A couple of Decembers ago my mom and dad called myself and my three siblings and said, “None of you live here any more, but your stuff is still all over the place. And you need to do it by December 9, because on December 10 we have someone coming over to get your stuff.”
Being the kind of kid I’ve always been I waited until December 9 to do it. I expected it to be a chore, but it was quite engaging and amazing because I was going through my life in boxes.
There was a box full of old journals. I am not a serious journal keeper. People who do are especially holy. I buy one every year, but I don’t journal every year, but it might only be 3 or 4 times a year when something significant happens.
But I found this box of journals and sat down and read them all.
There was something that happened when I was 14. I shared a room with my sister Crystal. Mine was underneath a picture window that looked out into a quiet cul-de-sac. One evening a small home where no one lived that caught fire. No one knew why, but 6 or 7 fire trucks raced in. The entire neighborhood was awakened and went outside in their robes. My sister got up and came to the window by my bed and looked out the window. My mother did the same thing. Both of them were hanging over me looking at the entire thing.
I slept through the whole thing. The told me about it in the morning.
It occurred to me that it wasn’t just that night I slept through. As I read those journals I realized as a pre-teen I was just waiting to be a teen. And as a teen I couldn’t wait to get out of the house. And as I was in college and a young single woman I couldn’t wait to get married. And then I got married, and that was a lot of work, but I hurried through it because I couldn’t wait to have kids.
And if I’m not careful I’ll hurry through this to because I’ll hurry through wanting to change dirty diapers and finding another way to cook chicken for dinner.
It occurred to me that I’d not just been sleeping through that one event but through whole seasons of my life.
I wonder how many of us are there but not there, not fully present.
As I sat in that attic, the Holy Spirit began to work on me and tell me that if I didn’t shape up I was going to miss out on gifts that God had for me in the present.
There are several places in Scripture where people were with Jesus, and they were completely unaware of the presence of God in their life.
In Genesis 28, Jacob wakes up having conversation with God and says, “Surely the Lord was here, and I missed it.”
Mary Magdalene can’t make out that the guy she’s talking to is Jesus and not the gardener.
Their life has been what I like to call interrupted. They’re discouraged and disillusioned, and so they’re missing out on the fact that God is right where they are. You had a plan for life or marriage or ministry or this kid.
How do we stay fully present so that we can be fully aware of God’s activity right in the middle of this interrupted life, because I don’t want to wake up one morning and say, “God was there.”
Luke 24 – A couple of guys are pretty distraught because their plans have been interrupted. The Jesus they were hanging their hopes on has been crucified on the Cross of Calvary. When we meet these two gentlemen, they are completely discouraged because life has been interrupted.
“And behold…”
That word behold is an important marker that was used by an author when they wanted to call attention to a specific point. It was like saying, “Look!” because they wanted to call attention to a specific detail. It was far more significant in the Hebrew than in English.
All of the disappointment, delusion, and hardship you have faced… God is getting ready to invade in spite of that. It doesn’t mean that the circumstances will change.
They were in the midst of a behold moment even though they were frustrated with their circumstances. They didn’t know everything was about to change.
There is a secret to beholding. The secret is in knowing that our eyes can be opened to God’s activity even in the midst of discouragement.
There was a turn in the circumstances, and they couldn’t see it. Often we can’t either.
God may want to reveal himself in the midst of the circumstances. We’re so distracted we don’t realize we’re in the midst of a behold moment.
The only reason why the Lord would gather you here over the course of these days is if you and I must be on the precipice of a behold moment in our lives. When you go home would you not think that everything is exactly the same. Yeah, everything might be the same, but you won’t be.
I have three boys. Jackson is a giant. He is 8 years old, and he wears a size 9 shoe. We have a 7 year old, and a surprise 3 year old. One of the things my boys like to do is swim. So we got them goggles. My husband noticed that they would put their goggles on and go underneath the water and swim, but they would keep their eyes closed. So my husband told them you can open your eyes underwater with the goggles.
For all this time they had the right equipment to see when their head was underwater, but they didn’t use the equipment. We have been equipped to see hope and peace when were in over our heads. Even in the midst of this discouragement we have the ability to see hope.
I don’t know how people without this hope make it without it.
It is the secret of beholding, keeping your spiritual eyes open even when you may prefer to shut them.
There is a second secret for us in verse thirteen. These guys are headed from Jerusalem because they had been at the Passover. They are now travelling the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
They’re unaware that the third person in their party was Jesus. There is not only a secret in beholding. There is a secret in going home. Some of us believe the pinnacle of our Christian experience is supposed to be in rooms like this one, and while this is important,
The pinnacle of your Christian experience is supposed to be when the things you learned in the pew of your church becomes real on the pavement of your every day experience.
Jesus is the glory of God. Everything we need has been clearly shown to us in Scripture.
Anything you are going back to, He is everything you need to deal with it. You take what you learned and apply it in your everyday circumstances.
He is something to us in every book of Scripture.
Can I challenge you with just one more secret.
They were conversing about everything that had transpired surrounding Jesus, but they don’t recognize him. The first thing Jesus says to them is, “What are these words that are coming out of your mouth?”
There is a secret of silence. There are about 7-8 verses where these guys are doing all of the talking. They actually say to Jesus, “Are you the only one in town who doesn’t know what’s going on?”
If I’m with God, I want to be quiet because I want to hear everything He has to say.
Don’t keep going over old history when you’re talking to God.
There is power in our words. What is coming out of your mouth about your ministry, your family?
These guys missed out on Jesus’ presence because they were focused on their circumstances.
God has gone before you to prepare a path, regardless of the struggles you are facing on it. And if the path is not prepared for you, maybe it’s because you’re not actually headed to the place God has for you.
Q (Reggie Joiner): We've been talking about people drifting away from the church for almost a decade. How is this research going to make any difference?
A: I really wanted to understand the why and the way behind their leaving.
Q: Give us an example of what that means.
A: I went into this assuming people all leave for the same reason. But they don't There are three types of young people leaving the church.
- Prodigal - Someone who leaves the faith
- Nomad - Still calls themself a Christian but leave the Church
This would be someone like Katy Perry. She still believes in Jesus but is not active in church.
- Exile - Person who feels lost from the safe, cultural Christianity
This is someone who works at Abercrombie & Fitch, or media or politics, and feels lost from the faith they grew up in.
Q: Tell us why people are leaving the church
A: There are six reasons.
- Overprotective
When I grew up we didn't even have seatbelts, but this generation is sheltered. But the world is small. Everything is closer now. They want to engage the world but feel they take too many risks for their faith. People are leaving the church because it's too safe. They don't see people in their churches taking the risks they see people in scripture taking.
- Anti-science
More than half of all church-going teenagers are interested in scientific careers, and they feel that many churches are either silent or antagonistic about science.
Q: You are technically saying there are people groups we are losing based on those six reasons.
We're losing young artists, designers, and musicians because the Church is overprotective.
Q: How does this help us change things?
A: It gives us handles, opportunities to think about and understand the real spiritual journies young people are undertaking. I think we can start conversations about the real things that separate us as generations.
Q: This is personal, some of the people in this room have sons and daughters who will walk away if we don't figure this out.
A: My challenge to us as the church is how do we respond to this? How do we mentor and disciple this generation? What can we do to show them what is in the Scripture and how it is relevant to our lives.
