Pastor Jonathan’s Weblog

A month ago, my wife and I joined some 50 other pastors and wives for a 3-day conference held by KBEMF (Korean Baptist English Ministers Fellowship). The theme was “Pastor’s Soul Care” and it was filled with many messages by pastors who shared words of encouragement for us all.

I personally was very glad to meet these fellow pastors from across the country. There was a large group from Texas (many who went through seminary together at SWBTS) and the largest group from Gracepoint Fellowship Church in the SF/Berkeley Bay Area.

We were able to talk about ministry matters — the full spectrum of joys as well as the trials. I was especially saddened by the news that more than half of their fellow seminary graduates were now no longer in ministry for one reason or another. This is tragic news from the trenches — like hearing that the company of soldiers have dwindled down to half the original force… How can we keep standing strong together through the battles?

One thing we want to do is to spend time together more frequently, sharpening one another as iron sharpens iron (Prov. 27:17) and encouraging one another. This past week, some of us local pastors (Loren Chong, Ed Kang, William Kang, James Kim, Manny Kim, Timothy Rhee, and I) spent a few days up in the Sierras for an informal pastors study retreat. It was a good time of fellowship over meals and conversations and I am grateful for their partnership in the gospel:

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:4-6 NIV)

Encouraged. Discouraged. Sometimes ministry is a roller coaster ride of encouragements and discouragements. One week, there are heights of joys that no amount of money in this world can purchase — not even in Disneyland! Another week, there are depths of pains and sorrows that nothing in this world can comfort — and you’re left wondering “Why, God?”

This week’s Daily Devotional text speaks into the challenges of being a leader in ministry:

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NIV).

Where should leaders turn to for courage in the face of challenges? First, it has to be God’s unchanging Word. It all begins with the Lord’s command to be strong and courageous. He commands us to not be discouraged; it’s a command, not a suggestion or an option. And there’s good reason for it: It’s because the Lord will be with me wherever I go. At the highest peaks of encouragements, the Lord is there with me. At the lowest depths of discouragements, the Lord is there with me. And because the Lord (my Good Shepherd per Psalm 23) is with me, I have nothing to fear! His rod and staff, they comfort me like no other.

I need to have this courage and trust our Good Shepherd to be with me on this roller coaster ride. And it is in this courage that I am able to be encouraged and not discouraged…

Baseball season is in full swing but my son’s batting average has dropped to .294. He’s pretty bummed, but it’s teaching him the importance of attitude and gratitude (and hopefully not bratitutde). I’m hoping that sports would teach him how to win graciously and lose graciously…

Someone recently forwarded me the April 1, 2008 David Brooks’ NY Times Op-Ed piece entitled, “Pitching With Purpose,” where he writes about H. A. Dorfman’s book, The Mental ABC’s of Pitching. Here are a few interesting quotes from the article and my comments:

“…you can’t just urge someone to be disciplined; you have to build a structure of behavior and attitude. Behavior shapes thought. If a player disciplines his behavior, then he will also discipline his mind.”

“If a pitcher doesn’t actually feel this way when he enters a game, Dorfman asks him to pretend. If your body impersonates an attitude long enough, then the mind begins to adopt it.”

We’ve heard the adage “Mind over body” before, but Dorfman seems to suggest that it can be “Body over mind” as well. I found this to be increasingly important in this feelings-driven culture — there are times when in the very act of doing something loving, I begin to increase in feeling love. So instead of waiting for the warm, fuzzy feeling to lead you to serve others, maybe just getting up and serving would warm your soul…

The article also noted an aspect of pitching that I can apply to preaching:

“A pitcher shouldn’t judge himself by how the batters hit his pitches, but instead by whether he threw the pitch he wanted to throw.”

In other words, the pitcher should be evaluated by how many pitches were actually executed (e.g., 50 pitches out of 73, instead of 3 runs in 9 innings). Here’s the connection to preachers (with a changeup): The preacher shouldn’t judge himself by how many people hit home with the message, but rather, by whether or not he communicated the Word of God as he should have. This is comforting, especially for those Sundays when no one makes a life-transforming decision after your sermon. But it is also discomforting since even if there were 100’s of decisions made, if you didn’t preach as you should have (in truth & love before God), then you’ve struck out…

I’ve always envisioned a leader with charisma as someone being extremely extroverted, with ever-exciting conversations, standing on stage rallying up a super-sized crowd. In many ways, my personality type does not match up with that description. So charisma is something that I had been thinking about off and on in my role as a leader: How important is it? Are some people just born with it? Will others never be able to develop it?

I found an interesting leadership lesson from “Maxwell’s Law” (per leadership guru Dr. John C. Maxwell) on charisma. He simply states that charisma “is the ability to draw people to you. And like other character traits, it can be developed” (p.10). He also lists some roadblocks to developing charisma: (p.12)

• Pride. Nobody wants to follow a leader who thinks he is better than everyone else.
• Insecurity. If you are uncomfortable with who you are, others will be too.
• Moodiness. If people never know what to expect from you, they stop expecting anything.
• Perfectionism. People respect the desire for excellence, but dread totally unrealistic expectations.
• Cynicism. People don’t want to be rained on by someone who sees a cloud around every silver lining.

Lots of leadership lessons here (and not just on charisma). Seeing charisma from this angle, it gives a lot of hope to those who think, “We just weren’t born with it.” It also gives a lot of warning to those in positions of leadership. If we leaders can reduce these roadblocks, not only will it be easier to draw people, but more importantly, it will make for a straighter path for them to be drawn to Jesus Christ – our ultimate reason for charisma in the first place.

Last week, as I was exercising, I watched an interview that Pastor Bill Hybels conducted with Dr. Noel Tichy based on his book The Leadership Engine (from Willowcreek’s 1999 Leadership Summit DVD). Dr. Tichy, a professor at University of Michigan Business School, made the following generalized observations about bad leaders:

• Bad leaders are Egotistical.
• Bad leaders are Mean-spirited.
• Bad leaders have No respect for the dignity of other people.

Basically, bad leaders don’t think much of others (in more ways than one). As leaders, we ought to think of others, in fact, it is integral to the task.

I also read a few quick chapters of John Maxwell’s The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, where he cited some lessons from [bad] leaders who fell. He cites Steven Berglas (The Success Syndrome) who says these are people “who achieve great heights but lack the bedrock character to sustain them through the stress are headed for disaster. [...T]hey are destined for one or more of the four A’s: arrogance, painful feelings of aloneness, destructive adventure-seeking, or adultery. Each is a terrible price to pay for weak character” (p.5).

Character is the common denominator in the above failings of leaders. This is where John Maxwell reminds us that something can be done about it:

We have no control over a lot of things in life. We don’t get to choose our parents. We don’t select the location or circumstances of our birth and upbringing. We don’t get to pick our talents or IQ. But we do choose our character. In fact, we create it every time we make choices — to cop out or dig out of a hard situation, to bend the truth or stand under the weight of it, to take the easy money or pay the price. As you live your life and make choices today, you are continuing to create your character. (pp.4-5, emphasis mine)

So true. We are creating our character today one decision at a time, one truth at a time, one day at a time. Lord, may my life never outpace my character that needs to be shaped by Your hands and Your truth!