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You have a meeting today with Michelle. She runs your music team, and she shouted at you a few days ago, after she found the door locked. Then she broke a piece of equipment and didn’t let the office know. It looks like she was hoping no one would find out. Over to you. Enough to make you break out in a cold sweat? Me too. It’s in every story, every marriage, every relationship, every business, every school. Every church. Conflict. Fights. Disagreements. Why do we find it so difficult? Perhaps if we had some training. Perhaps if we didn’t procrastinate. Maybe if we’d seen it modelled well during childhood. If someone had told me how much damage could result from running away . . . and on it goes. This is a subject that will run and run. When a leader lacks the ability to deal with conflict, the results can be truly awful. Division, discord, unhappiness, lack of vision, to name just a few. If you’re a leader who struggles with conflict, then this is not a subject you can just push under the carpet. Running from conflict is like pretending you don’t have an infection. It’s all well and good until the infection turns into sepsis, and then later on, you’re admitted to the ER. A leader who can’t do conflict is inevitably a poor leader. Why do we run from conflict? All sorts of reasons, but the primary one is fear. No question. Won’t everything just improve if I ignore the problem? Cue absurd fantasies, driven by terror over . . . actually doing something! So . . . I’m afraid that in one blog post, I’m certainly not going to solve the problem. But here are a few thoughts. Conflict is normal In fact, more than that, it’s healthy. Conflict may well arise from selfishness (or other sins), but it can also emerge from misunderstanding and a failure to communicate clearly enough. How often during a difficult conversation do we discover that we simply didn’t understand a person’s motivations, their background, the exact circumstances that led to the behaviour causing the problem? Conflict creates a space for learning, for empathy, for connection. For prayer. Conflict is a teacher Conflict is a light shining in the darkness. It illuminates truths not seen under normal circumstances. It forces each person to take a long hard look at both their behaviour and their response. Conflict shows us our lack of grace, our impatience, our unrealistic expectations, our failure to support and encourage. It can do the same for the person with whom we have clashed. When done well, conflict will often provide the opportunity for a leap forward in a relationship. Greater trust, more patience, a better understanding of what motivates and drives us. I didn’t realise . . . I didn’t know that . . . I see now why . . . I’m so sorry . . . Consider Michelle. How might the conversation go once you discover that she’s struggling in her marriage and faces losing her job? The whole tone of the conversation would shift. And rightly so. It would – and should – move towards grace, more grace, and prayer. This might even be the moment she looks back on, when she decided to seek marriage counselling and started down a path towards healing. Conflict can lead to grace. Believe it. Grace offered and grace extended – these are the crown jewels in the Christian community. Because God has graciously chosen us and saved us, we, of all people, are equipped to offer grace to all. And what a life-changer that can be! Conflict isn’t about winning If I could just show him where he’s gone wrong. This is going to be great. Once I’ve proved that I was in the right, then he’ll see that he was wrong to speak to me like that. Ye-es! Let’s go. Actually, let’s not. Let’s just calm down and take in the truth that conflict isn’t about winning. In an argument, if you win, you lose, and if you lose, you lose. There are no winners. Conflict isn’t about ensuring that the other person hears and understands your point of view. And it isn’t about ensuring that they agree with you. Conflict is there to bring us together. Often, I’m afraid, the results are unsatisfactory. Even when the issue has been addressed, differences often persist. It may produce growth, but it can equally leave us frustrated. Learning to deal with the disappointment arising from conflict is a life-long journey. It drives us to our knees. It’s supposed to. Some final tips. Do it now Discord festers. It niggles. Like a pebble in a shoe, it first causes slight discomfort, then a blister, then outright agony. It would have been better to remove it the moment you felt it. So do it now. You know it, I know it – when conflict arises, it’s best to address it immediately. (See our post on procrastination) Use ‘I’ language You’ve probably seen this in marriage courses. It applies to any kind of conflict. ‘You’ language comes across as accusatory. "You were the one who . . ." "You said you were going to . . ." "You promised to . . ." By contrast, ‘I’ language describes your own response to the problem. "I find it difficult when . . ." "I’m trying to understand . . ." "Perhaps I haven’t been as clear as I should have been . . ." "From my perspective, I struggle when . . ." It’s worth adding here the importance of starting with the facts. Since conflict often arises from misunderstanding, it’s essential to discover what actually happened. Who did what. When. Who was responsible. Remember your position You’re the leader. You have power; you exercise power. Be very careful how you use that power when resolving conflict. Don’t manipulate. Don’t accuse. Set good boundaries. Be clear. Be specific. Have realistic expectations. Apologise, if appropriate. Take responsibility. Don’t fudge with the truth. Don’t be defensive. Be open to the other person’s point of view. Listen well. And remember the psychology of both body and soul. Standing or sitting. Behind a desk or sitting in a coffee shop. In the lounge after the service? (Probably not). With another person present, or alone? Eye contact, tone of voice, use of language – avoiding inflammatory words – they’re all critical to how you come across. The person who finds conflict easiest is the one who is comfortable living in the truth. If you’re too fond of the mask, conflict will be hard. So live in the truth. Rip off the mask. Take responsibility for your failures. Extend grace to the sinner. Confess your own sins. Enjoy grace and enjoy sharing grace. In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul writes, If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. (Rom. 12.18) Leaders cannot please all the people all the time. But leaders can and should seek to live at peace with all people. That cannot be done unless a leader learns the art of conflict resolution. If you struggle with it, you are not alone. Be encouraged. The Lord knows that conflict is hard. It hurts. It’s a struggle. It forces you to dig deep, to draw on your resources of love. Believe it or not, to engage in conflict is to love well. Who would have thought it? Conflict forces you to go the extra mile. It forces you not just to talk about peace, but seek it, fight for it. Conflict forces you to your knees in humility; it drives you to draw on God’s help in times of stress and difficulty. It builds the soul, nurtures a faithful spirit. So however hard it may be, don’t avoid it. Face it. The Lord knows that you’re nervous and frightened sometimes, but that’s okay. Trust him and move forward. Step out in faith. When you do, you may well discover that love flourishes. And isn’t that your goal? Isn’t that the kind of community you are seeking to build? A community of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14.17b)

