Will You be Like Moses or Joshua?

by: Eric Geiger

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Moses and Joshua enjoyed a very special relationship. Moses poured his life into Joshua, entrusted Joshua with responsibility, and prepared him for service.

Joshua is first mentioned in the Scripture when Moses chose him to lead the Israelite army in battle against the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8-16). From that moment forward, we observe Moses intentionally developing Joshua and Joshua learning from Moses.

For example, Moses brought Joshua up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from God (Ex. 24:13). Joshua observed Moses’ righteous indignation when Moses smashed the two tablets (Ex. 32:17-19), and Joshua sensed the holy communion Moses shared with the Lord as Joshua guarded the tent of meeting (Ex. 33:11). As Israel scouted the land of Cannan, Moses sent Joshua as one of the spies (Num. 13:8).

Moses proactively and intentionally invested his life in Joshua. And immediately after Moses died, Joshua was given the responsibility to lead Israel. Under Joshua’s leadership, Israel enjoyed great prosperity and victory. By developing Joshua, Moses helped ensure the following generation would love and fear God. He served his people by pouring his life into another.

There is, however, no biblical record of Joshua investing his life in another person. And as we find in the Book of Judges, after Joshua’s death, Israel drifted from the Lord and lived in chaos. The generation after Joshua “did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel” (Judg. 2:10).

Will you be like Moses or like Joshua? Will you invest in others who will ensure the following generations know of the Lord and His gracious works?

Tags: Eric Geiger, Leadership Engine, Staff, Staff Development

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Are Groups Really Important in Your Church?

by: Eric Geiger

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I believe groups (classes, Bible fellowships, etc) should be important to churches because God has supernaturally ordained community to sanctify His people. God, who is an eternal community of three Persons, created community for our benefit and His glory. And small groups help believers live in community with one anther.

Though most pastors say that groups are important, the research for the upcoming book Transformational Groups revealed that for many churches there’s a major discrepancy between the stated importance of groups and the actual priority. For many churches, contrary to what is articulated, groups are really not that important. At least two alarming facts were discovered:

For many churches group content is treated haphazardly.

The majority of pastors and church leaders have no clue what is being studied. In fact, almost two-thirds of pastors tell us that the person primarily responsible for selecting the curriculum for the group is the group leader, and a large number of those do so without any oversight or direction from the pastor and/or staff. In most cases not only are group leaders not given studies that are built on a particular theology and discipleship strategy, but they aren’t given anything: not a plan, not a recommended resource list, nothing.

Now if the church has a group training mechanism in place on the front end and group leaders are tested and vetted theologically, are taught to choose resources in accordance with the theology of the church, and are equipped to think strategically about a spiritual growth plan for their group, then handing the responsibility to the group leader would be empowerment. If, however, the above doesn’t exist, there is ministry negligence. A wise pastor would never treat the teaching from the pulpit with that type of haphazard planning. And group content shouldn’t be treated this way either.

As a leader, you must guard the doctrine of your church—that means caring about the content that is being studied in groups.

The majority of church attendees don’t believe groups are that important to the church.

Though pastors say that groups are important to the church, sadly the majority of church attendees don’t say the same thing. In other words, in many churches groups being important is largely an aspirational value for church leaders and not actual in the culture of the church. Church leaders should ask themselves why the people in the church don’t consider groups more important. The following questions could be helpful to consider:

• Are the pastors and leaders in a group?
• Do the people in the church continually hear about groups?
• If someone wanted to join a group today, what would you tell them to do?
• Are stories of transformation occurring in community shared with the church?
• In comparison to the weekend services, how much energy is poured into group strategy, leader training, etc?

The reality is that most church leaders devote much more energy to the worship services than to groups. Caring less about the worship gathering isn’t the solution; caring more about groups is. In worship gatherings that are grounded in Jesus, God supernaturally uses the preaching of His word and the worship to transform hearts and affections. And in groups grounded in Jesus, God supernaturally uses the community to mature His people. Both are important. Both should be important to your church.

Read more from Eric here.

Tags: Discipleship, Eric Geiger, Multiplication, Small Groups

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What People Want From Your Groups

by: Eric Geiger

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Ed Stetzer, Micah Fries, and I are currently working on a new book, Transformational Groups, based on insights gleaned from a massive research project conducted on small groups (including classes, Bible fellowships, etc). In one phase of the research, the research team at LifeWay Research surveyed and interviewed people who were once in a group but are not currently involved in a group. The good news is that the majority of people said that they would return to being in a group if they were invited.

