Generational Tension - Me vs Technology

Alas, technology wins again and so today's video post is not to be.  But still plan on coming to Leader Lab tonight at 7:00 pm in the Well at CCCN.  If you are reading this you are invited and so are the people you talk to today - leaders, interns, possible future leaders.  Child care is provided if that helps.

I'm really excited about digging into this topic tonight with some great leaders. Hope to see you there!

Generational Tension

This week as we prepare for the first ever Leader Lab at Christian Community Church, we're going to talk about "Generational Tension" in leadership, within the church and beyond.  Show up to the Leader Lab Wednesday Night at 7:00 to hear all about it and engage in the discussion.

This tension between people of different generations is not new.  It's as old as the words "fogey" and "whippersnapper."  However, as with many issues, it seems to increase at times and, of course, it decreases as well.  Something about the time we are in right now makes me feel like this is a time where the tension is a bit heightened.  Fortunately, I think this can be a good thing if we can understand why and how we can learn to deal with it.

Tomorrow night at Leader Lab, and right here the rest of this week, we'll talk about it.  This will include the first video blog, with a special Wednesday post tomorrow.

To get the ball rolling, specifically in regards to leadership, let's start the discussion.

How do you see generational tension manifesting itself where you work?  In church leadership?

Can't...resist...Bracket...Challenge!

I give up. I can't resist the urge. The NCAA Tournament begins today (yes it does).  I did not intend to make this about basketball. I mean, you come here for more important things than that, right. Right??

But it is actually ok as leaders to have fun. And filling out brackets is fun. Unless you placed a bet with a guy named Vinny. Or you picked Vanderbilt over VCU in the Final.  So, let's have fun.  Send in your Final Four selections by the end of the day today, along with your picks for the championship game and ultimate winner.  And the total points of the championship game.  Whoever gets the most Final 4 teams right wins. If it's a tie, the first tie breaker is championship game winner.  If there is still a tie, the winner will be whoever is closest on total points in the championship game.  Make sense?

And of course there has to be a prize.  The winner gets a sweet street basketball. Brand new. And autographed!*

*Most likely the ball will be signed by me.

So, get your picks in and see if you can top me!
My Final Four: Syracuse, Duke, Notre Dame, Florida
Championship Game: Duke over Notre Dame in the Final
Total Points: 129

Who you got?

Hard Questions and the People Who Ask Them

So many places we could possibly go with this today!  Last week I wanted to weigh in with some thoughts relating to the big letdown everyone in Columbus was facing following Jim Tressel’s suspension. Then there was the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. This week March Madness hits with full force and productivity in offices everywhere comes to a screeching halt.  Then there’s the Rob Bell “Love Wins” controversy.  Since the book comes out today, he wins.

Before I go any further with this, I want to be perfectly clear about one thing: I have not read the book (nor has anyone else who has been going crazy for the past week) and so I’m not here to take a position on that right now. Maybe after reading it I will, but not today.

There is one thing that I find striking though, after reading through the interview he did last night and watching the video everyone saw a couple of weeks ago promoting his new book, and that’s what I want to get at today. 

Questions are good. Questions are healthy. Questions force us to think through what we think we know or what we’ve been told and reach a conclusion.  A lot of times questions make us uncomfortable, particularly when it comes to things near and dear to our heart.  That makes sense I guess. We’re protective. We don’t like to look foolish.  And we really like to argue, and often times a tough question is just the invitation we need to go to battle.  How you respond says a lot more about you than the person asking in most cases.

Here’s the thing though. If you ask questions, you also have to be willing to answer questions from others. You can’t simply deflect each question with another one of your own.  You have to be ready to provide some answers at some point, as Peter lays out in one of his letters. 

I don’t mind that Rob Bell is asking hard questions and making people think, even challenging their assumptions about things that Christians often take for granted. I kind of like it.  We need to engage our intellect with our faith, in part so that we can ANSWER tough questions.  What causes me some concern is that Rob isn’t answering many questions. And they are big, ready to stand up and fight questions.  Generate discussion. Sell your book.  But give us some answers.  Don’t be like every politician, who takes a question and then answers a question that we aren’t asking. Give a straight answer, whatever it is. Even if it’s unpopular. Or maybe it is popular and that would hurt your reputation? I’m not sure. I want to understand. I’ve liked a lot of Rob’s work. I want to like him. He is a person of great influence, especially with a generation that is in desperate need of people who know how to lead them.  But I feel like need to hear from him on some important issues that at the moment he’s not really talking about, he seems to be talking around it.

Let’s be clear about one more thing. These are questions I have about one guy, but this is not all about Rob Bell. Let’s not see his name and deflect everything on to him.  How do you do with hard questions?  How do you do at answering questions? How do you respond? Do you have an answer?  If not, take some time to think, pray, study, learn.  Know why you believe what you believe.

Prayers for Japan and Pacific Islands

I'm sure you're all following what's going on with the earthquakes in Japan. Just a short time ago, a second one hit about 100 miles north of Tokyo, registering at 6.6. I'm sure like many of you, I have friends around that area of the Pacific, if not in Japan then close enough by to be uncomfortable. I actually heard from a friend that they had someone come to visit who travelled through Japan's airport just a few hours before the first earthquke.  Another friend is supposed to be heading back here to the States.

So today there is no deep, poignant leadrship principle or fun creative expression. Instead, take whatever time you would normally give to reading this blog and thinking about what we're talking about that day to pray for the people of Japan and others in that region.  I'll see you back here next week.

Jeff

Guest blog: Fat Tuesday

I got a text from a friend yesterday who had an idea for the blog. I asked if they would be willing to write it and got a "yes." And so, I'm very excited to bring to you the first ever Guest Blog written exclusively for this site!!  Please comment and leave your thoughts below.

