Creating a Great Staff Culture - Andy Stanley

we welcome those of you who are joining us by livestream had our extension campuses and welcome to Tuesday night Chapel spring 2019 it's a privilege for me to introduce a friend pastor Randy Stanley he's the senior pastor the North Point Community Church in Alpharetta Georgia he's a communicator he's an author he was a pastor he founded the Atlanta based North Point ministries in 1995 and North Point Ministries consist today of nine churches in the Atlanta area in a network of more than 90 churches around the globe and collectively serve close to 200,000 people on a weekly basis he holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from Georgia State University in a master's degree from Dallas Theological Seminary yeah he's the author of more than 20 books and over 1.8 million of his messages leadership videos and podcasts are accessed listen to this from North points website monthly quite an outreach however nothing is as personal as his passion for engaging with live audiences which he's pursued for over two decades and leadership events around the world and he's here tonight with his wife Sandra they have three grown children and one foster child who's now moving toward don't hood and they live near Atlanta Sandra's here but also we want to welcome to Atlanta students who are here with them one is his daughter Allie and a friend Lexi where are you two sitting where did you hide out back here stand so we can welcome you in Sandra [Applause] last count and I think I'm behind more than 50 of the staff from North Point ministries have come through and gotten their degree at Dallas seminary through our extension and some have migrated to the campus and so these three that you just saw including and his wife are current students and Lana the residency program and the program there they've been so supportive of what we've been doing and so we're very very grateful and he thank you for spending the time with us we're gonna work him hard and put him up wet to use a Texas expression he's going to speak here tonight then I'll speak right before he does in the morning at a leader board event and then I'm going to ship him back over here and he's going to speak in Chapel tomorrow morning so we're gonna work him hard while he's here but Andy thank you for spending the time with us out of a very busy schedule would you join me in welcoming Andy Stanley [Applause] I was told to move this so don't you think I was broke anything hey this is me you can imagine how surreal this would be because you just fast-forward I hate things how many years is 35 years yeah the earth crust had just come together and yeah 35 years ago and I think I've been invited before but I just wouldn't come so I this is I wanted to wait till you were out of the chapel into this room anyway I was going to introduce my family so you did that and I appreciate it and I'd love love love Dallas seminary and I got it jump into my oh yeah it's gonna ask is there a there has to be a clock somewhere is this the clock is there a countdown what's that do I need to finish ish did he say ish anyway so I'll do my best I just way back me it's okay and I know we there's your schedules and stuff but um you know when I was at DTS I had two or three of my well I'll tell you one of them was cuz you know Louie Giglio he's been here but when I was here DTS Louie was at another seminary not too far away unless the tuition was less and you didn't have to stay as long this is going out of the room I need to be very careful I'm sorry and anyway the point of all that was we would compare notes Louie and I've known each other since we were the 6th grade so we've been a childhood friends I know so and um anyway I would get together with him and a couple other friends that were from my church that were over there and we compare notes and I just I I mean I'm not exaggerating they just felt like they were kind of getting a you know a union card kind of a you know a certification they let them go lead churches and I loved seminary I mean all in fact my daughter just which she just started her THM she went from a master's degree that the upgraded I don't know what her original one was anyway so she just started Greek pray for her anyway so she so anyway I just absolutely loved it and I'll never forget I was just sharing this with a few minutes ago my dad would come visit and I was here Icom the glory days and you'll think these are the glory days they're not but you'll think they are I mean they are for you but for me I mean I was here when dr. Ryer II was teaching dr. Pentecost dr. Hendrix yes there you go that's what I'm talking about and so it was just I mean it's always so rich but if you notice there is that my dad would come and visit and he would go to class with me and I'll never forget I had a night class had the last class dr. IRA taught and it was night classrooms lecture hall a lot of people and long you know we have like an intermission I don't think you call it intermission but you know you have to have a break so during the break dr. IRA comes over to my dad and says dr. Stanley um would you like to address the class if you I would love for you to say something to the students my dad's like no no he said you just keep teaching he said he turning me he said you have no idea how the good this is and he had he had gone to the other seminary not too far away so anyway we I I am so grateful in fact tomorrow and Chapel I'm going to talk a little bit about this but there are so many things that to this very day shape me and have shaped not only how I viewed the Bible and not only how I preach and teach but how I see the world and how I view the world and I'm just extremely grateful and I know you appreciate that as well but you won't appreciate what's happening now as much until you're out and maybe years from