Two more Grand Prix. Two more brilliant drives from Lewis Hamilton. 100 pole positions. The records keep on coming. Today, some final thoughts driven by Formula 1. Formula 1 is a team sport. Although most people talk about the drivers, it’s really a team sport. And as with all team sports, success comes from each part of the team working to its maximum potential. Unleashing the strengths of the team is what great leaders do. Toto Wolff (Mercedes) and Christian Horner (Red Bull) both manage to get the best out of their teams. They’re very good leaders. So it won’t surprise you that I will mention, yet again, the importance of equipping and releasing as a principle for ministry (see our previous posts 'Stop Pleasing, Start Equipping' and 'Equip and Release'). What do we see in F1 that sheds light on a leader’s life in ministry? Encourage and Inspire If you listen carefully to Lewis Hamilton after he’s won a race, it is a rare day when he doesn’t use these words, “I’d like to thank everyone who’s been working so hard back at the factory.” He instantly and instinctively recognises that he’s only winning because of the work that others are doing. If you ever see him speak to one of the people who work in the lower echelons of the team – admin assistant, pit crew – you see them swell with pride. Lewis Hamilton is not a perfect human being, of course. Some of his choices and beliefs are far from ideal. But he gets this thing called “appreciation.” He understands encouragement. It goes without saying that good church leaders know how to encourage. (See our previous blog post, 'The Power of Words'.) But it’s more than just encouragement. It’s about the ability to inspire people too. In business, if a person doesn’t perform, then they will be fired. But fear of dismissal doesn’t draw out the best in people. Inspiration does. Church is often filled with people who aren’t performing. Many times, that’s because a leader simply hasn’t figured out how to mine the many talents in his community. But it’s also because, in the end, a church member is a volunteer. Serving coffee, turning up for prayer meetings, running Alpha, helping with the kids, it’s all done by volunteers. What keeps a volunteer going? Encouragement, certainly. But also inspiration. If a leader doesn’t inspire his people with a vision of who God is, and what he’s done for them, they will lose heart. If a church isn’t full of people growing in their faith, it stagnates. If your people aren’t inspired to give their all, then that’s an issue for you as a leader. It takes a strong leader to inspire a church. People need vision and they need equipping. And of course they need encouragement. They also need to enjoy the successes of the team. At the end of each race win, an F1 team will gather the whole team in front of the garage for a team photo. If they’re a middle-order team, they do this if they’ve over-achieved. P5! Yes! Right now, a Haas in the top 10 is a miracle. Let’s celebrate P9 with a team photo! What is a church’s success? Success is such a fraught, disputed word in Christian circles. It isn’t the latest book by the pastor. And it isn’t about numbers, though a church should be encouraged by thriving ministries. It might be new Christians. It might be testimonies which inspire. But mostly, we find inspiration when we catch a vision of how truly awesome our God is. So, inspire your people with a vision of God that fills their hearts to overflowing. He is our first and last source of life-saving inspiration. A good leader leaves a church body saturated in the wonder of God. A leader who draws me to my Saviour is a leader who inspires me. A church in which a whole load of nonsense is going on . . . division, mistrust, lack of vision and leadership . . . this is a church which fails to inspire. So ask yourself, Are you inspiring your church with a vision of Jesus? Risky business Formula 1 is a dangerous sport. It’s risky. So trust the tyres. Drivers die in Formula 1. Most famously, Ayrton Senna lost his life at Imola in 1994. As recently as 2019, in Formula 2, Anthoine Hubert was killed in Belgium. Last year, Romain Grosjean ran into a barrier at 160mph. His car burst into flames. It was over two minutes before he managed to emerge; a miracle that he only sustained minor injuries. One of the F1 commentators this season is Billy Monger, who injured both his legs in an F4 crash in 2017. He is a double amputee (left leg above the knee). He is also an inspiration. Church leadership seems tame by comparison. It isn’t risky, when perhaps it should be. In fact, I see a trend among church leaders to be fear-driven and extremely risk-averse. A while back, I wrote about people-pleasing. (Pleasing People Part One and Part Two). There is a corrosive aspect to people-pleasing which I didn’t address. Let me do so now by offering this question: What will they think? Indeed, what will they think if you take some risks? After all, those people sitting in the pews/chairs pay your salary. You wouldn’t want to upset them. So let’s just play it safe. Let’s just do the same thing over and over again, because some people might be upset by trying something new. I’m not asking you to preach a sermon in your underpants this Sunday. And I’m not suggesting that you do reckless things for the sake of “being edgy.” What I am saying is this. We talk in Christian circles about living for one Person, and one alone. In Os Guinness’ immortal words, we say we live before an “Audience of One.” But I’m not sure that we live freely before our “Audience of One.” We may not admit it, but many of our choices are driven by fear. We’re nervous about what people think, so we play it safe. We know what people expect, so that’s what we give them. A certain respectability is more important than authenticity, let alone vulnerability. It’s more important than listening to God’s Spirit and following where He leads. I happen to be someone who enjoys risks. So I will concede that my personality informs my view. You may be risk-averse, so you’re breaking out in a cold sweat just reading this. But when you think of serving your God, it’s worth asking yourself this question: Am I leading out of my relationship with God, led by his Spirit, or am I playing it safe because of my fear of offending certain people in my fellowship? Only you can answer that question. Trust your tyres Finally, tyres. Hards, mediums, softs, super-softs. In Formula 1, tyre management and tyre degradation are intrinsic to the sport. At the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix, with five laps to go, Max Verstappen caught Lewis Hamilton. He should have won the race, but he couldn’t quite keep the car inside track limits. His tyres didn’t have the grip, and in his eagerness to pass his opponent, the car slid just a little too much. By contrast, Hamilton had preserved enough grip so that he still had some left to fend off Verstappen in the final four laps. Verstappen is a master at overtaking; one day he will almost certainly win world championships. He deserves to because he is a phenomenal driver. But to do so, he will need to manage his tyres. Four pieces of rubber that connect the car to the driving surface. As an F1 car goes round a corner at 160mph, it’s only by the tiniest margin that the car still remains on the road. One small mistake, and it flies off into a wall or barrier. Drivers trust their tyres. They feel them. They can feel them degrade and they know how much grip is there, because as they turn, the car drifts. It drifts . . . but not too much. Great drivers have an innate ability to feel their way round a circuit. When they’re at the top of their game, they describe it as being “in the zone.” That’s when the great drives are done. Sebastian Vettel is no longer the driver he was. It is sad to see. But back in 2008, he drove one of the great wet weather races at Monza, winning in his Toro Rosso. He was “in the zone.” No driver can win without trusting his tyres. No leader can succeed without trusting God. Great faith is the hallmark of a great leader. In Luke 9, Jesus sends out the Twelve. Here’s verse 3: He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.” Why did Jesus do this? What parent tells his child, “don’t bother taking anything with you for the journey. No lunch, no clothes, no bag, there’s the door. Off you go.” How irresponsible! What’s going on?! Faith. Trust. Risk. Yes, risk! Who will clothe you? Who will feed you? Do you want to lead a life in which you arrange things so you don’t really need God? Ask Corrie Ten Boom and Jackie Pullinger, two women who launched themselves into the world with nothing but their Bibles and their faith in God. You want to talk about inspiration? That’s inspiration. So trust your tyres. Trust your God to lead you, to be with you on the journey. A life like that is inspirational. It points to Jesus who took the biggest risk of all – giving up his life. No wonder St. Paul describes the actions of his God as “foolish.” (1 Cor. 1) Risks often look foolish. Unless they’re underwritten, inspired . . . driven by a Saviour who recklessly gave himself up for our sakes.