They also offered insights as to what they’re longing for in a small group.

Relationships

Most likely those who joined a group were told, “the way to really get connected and be known in our church is to join a group.” They likely joined a group with the expectation and desire for relationships, but it doesn’t seem the group experience delivered on that promise. In our interviews, they indicated that they wanted more involvement with the people outside of the Bible study time. When asked what makes a great group leader, a “strong Bible teacher” was ranked very low and “someone who connects people” was ranked the highest. These responses indicated a deep desire for community within a small group.

Obviously we’re not articulating, nor do we believe the respondents were articulating, that Bible teaching isn’t important. Community is only as strong as what it’s built upon; therefore, for community to be strong it must be grounded in the Word. However, one of the advantages of a small group is that the people can discuss truth together, and they can wrestle with passages together. The small group doesn’t need to be a monologue. People who move from a worship gathering to a small group are likely not thinking they’re going to receive a lecture.

Application:

Respondents indicated that they want Bible study that applies to them right now. They want to understand how the timeless truth they’re discussing impacts their lives today. Groups should be able to deliver on both relationships and application. And the two are related. Application always increases in the context of relationships. As the group discusses Scripture, individuals are able to ask questions, encourage one another, and challenge one another to apply the truth.

Are the groups at your church structured to facilitate relationships? Are the leaders trained to connect people together? Is time given for discussion so that the group members may apply biblical truths in their own and one another’s lives?

Read more from Eric here.

Tags: Connect, Eric Geiger, Small Groups

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Enron and Your Church

by: Eric Geiger

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The Enron scandal is perhaps the most documented case of corporate greed, cover-up, and dishonesty. The lack of integrity displayed by Enron executives robbed people of millions of dollars and led, at that time, the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history.

In the midst of the scandal, proudly displayed in the lobby at Enron were these stated values:

• Integrity
• Communication
• Respect
• Excellence

As Enron shows us, stating a set of values or priorities is one thing, but living them is another thing entirely. The vast majority of churches, by God’s grace, won’t endure a scandal of Enron proportions. But a massive disconnect between the stated and the actual does exist often in our churches.

Stephen attended worship services at your church during the Christmas season. While he was there he heard a message that the reality of Jesus, the God of all things who came to earth to rescue us, is the absolute most important news in this world. He heard that this news of Jesus changes everything. The message was liberating, filled with grace. During the Christmas season, Stephen decided he wanted to know more about how Jesus impacts everything. So he is coming to your church now.

What will Stephen discover? Will Stephen discover that the message of the gospel, the message he heard is so transformational and so important, is impacting the total life of your church? Will the messages he hears be rooted in the Jesus he heard heralded over Christmas? Will the teaching in the kid’s ministry, the prayers that are prayed, the invitations to get further connected align with the message Stephen heard of Immanuel? Or will there be a disconnect between what was stated as first importance and what actually is?

Even as church leaders, our hearts are prone to wander from the gospel. Couple that with the reality that hanging a set of values on the wall or printing a doctrinal statement in the bulletin does not ensure those values are in the culture of the church, and we realize that we must continually bring our churches back to the grace of God as the foundation for everything we do. The message of Christmas, the message that Jesus is our salvation, must not be placed in the file folder until next December. It must continually form us.

Over Christmas Stephen heard what is most important. Will he find that what is most important is impacting the day-to-day life of your church? If not, he will struggle to learn that it should impact his day-to-day life.

Read more from Eric here.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Mission Statement, Values

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The Simple Church Revolution

by: Eric Geiger

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Simple is in.

Complexity is out. Out of style at least.

Ironically people are hungry for simple because the world has become much more complex. The amount of information accessible to us is continually increasing. The ability to interact with the entire world is now possible. Technology is consistently advancing at a rapid pace.

The result is a complicated world with complex and busy lives. And, in the midst of complexity, people want to find simplicity. They long for it, seek it, pay for it, even dream of it. Simple is in. Simple works. People respond to simple.

The simple revolution is well underway.

Marketing and advertising executives are using simple slogans and advertising pieces. You know that because you have seen it. That is not all though. The revolution goes deeper than that. They are marketing their products as solutions for our complicated lives. The message is: “This product will simplify your life.” They know people respond to simple.