now and again as you interface with people who perhaps went to some other schools and didn't get the Bible and didn't get the theology honestly then I'll what they're getting is stuff that they could just get out of books I mean most everything you know is already in a book right but I what you're being taught here that the the layers the wealth the rich you know again the theology in the Bible it's just what's dr. Hendricks used to tell us it's what's equipping you for a lifetime of ministry and I've kind of had that lifetime of ministry and hit that was no exaggeration so I know you feel that way but I just want you to know I feel that way cuz sometimes some seminary gets a bad rap but when I hear that I'm like you just went to the wrong one that's what I always say Oh a seminary I'm like you know what you're right but just because you went to the wrong one okay alright so um real quick I want to find out who's here I'm pastors wives you just came because something to do tonight you're not in class pastors wives just hanging out no pastors wives that aren't students how many pastors lives our students get pastors your students for that's great okay how many of you worked with high school students currently yeah that was a kind ask that again and I want you to occur how many who art with high school students currently No come on a little noise that's that's the group that always goes woo yeah ah how about middle school middle school Thank You middle school right senior pastors or senior leaders or campus pastors yeah they never make any noise look tired yeah let's see how many of you or any of you work in a church and currently and if you have to explain to people what your job is and they still don't understand after you finish explaining it but you do work in a church you have one of those jobs yeah it's like impossible to explain they're like you do what yeah let's see anybody any worship leaders music the folks yeah yep two or three they're great students who you're just doing some other job just to get through but it's not in a church just out in the market real jobs we call those yeah yeah yeah okay how many of you want last question how many of you our preacher had two more actually preachers kids I forgot that one preachers are missionaries kids yeah it's matter yep good and then how many of you plan or your life aspiration it don't be shy about this this is a trick question or pride like if you raise your hand that's pride therefore you'll it'll never happen for you because I used that when I lived in Dallas they opened the Mormon temple here when I was in seminary and so the we went and my friend from Idaho Larry said hey if we go they're gonna ask you to sign up for a register cuz one to tour the temple before they consecrate it and they said he said that's a trip because you have to give them information to go in but then they're gonna visit you I'm like I'm game are you game Jesus I'm game I'm from Idaho okay they have no idea what they're stepping into so sure enough the missionaries would come and visit us and we just strung it out as long as we could it was wonderful we were singled and have anything else to do so we learned I read the almost all the Book of Mormon Pro a great prize it was like an education within education and he grew up with Mormons and I'd have to kind of like Shh don't say that they won't come back you know so so anyway so the point of that was they you know the trick with Mormons now I'll get to this in a second is because you can get all this in a book is you know you there's all those levels but you can't say you think you're gonna go to the highest one because that's pride and then you won't get to go it's kind of that trick did you know that's like you can't you can anyway so this is not a trick question how many of you would like to be a lead pastor or a senior pastor in your own church some pay let me just that's what you're shooting for come on way up there let me see really that's it six of you the ref what are the rest of y'all gonna do work for okay well what I want to what I want to talk about for just a few minutes is I think and you and you would agree with this I know this yeah I just think one of the things that was a passion for me coming out of seminary and going into I worked at a church here and I worked for my dad for ten years before I left and started North Point as I just thought that the local church the the Monday through Friday part should be like the most extraordinary organization in the world I just thought I mean sunday is Sunday you know everybody's on their best behavior Sunday you know we're doing ministry but I just felt like the organizational side of the local church the the work part the work day you know the Monday through Friday the blocking and tackling you know the paperwork and all that stuff I just thought the local church should be like the greatest organization in the world and that marketplace leaders would see the local church staff and be like oh my goodness where do you find these people I mean because we have everything going for us we have a shared work ethic I mean we're doing our work us unto the Lord I mean we should have like the greatest work ethic in the world it should be the safest and most wonderful place for women to work on a church staff where there's you know these high morals and valued and dignity for men and women there's so many things we have going for us we have a two thousand-year-old product anyway so the I just felt like that the organizational side of the ministry the church world should be extraordinary so this was a real passion for me coming out of seminary and then working for my I work for a church here and I work for my dad's church and honestly and my dad and I kid about this there were so many dysfunctional people on his on his staff and I'd be like dad do you know well is