Q: This is why it's important to continue having these conversations. We don't just want to talk about it. We want to do something about it.
I had a Robin Hood mentality in school, so if someone in school had a bit too much, I’d help distribute it.
I had to learn that having a hatred of anti-Semitism, xenophobia, isn’t the same as love. I had to learn that love was about going on the offensive. I had to learn about the costly grace that Bonhoeffer talked about.
(something about the cross…)
Shiloh Baptist Church is part of who I am. The love of the people at my church is part of who I am. If I can be true to that love that was given to me and to the gift of grace that I received as a young gangster, and I’m still a Christian with gangster tendencies.
It’s great joy to be redeemed, to have your life fundamentally transformed in that blood at the cross, not Kool-aid, a lot of people preach kool-aid these days.
The benchmark for me of a Christian and Christian pastor is a recognition that this world is not your home, and thus you are suspicious of all forms of idolatry: wealth status, stature, position, all of these things that are huge in our culture.
It’s a gift to give, not to be enamored by. You go into a community and ask, where is the love for the children, strangers, those in prison.
A lot of it has to do with learning how to love ourselves. A lot of us are so emotionally terrorized that we don’t know how to receive love. We’re supposed to love others AS ourselves.
We’re asking if people really love us. Or are the just manipulating me or lusting after me.
This is the real thing with Jesus. This is real love, but we can’t take it. We don’t believe it.
The distinctive thing about MLK Jr. as a minister, which is what he was first and foremost, what did he say at the end of his life? He said, “People never really knew me.” In our language what he was saying is, “I am never up for sale.” Therei sno price that can buy me. I will never sell out, I wll never cave in. I will never give up.
You actually are part of the kingdom activity, whatever it is you do for the Kingdom.
We must always move toward the cross, because Martin was assassinated, but he was not crucified. Martin would be the first one to say, without that Jesus, I couldn’t make it.
Q: We did this about 4-5 years ago at Catalyst, major déjà vu for us.
A: Brand didn’t exactly tell me how many people came to catalyst. I was stuttering a bunch.
Q: Blake wrote a book, “Start Something that Matters.” Why did you write this book?
A: The last 5 years have been a an amazing journey. I’ve learnedso much and had the opportunity to speak. So many people asked me how do I get something started.
I realized not only have I learned a lot from Tom’s, but from these entrepreneurs out there. And I was as inspired by them as much as what happened at Tom’s.
So I wanted to create a working handbook for someone who wants to start something. We all want meaning. So I wanted to lay out the very practical steps of what we did and some things I learned from Scott Harrison who started charity:water.
We decided to take 50% of the proceeds from the book and give it back to the readers and people who want to start something big.
Q: This really is a field guide if you got a big idea that you’re not sure how to get going. Give us a practical challenge from your experience, something you share in the book.
A: One of the important things we talk about is starting small. My goal starting Tom’s was to help 250 kids. I didn’t quit my job or go out and raise a bunch of money. I realized these kids were completely dependent on donations.
We started really small. 250 became 1000, then 5000, and something that started out really small has given 2 million children a new pair of shoes.
Q: In your offices is the word “Give” depicted in all sorts of ways, and your slogan is 1 for 1. Why is that?
A: Toms was about helping kids. It felt so good to put shoes on those kids feet. Giving feels good. Everyone who has given their time, energy, financial resources, you know how good giving feels.
But what I’ve learned in the past 4.5 years is that giving is good for business and building your personal brand.
I was in this airport in NYC a few months after I started Toms. At this point I had never seen a stranger wearing them. So I was excited when I saw this girl wearing a red pair of Toms. So I ask her about them but don’t want to let her know who I am.
So, I was like, oh, that’s cool. But she’s like, “no, you don’t understand…” and she proceeds to tell me my life’s story with passion. What gave her that passion to tell that story was the fact that we were giving.
Q: Our theme is be present. Your faith has been huge for you. Speak to us about how God sustained you in those early days. How has he helped you?
A: Tom’s has been influenced by many Biblical principles, but one of the first ones I go pack to is in Romans where it says, “Give your first fruits, and your vats will be full.” For the first couple of years at Toms we were giving away shoes, and we weren’t profitable. It would have been much easier to say, “We’ll give when we become profitable.” I think that really brings that verse to light.
Q: You start this thing in a garage and end up with global reach. What are some of the challenges, pitfalls, and things you’ve learned along the way.
A: One of the things that’s really challenging about building a community is as the community grew, it also grew much more diverse, and I found myself trying to lead a community and movement with a group of people who are diverse in their backgrounds and beliefs. A lot of them disagree on a lot of things.
So I’ve been trying to figure out what my role in that. In the last year we’ve come to realize that we’re about putting shoes on kids’ feet and helping people with their eyesight. We’re trying to use Toms shoes to bring people together.
Q: You relased and eyewear line this year.
A: That’s one of the most exciting things to me. We want to take that 1 for 1 model and use it for a lot of different things.
Every time we sell a pair of sunglasses we provide one person sight. That’s through glasses or cataract surgery or eye treatment.
Q: Share a story from the trip you recently took.
A: That was a lifechanging trip for me on so many levels, to see the power of a purchase here to impact someone’s life there. Specifically we were visiting people who need cataract surgery.
Most of them are elderly, but this particular day a young woman with a baby came in. I came back a day later as they were taking the bandages off her eyes. They tested her vision, and she looked down at her baby, and we realized, this was the first time she had ever seen her child. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever experienced in my life.
You can talk about the facts and figures, but once you see the impact on one person’s life, it is transformative. That’s what keeps me going.
Q: Put “Be Present” in context from your journey.
A: Life goes by so fast. We’re all running around a mile a minute. You can be doing a lot of good stuff for the world and still not be present.
It can go by so fast. I was huge fan of Steve Jobs and Apple, and to hear of him passing two days ago really hit me hard. Here’s a man who’s 56 years old who’s had incredible success, but you can’t beat cancer. Our days are limited, and our end is a mystery of why and how.
For me, it’s about making the most of every single day I have, because otherwise it goes by too fast.
Q: We’ve got his book outside. Every time you purchase a book, a book will go to a child.
So what are you afraid of? First things that comes to mind? Heights? For me it’s more widths? Snakes, bugs, spiders? Clouds? Clouds do not scare me, except at night. Clouds after midnight are nefarious.
What about you leaders? Are you afraid of criticism, failure, embarrassment? I just checked my fly 7 times before getting up here.
Some of you flee from clonflict, potential failure, danger.
Fear in the mind causes stress in the body. I can still remember years when I had a nervous eye twitch. Everyone thought I was hitting on them.
A buddy of mine had canker sores on his mouth. We’re like, are you stressed? He’s like, “How could you tell?”
You can’t sleep. How many of you can’t sleep. You need 8-10 hours a night. I’m 40. I need more than that. 40 is the new 80. I’m exhausted.
Then you start getting stomach troubles, sinus infections, headaches.
You start thinking about death, or quitting. Some of you just start reading books on the rapture. Are we done yet? I hate to tell you, we’re going to be here for a while kids.
I started a church, and I was afraid it wouldn’t work. Then people showed up, and I was afraid they were going to stay.
If you have a wife or family. It causes stress.
Twice I’ve messed with my adrenal gland. One time I couldn’t sleep. Another time I couldn’t stay awake. I fell asleep right before one of my own sermons.
I’ve had an intestinal ulcer.