In a notable marketing book, Simplicity Marketing, Steven Cristol and Peter Sealey teach executives to position their products to promise customers a more simple life. They argue that an effective brand will reduce the stress of the customer. The value that many products offer is clutter reduction.

Take for example the marketing of the South Beach Diet. The diet market is cluttered. New diets and weight-loss strategies come along all the time, but South Beach promised the potential dieter something other plans failed to deliver: simplicity and less stress.

The founder and author of the South Beach Diet movement explained the essence of his diet this way: “What started as a part-time foray into the world of nutrition has led me to devise a simple, medically-sound diet that works, without stress, for a large percentage of those who try it.” Did you see it? Simple and stress-free. Besides a way for favorite desserts to actually be sugar-free, what more could dieters ask for?

OK. By now you get the point. Simple is in. Simple works. People respond to simple.

Growing and vibrant churches know this.

In our extensive research of more than four hundred evangelical churches for the book Simple Church, we discovered the simple church revolution. We compared growing and vibrant churches to nongrowing and struggling churches. Church leaders from both groups completed the same survey, which was designed to measure how simple their church discipleship process was.

We anticipated that the vibrant churches would score higher. We anticipated that there would be a relationship between a simple process and church vitality, but the results were greater than we imagined. Our statistical consultant told us that we found something big.

There will be more discussion of the study in the weeks to come here on the site, but here is the elevator conversation: The vibrant churches were much more simple than the comparison churches. The difference was so big that the probability of the results occurring with one church by chance is less than one in a thousand. Statistical people call this a relationship at the .001 level.

When a researcher finds a relationship at the .05 level, he calls his friends and brags. He knows he has found something worthwhile. When a researcher finds something at the .01 level, he calls his publicist and prepares to write. Finding something at the .001 level does not happen often. It’s a big deal. If you’re a stats person, it is “highly significant.”

The significance is that, in general, simple churches are growing and vibrant. Churches with a simple process for reaching and maturing people are expanding the kingdom. Church leaders who have designed a simple biblical process to make disciples are effectively advancing the movement of the gospel. Simple churches are making a big impact.

Conversely, complex churches are struggling and anemic. Churches without a process or with a complicated process for making disciples are floundering. As a whole, cluttered and complex churches are not alive. Our research shows that these churches are not growing. Unfortunately, the overprogrammed and busy church is the norm. The simple church is the exception, yet our research shows that should not be the case.

The simple church revolution has begun.

But most churches are too busy to notice.

Read more from Eric here.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Strategy, Structure

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The Four Disciplines of Getting Things Done, Part 1

by: Eric Geiger

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A great strategy without execution is merely wishful thinking, a dream on paper that is never translated into real life. I have found that many leaders, organizations, and ministries struggle with execution, with actually getting things done.

The book Four Disciplines of Execution has provided a sticky mental framework for me on leading teams to execute. Over the next couple of posts, I will share “four disciplines of getting things done.” I have seen these four disciplines bear fruit with ministries and teams I have led and am leading.

1. FOCUS ON THE WILDLY IMPORTANT

Many churches and organizations run after too many goals or initiatives at a time. Thus, they never realize the power of focus, of leveraging resources and people toward an overarching and important goal. Instead of having a list of 10 things, have a list of 1-2 really important goals. Run after these hard for a season. And once they are accomplished, effectively embed them into the regular and essential ebb and flow of work. Some questions emerge:

But how do you focus on 1-2 important goals when there are other important aspects of the ministry or organization?

Just because something is not the priority for a season does not mean it is not important. The regular, ongoing aspects of the work/ministry are absolutely essential. But raising an initiative to the top for a season of sustained focus will always rally a team around a clear direction.

One possible way to think of the wildly important is to imagine the current ebb and flow as 80 percent of each team member’s work. The additional 20 percent of energy is allocated toward the wildly important goal. Once the goal is complete, it is moved into the ongoing ministry/work and you have a healthier and more effective “new normal.”

From a church perspective, the wildly important goal may be an initiative: launch a campus, start a church, serve our city over the next several months, launch X number of new groups. Or it could be a value you are seeking to further drive into the culture: hospitality, worship, etc.

Why don’t more leaders do this?

Admittedly, it is risky. It feels much safer to hedge your bets and focus on a plethora of things. When you focus on a few at a time, you feel like you put your leadership on the line for everyone to see. The reality is that focusing on everything is more risky. Because few great things are accomplished when everything is the priority. When everything is the priority, nothing really is.