she a Christian I'm you know so slight exaggeration not much I thought there was just lazy people and they know and just lazy people and ministry pastors kind of hide and you know you know just if it's just terrible and I thought if if I'm ever that's why I said originally I thought if I ever get to be like the boss someone because I thought I'd be in student ministry forever I love to the ministry I thought if I ever get to like be a pastor in like you know control the destiny of a church I just think the organizational side should be amazing I mean I just think people would wonder would want to leave higher paying jobs and marketplace jobs to just become part of this great organization beyond the Sunday part because we have everything going for us and so this was a real passion of mine from the beginning so when we started North Point that the organization and started the church I spent so much of my time just in terms of office culture and organizational culture not just mission and vision for the people who attended the church because I thought it was such a big deal and we did several things that other organizations do we copied and cut and pasted and you know kind of made some things better but through the years that's you know we've been going for 20 North points 23 years old this past fall as I think about all of that I feel like it kind of all comes down to maybe just three things and I don't want to talk about three things tonight I just want to talk about one thing but this I want to talk about this one thing because regardless of where you work now or regardless of where you work eventually and for those of you who want to be lead pastors in terms of just the culture of your church I think all the secret sauce is in the New Testament and I just want to pull out this one idea that comes from one verse that comes from one story from the life of Jesus that is I promise this isn't me looking you know I got this great leadership idea I need a verse there's a verse that's hatch that promises not this this for me personally was birthed from the teaching of the New Testament and I think as you think about your future and as you think about leading any kind of organization whether it's middle school high school a church a network Church a parachurch organization the Department of Division whatever wherever you find yourself in leadership I think this one idea combined with a couple others but even if you just had this one is so powerful in fact I think it represents the most powerful relational dynamic in the whole world and it's right here in the New Testament and so I've worked very hard to internalize this I'll give you a couple illustrations in a minute but I've worked equally as hard to drive this through the fabric of our organization and I wanted to talk about this tonight because I hope hopefully I can say it in such a way that you'll remember it and that you'll take this with you into your family because this is this word that starts but also into your church because I think the church the organizational side of the church should be so phenomenal that again that marketplace leaders look what's going on inside the church and they're like are you kidding me I have a current example of this um there's a Jewish guy in our business community he's 27 years old he went bankrupt in college because he started a company out of his dorm with a guy um he's just one of those guys that's just gonna figure it out he's Jewish he's not religious at all not I mean like he's not any kind of religious at all and he knew a friend of a friend and he asked a friend of a friend if he would if I could call if I would call him if he could call me anyways long story so I never met this guy his name's Eric and he wouldn't mind me telling you say in fact he would like it if I told you his name so he I see he said I want to have breakfast with you he's 20 I think he's 27 28 and ice okay so I had breakfast this guy I'm like I hate it's hard for me to meet uncharged people people the far from God so I'm like hey this is an excuse this is what he said he said okay I came he just got right to biz he said okay I came to your church out in Alpharetta and he said okay that's amazing just it's amazing he said then I found out you had to so then I went to the one in Buckhead and I thought oh you figured I had to scale this that's wasted you figured out how to scale this I want you to teach me how you scaled that he said you got a lot of these right I'm like yeah we're like McDonald's I mean chick-fil-a sees me work so then he got to know our stat anyway that the point is this I was thrilled I'm I'm thrilled because I got a new lost friend I'm thrilled that he's Jewish that's kind of interesting I mean there's a lot of thing but the thrilling thing was our organization I'm not making this up our organization is what he found attractive and I just think at every level in the local church we should be amazing and if we're not amazing we should become amazing and I'm gonna get Tomatoes you're this sounds harsh okay but your local church or whatever local church you are part of whatever local church you lead the organization itself because it's the body of Christ and because of what it represents in the community that organization and that church is more important than anyone in it that's what I believe it's more important than anyone in it which sounds a which means there are some people you should get possibly get out of it so it could be as great as it can possibly be because of what's at risk and what's at stake and how important the body of Christ is in any local community so that was kind of how I you know went into this and all these years later I love our church I mean I love all the stuff we do I love the organizational side of it because of the ministry and the testimony it is to people who are just watching not just watching the Christians and not watching the preaching and teaching I mean you can get that anywhere right so this is a really big deal and that's why I just thought I would share this with you so I'm just gonna share this this one ID you know hit this some kind of quick basically I just call this because I kind of ripped it off from the Apostle Paul's language I call this the principle of mutual submission let's just say that together mutual that was terrible one more time mutual submission this is the most powerful relational dynamic in the world in a marriage with your kids with your grandkids with your foster kids eventually it works with and in an organizational life and of course this comes from what the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:21 what he said submit this is so powerful submit to one another out of reverence for Christ which is I mean this is basically his version of as I loved you your deliv one another I mean that's what I think all Paul's applications are imperatives in the New Testament come from this new command so here it is again submit to one another out of reverence for Christ that is I am to relate to you in light of how God through Christ is related to me those are my marjoram and then the next verse is the one that gets all the airplay right women what's the next verse and and wives what ladies you don't sound very submissive come on let's ya and wives submit and that's the one that gets all the airplay but it's like the ending you know the oldest meant Greek manuscripts the vert is not even a verb in ever because they had to borrow from the one before and this is the these are our marching orders we are to submit to one another not because we're worth submitting to we're to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ I mean God sent his son into this world to submit for himself under the burden of my sin and he's like wow now you go do that for everybody else that's costly I know I did it for you it's very costly but it works it's the most powerful relational dynamic in any relationship where you have two people trying to out submit each other when I teach on marriage I say you know marriage is a race to the back of the line that's what it is you just keep racing the back of the line you'll have a great marriage I mean I sitting here right sometimes she lets me win that race anyway it's getting so the Apostle Paul takes this idea of mutual submission and he applies it to marriage but Jesus takes the very same idea and applies it to his gang I mean this is one of these cool narratives Mark chapter 10 I'm just gonna read it to you you you know exactly what I'm gonna say marked when I say to mark 10 you know where we are right no you don't it's okay mark chapter 10 as the the chapter right after mark 9 March Apter 10 verse 32 they the disciples the guy there on their last trip to Jerusalem when they get to Jerusalem the end is near but they think this is the beginning of something great he's raised Lazarus from the dead there's so much talk they're spies in Jerusalem everybody's looking for Jesus they're really there's gonna be Jesus sightings everywhere because he's coming to Jerusalem this is last Passover he's gonna pull off his Messiah robe it's gonna be amazed rabbi Rhodes gonna be a big M on the front a big K on the back and he's gonna be the king and the guys are like this is it you know they were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way the disciples were astonished because he had just basically said rich people aren't god's favorites they're trying to figure that out oh and they were following along and they were afraid and again he took the twelve aside and he was always you know there's wherever Jesus goes you know this there's a crowd everywhere so when it says the disciples these could be hundreds of people dozens of people so he has to stop and he pulls the twelve out with you know the other hundreds or dozens of people it's like I'm just need a time moment with these guys he took it the twelve aside their only way to Jerusalem and he told them what's gonna happen to him and I don't I don't know if in the first century this was funny it's sad funny but so here's what happened he gets him off to the side he goes okay we're going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law they will condemn him to death it will hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him spit on him flog him and kill him and three days later he will rise and mark says when we believe mark got his information from Peter Peter was there saw this who's gonna mock him spit on him flog him and kill him and three days later he will rise verse 35 says then like the soon as Jesus finishes then James and John the sons of Zebedee raised their hand and said we have a question yes will you do for us whatever we ask okay I mean that's too bad about the mocking and spitting and flogged and I'm but that sounds awful but we we we have a question it's like really like then like right after he just tells I mean they got this tender moment you know it's like you know I'm not parents you know I'm with three kids and you know family devotionals we didn't do very well I found a devotional somewhat like this I would just bring home email my daughter's here my wife's here I'm not making this up I would just bring home email from work of stories worse in just wrecked someone's life and I would just read those at the dinner table sometimes I would exaggerate a little bit and say wounds that's what sin will do let's pray Lord thanks for the food and I thought why be creative I could just tell people's real-life stories and try to scare my kids away from sin and it worked for the most part but you know those tender moments where you're trying to have that moment with your kid and your daughter your son goes daddy yes what is that thing on your nose it's like okay so this is one of those moments I mean he's just like uh what yeah so Jesus goes along with it like a good parent so what do you want me to do for you he says and they replied um hey would you let one of us sit on your right on the other one on the other one on your left and your glory like you know after the after all that other stuff like we'll probably hang back during the spitting and the mocking and flogging but when that's over you know and you know could one of us sit on I mean this is just so ridiculous it's unbelievable and it's just all tied right there together let one of us sit on your right in the other on your left and your glory in other words we want positions of authority and what the ten heard about this you know this story they became indignant with James and John and they weren't the indication is they weren't indignant like how dare you how insensitive they're indignant like wait what about us we want to be on your left and your right it's so cool to Jesus you know really I mean we're on our way to Jerusalem were at the end of the story and they're still they still haven't figured this out when Jesus call them together he got them all together okay sit down against the crowds office side it's so powerful Jesus called him together and he said hey do you do you know that those who are regarded as rulers of the gentiles you know how they lord it over them do you know how their high officials exercise authority over them you know how it is that the people in power leverage their power for their benefit to the demise and to the disregard of the people under them you know how the people at the top with all the stuff get all the stuff and the people who don't have the stuff don't get any stuff because all the stuffs going up you know you know how that works you know how this works in the world and of course the apostles are like yeah we know how it works why do you think we want to be number two and number three we know exactly how it works and you're about to be the king and we know we can't be number one but we want to be number two and number three all right yes we know how it works that's why we want to be close to you when you are the king of Israel and these next four words I think Jesus just reaches right through the centuries and the generations and the churches and to all of our faces anybody in seminary in any of us any of us in ministry any message with any aspirations any you know thing that may you know we want to do something for God something great for God or serve God I think he this these next four words here just transgenerational you know how it is with the leader of the Gentiles they lord over him yeah I think he leans in and he gets his finger right up in my face and finger right up in your face and he says not so with you you know how it works I know how it works not so with you you know how it is everywhere else of course we know how it is everywhere else this is why not so with you in that amazing instead whoever wants to become great among you I love this phrase because he's like hey you want to become great yeah good I want to become great I'm about to tell you I be great it's not bad it want to be great it's just how you be great instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant and the one who wants to be first must be slave of all in other words this how it's gonna work with me you know how it works everywhere else but when you in my deal this is how it's gonna work whoever wants to be great serves everybody else best you're not gonna see that modeled anywhere else and you're not even gonna think it'll work but if you're gonna be part of my kingdom and part of my Posse and part of my clacey and part of my movement my assembly and my congregation this is how it works and then he takes away all of their /our excuses this is for even I think every Christian leader should memorize this verse see what it is it looks kidding for even for even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve little foreshadowing and to give his life a ransom for many they have no idea what he's talking about for even the Son of Man hey guys have you not been paying attention for even the Son of man did not come to be served but is serving to give his life a ransom for many and they had no idea what was just really hours away so mutual submission it's it's it's not just a marriage thing but it works in marriage it's not just a family thing it's an organizational thing it's a kingdom thing it's a church thing it's a structured thing and when you find yourself as a point leader in any capacity in the local church you need to figure out how to get this right so I'm gonna give you some super specific tips in three minutes okay so the mute that the message the message of mutual submission now I'm going to kind of dive back into organizational context the message of mutual submission is simply this I'm here to facilitate your success regardless of where our names are on the org chart I'm here to facilitate your success regardless of where our names are on the org chart because you got to have an org chart but in the kingdom of heaven you don't operate by the org chart you may have one I mean we know Jesus is number one we don't know who number two and number three is didn't matter but no regardless of the org chart I'm here to facilitate your success in fact the higher I am upon the org chart the more success of yours I can facilitate the assumption of mutual love submission is that why our responsibilities differ we are both essential to the success of this enterprise if you've hired well every single person is essential every Sunday when I show up at one of our campuses and I get there way early I walk in and there's volunteers that volunteers got there before me and I'm the boss Wow so and they're all like hey and everybody calls me Andy you don't have pastor anything it's just hey indium and learn and they're a thank you I'm like are you kidding me thank me you gotta hurry before me and no thank you I mean I I want to know every volunteers name I assisted Diane sends me the list of all the band in the main production people every single Saturday so when I show up I can know everybody's name because but you have different teams coming and going I want to know their names I mean I mean thanking me if it wasn't for you I would be on my front porch gathering people in the front yard and preaching I mean my success and my ability to use my gift it's dependent upon hundreds of other people I mean we may be different places in the org chart but there are no non-essential personnel so there's nobody that's really actually functionally more important than anybody else if you have a great organization and if you've hired well but here's the beauty if you forget everything else I say this is the question that organizationally I think drives mutual submission deep deep deep into an organization and it's a very very simple question and the question is what can I do to help what can I do to help them there we're on what let's all say that out loud together because some of you have never said that in your whole life okay so here we go and all the wives are like yes finally ready what can I do I'm telling you this question is so powerful and it gets asked up all the time it becomes powerful when it gets asked down let's see of course I expect my administrative assistant to say Andy what can I do to help right well my administrative assistant she's the assisting me right but it's way more powerful when I say to Dianne hey before I go what can I do to help you it's like wow that kind of stands out doesn't it I think great leaders ask that question a lot and I'll tell you why you won't ask it because you're afraid they'll have an answer well you want to ask it like this hey what can I do to help I asked you to hear my question right the problem is if I said we're gonna need to help what if they have stuff for me to do it's like oh no I have more stuff to do right but this is what makes this is what makes it great this is what makes it Mutual and the further you are up in your organization the more you're able to help so let's say one more time together ready what can I do look let me just stop say this for some married people in here that one question could be a game-changer cuz your spouse doesn't hear it and you love her and you love him in your heart that question just puts it out there because that question says this I am making all of me available to you what's the best way to leverage all of me so that you get from me what you need what can I do to help this is a very difficult principle to get into a church that has an ecclesiology that basically sees the pastor as God's anointed right I'm God's anointed and you're not God's anointed it's if I'm got someone in so God talked to me then I talked to you this doesn't work there actually that's not even biblical of course but that's there's a lot of churches that operate that way right so when I run into people like that I go God's anointed have you have you done much study about God's anointing in fact that that whole God is the only thing that was King Saul you can't are you King Saul do you know how that worked out a random arrow finds a crack in his armor and then he begs his you know his but his bodyguard or his armor barity to kill him and he runs off and lets him fine you know no you don't want to be God's anointed okay it's it's better it's it's better to go with what the Apostle Paul said because he made it so clear I'm not anointed I'm part of a body that's a much better board picture right because everybody has their gift I mean you know this right I'm just a talker and just some of you the talkers and some of the administrators I mean you know all this so that we already have we already have a model we already have a framework for mutual submission and your body is a picture of mutual submission imagine if anyone if your body parts decided to act independently that's called ugly because they usually get end up getting cut off and put in a jar you ever seen hand if I tried to do this in a certainly one time I didn't know this you cannot get actual body parts in Flamel to hide I thought I could get like go to the CDC in Atlanta and say I just need some hands and feet for an illustration I promise I'll bring them back they're like did you know that's illegal I'm like I see it in movies all the time well those aren't real because I thought it would be cool to have like these jars with light hands and feet and I was gonna do an illustration and say this is what a disconnected body part looks like don't be a disconnected body part get busy in the church I thought that was pretty powerful you cannot you cannot get those so we made our own and they were gross there were people that I just had to look away so we had these plastic feet and hands and body parts and jars with like yellow water and I had them covered up and I say if you're not active in the church this is what you look like you're gross and we had obvious people sign up to volunteer it's great nobody wants to be that gross but we already have a picture right it's a body there's not a point you know there's the point leadership's one thing but this whole I'm God's anointed and God speaks to me and then I speak to you if you if you're in that model church you should get out of that church that's not even it sure I don't even I don't know what that I don't really know what that is so anyway so real quick for really super practical things is you think about doing this I'm going to give you four statements then I'll wrap this up in terms of again driving this through the organization the question is one but in terms of some habits that and