Jesus asked, “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his life?”
Fear is not always a sin, but it always is an opportunity to fear or trust the Lord.
Who are you afraid of? The first person the Holy Spirit brings to mind, go with that.
Someone other than God takes that position in our life. There’s someone other than God that takes on significance in our life. We need them to know us and praise us and not criticize us. We need to live under their sovereign rule.
We make people functional gods. We are committed to, devoted to, and fearful of someone.
To fear someone you cannot love them, because to love them is to give to them, and if you fear them, you cannot give to them.
You don’t acknowledge them as a real god, but they are a functional God. Paul says that you trade the creator God for created things, and one of the most likely candidates of people.
Proverbs says that to fear people is a trap.
Ed Welch says that fear in the Biblical sense includes being afraid of someone, but it also means holding them in awe.
We’re putting them in a place that only God should occupy. Putting your trust in people. You cannot criticize them.
Instead of a biblically guided fear of the Lord, we fear others. In our teens it’s called peer pressure. As an adult it’s called people pleasing.
Questions:
- Whose opinion means too much to you?
- Is your appetite for praise unhealthy?
You need people to praise you. That’s why I’m on Facebook, and I’m on Twitter. You’re waiting for people to come up after service and tell you what a good job you did.
- Are you overly devastated by criticism?
You shouldn’t like criticism, but are you overly devastated by it?
Rick Warren said the problem criticism today is that it’s constant, global, and permanent.
Let’s try and get the word out that not everything that’s said on the Internet is true.
- Are you committed to things and people that God did n’t call you to?
Someone asked, you said yes. Someone pressured, you said yes. Someone criticized, you said yes. And so you’re following someone else’s calling on your life, not God’s calling.
Here’s what fear is
- Vision without hope.
Fear is when we see the future in the worst possible case scenario. This is the future, and it’s going to be painful, and I’m stressed about it, and living dread toward it.
- Fear is not always rational, but it is powerful.
You look at someone else’s fear, and you think it’s crazy, but you don’t think that about your own fear.
Some of you are terrified of being single, married, in leadership, not in leadership, losing your job.
- Fear is about not getting what we want.
- Fear preaches a false Gospel.
There is a potential hell awaiting you, and you could have a heaven here on earth.
It gives us a false hell, a false heaven, and a false savior. A savior that saves from a hell that we through fear have created in our imagination.
What or who are you afraid of? What is your picture of hell?
- Fear turns us into false prophets.
We predict a future that will never happen, and we cause ourselves anxiety, stress, worry, and it never happens.
How many of you have done this?
So what’s the solution to fear?
The Bible’s answer is, “Fear not.”
Nice and simple for those of you who went to public school.
This is the most frequently mentioned command in the Bible. It’s a great book, God wrote it, and if it says something a lot, it must be important, right?
This tells us it’s a real problem, a real problem for the leaders in the Bible and for us now.
Now, if I just told us, FEAR NOT, half of you would be like, “YES” because you go to fight, some of you would be leaving because you go to flight. Some of you would just be like, “I hope he doesn’t yell again.” Because you go to fright.
But it’s not so much a command as an invitation. God says over and over again, usually to leaders, “Fear not. I am present with you.” It’s got saying, it’s about Me being with you.”
Adam in Genesis 3 is afraid. He’s hiding, and God comes to him, and he says, “I was afraid.” So what was God’s answer? I’m going to go after him, come along side of him, pursue him. Since sin has entered the world this is how God has operated with us.
To Issac in Genesis 26:24 (?): Fear not, for I am with you.
Genesis 28:15: God says, “I am with you.”
You know why God keeps saying this? Because we forget.
We may know theologically that God is with us, but practically when fear takes over, we feel alone. And it’s a lie.
Truth leads you into freedom, and the lie si that you are alone, that God has abandoned you and all you have is your own resources for whatever comes against you.
God tells Moses, “My presence will go with you.” Moses is asking how he will lead all of those people? He doesn’t know where he is going or what to do. God’s answer is not a map but that he will go with him.
2 Kings 1:15 – God tells Elijah on the battlefield not to fear. If there’s ever a time to fear, it’s on the battlefield.
How about King David? Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear not because thou art with me. It’s right there, the one they make you memorize in Baptist Sunday school. It doesn’t matter how bad it gets, I’m going to be okay because God is with me, even if things aren’t really okay.
Is 41:14 – Fear not, you worm, Jacob. Can you think of anything more defenseless than a worm? Little girls pick them up and mock them. There’s nothing less terrifying than a worm. God says, you people are like worms. He goes on to say, “Israel, fear not, for I am here to help you.”
You feel like that. The circumstances are big, the criticisms are real, the lack of resources is obvious, and God says Fear not, for I am with you.
Jeremiah 1:8 – Fear not, for I am with you. Jeremiah has a reason to fear. He’s written Lamentations. We call him the weeping prophet. He’s more depressed than the indie rockers in my town. He curses his birth. I’m not a doctor, but that guy’s depressed, right? He couldn’t even get married and go home to his wife. He’s depressed, by himself, single, indie rocker, poet. God goes to him and says fear not, I am with you.
God tells Daniel, “Fear not, I have come.”
Haggai 2:4-5 – Says Be strong 4 times? Why? For I am with you, declares the Lord Almighty.
Mary, Jesus’ own mother. Luke 1 – The angel says to Mary, “Fear not.” She’s from a small Baptist church wearing a dress that she made with her own hands in her small group co-op. She’s only 13-14, and she’s pregnant. What are people going to think at the home school co-op? How’s that going to look when she’s wearing the choir robe on Sundays, and she’s got a bump but no husband. The angel says “Fear not…” He says later that the Holy Spirit will come.
How about Jesus. Matthew 28:10 after Jesus dies and rises from death. You know what we have to fear more than anything? Death. The resurrection of Jesus conquers death. Oh no, I’m going to die… and be with Jesus. It ain’t so bad. It’s not like going to Detroit. I don’t write the mail. I just deliver it. There’s reason we’re not in Detroit.
Yeah, go Tigers. I tell you, the Yankees lost. Which means to things: God is sovereign, and he loves us.
The worst thing that can happen is you die, and if you know Jesus, you go to be with him. We’ve got to reset worse case scenario. Worst case scenario is you go to Jesus sooner rather than later. Not so bad, right?
Jesus says he’ll be with us until the end.
I really want you to believe that.
The Bible says do not merely listen to the word and deceive yourself, but do what it says.
I want you to always remember that, and when times get the hardest and the darkest and your grief goes the deepest, remember that. Everything may not be okay, but if God is with you, you’ll be okay.
I’ve got five kids. I married my high school sweetheart. When I travel, I love to take my kids with me. The first big family trip was to Scotland some years ago. I was explaining to the kids you’re going to see John Knox’s house and learn all about swords and go to castles. If you’re a little boy, castles and swords are everything. It’s Biblical, Jesus is coming back with a sword. That’s why I let my boys play with swords, because we’re Christians.
My littlest son, Gideon Joseph, is the only one not excited. I tried to tell him about the swords and castles. But he’d get really sad and look at the ground. I’m like what is wrong with this kid, I’ve got a broken kid. My kid don’t work. I tried to tell him that he’d be really tall on the plane, and there’s a button you hit to get endless juice, and you get your own headphones and TV. I couldn’t sell it to him.