Have you ever been used as a means to an end? Whether you’ve thought of it in those terms before, the answer must inevitably be “Yes!” We use ourselves as a means to an end every day. When we drive our bodies or souls into unhealthy and unsustainable working patterns in our determination to achieve the ends of praise, money or promotion. When we indulge our uncontrolled desires, using our bodies as a means to the end of pleasure or release. Too often, we use other people as a means to an end too. Our spouse becomes a means to sexual gratification, ego-boosting or ministry advancement without proper attention to his or her needs. We persuade unwilling or unwitting people to keep serving in ways that, if we’re honest, we know will harm them. We don’t think of their welfare, but instead do it to achieve the end of keeping a programme going or growing our church. I’m sure some of you have been deeply hurt and discouraged when others in ministry have used you as a means to an end. When a congregation expects you to work unreasonable hours without encouragement or proper sabbaths, you feel like a means to an end. Sometimes, it’s just thoughtless treatment - for example, when a church stops inviting you as a visiting speaker without even the courtesy of letting you know. It can even happen in a mentoring relationship. A young leader who once was so eager to learn from you moves on to a bigger ministry platform, and you never hear from them again. It leaves you feeling used. Let me say it plainly. Immanuel Kant was right (at least in this!) You are not just a means to an end and neither are others. So don’t use yourself or others that way. The wonderful truth of the gospel is that human beings are God’s end as well as God’s means. People were created in God’s image to know and enjoy him. They find joy by living the way he intends them to live. In relationship with him. In the Bible, though humankind sins grievously against God, he does not respond by using them as a means to an end. It is certainly true that nations and their rulers are his instruments to work out his purposes of judgement and blessing. However, he always dignifies them with the consequences of their choices and shows surprising mercy even to the most wicked. When it comes to salvation history, God became incarnate as a human and substituted himself in our place in order to save us. He became the means of our salvation, but not with the purpose of stopping there. No, the purpose has always been to transform those he loves into the very likeness of his Son. That is the end, and it is beautiful and good. In his earthly ministry, Jesus never used people as a means to an end. His interactions restored full humanity to people and called them into God’s kingdom, in which disciple-making disciples are both the ends and the means of mission. People come to share in the blessings of Christ through people who share Christ with them. Thinking of our ultimate destiny, God’s purpose is for us to be a people redeemed by Christ, who enjoy his goodness eternally as we continue to glorify God. The end is glorified humanity and the means to that end is the glorious human, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit, who gives birth to new life in us, is the guarantee of glory to come. He never uses people simply as a means to an end. And despite our rather clumsy language at times, he does not “control” us, but releases, leads and empowers us. He transforms us into the likeness of the One who is our end and our means to reach it. Creation, redemption and eternity – three reasons that people are never merely means to an end. I suspect none of this is news to you. So, why, unless I’m sorely mistaken, do churches so readily turn people into the means to some other end than their own “progress and joy in the faith” (Phil. 1.25)? We could blame thoughtlessness or insensitivity. We might say it’s unintentional. We may even tell ourselves that the problem is just lack of sacrificial commitment from others. But these thin veneers hide the shameful truth that “ministry” has become an idol. And idols need sacrifices. The idol of our vainglory demands the lifeblood of God’s people. And that’s not right. Instead, the sacrifice God seeks is our living selves – alive in Christ, joyous in God’s grace, refreshed by the Spirit. So, when our sacrifice is killing us or damaging others, there’s something seriously wrong. So, people are always more than a means to an end. But, we should also be careful of a different error: turning ourselves and others into an end and not a means. That’s what happens if we become complacent or give in to self-preservation. Remember, we are both the end of God’s purposes and the means through whom He works. Disciples making disciples and growing in the process. That’s why we must always call people to discover the works he has prepared in advance for them to do, which is the fruit of the work he has done in us (Eph. 2.10). He works in us; we do his work in the world. To equip people for that task, we need to remember that they are ends and means. As they grow up in every way into Christ, speaking the truth in love, they are the end of that work (Eph. 4.15). So, in pastoral ministry we need to see people as both means and ends. We need spiritual wisdom to recognise when an end – think vision, mission, goal, strategy or programme – has turned a person into a means. Equally, we need insight to know when we have made a person into an end without a means by affirming laziness or selfishness. Above all, we need to know people well enough to spot which is the case. Whichever problem you diagnose, the first step is to affirm that you do not see the person as a means to an end alone. Only when they are sure they are not being used, can they begin to understand that God has a wonderful part for them to play in a story whose end is glorious. So, how can you show people that you value them as an end in themselves? Here are some practical suggestions: Never confuse God’s goal of creating mature disciples of Christ with your goal of running the church and sustaining its programmes. Tell people who serve that it’s okay to take a break or leave a ministry team, because you love them more than their contribution. (They do not need to know about your anxiety over replacing them. That is between you and the Lord!) Don’t use guilt trips to encourage people to serve. (If we don’t have more people, then..) That’s not right. Instead, captivate them with the wonder of God’s grace. Get to know your people well enough that you know their gifts. Don’t rely on general appeals. Having said that, give space for people to follow God’s call to serve in areas you might not have anticipated. Continue to bless people who stop serving in your church. Do this even when you don’t understand why they stopped. Bless those who leave your church, regardless of why they left. Shunning leavers is cult-like. It is wrong. Make sure your preaching and pastoral counsel encourages the full range of works of service God has prepared for his people. Be aware that much of it (perhaps most) is in workplaces and families rather than church programmes. (See our recent post "Buffet Church") Make a special effort to care for people who simply aren’t able to contribute towards ends you might have. Again, don’t confuse your ends with God’s ends. He may well use people in ways which you will never know. When people from outside serve your church, send a hand-written card of thanks. Speakers truly appreciate the time you take to do that. If it doesn’t go well, give honest feedback. If you stop inviting a regular, tell them why. Don’t shun them with silence. Having given the first words to Immanuel Kant, I feel I must leave the last words to the true Immanuel – God’s ultimate end and means through whom we reach God’s end, and in whom we become God’s means. He called us to His life-affirming, grace-saturated ethic of love for God and others, with words that call us to treat others and ourselves both as ends and as means: So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. Matthew 7:12

Imagine your church as a buffet. A wonderful array of tasty foods. Sweet, savoury, spicy, a feast to tempt all available palates. Each food on the buffet represents a church activity – Sunday service, prayer meetings, home group, evangelistic events, social action projects, and more. As your people go down the line, some of the foods are selected by everyone. Let’s call them the steak and the salmon, popular with everyone. The Sunday service is steak and salmon. Everyone eats those. Further down the line, the pastas, rice and potato dishes are also popular. Home groups and prayer meetings, the staple diet of many evangelicals. Desserts? Look no further than the music team! Before considering the deficiencies of the analogy, allow me to make an observation about the way leaders sometimes view the buffet. Many leaders watch their people shuffle past the buffet and wish that more people were selecting the less popular foods. Beetroot, anyone? That’s cleaning up after the meeting. Swede? Taking old ladies home after church. Tapioca pudding? Locking up the building. I call it the Great Volunteer Push. All leaders, at some point, find themselves dragged into this activity. Consider all the activities in your church. They require volunteers. When faithful, consistent, reliable Ronald runs out of helpers on the coffee rota, he will eventually turn to you, dear vicar/pastor/minister. Because you know lots of people and well, you’re the boss. This is how you end up with the 80/20 rule: eighty percent of the work done by twenty percent of the people. As a leader, it’s enough to have you tearing out your hair. You don’t want to ask Colin and Sandy, the couple who serve in almost every ministry . . . again. But off you go, because they are such a lovely couple. And there’s no one else available. Apparently. There is so much wrong here, but so much that is recognisable in many churches. What’s the problem, then, with the analogy? And why do leaders succumb to the Great Volunteer Push? Leaders who run around looking for volunteers have often accepted the buffet analogy in its entirety. They view their churches as a whole variety of activities for which volunteers are needed. They are frustrated because everyone chooses the steak and salmon – the Sunday service – while never placing the beetroot on their plate. Too many people take, take, take and rarely give. The less popular foods (activities) require the same volunteers over and over again. That leads to stress, burnout and an overworked leader. What’s the solution? First, if you spend lots of time drumming up volunteers, then that’s a problem. I don’t think you’ll find anywhere in Scripture the admonition to ‘raise volunteers.’ What you will find is a description of the leader’s role as ‘one who equips.’ Equipping is not the same as filling rotas with volunteers. (See blog posts on equipping and releasing here and here.) Second, it’s a disaster to view a church in terms of its activities. See the buffet? That does NOT describe the work of God in the community you lead. It’s JUST the activities. One of the Living Leadership Associates once said to me, ‘you know, we leaders are control freaks.’ Control freaks view their church as the sum total of its activities. More prayer meetings, more healings, more converts, more coffee served. Add it all up and that’s your church. But that isn’t your church. A leader can’t possibly know all the ways that God is working, the myriad wonderful ways that his Spirit leads, guides, forms and grows the people of God. If you tend towards control-freakery, get rid of the buffet analogy. Immediately. For the rest of us, let’s go back and take a look at what’s on the table. Let’s, for a moment, empathise with the leader who is frustrated, because the frustration isn’t just due to lack of volunteers. It arises because churches often contain people who aren’t growing. They come to church on Sunday and that’s about it. Of course a spiritual life is not measured by outward activity alone, but it’s hard to watch Mrs. Jones or Mr. Robinson wander through life without really developing an intimate relationship with Jesus. A diet of just steak and salmon will make you ill. In fact, a diet of just one food will make anyone ill. Some of this has to do with church culture. What expectations do you have of your church membership? What do you offer to your members to help them grow in their gifts? Let’s go back to the table. When you take a new member along the line, how well do you explain all the different foods? Do new members know what’s on offer, or are they left to work that out for themselves? Do you offer a new member’s course? Do you offer a course on how to recognise and develop your gifts, like the Network course? Don’t like courses? Then how do you integrate new people? If the church is a network of relationships in which we are all equipped for works of service, then how does your church accomplish that? Who is equipping whom? How do new people find their place? Perhaps the challenge is this. It doesn’t really matter what they’re eating, as long as they’re eating something. They won’t grow unless they become involved. That doesn’t mean drumming up volunteers. It requires careful thinking about how the gifts of your members are developed, appreciated, celebrated and grown. That’s the work of the leader. To equip people for works of service. It turns out, then, that it’s wonderful to eat from the buffet. The buffet is not the measure of ALL God’s work in your church. Not at all. But the food on offer provides sustenance. It often creates community, binds us together in love and as we gather in the tasks before us, we experience the joy of growing together. That’s wonderful and life-giving. So the buffet does matter. Celebrate the buffet. Just don’t get carried away with the analogy, so that it restricts your thinking. God is at work in your church, in all the varied activities that take place. That’s good. But he’s much bigger than your list of activities. Of course he is! He’s God. He’s vast, he’s glorious and beyond our control. As one writer puts it, he’s uncontainable. He’s certainly more than a nice spread replete with savoury dishes and hors d’oeuvres. So equip your people and surrender your church into God’s hands. He is more than capable of advancing his kingdom, with or without the buffet. That he chooses to include the buffet is due to his love. After all, those dishes were prepared, cooked, baked, braised, boiled and roasted by him. The sauces are his, the dips, the meats, vegetables and desserts . . . he made them all. It’s his buffet. And when we eat from it together in love, everything tastes delicious. New resource! We are always working on expanding our resources. New this week we have an article on leading single people in your congregation.

Hamilton lands the first blow, but Verstappen hits him with a decisive left-hander into the first corner in the second round! This F1 season is shaping up to be a season for the ages. You won’t want to miss a single minute. I’m loving it. Today, more thoughts driven by Formula 1. What makes Lewis Hamilton a seven-time world champion? Being fortunate enough to drive the best car? Certainly, the car has helped. (See my last post on the importance of the car). But it isn’t just the car, is it? Raw talent? Well, he’s an exceptional driver. Sometimes he’s so good, the rest of the field just has to stand back and admire his achievements. Take, for example, his qualifying lap at the Styrian Grand Prix in 2020. He qualified 1.2 seconds faster than the next driver. That’s an absurd amount of time. Toto Wolff described it as a drive “not of this world.” The lap at Imola just recently was also breathtaking. But I’m not here to list Lewis Hamilton’s achievements. This is not a book. I want to examine what it takes to become a world champion. Good car. Check. Talent. Check. But that’s not enough. What it takes is this . . . Focus, focus, focus World champions dedicate their lives to the pursuit of just one thing. The G forces going through their bodies – especially their neck muscles – are tremendous. After two hours in the car, they often emerge dripping with sweat. You have to be very fit to drive to your greatest potential all the way to the end. Footballers can’t do it! Most goals are scored in the last ten minutes when one side is flagging. In F1, you can lose the race from one split second of lost concentration. So what of those who lead churches? What does it mean to focus, focus, focus? Two quotes. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3.13-14 Purity of heart is to will one thing. Søren Kierkegaard It is perhaps the greatest heart-breaking irony in a leader’s life, when the very thing which should be first, ceases to be so. God should be first in our waking thoughts, first in our priorities, our time with him protected from every incursion. He is our sole pursuit. And yet in the busyness of ministry, we are liable to lose our focus. And we do it with the best of intentions, and with a heart which often seeks the good. People quickly become our gods. Aren’t we supposed to love people? Yes indeed, but those two commandments are written with the order in mind. First, love God. And do so by loving your neighbour. If God is not your primary focus, then it won’t matter how much you give to people, because your priorities are out of kilter. So make the pursuit of your Lord your first priority. Every day. In every action. A time spent with God that drifts from one to two hours is NEVER a careless use of time. Ever. To love God means just that. To place him first before all other things. Listen to John Calvin. We are God’s own; therefore let every part of our existence be directed towards him as our only legitimate goal. Lewis Hamilton prioritises the winning of F1 world championships. He organises his life around that one objective. And so do others. They are straining every sinew to achieve that goal. Our goal? To love God with all that we are, all that we own, all that we do. And no, this doesn’t mean over-working. We at Living Leadership are very clear about that. Servicing Let’s take a look at that car. An F1 car is a thing of beauty. The designers manage to eke out a huge amount of downforce, but they also balance it perfectly between the front and rear tyres. At least, that’s the aim. Do you drive? If you do, do you have your car serviced? Of course you do. So how much work do they do on these F1 cars? There isn’t a nut, a bolt, a duct, a compressor, DRS which isn’t cleaned, examined, tinkered with, serviced and worked on until it’s working as close to perfection as the team can manage. All done within the rules, of course. Servicing the cars isn’t an added extra. It is integral to the success of the team. Think of the race as your public performance. A Sunday service. A teaching engagement. Public prayer. What kind of servicing are you doing on your soul? What’s going on behind the scenes? Recently, I’ve been reading some selections from the classics. Richard Rolle, Frank Laubach, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, C.S.Lewis, Henri Nouwen. Their wisdom is both challenging and humbling. These were people who dedicated their entire lives to the pursuit and service of God. They engaged in the spiritual disciplines, the servicing of their souls. They spent time alone, they meditated on the Word of God, they fasted and they prayed. They often wrestled with God. If your soul were a car, what kind of servicing does it need? Is your oil leaking? Are your tyres worn out? Do you need to go on a retreat? Do you need a friend to come alongside and encourage you? At Living Leadership, we provide opportunities for leaders to receive prayer and encouragement. The spiritual disciplines are practices which service the soul. They help us draw near to God. They shouldn’t be options. They should be essential. The Tyres Finally, those tyres. The truly great drivers manage their tyres. They are able to drive in such a way that they minimize the wear on the tyres as they drive. Sergio Perez is particularly good at this. So was Jenson Button. I guess you could call this “pacing yourself.” The Lord is not honoured by a servant who burns himself out – working ridiculous hours with little support until the tank is empty, the tyres are shot. That’s not a healthy way to serve in ministry. If you want to pace yourself, you must learn to rest, to recuperate, to relax. The sole pursuit of God doesn’t mean working until we destroy our mental health. It means enjoying him with all of who we are. Listening to his Spirit. A servant strengthened in God is a servant satisfied in God, equipped for service. So pace yourself. Manage those tyres. Focus, focus, focus. Service your soul. And pace yourself. Manage those tyres. So that you’re able to love and serve your God, energized, for the whole race.