for some of you you can't do this now because you're not in a position of authority but I'm telling you the moment you have 10 volunteers or five volunteers you can start this and if this becomes the rhythm of your leadership life it will serve you well because it'll set a rhythm and a pattern for the people who followed you so number one mutual submission do for one what you wish you could do for everyone you may have heard me say that before do for one what you wish you could do for everyone you remember growing up and you know adults they were awful they would he would ask him they will if I do it for you I have to do it for everybody else you know and you go good with your plastic tray in the cafeteria line and you know there's lady with the hairnet and you ask for another brownie well if I gave you one I have to give everyone one and do you remember what you thought that moment would you think no you don't and that what you thought you'd have to give everyone else one you can just give me one and I think that got in our hearts and minds as kids and we're like if I can't do it for everybody I'm not gonna do it for anybody wrong symbolic leadership and this is so powerful you do for one what you wish you could do for everyone this is how you mutually submit this way you are able to submit yourself to the person who's important the person it's not important the person that needs to not light that leaves a little but every once in a while you just when you can do for one do for one and don't worry about being fair in fact in ministry don't be fair be engaged don't be fair be engaged little Bible I think this is all fairness it's at the old testament to which is gonna shock you fairness but you get that I know this there's like three seminars and stuff in the Old Testament like should I go to those fairness ended in the Garden of Eden nothing's been fair since the Garden of Eden so do not try to be fair be engaged and the way you be engaged is you look for opportunity to knitties to do for one what you would do for everyone you can't do for everyone but don't use that as an excuse not to do for anyone so I tell our lead pastors all the time you can't do all the weddings but you better be doing some weddings you can't do all the funerals but you gotta do some funerals you can't visit everybody but you gotta visit somebody we one of the things that we do when you work for us for four three months you get an evaluation where you evaluate our organization cuz if you come to work for us you have fresh eyes we want to know what you see that we can't see because the longer you're somewhere or the less you can see that's why you have some really weird stuff hanging on your walls at home you don't see it anymore but your guests walk in and go but you you can't it's invisible to you you've been living there too long well that's what happens in organizations too you can't see anymore so we want to take advantage of fresh eyes and so we asked you do you have everything you need if you have a best friend or anything off mission or purpose or you're doing what you've been hired to do with all these questions they come right to my office and so every once in a while somebody will answer hey because one of the questions is do you have everything you need for your job and every once in a while somebody I'll say well it literally would help if we had a and so if it's something that's not just like ownerís and no one could afford I just tell my assistant Diana hey just go buy one of those let's go buy one so the last one night was our receptionist of a new receptionist and she wanted to be able to stand up at the receptionist desk so she'd have to sit all the time she would be great if I had one of the standards just I said just go go buy it I don't know just go buy one how much can that be and so I two weeks later I walked in her name's Missy and I had this box is it Missy here's her and I wanted her to know it's coming from me I mean this is important this is symbolic leadership I got your form I read it this is something we can do here's your stand-up desk let's unpack it and put it on your desk so what happens do you think she shared that story with anyone I hope she shared it with everyone people know what a great person I am now they want I want them to know I read that stuff number one and I want them to know you know what if we can we will because that's what leaders do so you look for opportunities to do for one what you wish you could do for everyone the second one and we'll get these hit these fast is when you're in organizational life you got to figure out a way to systemize top-down service and so it's not just bottom-up you got to work that into the rhythm of your organization third you got to celebrate it and repeat it or celebrate it and reward it when you see it quick little leadership thing this is so important in organizational life and with raising kids - what's rewarded gets repeated what's rewarded is repeated when there's something you want repeated you don't have to keep telling people to do it you just start rewarding it it's amazing how people do things for rewards I do you do - so when you see someone who's doing for one would they wishing to do for everyone when you see people you know modeling this mutual submission putting other people first you just reward it and you reward it publicly and you reward it privately the lots of illustrations about that then the last thing is and this is for the guys honestly I'll just be honest and so need to see so many women at seminary there were four here when I was here I'm just kidding eight or nine and this is such and this is such a you know pastor thing because we've seen this done wrong in fact some of you what I'm about to say you're gonna think I'm hypocrite because you think I'm this because you don't know me or maybe I am and Santa hasn't