So I got down on one knee and asked why he didn’t want to go? He said, “I don’t want to be alone.” So I asked him, “Do you think you’re going alone?” He said, “Yeah.”
So he’s trying to figure out his connecting flights, courtesy exchange, his credit card application before he gets on the flight.
So I look at him and say, “Who am I?” He said, “You’re my dad.” I said, “Who are you?” He said, “I’m you’re son.” I said, “I’m going with you.” His whole countenance changed.
Fear not, your daddy is with you.
I want to spend just a few moments with you sharing from the Bible. I'm going to start in Exodus 33, and I'd like us to consider the glory of God and its implications in your life as a leader, and most importantly as a follower of Christ.
Ex 33:12-23
John 1:14,18
Jesus is the glory of God. I believe if in fact that statement is true, you will leave here tonight with a surplus, the overwhelming fact and truth that you will leave hear tonight with everything you need for living and leading and pastoring.
Thursday night is the most special night in our family. It's date night. When you've had children, the rhythm of life sounds something like this: date night, blur, date night, blur. I love date night.
I wish someone had told me before we got married that women have rules. And they don't have to share their rules. You're supposed to know them. And if you really love them you will know their rules and abide by them, and then they will feel loved.
My wife Chelsea has rules for date night. And women are under no obligation to tell you when the rules change. So the other days I suggested we do dinner, coffee, dessert, and a movie. Her countenance dropped, and I thought "rule change." She's like, "I don't really want to go to a movie." I said, "Neither do I. They're secular."
Gentlemen, what you have to know about date night is that there is always a score and if you score high enough, you score. And I don't know why you do date night, but I don't do it for the conversation.
Chelsea said, "I don't want date nights to just be movies." I didn't show displeasure, but I'll be honest with you, my perfect date is like, go see a great action flick and go home and make love. We don't even have to talk!
She asked me the other night, "Where do you feel most loved?" I said, "Really, do you need me to answer that question?" But really, when women ask you a question it's just a front for wanting to be asked that question. I couldn't believe the answer. It was the antithesis. It blew my mind. She said, "When you ask me question." For a guy, that does not communicate love, ladies. It's like being interrogated.
My wife's office is right next to my office and we work together, and we go on date nights and she asks me how my day was, and I'm like "You were there the whole time." So I ask about her day, and she tells me about the morning meeting, and I am like, "I was there."
But my wife is smart. She doesn't just want to do stuff for me or with me, she wants to know me. She is good for me. She sits me down and asks me how I'm doing, as a dad, in my ministry, with each other.
Marriage isn't just about doing stuff together or being in each other's presence. You need to know each other.
Moses has experienced the presence of God. And he's kinda on a role with God, so he asks for something he's never seen before: glory. He asks to see God's glory. What a crazy request, a risky request, maybe not even a healthy request.
And I think God must have been so happy. My boy doesn't even want to just do stuff with me, he wants to know me. It's early in the day. I was going to make a new covenant, but he's like, alright, how do I do this. Now, I want you to shimmy in this rock over here, and I'm going to put my hand over you as I pass by. Now don't peak, it won't go well for you. And as I pass I'll pull my hand away. So Moses shimmies in, and God's like, you're not peeking, are you? So God's like, you can look now Moses. And Moses asks, are you sure? And God's like, you're good now.
So Moses' face glows in the dark for days.
Maybe you'll notice that Moses' request was not fully granted by God. Moses got only a glimpse in passing. It was in Jesus that we got the full answer to Moses' request.
Throughout all of the corridors of history and the ages, no doubt Moses' request stood unanswered until Christ came, and we beheld his glory.
People say, "I want to see what Moses saw?" I'm like, "I don't." Why would I want to see God's backside when I can look him full in the face.
I'm singing "Show me your glory." And all of the sudden I get this distinct impression from the Holy Spirit. He says, "I already have. His name is Jesus."
Look at Hebrews 1. I don't do crack, I don't smoke weed, because this is good enough for me. "God has in these last days spoken to us by his son." "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person."
When Moses asked to see God's glory, what he's really asking is to see God's essence, the inner reality of who God really is. He wants to see what makes God, God.
And then Jesus comes, and he's just that. He's the enactment and full form of divine radiance. You don't have to wait for a fuzzy feeling, for the hair to stand up on your nect. You'll have everything you ever need in Jesus.
A couple of years ago my family went through the most difficult period of our life. My father had cancer, multiple myloma. There was not a day in my life I did not talk to my father. They passed leadership of the church off to me, and the elders agreed. I started to play out in my mind that I'm 30 now, and if all goes well, I'll probably pastor this church for the next 30 years. And I started to think about 30 years of weekends, and all of the sermons I'm going to have to write. ANd I began thinking, God, I can't do this. I'm not my dad. You know those guys taht can get up and don't read the Scripture, they just quote it. And they don't have notes, the sermon just flows out of them. ANd I get up the next day and I'm like (in a high pitched voice), "Hey church. I'm pastor Judah." They used the King James, and it sounds so spiritual, and I'm like, "Yo, what's up church."
Have you ever come to an event like this and you don't leave encouraged at all. You're actually discouraged because every single person who gets on stage, you're like, "I've never even seen that in the Scripture before." And you leave with your head hung. The Bible says don't compare ourselves with others, but what (we think) that really means is don't do it in public. And you show up at your church and you're like (in a high pitched voice), "Hey, church."
And so you're looking for secrets, like some special program that you can do and then you'll become super-sermon dispenser.
Or maybe you watch Christian television, and you're like, "Maybe I'll just preach that."
So it was the perfect storm. Daddy handed the church over and then went to Heaven. If and when this day came, he was supposed to be there to help me.
I wonder if I really realize what I have in Jesus.
Where do I get off looking for secrets. There's no secret, no potion, no magic formula. There's no software that can supplement the savior, the King. God is no respecter of persons, no background, no pedigree. He is freely available to every person in this room.
You all remember that story where Jesus breaks down the desperate housewife by the well. She's a bad woman. She's a loose woman. She would make a fantastic porn star. Which is amazing to me because we deify the people Jesus reached out to. But these were scandalous people.
Remember how the whole story goes? Jesus asked how she is, and she's like, "You talkin' to me? I'm a woman, and I'm a Samaritan woman? You want to talk to me and get harrased by the Jews?" And so he's like, "So go get yo' husband." And she's like, "I don't have a husband." And so he's like, "No, you don't, you've had 5, and the guy you're with now isn't your husband." And she's like, "Shoot, you a prophet or somethin'?" Jesus talks about worshipping him in spirit and truth. And she said, "I don't know about all that, but when the Messiah comes, he'll figure it out." And so he says, "I am he. You don't have to look any longer or any further."
If I could apply that to every volunteer, church leader, mom, dad, business leader, etc. Pastor, you don't have look any longer or any further. There's no potion or secret. It's just Jesus. He is the rose of Sharon, the deliverer, the healer, your pastor, your friend. He is everything you'll ever need in your life. I just came to tell you, "You've got Jesus."
I'm starting to figure out pastoring a church wasn't really about me to begin with. I'm starting to figure out God loves my city more than I do. I'm starting to figure out it's his name on the line, not mine.
Can somebody start to paly the piano so I really sound spiritual?
You guys feel that (listening to the music)? It's like the Holy Spirit just came in.
I feel like I cam tonight to ask you the question, "Since when was Jesus not enough?"
Was it the inforamtion age that broupght us to this place? Since when did we have to add to his sufficency.