Note: The writer prefers to stay anonymous. But if this goes viral and the people demand it, we'll see if we can reveal the author.  Just kidding.  Maybe.

Fat Tuesday

So during lunch today (Tuesday) an acquaintance mentioned Fat Tuesday. Her explanation of Fat Tuesday intrigued me – a Christian practice of over eating in anticipation of Ash Wednesday, where then Christians abstain from guilty food and drink pleasures through the Lenten season. Of course this is a slightly paraphrased version, but the core point is still there. Do what you want today because you'll be good tomorrow. This caused me to ponder – do nonbelievers look at Fat Tuesday as a Christian practice? Oh my. Where did that train derail? A long time ago I'm sure, but that is not the point I'm sharing today.

How pleasing must it be for Jesus as we lead up to Easter that His people would remember Him and devote themselves to pray by giving up something, such as a favorite food. And by favorite food, I'm not referring to the “I need to lose 5 pounds, so I'll give up chocolate” favorite food. I'm referring to abstaining that is a genuine heart felt test of faith. Yet, how unfortunate does it seem that a secular/pagan holiday is now so closely associated with the Christian religion that some now view it as part of a larger piece of the Easter season? Keep the message of Good Friday and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross at the forefront of your thoughts, prayers, and actions, showing others that faith in Him does not put you in a cycle of Fat Tuesdays and Ash Wednesdays, but rather compels you to grace, forgiveness, and kindness.   

 

When in Athens...

When Jamie and I first came to Columbus to find an apartment, we were both struck with the same thought – these people are crazy! It was toward the end of August and the town was painted scarlet and gray. Everywhere.  There was no place that we went that didn’t ooze Buckeye football.  We were coming from Iowa City, another place that loves football, but we weren’t prepared for what we found in Columbus.  It was like another planet.

It didn’t take long to realize that were going to have to learn the language, the customs, and really have an understanding of this strange new culture.  (Note: It was close to this time that I renounced all ties to the Hawkeyes in favor of Ohio St.  Jamie has not made that jump yet, but I refuse to give up on her.)  This was absolutely necessary for us to be able to function here. Football is important here, and while it may or may not be your favorite thing, you have a better chance to connect with more people and the community if you can figure out how to navigate within this parallel universe.

Paul discovered the same thing in Acts 17 when he went to Athens.  He noticed the idols that lined the streets, the store fronts, the homes, and the synagogues. He read about them. Studied them. He thought about what they meant to the people in that community.  So when he began having conversations with people all over town, he knew how to communicate in a way that would make sense to the locals.  He went to a meeting of the Aeropagus and was able to use what he knew of their culture and their idols, including the “UNKNOWN GOD,” to speak intelligently and powerfully about the story of Jesus.  Because of what Paul offered them, not just Jesus but a commitment to understand them, they invited him back to speak again, and some even put their faith in Jesus and went with Paul.

            If we really want to communicate effectively with people, have influence, and ask them to follow where we lead then we MUST get better at learning to listen and try to understand where they are coming from.  You might have the best message or product in the world (like Paul did), but if you just go in there with a script and preconceived ideas about who you’re trying to reach, you will never be as effective as you could be. 

What have you learned about your environment that has helped you to communicate and have influence?

Caption Contest Winner!



And the winner is...

"Don't be discouraged if your hands are three times the size of your head, you'll grow into them...hopefully."

-Jeremy

I can't tell you how badly I wanted someone else to win this, but Jeremy goes wire to wire.  It was creative and funny. And just LOOK at those giant hands. 

Thanks everyone for playing. We had some really good contributions in there.  Thanks for sharing your creativity.  We'll defintely do this again.

Have a great weekend!

Caption contest

I’m feeling pretty worn down today. I was up late last night working on a complete draft of my final project for the quarter. The good news is that the rough draft is done, posted, and the end is in sight. The bad news is that I got almost no sleep and I’m getting dominated by a cold (I really should have taken a picture of the mound of Kleenex that I had built up next to my computer).

My original intention was to post a video, but I'm experiencing technical difficulties that I am not feeling up to correcting. Instead, I'm posting a photo and asking you to write a caption. The funniest and/or most creative entry posted here (not on facebook!) will win something.  I'm thinking a movie pass to an AMC theater and a $10 concession card. 

Have at it!

Just Talk Moment

We’ve been going through the series “Just Walk Across the Room” at Christian Community Church for the last few weeks.  One of the things we’ve been challenging people to do (and has been challenging to me) is to look for opportunities all throughout the day, wherever we are, for potential “Just Walk moments.”  The thing that we are finding is that if you look and you PRAY, those moments aren’t nearly as scarce as we sometimes think.

Yesterday, a day when I was home most of the day with Eva, I had a moment.  I was on the phone with a customer care rep from Apple to try to sort through some issues with my phone.  At one point in the call he asked for my email address.  A little later, while waiting for my phone and computer to sync, he asked me what the “cccn” in my email address meant, and a “Just Walk,” or in this case a “Just Talk,” moment appeared.  We spent the next few minutes talking about what I do, the differences between teenagers and adults in church, and had a really nice conversation. The conversation didn’t lead to any “deeper” spiritual conversation, but at the end he simply said, “that sounds really cool.”  As I replayed the whole conversation in my head over and over again, I’m pretty confident I did exactly my part.  There wasn’t some dramatic moment or invitation, just what I feel like I was supposed to say and do.

That’s what “Just Walk moments” are.  Us playing our part. Walking when we’re supposed to walk. Talking when we’re supposed to talk.  Sometimes those moments will feel more exciting and dramatic than others, but each one is significant and vital. 

Do you have a “Just Walk moment?"  Share it here!!