told me but guys you had to get this right if you're gonna really embrace mutual submission and your organization will be better you'll be better it's it's it's I think we're commanded remember Jesus said not so with you if you have to confront your ego and this is so hard for us if I confront your ego you have to decide I wrote this in my notes you have to decide what's most important and I don't think you decide this one time I think you decide this monthly annually every time you do a 360 I mean I think this all of us just we just have to come back to this question over and over what's most important building a great church or building a name for myself building a great church or building a name for myself because I promise you at some point along the way there's gonna be a decision and you'll decide whether you go left or right based on your answer to that question because the decision will come along and this answer it is better for building your personal brand but this answer is better for building the health and increasing the health of the church and you have to decide ahead of time what you're in this for and if you're in this for you I tell pastors this all the time I say look if secretly and if you're honest you know what you're not you're like you know what I really am kind of in this for me and I'm kind of using the local church to build my brand I said you should get all your staff together and just tell them they're like thanks so much yeah just tell them if you I said if you see your staff as supporting cast for your career tell them and then I say actually they already know cuz they're smart you've telegraphed it they know what you're up to they're not stupid and all the smart ones will leave and you'll be left with all the not-so-smart ones and they will support you into oblivion and we're gonna read about you later on because you could do something stupid because you were surrounded by people who weren't honest with you or tiled and enough to know what was stupid okay so you got to confront your ego you get it aside am I am I really in this for something that's bigger than me or am I in this for me because you'll never create the kind of culture that Jesus said were too if you don't get that right drop loyalty from your vocabulary think about this I mean that's such a big deal loyal loyalty did not even make it as a fruit of the Spirit I mean I'm sure Paul had 25 he's like 25 is too many okay we got to keep cutting cutting cutting I'm sure loyalty was on the long list but when he got to the short list of the fruit of the Spirit loyalty is not even on there but I mean good gracious there's there's churches where you think it's the number what's the whole list just loyalty didn't even make a list so just drop that from your vocabulary the disciples got this because in Acts chapter 6 the big problem in the churches where they can't get that disciples to quit serving the widows like John John really would you preach no I can't breathe there to serve our gonna do the lowliest thing cuz he said not so it's you they died for me I'm gonna serve the widow's okay John we really need you to teach we'll get somebody else to do that they had to pry their fingers off serving widows and that amazing and I think it's because Jesus punctuated it during that Passover meal when they finally got to Jerusalem and he humiliated them because he's like what's he doing he took off his rabbinic robe and they're like oh we didn't get anybody to wash our feet I will do it just like sit down do you know how long it takes to wash you know 12 pairs if he takes a long time you know how humiliated they were then he puts his rabbinic robe back on you call me teacher and Lord and rightly so because that's what I am you got it right now that I your teacher and your Lord Gordon teacher have washed your feet so you should wash one another's feet I have set an example for you that as you should do as I've been for you very truly I tell you no servant is greater than his master nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him now that you know these things you will be blessed gentlemen if you do them basically what they heard him say was hey guys you think you're when you start thinking you're a big shot I mean when the Holy Spirit comes everybody wants to hear Peter and everybody wants a piece of John everybody when you start thinking your big shot you know you just remember this night you just go find some morphine to wash and you just spend the rest of your life looking for the low place and the small and you'll change the world and that will be what my kingdom is known for and that's what we're called to do and it's not hard it's just that we need a reminder and if you forget you just remembered Jesus long bony Jewish finger saying not so with you Heavenly Father thank you very much for preserving these ancient texts thank you for that group of men who got it we're here because of them thank you for recruiting the Apostle Paul who had every reason in the world to be so arrogant he called himself the least of the Apostles because he persecuted the Church of God and here we are in their shadow doing what you called us to do so help us to get it right I pray that people will be amazed at how productive we are and amazed at how humble we are amazed at how productive we are and amazed at how well we get along and how well we treat people so I pray for this group whatever you have for them in the future I pray that we would be Kingdom minded for even the Son of Man didn't come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many and it's in his name we pray amen thank you all so much [Applause]

Channel: Dallas Theological Seminary

Views: 10,566

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Id: OMfjiXjOpTg

Length: 43min 58sec (2638 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 15 2019