I have to admit, I started to look further than Jesus. Maybe I need to read that or go here. All the while I felt Jesus trying to get my attention and tell me, "My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weakness."
I don't want anyone to leave here tonight feeling like they're lacking. You have everything you need, pastor. You have everything you need in Jesus. He calls all of us to Himself, all of us who feel like they're in over their head, like they don't measure up. Come to me, Jesus says. I will give you rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
This is my favorite theme ever of Catalyst, thi idea of being present. It was something I was getting really bad at.
There’s nothing worse than having a conversation with someone who’s not really there. You with me?
I remember several times staff people came into my office, and I wasn’t paying attention to them.
Staff people would come into my office and come for a minute or two and say, “I’ll come back later.”
You guys know what I’m talking about.
So then, I hate to imagine what our prayer lives are like. If someone human is looking in my face and pouring their lives out to me, and I still can’t focus, then what am I doing in my prayer life.
I think I got the best topic of the conference, “Being Present Means Dwelling in Him.” The title is, “His Presence Matters.” I think that’s the understandment of the year.
The question I kept asking myself, does anything else matter? In Scripture, did anything else matter? In the OT, who won the war? Whoever God wanted. In the lions den or the firey furnace, did his presence matter?
Right now if God in Heaven decided to make his presence known, isn’t that all that would matter? He could come down. I wouldn’t have to say another thing, and I wouldn’t have to say another thing, and there would be so much fruit in your ministry. To me that’s all that matters.
Jesus says in Jon 15:5: I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
If I’m connected to him and abiding in Him, there will be fruit, and if not, then this is just another message.
I gotta be honst with you, I was still wrestling with this this afternoon, because it gets tiring to ask for the presence of God and really to be present with him. It’s easier for me to just go, “I know I’ve got some notes that will work.”
Why am I afraid of just surrending to him right now. You may want me to say something that everyone will hate. It’s amazing grace that I’m just standing on this stage. I shouldn’t be in ministry with all of the failures of my life. I should be in hell right now… if you believe in that.
If it isn’t for his amazing grace, who am I to surrender myself to you. You’re God, you’re amazing.
“It is the spirit who gives life, the flesh is no help at all.” At all? Don’t we have to deliver it pretty well? Don’t we at least have to sing on pitch?
That’s why the Psalmist writes in Psalm 27: One thing that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord…
When I’m in God’s presence, it’s like nothing else matters. Nothing can hurt me. That’s the one thing I ask for.
If I could get a transcript of your prayers over the last month, every prayer you’ve prayed, even the ones where you’re mind wanders, what would I say is the one thing you kept praying for? Was it to dwell in the house of the Lord?
The other day I was reading 1 Samuel 30. David and his men came to Ziklag, and it had been ransacked by the Philistines. David and his men wept. Their families had been taken captive. David was distressed, for the people had spoken of stoning him. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Many people say that’s when he wrote Psalm 40 and waited patiently for the Lord.
That’s it? David waited for the Lord? He strengthened himself in the Lord? Men, think about that, someone took your wife and kids? You’re ready to kill someone. They’re crying because it’s overwhelming. David’s balling, and all of the sudden all of the soldiers blame David and want to stone him.
And that’s when David strengthened himself in the Lord. Wait, just God? When I read that story I realized I’ve lost it over dumber things.
When’s the last time you went through a crisis with just God? When’s the last time I even heard someone talk like that? Yes, there are times we need the body. But when’s the last time you were so close to God. It’s almost like we don’t treat him like a real person. There’s a real intimacy you can have with him.
Everything depends on my connection with God. Satan knows this. He wants to distract me to focus on other stuff. I feel like the NBA player taking a free throw and everyone’s trying to distract me. Everyone’s screaming for your attention, so you’re constantly looking around rather than focusing on God.
If you abide in God, there’s going to be much fruit. If you don’t abide and get distracted, everything falls apart. If Satan can get us to not be present when we pray, then everything falls apart. If he can get us to model half-hearted prayer rather than being completely connected to him.
Hebrews 5:7 – In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers with loud cries and supplication… and he was heard because of his reverence.
I was shocked when I read that. Jesus was heard because of his reverence? It’s about this awe, this holy fear.
If I hadn’t read that verse to you, and I told you to fill in the blank, what would you have come up with? Because he was his son. And yet the writer of Hebrews says Jesus was heard because of his reverence.
God does not listen to all of our prayers. There are times when God says, I can’t even stand the noise of your songs, stop singing, that’s making me sick right now. In Isaiah He says, “You’re going to fast and pray, I’m not listening to that. Take care of the poor first.” He tells men to treat their wives as co-heirs so their prayers are not hindered. God doesn’t listen to Joshua until they stone Achan. What does James say? Some of you ask and don’t receive because you ask with selfish motives.. In James 1, he says God won’t hear you if you doubt.
It’s very clear there’s a posture we take of reverence. There’s a posture we take with other believers. We pray in faith. We take care of the needy.
I moved to San Francisco a few months ago, and we threw together this conference. I preached in the morning, and we had some worship, and then we went out to serve for 6-8 hours during the day, and then I preached again in the evening, and then we went out again in the evening to share our faith. It was just an amazing time. No one wanted to leave. It was a rush. It was so good.
So the Wednesday before the conference, the guy who was leading the rescue mission says, “We have no meat. We’re about to cook 10k meals with no meet.” These people have been fasting and praying all week for this conference. So he goes to his son and says, can I borrow your credit card. About an hour later, Trader Joes calls us and says, “All of our freezers just broke down. Will you take all of our meet.” So there’s this uhaul full of meat that comes pulling up.
Don’t you just love those moments when you’re like, “God, you were there.” It’s when we abide in Him that His presence is there.
Are you present enough in your prayer life that God is there?
I’m doing some stuff in my yard the other day, and some Jehovah’s Witnesses come by, and I ask if I can share some of the things that God has done in my life. The lady says, “God doesn’t hear all of our prayer.” I agree with her and start telling her stories. They start to walk away, and I follow them for a block and a half. I kept talking, telling them, I don’t think you understand my God. It’s like what John says in 1 John 1. I ‘m just sharing these things so that you can enjoy the fellowship I have with God.
Some of you, your eyes light up when I talk about answered prayers. And some of you are going, “What are you talking about?”
I’m sharing with you what I’ve seen and heard and experienced because I’m walking with God. This would make my joy complete if we could come together and share what God is doing.
I’m starting this new ministry. I don’t know if it’s going to work. It just started on Monday. In the inner city of San Francisco, there’s 586 apartment buildings in one square mile in a low income area. What if we had people adopt one of these buildings, get at least 10 of their friends and pray at least 2-3 hours a week. And then we have a grace team that just goes to peoples door and gives people stuff. Anything they want. And then to ask, how can I pray for you. You’re an atheist, then give me something crazy. Alright, you don’t want anything in particular? Alright, I’m just going to pray for you. So the grace team goes back to the prayer team and tells them what they can pray for. So the grace team can go back and ask the next week if anything happened and talk to people about it and give them a Bible and disciple those people. And the prayer is that one day we disciple people so well that they become the elder of their apartment building. And it’s all God. It’s like if God doesn’t answer these prayers, it’s the stupidest ministry in history. I like the things where if God doesn’t show up it can still be awesome. Ah, God wasn’t here, but the band was awesome anyway.
