Chief Rabbi in the British Commonwealth. Part of the exam involved a treadmill. As the doctor kept increasing the pace Sack’s was curious about the end goal. He asked his doctor “What are we testing? How fast I can go or how long?” The doctor responded with “Neither”

The doctor would inform his curious patient that he was being evaluated to see how quickly his pulse would return to normal after coming off the treadmill. This is one of the key markers of health: the rate of recovery. The goal of a stress test is to see how someone deals with it.

Wisdom For The Weary

Sometimes leadership can feel like more than a human can humanly bear. Rabbi Sacks suggested to review the lives of what we might call Biblical Giants, Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, and Jonah. These all prayed that God take their life rather than to continue their task.

If you are struggling with mental and emotional health, understand it is OK to step away from ministry to heal. When you cannot bounce back or carry on understand this is not a flaw of Christian character. The wound is perhaps deeper than you realized.

If I am speaking to you, please seek a counselor. If married take time away in a guided retreat. Ask for a sabbatical. Understand it is not your Christian duty to soldier-on; it is your Christ-like calling to be whole. 

What is Differentiation?

There is a life beyond “the ministry.” There is a world beyond the church. There is a “YOU” beyond your vocation. This is called differentiation. This is the ability to know the difference between you or your church or non-profit enterprise. Differentiation is usually applied to a relationship between a couple. If one side is swallowed up other or the two have become inextricably tangled and lost in each other, this is called enmeshment. This leads to a detachment in which one refuses to be affected or moved by another. Differentiation is being close to another person while remaining yourself.

A healthy differentiation allows us to love our churches, to care for our people, to find joy in exercising our gifts for the glory of God and the good of others and to know that the ministry is not our identity. We are not the churches we lead or the sermons we preach. We are beloved children of God.

Resilience

Inconsistent intimacy takes a toll. It requires what sociologist Arlie Hochschild referred to as “surface acting”—where we change the emotion that we display—or, more often, “deep acting”—where we summon up the actual feelings from within. Work in service industries, like being a flight attendant (whom Hochschild studied) or waiting tables or dealing with customers, requires surface acting. But empathy work, like counseling or ministry, requires deep acting. We must meet people where they are emotionally. By the time we’re done for the day, we may not have much left for other relationships.

A second challenge for pastors is the time it takes to cultivate relationships. Friendships are usually formed in leisure hours. In two groundbreaking studies from the University of Kansas published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships in 2018, communication studies professor Jeffrey Hall found that it takes “between 40 and 60 hours to form a casual friendship, 80–100 hours to transition being a friend and more than 200 hours together to become good friends.” According to Hall’s study, the hours spent at work together don’t count as much. There’s no getting around it, however. We need meaningful friendships if we’re going to last in ministry and if we’re going to stay fully human, and cultivating those friendships takes time.[1]

In 2 Corinthians 7 of the Bible, Paul the Apostle seems to allude to an amalgamation of people that supported and cared for him. This would suggest that you and I need a constellation of lives to help us navigate life’s storms and ministry responsibilities. We need a collection of sages to advise us, leaders to direct us and hold us accountable, peers to remind us that are not alone, healers to dress our wounds, and companions to carry us when we are not able to carry on. Resilience is reinforced by right relationships. Ministry is illusionary in terms of deep relationships. Take the time to cultivate your constellation of people that will help you navigate life and ministry.

[1] John Packiam. Start By Cultivating Resilient Leaders. The State of The Church Research by Barna.org. ACCESSED 8 March 2022.

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Mindset – Embrace Your Failures

“Michael Jordan embraced his failures. In fact, in one of his favorite ads for Nikem he says,”I’ve missed more than nine thousand shots. I’ve lost more than three-hundred games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the fame-winning shot and missed.’ You can be sure that each time, he went back and practiced the shot a hundred times” (Dweck).

Here is that Nike AD……

Again, a fixed mindset belongs to the person who sees failure and proof positive they are “no-good.” The growth mindset sees failure as an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to become a better person. Embrace your missed shots and GROW!