Do you dream of a kinder, more compassionate, more just world? I do. Let me introduce you to the TV show, Unforgotten. It presents a world in which police officers are kind, upright, caring and compassionate. That’s not what we get in most crime dramas, but in Unforgotten, that’s exactly what we see. The show is hugely popular. Unforgotten follows an historic crime department in the Metropolitan Police, solving crimes dating back decades. Each season starts with the discovery of a body – normally just the skeletal remains. The lead detective is Cassie Stuart, played by Nicola Walker. She radiates intelligence, care and compassion. She speaks softly and carefully, and is adept at asking one final question as she leaves. Just like Columbo. She’s a smart woman. Her partner is Sunny Khan, played by Sanjeev Bhaskar, quiet and intense. Together, they lead their team with diligence and integrity. No blundering plods here. In this show, you will never see police officers accusing people, shouting at them or harassing them. And there are no car chases. It’s a breath of fresh air, which is worth gulping down. What makes Unforgotten so . . . unforgettable? The illumination of human drives and desires. It is a show with an intense focus on secrets and lies, and it proceeds along two tracks. Track one is the detective work itself – the forensic evidence, the search for documents, the unearthing of connections. Track two is the behaviour of the suspects. As in all crime dramas, these two tracks collide. As the truth emerges, the suspects, who have been lying, find they can’t hide. They make silly mistakes, revealing their guilt. Or they can’t keep their stories straight. All the characters have something to hide. Truth is lurking underneath and for various reasons, they seek to hide it. On many occasions, the stories reveal the devastation of sexual abuse. Often there is shame. On occasion, it is the desire to protect a child. In other cases, it is guilt. Anger, revenge, family brokenness, misunderstandings, fear, they’re all on display in Unforgotten. Which is why it’s so powerful. It is a show with heart. Because it seeks to reveal the human heart. *Secrets and lies – great drama so often revolves around those two. Shame and fear – two of the most significant drivers of human behaviour. Secrets, lies, shame, and fear pretty much describe Genesis 3. Everything that follows in the history of the world emerges from that brief interaction between Satan and the first humans. We could, of course, insert pride here, but for now, let’s just stick with these four. We are lied to, then we lie to each other. Afterwards, we apportion blame. We seek to keep our behaviour secret because we feel shame. Then we fear the one who made us. Finally, we are cursed and must live under a curse, which cements these behaviours into us for generations. We’re still there. All from a few short verses. So here’s the first application for us as leaders. Do you have secrets? Do you feel shame for something, which has not been properly addressed? Do you fear God’s wrath, instead of embracing his love? What are you afraid of? All of us, to some extent, carry fear in our hearts. Even if it’s simply that our loved ones will perish or leave us. Do you have someone in whom you can confide? A friend or counsellor to whom you can unburden yourself? We at Living Leadership are here to help with mentoring and pastoral care, should you wish it. Most of us know the antidotes. Perfect love casts out fear. The truth will set you free. Resist the devil and he will flee. But it’s not enough to trot out the right verses. We need to live in them. Fully and intentionally. We need to live in the light. The recent shameful accounts of prominent Christian leaders, whose hidden lives have now been brought into the light, should give us fair warning. There is no hiding place from the truth. Not really. So what are you hiding? What are you running from? God sees all, knows all, and his love is everlasting. The second application has to do with the people we serve. How good is the pastoral care in your church? When a person presents with significant emotional anguish, do you have a way of helping that person find counsel and healing? The truth may set us free, but it is also akin to ripping off a scab. Health may follow as the wound heals, but it hurts like hell during the healing process. Will we walk with those who have held in secrets for decades? Will we be slow to judge and quick to listen, ready with a compassionate heart? Perhaps the reason why Unforgotten is so popular has to do with its stories of redemption. A woman with a shameful past hides it from her partner. The past is revealed. Rejection follows. Her anguish and misery cause anyone with a heart to cry out, “But what she needs is grace! Give her grace!” And grace she finally receives. Stories of grace will always touch our hearts, and they should. Grace is right at the heart of our experience of God. Unless you’re missing a pulse, it’s hard not to be moved by a character who receives grace. We Christians understand this, but so, it appears, do many in our world, who long to find a way out of their secrets and lies. What a powerful message we’ve been given. A message of God’s unmerited favour towards all those who would draw near. One final observation. At one point, someone asks, “Does the passing of time change the seriousness of the crime? Just because it took place thirty years ago, it’s still a crime.” (Paraphrase) Unforgotten’s foundational value is something we recognise instinctively. The astonishing value of each human being. That’s why even decades later, each victim is a person who should never be forgotten. Hence the title. That is a value we cherish dearly. For God created us for himself and we bear his image. We are precious to him. Infinitely precious. Today, let us give him thanks for the gift of life, for the chance to live in the light. Every day is an opportunity to banish secrets and lies. Every encounter with our heavenly Father bears within it the invitation to put our fear and our shame to death. For perfect love drives out fear. He has nailed our shame to a Roman cross and it binds us no more. How wonderful to serve a God of compassion, who bore our shame, who offers us new life. *I recommend Secrets and Lies, the 1996 Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning movie by Mike Leigh. The title tells you what to expect

Formula 1 is back. With a bang! On Sunday, Lewis Hamilton won the opening race of 2021 in Bahrain by the skin of his teeth. Wheel-to-wheel action all the way to the end. He actually lost the race lead to Max Verstappen in the Red Bull with five laps to go. However, the Dutchman exceeded track limits on Turn Four so was ordered to give up the lead. He then didn’t have the speed to re-take the lead. What an irony that it was Red Bull who had complained about Mercedes exceeding track limits during the race. Hoist. Own. Petard. Oh, the cruelty of F1! (I can already hear ardent F1 fans tapping away at the keys to give me ‘feedback.’ Winking smiley face.) I’m not an F1 geek, but I’ve come to love this sport. Especially since the release of the Netflix show, which has followed the last few seasons of the sport. So what, in heaven’s name, has F1 got to do with Christian leadership? As it happens, quite a lot. It throws up all kinds of analogies and lessons. Lights out! Here we go. First, the brain has two sides. A left-hand side and a right-hand side. These two sides of the brain perform different functions. The right brain is more associated with the emotions, intuition, imagination; the left brain is more about logic, maths, sequencing. In F1, we have a sport which brings together in perfect harmony these two sides of the brain. Here’s how: It’s all about the car. Make no mistake, in F1, the car is king. The championship is won by engineers in a factory with their computers and their scientific application of aerodynamics. More downforce? Less wear on the tyres? A more powerful engine? It’s the designers and engineers who make it happen. Something as seemingly innocuous as a brake duct caused one of the controversies of last season. Some of them were so upset about a little brake duct on a competitor’s car! But when we watch F1, we don’t cheer the designer at the computer, who’s just figured out how to make the car go faster. We don’t gasp when he clicks and drags his design onto the schematics, and in so doing wins the championship for his driver. Of course not! During the Netflix show, they give absolutely NO attention to the science. None at all. They just talk about “working harder.” Why is this?* Because F1 is all about the raw emotion. It’s a feeling sport, as all sport is to varying degrees. It’s all heart. The roar of the engine is a metaphor for the human heart. It’s a lion’s roar of passion and drive. F1 is a sport in which the emotions run very high. Just listen to a driver who has won a race, the shrieking, the ecstasy, the sheer unadulterated joy that comes from winning. Human beings come in all shapes and sizes, of course. Some are critical thinkers, others are emotional artists. I understand that. However, the fan of F1 is mostly caught up in the emotion. Why? Because human beings are feeling beings above all things. We are certainly more than just a swell of emotions – how could we build bridges and rockets otherwise? – but we are often carried along by our emotions. Have you noticed that during an argument your explanations mean almost nothing? Arguments reveal just how emotional we are, whether we suppress our emotions (very common in the U.K.) or not. It’s worth adding that I find those who are uncomfortable about discussing emotions are often those who need to express them more. Make of that what you will. So . . . The people you serve are feeling beings. They have felt this pandemic deeply. They feel the loss of relatives, the loss of connection. Their emotions have been wrung out over the past year. They need love, not explanations. They want to be loved. As we all do. How wonderful that we have a God whose love is mighty and everlasting, and beautiful and pure. Second . . . Did you just say it was all about the car? Are you kidding?! Have you ever seen Max Verstappen drive a car? How is it that he manages to out-perform every single one of his teammates? Sometimes by almost a second (in F1, a second is a vast ocean). But George Russell climbed into the Mercedes last season – a man who was at the back of the grid in his Williams – and almost won the race. It doesn’t matter who drives that Mercedes, the car is what matters. Or does it? And so goes the debate in F1 – is it the driver or the car? It’s both. Which is why F1, unlike any other sport, is all about expectations. In the Premier League, only five teams have a realistic chance of winning the league. But hold on, because Fulham beat the champions, Liverpool, not that long ago. Not so in F1. In F1, the Williams will be at or near the back of the grid every race. Guaranteed. Their car just isn’t good enough. That’s how it is. AlphaTauri aren’t fighting with Red Bull and Mercedes, they’re challenging the other mid-field teams. This means that when a team over-performs, they are ecstatic. Absolutely delirious. We came fifth! A Williams scored a point. Let’s celebrate! You won’t see that in many other sports. And when out of nowhere, a mid-field team wins a Grand Prix, like last season, the whole team goes bananas! When Pierre Gasly, demoted the previous season from Red Bull, won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix in his AlphaTauri, I thought he was going to explode. He was leaping about like a wild man. His whole team went berserk in the pit lane. The lesson? The Parable of the Talents (Matt 25.14-30). Each servant is given a different number of talents. Each F1 driver is given a different car. Each servant is asked to be faithful with what he’s given. Each F1 driver is asked to do his best with what he’s given. In the church, we’re not competing, of course, (see blog post on competition here) but we are given different gifts and different opportunities. We’re not all the same. God knows this, which is why we’re each called to be faithful with what we’re given. The world keeps telling us that we’re being measured against metrics like success, wealth, fame. But these are lies. First, we’re not being measured against anyone at all! We are simply given a life to lead, and we’re called to offer it back to our Master. And each of us is dealt a different hand. From rich to poor, From justice-seekers to beauty-creators, From musical to tone deaf, From artistic to science whiz, From ‘buttoned up’ to ‘let it all hang out,’ From thinkers to feelers to all mixed up. In your church, you will have people with tremendous gifts and others with gifts that are less sparkling, less fancy. As leaders, we must endeavour to communicate to ALL our members that we are valuable because of who God is, and who he has made us to be. We are each unique and beautiful. Each one of us. 1 Cor 12 until we die. Eliminate anything in the church which creates competition – resist the fame culture with all that you have. And keep pounding away with the message that God is worthy of our praise, because of who he is. Give thanks that he has made us for himself – each one of us – to worship him, and find our identities in him. ALL of us. Let me finish with a piece of wisdom from John Calvin: “We are God’s own; to him, therefore, let us live and die.” *It’s worth saying that F1 teams don’t share their designs, because they’re highly secretive. The journalists never venture into the science, because they’d be given short shrift. “Oh no you don’t. That’s private.”