When’s the last time you were completely present with God? When’s the last time you had that moment? Because Satan is trying to distract you, because without that, you will bear no fruit.
We run a ministry that is a business as a way to be sneaky. I got an e-mail from a guy who implemented our stuff as a corporate benefit. He listened to the bonus track on our cd, which is my testimony and accepted Christ.
My goal is to get thousands of those emails a day. That is the underlying missions statement of what we do. It’s why we do what we do in the marketplace. Those of us in the marketplace and non-profit ministry are called to create that.
I’ve been going all over America talking about our new book, Entreleadership, entrepreneurship and leadership. And I got to thinking, what does it mean to be present as a leader.
We’ve been around for 20 years. How did we go from a card table in my living room to 310 people working for us? How did we become the best place to work for the last few years.
We want to take back talk radio, at least our three hours of it. We want to take back publishing for Christ. WE want to be so powerful and moving and excellent at what we do that it’s winsome and draws people so that they want to know who we are and who we follow.
What were the elements that cause this to happen. I went through a moment where I truly surrendered all to God. And we decided in that moment that we’re going to run our business God’s way as best as we can figure out how.
I’m convinced we have survived 90% of my ideas. I’m an entrepreneur. I have an idea every day when I go on a run.
There are five things I want to cover because I am convinced leadership matters. In this setting we throw that word around.
These are the core philosophies organizationally that we have used, that we believe have caused us to win.
- In order to be present you really have to understand that people matter.
You say, “No, duh! We’re in ministry, we think about adoptions and marriages, etc. We’re people with a heart for people.”
Yeah, we all are, but you’ve got to intentionally stop in a culture of transactions and be with people. The number 1 key to success is your relational IQ.
I’ve sat in meetings where people were talked about as transactional units. People matter. You’re only going to hear their story if you sit down and do a counseling session. But if you just stop and look into the windows of their soul, you’re going to connect with them and understand them.
You’ve got to stop and value what’s going on. It doesn’t mean I’m a pushover, I don’t have healthy boundaries, but a core value of our organization is people matter.
I’ve got a good friend named Daniel Lapman who’s a Jewish Rabbi who wrote a book about prospering. The reason the Jewish people are so prosperous is that they understand that in the middle of the transaction, people matter.
- An incredible team in your organization and excellence matters.
If you say you’re a Christian, you’ve got to bring it. It’s game on. Excellence has got to happen. You’ve got to build an incredible team that demands excellence. What happens in ministry too often is that the very people we were ministering to end up on the team.
You will not win the Kentucky Derby if a donkey is your entry. You’d better be bringing a thoroughbred. Everyone has a set of gifts and a plan, and when you put them in the wrong place, it steals their energy and the energy of the organization.
Turns out you can not work for me and still be a valid person. If you’re not supposed to be on this bus, you’re probably a donkey in a stable of thoroghbreds.
We lovingly guide people through our hiring process. We had 3000 applications for 37 positions last year. We want to be very, very sure you’re supposed to be on here.
You need to double or triple the amount of time you spend with the people you want to hire. We’ll interview people for 60 days, and then it ends with this genius move. The first 40 people we put on our team went out to dinner with their spouse and my wife and I. Now our leadership team does that. If we go out to dinner and my wife gets one of those feelings, we don’t hire you. Whenever she gets one of thsose feelings, crazy is in the building. When crazy is in the building we don’t get anything done.
Our goal is to help crazy out there somewhere. You know what makes people crazy? When they’re on the wrong seat on the wrong bus.
Even with your volunteers, everyone who breathes is not a volunteer. Loves Jesus is not the only qualification.
When we get ready to hire someone, our first step is, we pray for God to send us exactly who He wants in that position and send the crazy people away. And it ends with the spousal interview.
Have you ever hired someone who is an excellent person, but they’re married to crazy? They spend all of their time managing crazy? All they do is talk to crazy?
We don’t want anybody working on our team working a j-o-b, we want people who are bought in, sold out, and your spouse has got to be part of that.
I want all of us to be on the same team, unified, pulling together.
I interviewed a sharp guy for a radio position. And he told his wife about the spousal interview. She called me up and started cussing me out. Either he’s going to come to work every morning with his spine ripped out or they’re going to go through a divorce, and he’s going to be worthless for 90 days. We’re going to pay for marriage counseling for them because we love our people.
There are enough problems with good people who like each other, we don’t need crazy.
Here’s how we fire people. We tell them we want them to be able to find a position that’s a fit for them.
- Slow and steady matters.
Do not let your ministry, your workplace, your life go faster than your resources. When you’re growing faster than you have money, you have a problem. God’s got all the money, and he’ll send you as much as you need. Either He sends me the money to do the deal, or I’m not going to do the deal.
I’m not going to take on customers I can’t take care of. I’m going to care well for the ones I have now, as God sends me people for my team, we’ll expand. You’ve got this huge opportunity that you’re afraid you’re going to miss, but you’re going to mess it up big if you take it on and can’t handle it.
I was meeting with this billionaire a while back. He told me he loves the book “The Tortise and the Hare.” When you’re impulsive, that’s last nights pizza, not the Holy Spirit, you lift up a fool in action. That’s what Scripture says. Proverbs is a book of wisdom.
- Financial principles in a ministry matter.
- You’re going to live on less than you make.
- You’re going to save money.
- You’re going to stay out of debt.
- You’re going to have a plan.
- You need to learn to be and always be generous.
It’s not just about giving away stuff or money but about how you treat other people.
The Jewish people prosper because they look at their work as an act of worship. God is inordinately pleased when we are compulsively obsessed with the needs of others.
Why wasn’t I scared in the middle of all the financial mess in 2008? I don’t have any debt on my house. I don’t have a loan on my building where we work because I haven’t done anything we couldn’t pay for. Guess what I was able to invest in? People, because lots of people were out looking for work. We were able to increase the quality of our talent and are reaping the benefits now.
God says we’re supposed to be peculiar people because we do weird stuff. Craig Groeschel wrote a whole book about this. We’re unusual in how we handle our affairs.
- A higher calling matters.
Do your work as unto the Lord.
How many of you work in an organization where you don’t like the working conditions or you’re in a job you wish you could leave for some reason?
You want to leave that job, let me tell you how to do it. Do your work with such excellence that the competition steals you.
I was 12 years old, and my parents owned a residential real estate company. We went to a nice steakhouse, and the service was incredible. At the end of the dinner, my dad left a big tip, handed her his card, and said if you want to make 10x what you do now, come work for me. In 1972, she sold $2 million in real estate. That would be $20 million today. She was a rockstar.
If you’re in the middle of a bunch of donkeys and want to stand out, just stand up, they’re just sitting down. It’s easy to stand out in the middle of a bunch of donkeys.
You want to differentiate yourself? Show up and be on time. You’ll beat 80% of the people.
There’s stuff to be done. Don’t take it easy, move it.
You’ve got to do your work as unto the Lord.
I walk up behind two guys laying brick. One’s doing a good job, one’s doing excellent work. I ask the good one what he’s doing, he says, “I’m laying brick.” I ask the excellent one, he says, “I’m building a cathedral.”
Change the tires as if you’re changing Jesus’ tires. If you’re putting a water heater in somebody’s house, do it with excellence. Don’t leave my house a mess and then tell me you’ve got a fish on your truck.