Read Part 2 of this series here.

Read more from Eric here.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Leadership Engine, Structure

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The Four Disciplines of Getting Things Done, Part 2

by: Eric Geiger

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Winston Churchill famously said, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” Execution is the hard work between designing the strategy and the results, the impact. Here are some additional thoughts on the four disciplines of getting things done (read Part 1 here.)

2. SET LEAD MEASURES

After the team has agreed to an overarching important goal for a season, help the team set lead measures that will, by God’s grace, result in the fulfillment of the goal.

To understand lead measures, you must understand the difference between lead measures and lag measures. Lead measures are predictive. Lag measures are outcome based. For example, imagine you set a goal to lose 15 pounds by June 1. The 15 pounds is the clear lag measure. You know the goal and the due date. But to execute well, you need lead measures. It may be your caloric intake, the number of times you hit the gym each week, and the number of cheat meals you are allowed. If you don’t have the right lead measures, you will not hit the lag measure.

John Calipari, the coach of the UK Wildcats, demonstrated a wise understanding of lead measures as he led his team to the NCAA championship last season. If you watched the pre-game footage, you noticed him giving clear lead measures to his players in terms of the number of turnovers to force, rebounds to grab, and foul trouble to avoid. He understood that he needed to do more than tell his players to win; he needed to give them clear measures that would result in a win.

In summary, don’t just set and declare an important goal. Set lead measures underneath that goal. Otherwise team members will know the “what” but they won’t understand the “how”  and their role.

3. KEEP THE GOAL (AND THE SCORE) IN FRONT OF THE TEAM

When you set a clear goal for your team, you must identify what success will be. How will you know the goal is accomplished? Keep “the win” in front of the team in a compelling way. Surface it in meetings, discuss as a team, and ensure it is before the group at all times.

4. CREATE A CULTURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY

In a culture of execution, there is also a culture of accountability. When people on the team set lead measures underneath the overarching goal, there must be freedom to discuss the progress, trust to quickly put problems on the table, and courage to confront issues. A culture of accountability does not mean people are knighted to be jerks. But it does mean the team understands the expectations and is willing to hold each other accountable, without the leader needing to be the only one providing the accountability. If the leader is the only one providing accountability, there is a leader of accountability, not a culture of accountability.

Read Part 1 here.

Read more from Eric here.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Leadership Engine, Structure

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Red Flags When Interviewing for Your Staff Team

by: Eric Geiger

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In my role at LifeWay, there are more than 500 employees in the division I am responsible to lead. As we have been looking to bring passionate people to the team who are deeply committed to our mission of serving churches in their mission of making disciples, I have been involved in a lot of interviews.

If you are a leader, you know that having the right players on the team is absolutely essential in fulfilling the mission the Lord has given your ministry. Thus, the recruiting and interviewing process is very important. In looking back at all the interviews I have been a part of, here are five red flags that give me great caution in taking a next step with a potential team member.

1 – No questions

If someone asks no questions, it gives me the impression that they are passive, that they are not the type to take initiative, and that they don’t possess a holy curiosity that is going to nudge them to learn, explore, and look for more effective ways to serve. It also gives the impression that they are a bit cold, unable to have a conversation, to engage, to lead people somewhere.

2 – Bad questions

I like questions because I learn more about a candidate by the questions they ask. And bad questions are very revealing about a person’s work ethic, passions, goals, and priorities. I won’t reveal all the bad questions because I still have more interviews to lead, but here are a few:

The question: How many hours do I need to work?

What I think: This may be someone who wants to punch a clock. I want people driven by a calling, not by a clock.

The question: What will my title be?

What I think: This may be someone who is more concerned about personal platform than the mission the Lord has given us.

3 – Excuses

Because the past is often a great indicator of the future, I am going to ask questions about past performance, faithfulness, and impact. I am not looking for perfection but a track record. Excuses are a major red flag because it shows the person is unable to own his/her responsibilities fully. I would much rather a person say, “Here is where I blew it and the lessons I learned.”

4 – Negative comments about current leaders

The person who bashes his/her current leaders or team members will be the same person who brings that toxic attitude into our culture. No thank you.

5 – Over-negotiation

When someone over-negotiates salary, benefits, or some other aspect of the role, I quickly get turned off. I think either (a) the person is not overly excited about the role as it is presented or (b) the person has an inflated view of her/himself and this will never end. I may be oversensitive to over-negotiation, but I tend to be the one who walks away.