We've all done it. We've all looked at the numbers. ‘Ooh, look how full the church is! It's fuller than last year's Christmas Eve service.' ‘Twenty-five for Alpha last night? Wow, that's encouraging.' ‘Giving is up, you say? That is good news.' Or the reverse. ‘Less than half the number we had last week for Alpha. Sadly, not a good night.' ‘Clicks are down. Much lower than last week when I thought we were reaching Australia.' Numbers, numbers, numbers. They get in our heads. No, more than that. They mess with our heads. So much so that we're apt to lose our bearings. In response, many simply opt for an extreme response: numbers are meaningless; it's all about faithfulness. On the surface, that sounds like the right response. Faithfulness is indeed a way of assessing a life in ministry. It's affirmed in Scripture as one of the most important character traits of a servant leader. Just be faithful; ignore the numbers. End of blog post? Not so fast, because those numbers won't go away that quickly. During our Living Leadership conference recently, I was discussing this issue with a young leader. He made this comment and it resonated immediately. Here it is: Numbers matter because people matter. Just let that one sink in for a moment. He is absolutely right. People matter and people are reflected in almost every number we count. In Luke's account of the birth of the church in Acts, he writes, Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2.41. He concludes the chapter with this: And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2.47b. It's absolutely clear that Luke is giving meaning to those numbers. He's telling us that the message is finding fertile soil, the gospel is gaining ground, the kingdom is advancing, and it's reflected in the numbers. The numbers indicate that something good is happening. God is at work. Numbers matter because people matter. Bang on. But hold on, because this can go badly wrong. If numbers are an indication of God being at work, then it's not long before we're drawing the wrong conclusions. Numbers equal success. Low numbers: God is absent. High numbers: God is present. But that is false, false, false. Not true at all. The problem here is that the methodology for assessing the numbers is far too simplistic. First, success can never, ever be reduced to numbers alone. Second, the numbers relate to different activities. This is when the young leader came up with another gem. He said, You have to understand the significance of the number. What does the number indicate? In life, which is highly competitive, numbers seem to tell a very simple story. Jeff Bezos started Amazon in his garage in 1994. Today it's a trillion-dollar company. The high numbers equal success. Tom Brady just led his team to another Super Bowl. He holds more records than any other American football player in history. Cue worldwide acclaim. J.K. Rowling sold gazillions of Harry Potter books. She's now a household name. But the church is not the world. Our metric for success doesn't work like that. So if numbers matter because people matter, then we would do well to look at each number and be very careful about drawing the wrong conclusions. (Some might also caution that obsessive number crunching is unhealthy, and I would tend to agree.) Which numbers are you looking at? What is their significance? The number of people who attend church fluctuate. There is very little significance in the ebb and flow of how many attend your Sunday service. Stop counting. It's not important. Donations? Once you've determined how you'll talk about money, just leave it to God. Leave it to the church treasurer. Fret about money and you will drain yourself of energy and you will lose focus. Numbers at your mid-week prayer meeting as a bellwether of the spiritual health of your church? Be very careful. You have no idea why the numbers are down, or what other commitments people have. Youth ministry is well known for flexible numbers. A youth leader must remain committed and resolute, trusting in God at all times, because one week twenty-five turn up, but the following week just five. ‘Oh didn't you know? So-and-so is having a party tonight.' It's okay to feel a little disappointed, but then your character will emerge . . . ‘Okay, let's give the five who are here my very best.' That's when the goal of ministry becomes crystal clear. I'm here for the people who show up; I mustn't be discouraged because the numbers collapse. I have run Alpha for twenty years, on and off, and it is impossible not to be affected by the numbers. Sometimes we would start with over forty, and end with less than twenty. It's always disheartening when a person, who was becoming integrated, just fails to show up. We are human after all. But what is the significance? This one is a challenge. Are you upset because your numbers are down and you can't crow about the high numbers? Or does your heart break for the person who no longer wants to pursue questions of life and faith? Your answer will reveal your heart. There is another aspect to numbers. Even if you reject the link between numbers and the word success, they are rarely meaningless. So for those who are repelled by numbers, consider this. If you try something new in your church and no one turns up – or very few – then like it or not, that is significant. An evangelistic event where hardly anyone turns up, and no one responds – that has meaning. Should you keep going? I do not know. Only the Lord can show you the significance of each number, because only he knows the end from the beginning. So seek him. Perhaps the best way to assess the significance of a number is to submit it to the fruit test. Does the number indicate that the activity is bearing fruit? Very broadly, fruit means growth. Growth in knowledge. Growth in spiritual maturity. Growth in faith. Growth in love. Kingdom growth. And last but not least, growth in the number of people coming to faith. Growth is good. Perhaps that's why Jesus chose the vine metaphor. Vines grow; they bear fruit. In John 15, he said, If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing . . . This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Later on in the passage, he says, I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Ah, there it is. That's a much better way to assess numbers. Whether they're up or down, do they indicate lasting fruit? Changed lives. Deeper knowledge of God. Disciples who are growing in faith, hope and love. Is that the fruit you are seeing? Because there's only one way to reach that goal. Faithfulness and obedience. Timeless character traits that speak of a life wholly committed to God. Numbers matter because people matter. Absolutely right. We must never forget God's heart for the lost. For God so loved the world . . . But don't ever get lost in the numbers. Don't allow them to discourage you. Try to understand their significance – for often they do have meaning – and then commit those numbers to God. He says he's faithful to us. He is. Every day. Will we be faithful to him whatever the cost? Then the numbers won't hold any power over us. For one day, our Lord won't be looking at us in the face and saying, ‘your numbers were a bit disappointing.' Instead, if we remain resolute and steadfast, he will say, ‘well done, good and faithful servant.' We're always expanding our library of resources. New this week we have an extract of Peter Hicks' book What Could I Say? on the topic of Rape and Sexual Assault.