Put those little bootie things on your feet when you walk in. When you mess up the water heater install, come back and fix it because you messed up. We all mess up. Then put a fish on your truck.
Too many times I’ve forgotten the why.
I know you have a higher calling, but I want to remind you to readdress that each morning because it polishes and shines your execution when you get the why, when you understand you’re doing it as unto the lord.
I’m convinced those things are Biblical principles, that you’ll reap what you sow. If you plant stupid, you’re going to reap desperate.
I know there’s going to be a day for each one of you and for me when Jesus calls me home. They’re going to put two numbers on that tombstone, one where my life begun, and one where I wnet home. I’m going to walk straight through the pearly gates under grace, but as I come through, I want that high five from Peter and have someone whisper from the clouds, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
If there’s two numbers there, what are you going to do with the dash?
You’re getting into heaven because of the blood, but what are you going to do with the dash?
Q: You're 18, and this whole journey gets started when you go to volunteer for 3 weeks. I want you tshare what God did in your heart.
A: I completely fell in love with the Ugandan people, their joy, their heart. I had never experienced poverty like that. As soon as I got back to the US, I said to myself, "I've got to do something."
Q: So you go back for a year and big things start to happen. Take us through that journey.
A: Over the course of this year God has presented me with so many different needs. My kids (she's a teacher) quit coming to school. They can't afford school fees. Parents tried to drop their kids off at an orphanage to give them a better life.
So I said to myself, what can I do to help these kids stay in their family? So I started to e-mail my friends and family. So 10 kids turned into 40, which turned into 100, and today Amazima sponsors over 450 children.
So that year was slowly turning into a bigger committment.
Half way through that year a house fell down. There were three kids there. Their dad had died, and they were living alone. Then their house fell down. The 9 year old was crushed, so her 7 and 5 year old sisters came and stayed with me.
I didn't think of it as adoption. I was looking for their family, but God confirmed it in my heart that I was their family.
So the year turned into a lifetime.
Q: Can you imagine? You're 19 and you're a mommy. I was reading your book in preparation for this. The theme is Be Present. I'm amazed at how you stepped into that moment, so what I want you to encourage us with is, what's going through your mind and spirit as God's encouraging you to do this.
A: Sure, it's terrifying. In that moment you have to choose to say yes. Over and over again I've seen this redemption in my life and my daughters lives. As we step out in faith, He's always right there to meet us with his grace.
Q: Now take us from that first decision to adopt and how you get to number 13.
A: Well, I mean, children keep showing up at the door, and always the first option is, Is there a biological family? Then, is there a Ugandan foster family? So we do foster care too. I've had kids come through that I thought I would adopt, but they're not. And ones that I thought I wouldn't, but then end up being my kids. It feels like a smaller number when you realize that out of 2500 kids in my program 13 ended up with me.
Q: You talked about this in the book a bit; you realized you can't adopt every kid. You talk about a boy who you knew couldn't stay with you and might not have food, but you had a peace about it.
A: Michael is a great example of a kid who had parents who after counseling were willing and able to care for him. I can look over the past 4 years and say none of this was planned. God has confirmed over and over again that while we are faithful in the little, He is faithful in the big.
Q: ?
A: I know in my heart that I love my children as if they were mine biologically, and I think about how God loves us as adopted children. It's a reminder to me that adoption is this redemptive response to tragedy.
God sees the tragedy of our sin and wants to enter in and redeem that. He enters into the lives of my daughters and says, I see you and know your tragedy. So many new facets of the Father are revealed in this.
Q: If you're considering adoption, what should you do?
A: Pray and seek God. I doubt he'll say know. It may look different for all of us.
Q: I want to read a passage from the book: I don't always know where this life is going. I can't see the end of the road. Courage is not about knowing the path. It is about taking the first step. It is about Peter stepping out onto the water with the complete faith Jesus will not let him drown. I do not know my five year plan. I don't even really know tomorrow. I call it faith. Some choose to get out of the boat.
Good is the enemy of great. I’ve always been curious to understand what separates the good from the great. We use a data driven approach. We compare those who became great with those who didn’t given the same circumstances.
If circumstances are constant and some became great and some did not, then it can’t be circumstance.
Greatness is first and foremost a matter of conscious choice and discipline.
This idea becomes even more clear
Rate your world on a 1-10 scale. 1 is everything is pretty stable. Nothing can hurt you. A 10 is the other end of the continuum. There is instability, and a high degree of uncertainty and unpredictability. There are definitely things that can hurt you.
Welcome to the rest of our lives.
Why do some companies, enterprises and organizations truly thrive in the face of immense uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not?
When you’re buffeted by disruption and tumult, what distinguishes those who perform exceptionally well in that kind of world? I believe we’ll be facing that type of world at least for the next 50 years.
We titled the book, “Great by Choice,” because we believe what separates some from others is not what happens to you but the actions and decisions you make.
My wife had a double masectomy a couple of years ago. We came out of that with a mantra: Life is people. It all begins with people.
When we began doing our research on “Good to Great,” we expected it would be visionary leaders who did it, but that wasn’t it. First you had to get the right people in place, then you had to drive them somewhere.
When my wife was sick, I went right to the what. What’s the treatment? What’s the diagnosis, what’s the schedule?
But she told me to read my own book. That’s not the right question. You need to ask who. Who is the oncologist? Who are the nurses? And so on.
Try to change every what question into a who question.
We did not find that those who do well are better able to predict what is to come, they have a better ability to prepare for what they cannot predict.
If you’re going to climb the mountain, more important than your strategy for climbing the mountain is your climbing partner.
Note, there is still leadership in all of this. What distinguishes those exceptional leaders? It’s not personality. We live in a culture that reveres charismatic personality.
Some of the best leaders we’ve studied didn’t have any personality. One of the leaders we studied for Good to Great, Darwin Smith, had a charisma bypass. There are charismatic leaders. Some leaders aren’t charismatic or uncharismatic, they’re just strange.
The founder of Southwest Airlines is just strange. When he wants to resolve a trademark dispute he rents an arena, fills it and resolves disputes with a trademark dispute.
Darwin Smith said he was just trying to become qualified for the job. Admiral Kayhee said he never wanted to become CEO, it was just a surprise. Herb Kelleher was devoted to creating the culture of his corporation.
It is not about personality. It is about humility. It is humility backed by an absolutely burning ambition for a mission or company that is better than yourself combined with an utterly stoic will to do whatever is required for that mission, no matter the package or personality.
Along this journey of our research, we turned to the dark side: “How Does the Mighty Fall.” We found that it happens in stages
- Hubris born of success
The outrageous arrogance to believe we can neglect our peole or because our intentions are noble that all of our decisions are in fact good an wise. Bad decisions taken with good intentions are still bad decisions.
- Undisciplined pursuit of more.
- Denial of risk and peril
Is humility and will enough? We need more.
- Grapsing for a quick solution
- Capitulation
You would think great companies fall because they refuse to innovate, but it is overreaching, undisciplined pursuit of more that is the precursor to how the mighty fall.
An analology of the whole study:
In October 1911 two teams started toward the South pole. One team was led by a Norwegian (Amundson), one by a Brit (Scott). The Norwegian gets there first. The Brit gets there 34 days later. The Norwegian returned to camp exactly on the day he had penned in his journey. The Brit and his whole team died on his way back, 11 miles from a supply depot.
What we see in how these two leaders led their teams matched perfectly with how leaders who led companies through uncertainty.