Red flags are great. They prevent you from continuing down a path that won’t be fruitful and best for the team and ministry for which you are responsible. Pay attention to them.

Read more from Eric here.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Staff, Structure

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Culture Trumps Everything

by: Eric Geiger

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Martin Luther referred to the gospel as “this article.” He said, “Most necessary is that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.” Luther knew that we have this proclivity to wander from our foundation. Thus we must constantly and continually beat the gospel into our hearts and into the people we serve and lead. To drill the gospel into the heads of our people, we need more than our confessions and our creeds to be centered on the gospel. We need the culture of our churches to stand firmly on Jesus and His work for us.

The culture of a church is powerful. It dominates everything else. It is constantly teaching, constantly showing people what is most important. By culture, I am not referring to a church’s ethnic or socio-economic mix. I am referring to the shared values and beliefs that undergird all the church does. And while your doctrinal statement, your strategy for reaching your community, and your leadership structure are important, in many ways your church culture trumps them all. For example:

If the doctrine of the church is that all believers are priests and ministers because our great high priest has made us priests through His death, yet the culture of the church values only “professional ministers” – the culture will trump the doctrinal confession. A pastor preaching Ephesians 4:11-12 one time will not automatically remove the unrealistic and unbiblical expectation that the pastor is the one who does all the ministry.

If the doctrine of the church is the true and accurate belief that the sacrifice of Jesus is bigger than any sin, yet the culture does not allow for openness and confession, someone who admits a struggle will be unlikely to experience mercy expressed from another. A graceless culture overpowers a grace-filled confession.

If the doctrine of the church is we are to live as missionaries because Jesus stepped into our culture to rescue us, but the culture of the church focuses almost exclusively on the church calendar and what happens in the building – the culture will attempt to squelch and suffocate desires to serve the surrounding community.

Peter Drucker famously said, “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” He was not diminishing strategy. He was simply recognizing the overwhelming influence culture has on people. If the culture of a church is at odds with the doctrinal confession of the church, the culture typically wins. The unstated message speaks louder than the stated one.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Folklore, Scripture, Symbol

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You Are Only as Strong as Your Foundation

by: Eric Geiger

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Your ability to stand strong is based completely on the strength of what you are standing upon. My daughters make me nervous when they climb on top of something that is not sturdy, something that will give out and cause them to fall. Standing is really not about our ability but the strength of what we are standing upon.

For this reason, the apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian believers that they not only received and believed the gospel, but they continually stood on the firm foundation of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1).

In the same way, community is only as strong as what it is built upon. The community (common unity) among believers in a church is only strong if it stands upon that which is everlasting and eternal. If community is built only on life stages, interests, or zip codes, the community is weak. And thus it disappears as the foundation shifts.

In John 17, Jesus prayed for us–those who would believe in Him through the message of the disciples. He prayed that our community would be strong and that we would be one as He and the Father are one. We see two challenges in John 17 that should inform how churches build community among those God entrusts to the church.

First, community must be built upon the pure and faultless Word of God. Jesus prayed for His disciples, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” (v. 17). If folks in small groups, Sunday School classes, or whatever the church calls smaller gatherings, if they are not forming relationships around the Word, then the community is inevitably and infinitely shallow. It will not remain. God has anointed His Word as the living and active sword to wreak holy havoc in our lives. His Word sharpens and purifies us.

Second, community must result in mission. The end result of small groups gathering must not be merely small groups gathering. True community that stands on Jesus and His accomplished work for us results in mission. Jesus prayed, “May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me” (v. 21). Jesus’ prayer for our community has always been that it would result in others knowing that He is the sent One–the One who came for us.

Church leaders, don’t just build community. Build community that lasts.

Many church leaders are deciding that they don’t just want groups of people meeting, but they want groups of people (kids, students, and adults) building community on the gospel of Jesus. They want people studying the gospel not in isolation but in community. Because of this longing from church leaders, we have recently launched The Gospel Project. It is an ongoing study (three years) that is designed to bring groups to Jesus through all of Scripture. It can also be utilized by groups that meet for shorter seasons. We have been overwhelmed with the response thus far to The Gospel Project. If you would like to take a look at the study, you can pilot the curriculum here.

Read more from Eric here.

Tags: Discipleship, Eric Geiger, Multiplication, The Gospel Project

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