Editor’s Note: The following post is based on short talks by two of our Associates, Jim Crooks and Martyn Dunning, delivered at Pastoral Refreshment At Home in February 2021. They have been adapted by Richard Collins. Tall Poppy Integrity – Martyn Dunning It’s only recently that I came across Tall Poppy Syndrome, a phrase more common in Australia. You’ll have noticed that poppies in a field usually grow to approximately the same height. If one is taller, it might easily be blown over. Why? Because it stands out! Tall Poppy Syndrome is a way to describe those who stand out. Several Australian management studies have explored whether, because of their principles, certain people are cut down to size by their colleagues. How? By being ostracised, gossiped about, or becoming the target of ridicule and derision. It’s those with integrity, those who are sincere, who are the “tall poppies.” These studies call to mind the experience of Job in the Bible. Having listened to the accusations of his three friends, Job responds, “I will not deny my integrity . . . my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.” (Job 27.5-6) Margaret Thorsborne is managing director of Transformative Justice, Australia. She once wrote about the “Big Three” of Leadership – Integrity, Truth and Honesty. She surveyed employees across a broad range of organisations and came to some enlightening conclusions about what it means to be a person of integrity. Respondents described their co-workers who exhibited integrity as follows: Strong character Steadfast and resolute Doing what they’d promised Authentic and straightforward Clear understanding of right and wrong The Bible teacher, Jonathan Lamb, draws our attention to Thorsborne’s description of Sarah, a middle manager in the public sector. “Sarah is one of two people I can name who possess (a serious amount of) integrity,” says Thorsborne. “She takes great care of people. Utterly reliable. She’s regularly called in to fix things . . . her commitment to staff wellbeing is enormous, often at some personal cost. She’s reliable and trustworthy. Her increasingly high profile means she’s been subjected to Tall Poppy Syndrome . . . by walking her talk, she’s shamed other, less principled, colleagues, who’ve taken opportunities to punish her. Snide remarks and open hostility have hurt her very much. Despite this, she refuses to deviate from her work of transforming soured workplace relationships.” Brilliantly, Thorsborne concludes, “Sarah is a quietly committed Christian; this obviously plays a significant role in her values.” The Reformer John Calvin observed that it’s a basic strategy of Satan “to seek some misconduct on the part of ministers which may tend to the dishonour of the gospel.” The need for tall poppies – for integrity – arises because, as Jonathan Lamb says, “Christian leaders have been called by a faithful God, whose character is steadfast love and faithfulness, grace and truth, love and light.” The Greek of 1 John 2.6 is clear. The apostle’s concern is that those who claim to abide, or remain, in Jesus “walk as He walked.” Martyn Dunning Such challenging words. The cost of integrity is high, but perhaps the cost of failing to live honestly and faithfully is even higher. The way of the cross is Jesus’ way. He understood the cost and paid it; he calls us to do the same. It’s worth remembering that Jesus’ most intense ire was reserved for hypocritical Pharisees. Saying one thing and doing another repelled him. Perhaps today as you read this, there is some area of your life which requires examination. Praise God that his mercy and grace extend even to the hypocrite, to the person struggling with guilt and shame. Now Jim Crooks . . . he writes, In 2 Corinthians, St. Paul says, For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. (2 Cor 1.12) Simplicity: ἁπλότης haplotēs. AV (8) - simplicity 3, singleness 2, liberality 1, bountifulness 1, liberty 1; the virtue of one who is free from pretence and hypocrisy Sincerity: εἰλικρίνεια eilikrineia. clearness, i.e. (by implication) purity (figuratively): — sincerity. AV (3) - sincerity 3 I have just completed an essay for Edinburgh Theological Seminary on the Simplicity of God. In spite of the title, it’s a really difficult concept to express. In this attribute, we attempt to describe something that belongs uniquely to God. By it we mean that God is identical with each of His attributes. One theologian says it is easier to explain this by saying what God is not. “The perfections of God are not like a pie, as if we sliced up the pie into different pieces, love being 10%, holiness 15%, omnipotence 7% and so on.” I suppose I have to conclude with Isaiah, “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.” St. Paul’s desire for simplicity appears to be a desire for consistency. He wants to be free from pretence, and he wants to be free of hypocrisy. He wants the reputation of “what you see is what you get.” But it’s not just consistency he is seeking, because he could be consistently obnoxious or consistently hard and unforgiving. Instead, what he seeks is to be consistently pure in his whole life. The word is only used three times in the New Testament; it’s always used by Paul, and it’s only used with reference to Corinth as a church. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor. 5.8) Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. (2 Cor. 2.17) The message is clear, isn’t it? The root word in eilikrineia (sincerity) is εἵλη heilē which means the sun's ray. The idea is that we’re judged by the sunlight. This is like holding up our washing in front of an open window on a sunny day. As the light passes through, we catch sight of the remaining dirt, the imperfections. St. Paul aspires to live in the sunlight. He wants to be found consistently pure and transparent in all his dealings. I think we should join him. It’s a good aspiration. Let me finish with a story. I once offered someone a sincere compliment on their moustache – suddenly she wasn’t my friend anymore! So it’s not just sincerity we’re after, but godly sincerity. We aspire to be like him in the expression of our sincerity. Jim Crooks I find myself challenged by these two messages from Martyn and Jim. Two applications spring to mind. First, the simplicity, sincerity and integrity of Jesus. He never ceases to amaze me. He walks off the page and into my life, but in so doing, he doesn’t leave me as I am. The second application is, of course, the awareness of my inadequacy, my falling short. Aspirations are all well and good, but unless there is a means by which to reach them, then they remain frustratingly remote. The beauty of the gospel is that God isn’t just interested in saving people for the future, but transforming them right now. The integrity we seek, the sincerity to which we aspire, the simplicity we long for, are character traits formed in us by our God, through the work of his Spirit. Heaven is here right now in the wonder of God’s transforming Spirit, who lives and breathes, who challenges and changes us, who calls us into new life. A life of simplicity, sincerity, and integrity.