They all had that level 5 ambition. It begins there, but tehn they have three important behaviors that allow them to thrive.
- Fanatic discipline
You are standing on the coast of California, and you’re going to walk to Maine. And you start in the morning on a beautiful day and decide to do it 20 miles per day. And the first day you are on the edge of town. The next day you’re in the middle of the desert and you just want to rest because it’s hot. But no, you do your 20 miles. And then you’ve got great weather again. And then your’re in Colorado in winter, and you’re cold, and you just want to hang out in your tent, but you do your 20 miles. And eventually you make it to Maine.
Now compare that with the person who is excited and does 52 miles on the first day but ends up in the desert waiting for good weather. And then their in the Rockies in winter, and they hang out in their tents. They’ll take off in the spring, and they never made it.
Intel would meet Moore’s law, recession or boom time.
Amundson was totally obsessed. He needed to get a pass to go, so he bicycled from Norway to spain. He was obsessed. He had a 15-20 mile/day plan for the South Pole.. He did it every day, good weather or bad.
Imagine the discipline it would take not to go more than 20 miles/day. Amundson could go 45 miles in one day. He was so close. The Brit could have been so close, they didn’t know. They were only 45 miles away. They had great weather. But they went 17 miles.
- Empirical creativity
We try to follow others for clues, but what great leaders do is look at data. They look at what really works. There’s something to say, “I’m not going to trying to outsmart the world around me. I’m going to see what actually works before I place my bets.”
Scott thought he would outsmart the South Pole, so he tried to use motor sleds. And when they cracked and didn’t work, they were left with ponies, but ponies sweat, so ponies freeze, so they were
Amundson knew he didn’t know the most about how to survive in cold weather, so he went to live with Eskimos. And they told him dogs are better for cold weather. Amundson made his decisions based on data. He read all of the journals from explorers who had been near there and found a launching point that everyone thought was too dangerous, but he knew it was safe based on the data.
That is how true innovation happens
- Productive paranoia
I’ll only mention a little bit about this, but they understand that in an uncertain world you have to be prepared for what you can’t predict.
Amundson knew you always had to be prepared for what could happen next, but instead of just being afraid about what could happen next, he channeled that into productivity.
Scott calculates how many supplies they need and buys that much. Amundson said, “I’m not that smart. I don’t know how much I’ll need.” So he tripeled what he thought.
Scott planted a single flag at his supply depot. Amundson put black markers for 10 miles across at every supply depot giving himself a 10 mile target to hit.
They’re truly worried about will happen. Herb Kelleher said, “We predicted 11 of the last 3 recessions.” Southwest was the only airline that didn’t cut a single flight and was profitable in the fourth quarter of 2001. They understand, the only mistakes you learn from are the ones you survive.
But it’s not just about surviving but building something great that is worthy of surviving.
I want to go back to a fundament point about enduring greatness. The signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change, although if you don’t change, you will fall.
The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency.
What can we hang onto over a long period of time? Values. Values that aren’t open to change and abandonment. Only those endure. You need a consistent core.
To preserve the core and stimulate progress, you must have values.
The secret is to understand the difference between practices and values. Continue to change the practices but keep the values.
What keeps things alive and vibrant and great is to do what we do differently but based upon a shared set of core values.
I would like to in the last few minutes give you your 10 point to do list.
- Run your Good to Great diagnostic on your enterprise, team, and you. It’s free on my website. Read it, download it, and use it with your team.
- How many key seats do you have on your bus, and what is your answer to getting 100% of your key seats with the right people within a year?
- For those whoare younger, we think a lot about what we’re going to do with our life? It’s the wrong question. Who will you allow to mentor you. I challenge you to build a personal board of directors
- Get your personal hedgehog right before it’s too late. Know what you’re deeply passionate about to do. Know what you’re genetically encoded for, those things you are made to do. Something at which you are making an undeniable contribution to others.
If you have those three, you have a personal hedgehog.
- Once you have your hedgehog, set a 20 mile march and stick to it. Have a routine and stick to it. What is your 20 mile march? What is your church’s 20 mile march?
- In an uncertain world, it’s easy to get frozen. Fire at least 6 new bullets before the end of the world. Test things. Those who move forward in an uncertain world are good at testing and then making their big bets. Navigate uncertainty by firing buillets.
- Turn off electronic gadgets for at least 2 days every 2 weeks. I do not understand how it is possible to present with a text and email and hpone and hello. Those things are all fine. I use them too, but disciplined people engaging in disciplined thought need to find pockets of quietude in the midst of chaos, and gadgets rob us of that. One day a week, no gadgets.
- True disciplined action is not in what we do but what we choose not to do. Start a stop doing list.
- Whatever age you are, double your reach to people half your age, always, by changing your practices without abandoning your core values.
- Set a Big Hairy Audacious Goal that just makes you very useful. One of the men I most admired was Peter Drucker. He kindly invested in me when I was young and uncertain. I went to lunch with him, and he ordered a Merlot and double espresso and took them both like shots. I thought to myself, “Preserve the core and stimulate progress.” I asked him which of his 26 books he was most proud of (he was 86), he said, “The next one.” He wrote 10 more. He wrote 2/3 of his books after age 65. He was 1/3 of the way through his usefulness at age 65. At the end of the day when he had his merlot and espresso chaser, he gave me one more piece of advice. He said, “You spend a lot of time worrying about whether you will survive. You will probably survive. You worry about being successful. That will probably happen too. Why don’t you go out and make yourself useful.” A great mentor changes your life in seconds.
How do you make yourself useful? That is what all of you are doing. The path out of darkness is through those of you who are constitutionally incapable of stopping.
Q&A w/Andy Stanley
Q: There’s a lot in here on the value of empirical evidence. We live in a world where we say things like, “I was praying, and I feel like God wants us to…” We get all of this non-empirical data that is often directional. Take a shot at us.
A: It’s really important to realize that evidence comes in many forms, but imagine if it had been an intuition that, “I’m going to do motor sleds on the south pole.” Maybe it’s a truly inspired notion, but you might want to test it first. I believe we get messages that we don’t know where they came from, but when you fire a cannonball, you want to know it’s going to hit its target.
Q: Of all the key factors that led to Great by Choice, innovation wasn’t at the top.
A: That surprised us. What you find is that pioneering innovation is good overall, but statistically lethal for the innovator. It’s incredibly important for society and the economy, but it rarely works. Only 9% of those who are pioneering innovators become the leaders in their industries. I’m sacrificing for the species, but I’m sacrificing. Innovation is important but more and more innovation not married to discipline won’t get anywhere.
Creativity is human. To be human means to be creative. If you breathe you are creative. It is part of our spark. The great challenge is to marry creativity with discipline so as to amplify the creativity without destroying it.
Q: Great people in key seats versus compassion.
A: Your work is too important to allow the key seats to be filled with the wrong people.
There’s a big difference in being rigorous in your people decisions and being ruthless. To be in the service of what you’re doing means you are in service to the cause. What that means is you have to make very rigorous decisions for what is best going to serve the cause. If I’m a school principle and I’ve got a teacher who is not teaching 3rd grade kids to read, what is compassion in that situation?
And, someone might be the right person on the bus, but I’ve got them in the wrong seat. If someone is failing in a seat, they’re not in their hedgehog. Is it of service to someone to leave them in the wrong seat?
