Vision Navigator

[Note: I've been on a self-imposed blog hiatus for the past few weeks, but wanted to check in to offer a brief word of explanation, and let my faithful readers (that's you!) know that I'm still alive and well].

When I was a kid, I remember either my older brother or sister having a very “hip” to do list (it was the 70s, when hip was really cool). It had a glossy plastic orange cover with lowercase white lettering that read “Dumb Things I Gotta Do.” This list hung around our house for a number of years, and to my knowledge nothing was ever written in it. This isn’t surprising really, because who wants to be reminded of pointless tasks you’re forced to do against your will?

This list came to mind recently, because I realized some of my own to do lists have started to feel like that for me. Chores. Sources of stress. Burdens. Fun-suckers. Energy drains. Dumb things I gotta do.

So what’s a person to do? Add another “to do.” Namely, write a blog post about it

Seriously, I’ve come to realize such feelings are an indicator that there is a disconnect in certain areas of my life between vision and reality. That I’ve over-committed, and undervalued the limited amount of time and energy I really have to spend. That I’ve allowed complexity to set in, at the expense of simplicity and clarity.

So for the past couple of weeks I’ve been doing what I counsel my clients to do. Hop off the treadmill for a bit to evaluate why I was on it in the first place. Employ the aid of a strategic outsider to help me gain some perspective and ongoing vision clarity (because, as a friend of mine so aptly puts it, “You can’t see the back of your own head”). Take some time to evaluate all the task oriented clutter that I’ve accumulated, to see where it fits (or doesn’t fit) within the broader missional framework for my life.

Thus, the blog hiatus. So now you know.

Does your life feel clear or cluttered? How do you manage your to do list(s)? When you look at the tasks on them, do you feel drained or energized?

The picture above is from my recent fishing trip on the White River in Arkansas. My son, Will, is in front — behind him is Dale, our guide.

Let me just say that Dale rocks!! With him as our guide, we caught 49 trout the first day. The next two days we went guideless, and the results were somewhat less impressive… (9 on day two, 21 or so the last day).

This is obviously to be expected. After all, Dale does this for a living. He knows the river, can find the best spots, knows what the fish are biting on any given day, and knows how to keep your poles properly equipped with lures in the water.

That’s why I took advantage of his expertise and picked his brain the first day — making mental notes of the best spots, learning what lures to use and when to use them, and soaking up every tip he would give me.

What I didn’t realize, however, was how valuable it was just to have him navigating the boat. Mind you, this wasn’t lake fishing, or fishing off of the bank. We were constantly moving — drifting downstream without an anchor on a swift current (they wouldn’t let unexperienced folks like us use an anchor, since we were liable to get hung up and sink the boat).

I learned this the hard way. I started out trying to navigate a boat with my son, my friend, and his son, thinking we’d all be able to fish. Then some lines got tangled, taking a couple of poles down, so I got involved trying to untangle/re-rig them. Then I had to help net a fish my friend’s son had caught. Then we started drifting too fast and too close to the bank — so I had my friend take over navigation — then the two remaining good poles got tangled up together. So just an hour or so into the trip, we had no hooks in the water, and I wasn’t even navigating the boat anymore!

Things got better from there, but this experience brought to mind a couple of key lessons I’ve learned:

1. When you try to focus on multiple things at once, you do nothing well
2. Navigators help free you up to fish and equip others to fish more effectively

I think the same thing holds true for those in ministry. It’s hard to focus on ministering (equipping/fishing) in the moment AND to pay attention to the path your ministry is on (navigating) at the same time.

What’s your experience? Have you ever used a guide/navigator in fishing, or in ministry? Got any good fish stories to tell?

This blog post by Jesse Phillips over at Catalyst today got me thinking (and responding) about how busy most church leaders in America are, and yet how ineffective our efforts seem to be.

He asks whether this key statistic is true — that only 1% of America’s churches reach the unchurched. Source for this is an article by Associated Baptist Press.

Here’s my response:

I think the important question for every church leader to ask is — Is this true of my church? Are we growing (both numerically and spiritually) as a body of believers? If not, why not?

I speak from experience on this one. I tend to be a workaholic, and unfortunately, our American brand of Christianity all too often applauds this type of effort. In fact, I’ve found it’s very easy for me to win the praise and admiration of others in church circles by having a positive attitude, rolling up my sleeves, and getting to work.

Never mind that I often ignore the significance of Sabbath rest. Never mind that I practically act as if everything depends upon me. Never mind that I often say yes to things out of guilt or obligation, rather than out of a sense of calling or loving appreciation. And never mind that all I’m engaged can wear me out. After all, aren’t we supposed to suffer for Christ?

The funny thing I realized after awhile is that I really didn’t know anyone who wasn’t a part of a church. All this church activity was centered around church, and you just expected unchurched folks to be interested at some point and show up. If they did show up, the goal was to get them to forsake the world and get busy doing church things. So they could be worn out hoping other unchurched people would show up and become a part of all this activity. You get the point…

The problem I began to see was that this “gospel of hard work” was hardly working, and failing to reach those to whom it was aimed. It wasn’t the gospel’s problem though. It was mine — because my incarnaton of the gospel had become more of a master / slave relationship than that of a father and son. And the truth was that I didn’t blame others for not wanting to become sucked into such a crazy, hectic, and life draining pace. So I began to question why I did the things I did, and whether God really wanted me to do them in the first place.

In addition to the Matthew 11 passage mentioned above, one other passage really struck me — Haggai 1:5-7,

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. “

Give careful thought to your ways… Is it possible that all our activity isn’t being blessed by God, because we’re not stopping long enough to consider seriously what he would have us do? Is our busyness drowning out the sound of his still small voice? Has our ministry model or way of doing church become an idol? Are we struggling to support the weight of our own successes and expectations? What message does our busyness, in and of itself, communicate to those who are unchurched? Do we have eyes to see, and ears to hear what God is showing us?

Does any of this resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences…