"Listen Up"

This past week I attended a class in Dallas, Texas.  I did not like Dallas.  It was about 105 degrees every day.  While we were in a classroom environment much of the day, we would venture out on the streets for lunch and dinner.  Upon leaving the building we would be met with a breeze of hot air somewhat akin to a full body hair dryer - nice.

While the experience of Dallas was sub-par, the experience of the classroom went beyond my expectation!  I gathered with a group of about 15 other pastors, Para-church leaders and business leaders to consider how the people of faith might get the Gospel back in the game by becoming 'Assist Leaders' in our communities.  Of course, for the sports fan, the basketball analogy is obvious.  In basketball an assist leader is a player who is an expert in helping others succeed.  Mike Metzger, in his book, Assist Leader: Getting the Gospel Back in the Game, encourages us to look to John Stockton and Mark Malone by way of analogy.   Stockton's purpose was to 'assist' Malone; to set him up for success.  Stockton is, to this day, the runaway NBA all-time assist leader (http://sportige.com/top-ten-nba-all-time-assists/).

I resonate with this analogy because I have a sense that it is essentially an Others Centered or Faithful Presence Within (James Davidson Hunter's term) approach to ministry that is desperately needed in today's world.  Jesus puts it like this, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and Prophets."  You have to let it marinate for a second.  Primarily because you probably haven't heard a Christian leader use it in reference to the mission of the church in quite some time.  We are not as interested in 'assists' (loving our neighbors), as we are in 'dunks' (receiving the glory for our great talent).  To quote Nanny McPhee, 'It’s rather sad, really, but there it is."

I am left with the question, 'What then does an Assist Leader Church look like?'  As of today, I do not have a great answer to that question.  I do, however, have a sense of the 'posture' our church leaders and churches should take in our community.  At the very least it is a posture I am challenging myself to take as I return to be an 'assist leader' in a young church plant in the community of Vero Beach.  The posture I am proposing is one of 'listening.'  Perhaps, this posture is right for you and your community as well?  I have a sense that we need to develop this posture, habit or practice of listening in the following three areas:

1. Listen to God (Love God with all your heart . . .)
2. Listen to each other (Neighbors).
3. Listen to our Community and its leaders (Neighbors).

There you have it.  It's certainly not rocket science, but it does seem foreign to the way many of our churches behave today!

Learning to Listen, together!

Biz