Charlie Wear’s Notes

There was a period in the 90s when I was a John Maxwell acolyte. "Leadership is influence," is Maxwell’s famous quote. I also used to love to hear John Wimber talk about leadership. To paraphrase, he would say, "Look behind you, if there is no one there, then you are not the leader." Maxwell used the metaphor of a "leadership account." I have seen the famous leadership account in action plenty of times, and let me assure you, it is easy to make withdrawals and not so easy to make deposits. Deposits take trustworthy interactions over a long period of time, but one false move and the account can be drained overnight.

In a recent article, my friend Steve Sjogren said:

"No emotionally healthy person can work in any sort of ongoing way with someone who doesn’t respect them.  None of us are stupid.  We can all pick up on clear signals that we are not held in high esteem. Every member of your team is not only due respect.  They are each a gift from God himself.  Celebrate the gift they bring.  Let them shine where they are strong – and they probably will!  Do what it takes to deal with conflict.  See a therapist – whatever.  Great churches have long term employees that become like family over the long haul."

Disrespect, or negative interactions are like a broken sprinkler pipe leaking water. It is only a matter of time before erosion occurs. If the water runs long enough it can cause some severe damage.

This is really a simple equation. Once you begin to disrespect the leader, then, if you have integrity, you must leave. On the other hand, once a leader begins to disrespect a follower, then they must help the person leave. But as the 50s song goes, leaving, or  "breaking up is hard to do."

John McCain, born 1936, would be the only President born in the 1930s to be elected. The list of prior presidents:
George W. Bush, born 1946
Bill Clinton, born 1946
George H.W. Bush, born 1924
Ronald Reagan, born 1911
Jimmy Carter, born 1924
Gerald Ford, born 1913
Richard Nixon, born 1913
Lyndon Johnson, born 1908
John F. Kennedy, born 1917

If Barack Obama, born 1961,  is elected he will be the first president born in the 1960s. Which means that the 1950s and the 1930s would have never birthed a president of the United States. (Mike Huckabee was born in 1955).

Two top leaders at the Willow Creek flagship campus have announced their departures. Bill Hybels has stepped back into the top leadership role. I will have to admit, although I am far removed from the corporate style mega church model of ministry, I am fascinated about what all of this means. Gene Appel, the pastor who assumed the lead role from Hybels in 2003, will "move toward being the senior pastor of a local church again."

Willow has been the target of Harvard Business School case studies in the past. The inability to make a successful transition to a new generation of leadership will provide ripe fodder for further analysis I am sure.

Please don’t get offended. But I really liked Mrs. Clinton’s "moment" in the New Hampshire campaign. In the short video clip I saw, she seemed real, her voice sounded soft and kind, it really felt authentic. But I have to confess. I really can’t stand it when she "goes big" during her speeches. You know what I mean. The crowd is applauding and responding and she is getting higher and shriller in her vocal tone. You would think that with all of the millions of dollars being spent on her campaign that they would hire a vocal coach and have her practice with a microphone.

In addition, I am almost positive that most of her public address setups do not have a "monitor" system that would allow her to hear her own voice. It’s not as though this would cost billions to fix. If anyone close to Mrs. Clinton reads this post, I implore you, do something, please!

"Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll" was the mantra of the 60s. This is the lasting imprint of the Baby Boomer generation. And now our children have come of age, and guess what? Drugs and their abuse remain a big problem. Witness the suspected overdose death of rising young actor, Heath Ledger at the age of 28, or the death of Anna Nicole Smith and her son.

Drugs and Alcohol are insidious. My mother (she was not a baby boomer) died at the age of 58 from a drug overdose. I know first-hand what the ripple effects of "recreational" drug use can be in a family. Today, prescription drugs present almost as great a danger. Today, I am praying for the many in our culture, particularly the teenagers, who are caught in the web of drug and alcohol abuse.

