The Sweet Spot

So, my favorite part of the year is coming up real soon. While the rest of the world has their sights set on the Super Bowl, I can almost smell the blades of fresh cut grass of major league baseball spring training. There's something about that sport that is always made me feel a little bit different about life in general. And just the other day I was talking to Cobb about leadership stuff, when he used one of the simplest metaphors that I've ever heard. He likened leadership to the “sweet spot” in baseball. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the sweet spot is the part on the bat that every player longs to find. When the pitcher throws the ball and the batter connects the sweet spot of the bat to the ball, the feeling is incredible. Not only that, but everyone in the stadium, or in whatever venue they are at, can feel that connection. That is what effective leadership should feel like.

Sometimes I get frustrated because I feel like I am out of my gift zone; you know, like I'm swinging in the air but there's nothing to hit. When I talk to my mentor, and those who are closest to me, they help me find the sweet spot regarding my leadership ability. It's that place where you connect with people in a way that they know they can trust you because you are in that zone. I guess my question is, how do you know when you have hit the sweet spot in your leadership endeavors? If you can't really put your finger on it, ask someone who knows you pretty well. I can almost guarantee that those closest to you will be able to tell you when you are in that zone. As leaders, it is our responsibility and obligation to those we lead to find that sweet spot. And just like a batter must do, we have to keep taking more cuts in practice until we can do it over and over again the right way.

Never say never...

When I decided to change my major to Xtian Ministry and make it a vocation I had my mind set. I would go into youth ministry for a while and then move on to be a senior pastor. You know, I would kinda use the youth thing as a stepping stone. But God would have a little bitt different path for me. I did not know what I was in store for in my career as a pastor.

One of the conversations that Cobb and I would have every once in a while would be the “where do you see yourself in the long haul” conversation. I thought nothing of it. I knew what I wanted and the plan that I had for the next ten or more years. But Cobb knew something that I did not, apparently. He would casually ask me the “why” question. He wanted to know why I was thinking whatever I was thinking at the time. He never presumed to know what I was thinking nor did he try to make me think a certain way. He would just challenge me often on what was going on in that little brain of mine.

I never knew why I thought that about why I wanted to be a Senior Pastor, I just figured that is the way that it was supposed to go. I knew that I loved spending time with teenagers and peeps who wanted to make teens better and more involved with church and God. But I thought that is what everyone was thinking. One day Cobb asked me why I wanted to be the leader of a parish and I thought about it for a minute. I could not think of anything else except for that I figured that was the way it was supposed to be. Then he gave me one of the classic Cobb challenges.

He asked me what my life might look like if I choose to stay in youth ministry for the long haul. Wow! I had never even thought of it. In fact, I knew I would never do that... I mean, that is not how it is supposed to be. But why not??? we began to talk more about it over a number of conversations. It took me about three more years to come to the realization that I thought that is the way God was leading me – to youth ministry for the long haul. This of course lead to more questions. Was I turning off God in my earlier conversations with him; to which the answer was “no.” it just took God a little while longer to get through to a stubborn punk like me.

I still talk to Cobb about career stuff today. At one point I even asked how long he had known that I was fighting my heart concerning my ministry for the long haul. He just smiled. Never say never. Your ministry could be going a direction that you don't even know about right now. Trust your instinct, yes. But also trust the words and encouragement of those you trust to speak into your life. Will I be a senior pastor someday? I don't know... maybe. But right now my heart is focused on bringing students to know JC better, and building into those who have the same passion. What is the direction of your passion.

Don't lose focus...

One of my favrit parts of visiting midweek programs of various church youth groups is to watch how youth pastors run their ministry. it is usually a bunch of madness and it always seems that most of them are behind schedule, missing stuff, understaffed, etc. this is a continual reminder that the ministry animal is one that is hard to tame. the madness never really subsided over the years but we began to learn how to harness it. and you must learn to do this if you are going to be effective and add value to peeps on a large scale and for the long haul. People watch the way that you carry yourself and are constantly evaluating your passion and ability to do ministry.

Cheryl Skeen, general manager of Embassy Suites, says, "Sharing your passion for excellence is critical for effective leadership. Employees should know that excellence is the expectation and not the exception. (They) need to understand that we have to be better than the rest in order to succeed." now, if you are like most other youth pastors you do not have the luxury of employees. you are most likely surrounded by peeps who volunteer tons of time, personal time, that they could be giving somewhere else. and to think that you should not have to motivate - because after all, they should be volunteering time for God and not you - is not going to get you very far. yes, they are not doing it for you, but for God. yes, they should give out of the goodness of their dumb ol’ hearts. but if they do not believe in you and the passion that you have for the ministry, if they do not think that you are the leader to take the group to the next level, then they will eventually move on. and i applaud them for this.

you have to inspire. it is your job as the leader. you are not allowed to have a bad day... well, in front of them anyway. your bad days and complaining needs to be done on your own time and to the ones who mentor you. and if you are good about choosing your volunteer leaders then you will have less bad days. George Balanchine said, “I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.” how true this is in ministry. we have all convinced someone to do ministry with us because we needed an extra leader, body, parking lot person, snack bar worker, whatever. and it always comes back to bite you in the butt when you have peeps who do not want to be there. but within this there is a fine line.

some peeps do not know that want to do ministry until you help them. for instance, there was a dad in our ministry who loved hanging out with the staff and the kids. he just thought he was too old and could not make an impact. i knew that he could. i inquired of him from other parents and adults who knew him and his heart. he just needed a little help knowing that he could be that guy. i could not convince him to chill in a group of guys, so i asked if he could do some stuff in the parking lot and help me with some of the games and stuff like that. he agreed. the guys was an instant favrit of the kids and it was not long after that we put him in a group where he should have been.

Honest Abe once said, “I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.” find the peeps who you think will make a difference and start to put time into them. as you do it more often you will make less mistakes. and the more you inquire of those smarter than you, it will speed up the process. you know what you are passionate about. put the time in and focus on the right stuff. what will peeps say about you and the way you run your ministry after you are out of the picture and long gone?