Teddy Roosevelt stated, “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Mindset – Loving What We Do

“Many growth-minded people didn’t even plan to go to the top. They got there as a result of doing what they love. It’s ironic: The top is where fixed-minded people hunger to be, but it’s where many growth-minded people arrive as a by-product of their enthusiasm for what they do” (Dweck).

We all desire to be people that have a capacity to get things done. However, the real question that looms over this idea is; “Do you LOVE what you are doing?” There are innumerable illustrations of successful people that absolutely loved what they were doing. It appears the happiest people are the ones who absolutely love what they are doing.

If you are occupying space and simply drawing a paycheck, perhaps it is time for spiritual retreat. A time to get alone for serious reflective and critical thinking about the current trajectory of your life. Assuming all things remain the same, where will your current trajectory – the activities of your life take you in 5 years? 10 years? Can you articulate an answer?

Here’s to loving life, work and embracing opportunities as you allow the results to become the by-product of your passionate dedication.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Mindset – Passion+Toil+Training

AuthorCarol Dweck states, “Do people with this mindset believe that anyone can be anything, that anyone with proper motivation or education can become Einstein or Beethovan? NO, but they believe that a person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training.”

The point here isn’t that we can do anything. Again I repeat Dweck’s words that our potential is unknown and unknowable and the only way to see what that potential might be is to invest in years of PASSION, TOIL, and TRAINING.

A person with a fixed mindset would not entertain the idea of years investing into something that will not return immediate gratification. They simply see hard work with a high possibility of failure as “See, I told you that I do not have the right stuff!”

Growth Minded people see the investment of years is how a person will ultimately discover their real potential. Dweck states, “In one world, failure is about having a setback. Getting a bad grade. Losing a tournament. Getting fired. Getting rejected. It means you’re not smart or talented. In the other world, failure is about not growing. Not reaching for things you value. It means you’re not fulfilling your potential.” 

Realize that MINDSETS are beliefs! They are quite powerful. You have the ability to change your mindset. So, how are you approaching your potential (raising children, career, friendships, etc.)?

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Mindset – Fixed Vs. Growth

Author Carol Dweck states, “For twenty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value…..”

You may be asking yourself how can a simple belief have that kind of power to transform? The author  suggests this all starts with a belief that either your qualities are carved in stone or a fixed mindset. The growth mindset however, suggests that you believe your qualities can be cultivated through application and experience.

A person who believes their mindset is fixed would also believe they  are born with a certain swagger – you either have it or you don’t. From this perspective your life experiences either prove you have it or you don’t. This in turn produces a type of fear that we do not want to be perceived as an idiot or that we are first class screw-ups.

The growth mindset is much different. There is a belief that by means of hard-work, diligent persistence, coupled with years of passion and training for the long haul of life, that in fact you can achieve a large amount of swagger. 
So which is it for you? Fixed or Growth? Carol Dweck states, “The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it even (especially) when it is not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.”

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Mindset

The author is one of the leading researchers in the field of motivation and is a renowned Professor at Stanford University. This is a book that explores serious science to assist us in the understanding of why we do what we do.

There was an ancient writer by the name of Paul from Tarsus that once stated, “The things that I know I should not do, I do. The things that I know that I should do I do not do.” He went on to declare that he was wretched and asked who could save him from this body of death (Bible Romans 7:15-20).

The essence of her book focuses on two mindsets; Fixed Mindset versus a Growth Mindset. What is the difference? The short answer is that a Fixed Mindset states that our self-worth is on the line and that failure is to be avoided at all costs. With a Growth Mindset we embrace the challenge of new opportunities because we know that we are capable of reaching our highest potential and that failure is simply not “going for it and learning along the way.”

Make no mistake, the difference between these two mindsets is HUGE! What about your mindset at this very moment? Are you fixed and gripped in fear of failure? Are you more daring in your acceptance of new challenges because you realize that your potential has not been fully achieved and it is within grasp.

Here is the short of this blog – You can change your mindset – Carol Dweck.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com