This is pretty darn good…sethgodin.com

I should probably start holding seminars on "What is the Emerging Church?" I could categorize and compare the various "expressions" of the emerging church. I could describe the major areas of non-orthodox exploration. I could point out the leading practitioners, theologians and gadflies. Do you think I could charge $129 per person for a full day? Would more than one participant sign up?

Is the emerging church a fad? What does it mean? As a pastor, what should I be doing about it? Is D.A. Carson right? What about Chuck Smith, Sr.? Is the emerging church a sign of the end? Is it a forerunner of last days apostacy? Has Slice sliced it correctly? Has Pyro burnt it appropriately? Is Mark Driscoll the poster child for the EC, or is Spencer Burke?

Recently I attended a national pastors gathering of one of the movements that came out of the Jesus Movement revival of the 70s. At this stage the gathering looked a lot like me, a bunch of middle-aged guys in Hawaiian shirts and bermuda shorts and sandals (at least those of us from California). In a panel discussion on the first day, the national director was insistent that he had the "correct" numbers on the number of movement pastors age 35 and under and it was 30 (out of 500, wink, wink), not 20, he would have you know, by Golly. He went on to say that he just didn’t want others to say that we are irrelevant. (He must not be a regular subscriber to Relevant Magazine!).

On the third day of the conference a young (35 yrs. of age) pastor spoke on the emerging church. His definition? The emerging church is "Churches that are trying to reach young people." He then started his categorizing and comparing and I had to get up and leave! You see he was trying to make sense of something that defies categorization and comparison. And he was trying to speak to an audience of pastors who want to know if the EC is a passing fad, or how they should react when a beret-wearing, goatee-sporting, graduate student approaches him and asks him if he is "missional."

Let me address some of these, uh, burning issues: The emerging church is not an "it." It is not Emergent or Allelon, or Forge, Catalyst or ReImagine! It is not neo-monastic, or universalist, for that matter. It is not a bunch of Birkenstock-wearing, granola-crunching, Yoga-practicing midwest urban folks. It is not a "church within a church," gen-x service, candles and worship installations, liturgy practicing, hours prayers. It is not daily blogging with cool names and ipod loaded teaching. It is not a fad, anymore than Methodism, Presbyterianism, Anglicanism, Catholicism, Lutheranism, uh, you get the idea, were passing fads. It is no more a fad than the Calvary Chapels or the Vineyards. It has no more apostacy than the rest of the apostacy that passes for Christianity today. And by the way, it is not Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, Spencer Burke, uh, did I leave anyone out, uh, yes, of course I did!

And yet, it is all of the above and so much more. It is what God is raising up to reach the rising culture and the rising generations.

Pastors, if you think you are prepared to deal with today’s cultural atmosphere, go watch the currently playing film, Juno. Then ask yourself this question: What is my congregation doing to make Jesus real to the Junos in our community?

I love to see what God is doing. I especially like to meet young leaders who are innovative as they are pioneering new works for God. I got to spend a little bit of time with one of those kinds of folks yesterday. His name is David Trotter. He is the lead pastor (and founding pastor) of Revolution Church in Long Beach.

David co-founded The Ooze with Spencer Burke. He is doing some really interesting stuff. Including a discipleship "course" based on his book, I Will. His mission is to start a movement of revolutionaries. Wow! When my wife and I were going through a difficult season a few years ago we enjoyed attending David’s church. Revolution is coming up on its fifth anniversary this year.

There are people who claim to speak for God. Depending on the charismatic quotient of your church fellowship this may happen to a greater or lesser degree. Some bible scholars or teachers who feel that they have an excellent, all-encompassing knowledge of the scripture are able to tell us what God meant when he inspired the writers to write.

One week I was preaching on the following text:

1 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. NIV [Emphasis added]

I asked the question, "How did the Holy Spirit speak?" And the answer came, through the prophetic word. I have a wish I wish could be granted. I wish all of those who claim that they speak for God truly did. I wish all of those who claim they speak for God were kind and loving. I wish all of those who claim they speak for God would be encouraging and positive. I wish leaders would really take the time to listen before they start to tell followers what they "should" do. All the rest? I wish they would just shut up!