Faithful Leaders and the Things that Matter Most by Rico Tice (The Good Book Company, 2021. 112 pages. ISBN: 9781784985806. RRP: £7.99). On the day I read this accessible little book by Rico Tice, I also saw an advert for an administrative post posted by a Christian denomination. It offered a salary that I consider to be so inflated as to be incompatible with gospel ministry. I also read Faithful Leaders during a week in which increasingly lurid revelations were coming to light about certain Christian leaders. It appears that some have been in it for themselves, disguising their wolfishness with a carefully curated veneer of servanthood. Faithful Leaders is a great antidote for gospel leaders who might be similarly tempted. Let’s face it, at some point that is probably all of us. Sadly, the majority of books about Christian leadership do not concentrate on Christ-like character. That has changed a little during the last decade, but frankly, not nearly enough. By contrast, this book does focus on developing Christ-like character and does it very well. It begins by wrestling with what success means in the context of Christian leadership. Tice explains that, without careful thinking, we can easily find ourselves using false and ungodly metrics. His conclusion is that only one metric truly counts: that is hearing ‘well done, good and faithful servant’ from the lips of the master on the final day. That’s it. The book then provides clear, concise definitions of both faithfulness and servanthood, making a strong appeal for biblical orthodoxy. For me, these were the standout features of the book. Again and again, Tice emphasises the need for pastors to embrace godliness, sacrifice and a solid commitment to the way of the cross. He highlights, in very helpful ways, how these qualities contrast with worldliness. In addition, he calls leaders to reject the numbers game, so often used to validate success. He calls it worldly, which it is. Tice says, pointedly, that we can have huge numbers and still end up as a failure if we don’t ‘rightly handle the word of truth’ (2 Tim. 2.15 - paraphrase). He could have gone a little further by pointing out that certain leaders build their numbers by abandoning the ‘right handling of the word of truth’ by offering teaching more suited to people with itching ears (See 2 Tim.4.3). However, he does ask searchingly whether leaders are teaching the gospel of grace, with grace. It’s a good question, especially when placed alongside the temptation to bend the truth in our teaching, thrilling our listeners even as it destroys them. The author is also not afraid to address issues in his own camp. The book excoriates the tendency within some parts of the Church of England to capitulate to the spirit of the age, particularly regarding sexual ethics. Tice has had to make significant sacrifices in standing up for historic biblical orthodoxy, and the book's call for holiness and repentance is the more powerful for it. One (very minor) criticism I have is the use of various Bible translations, which occasionally felt like picking the translation which best fit the author’s argument. I felt he could have stuck to one translation and that would have been sufficient. Nevertheless, I highly recommend Faithful Leaders. Every gospel worker and leader, wherever they serve in church life, will find it a helpful spur to godly discipleship. My favourite line is a quote from the late Richard Bewes, who, when facing difficulty and disappointment as a leader, said that it doesn’t matter because ‘we’re just servants.’ That is a good summary of what this book is all about. It’s a call to authentic Christian leadership. As leaders, we must set aside worldly ambition and distorted definitions of success, embracing instead the character of the humble and lowly Lord who tells us to take up our cross and follow him. You can buy your own copy of Faithful Leaders on the publisher's website, or from any of your usual retailers. Our copy was kindly given to us by The Good Book Company for a fair review. The opinions expressed in this review, and the others we undertake, represent our impartial and honest appraisal of the book. The links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you purchase the book through these links we will receive a small commission from that sale which we can use to further our ministries. This does not add anything to the price of the book you purchase. We are adding to our resources all the time. New this week, Addiction: Facing Reality on God's Terms.

Today is St Patrick’s Day, the date when the fifth-century missionary to Ireland is supposed to have died. Depending on your preferred theory, he might have come from England, Wales or even Scotland. No matter. Now the date has become a celebration of Irishness replete with parades, green clothes, ginger beards and copious amounts of alcohol. But what about the man himself? Semi-mythical accounts composed centuries after his death tell of showdowns with druids, smashing pagan statues in iconoclastic fervour, calling down curses upon kings and kingdoms and, of course, banishing snakes. All the embellishments of a Christian superhero, but with no basis in documents from the time of Patrick. Even the idea that he used the shamrock to teach about the Trinity seems to be a fiction. Then there is the poem (or hymn) known as Patrick’s Breastplate, which is sometimes selectively quoted by contemporary Christians (‘Christ with me, Christ before me’ etc.). In its entirety, it reads as a blend of pagan mysticism and pseudo-Christian superstition. I’m glad to say there’s little evidence that it had anything to do with the real Patrick. Yet there was a real Patrick. The landscape of my native Northern Ireland is littered with supposed locations from his life. His purported grave is in County Down, in the grounds of Downpatrick Cathedral, with the site of his supposed first church nearby in Saul. Then there is Armagh, where he is said to have built the first large church in Ireland, causing it to become the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland as not one but two ‘St Patrick’s’ Cathedrals testify. Finally, Slemish in County Antrim is the lonely mountain where he allegedly herded sheep as a slave in his teenage years. All these locations are steeped in tradition, behind which it is hard to establish concrete facts. So, what can we know of the real Patrick? Well, he was a pioneering missionary to Ireland. Not the first, but certainly a significant influence in the Christianising of this island. In his autobiographical Confession, he writes of baptising many converts and appointing many ministers and virgins to continue gospel work in Ireland. This is the Patrick I have known and have long admired. A passionate servant of the gospel and a progenitor of the deeply spiritual missionary movement known as Celtic Christianity. That was the Patrick I thought I knew. Until I read his own words in full. There, in the words of the Confession, I came to know the real Patrick. Not a superhero whose life was a tale of unalloyed victories. Yes, the Confession recounts his successes as well as giving his testimony. The things I thought I knew are there. Abduction as a boy into slavery in Ireland. Escape and return to his family. Visions of a man calling him back to Ireland as a missionary. Conversions and baptisms. Appointing other workers. So much is true. But I discovered something else. That he was a man like me. A rounded figure who had challenges and struggles in ministry. His Confession opens with these words: *My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. This was Patrick’s core identity. A sinner and a believer. The Confession reveals both truths. It is saturated with biblical quotations and inferences. It expresses his confidence in the gospel, but it also exposes his challenges in gospel ministry. Three in particular. I am not referring to the opposition he faced in Ireland. That he seems to have expected as inevitable, although his only other surviving writing, an open letter to soldiers who had slaughtered some recent converts, expresses his sorrow and anger at opposition from pagans. The three challenges that stand out are much more personal and intense than that. The first challenge was his own sense of inadequacy. He especially refers to his lack of education, which some had said made him unsuited to ministry. He writes: *There were many who forbade this mission. They even told stories among themselves behind my back, and they said: “Why does he put himself in danger among hostile people who do not know God?” It was not that they were malicious – they just did not understand, as I myself can testify, since I was just an unlearned country person. Patrick explains that he was slow to recognise God’s calling to Ireland. His testimony is told in tones of awe that God had both rescued him from sin – *I was like a stone lying deep in the mud. Then he who is powerful came and in his mercy pulled me out, and lifted me up and placed me on the very top of the wall. – and given him a fruitful ministry – *I see that already in this present age the Lord has given me a greatness more than could be expected. I was not worthy of this. Patrick overcame his sense of inadequacy to follow his Saviour’s leading to Ireland, despite the insults and persecutions he would face there. He describes his willingness to die for Christ’s name, and desire to stay in Ireland until his death. The Confession, written in his old age, bears the marks of a life of service saturated in the Scriptures. A life well spent because his identity was in Christ: a sinner and a believer. The second challenge was the most intense of all. Patrick did not only face opposition from pagans. He was attacked from within the Church. He recounts an incident when some of his seniors brought an accusation against him, claiming that he was unsuitable to be a bishop because of a teenage sin. The effect on Patrick was intense. He writes: *This hit me very hard, so much so that it seemed I was about to fall, both here and in eternity. The pain was intensified by the fact that his accusers had heard about the long-past sin from a trusted confidante to whom he had confessed it thirty years earlier. That man had assured him of God’s forgiveness and that it was not a disqualifying sin. But he broke confidence and told others who were looking for ammunition against Patrick. It isn’t clear what the sin was, but my guess is it might have been sexual in nature. Later in the Confession, Patrick alludes to other accusations against him – that he received gifts in return for ministry, which may have been his true motivation for returning to Ireland. Far from profiting from his mission, Patrick insists that he expended large sums in gifts to Irish kings and judges to open the way for the gospel whilst refusing all gifts, even when it was offensive to those who offered them, so that he might be above reproach. Reading the Confession with modern eyes, I must confess I had my doubts. What if Patrick was actually another fraud like the ones we hear of periodically? Men who conceal sins of self-indulgence behind a veneer of outward success. I certainly hope not! But there are also details in the Confession that make me think Patrick was telling the truth. The sin that his friend betrayed confidence over was committed before Patrick was in ministry or even converted. And his policy concerning gifts seems to be a model of wise boundaries to protect the reputation of the gospel. And then there is Patrick’s response, which reflects trust in God and concern for others above his own reputation: *But the Lord in his kindness spared the converts and the strangers for the sake of his name, and strongly supported me when I was so badly treated. I did not slip into sin and disgrace. I pray that God not hold this sin against them. The other detail that leads me to believe Patrick is his candour about the third challenge he faced. We might expect someone who had faced false accusations to be reluctant to admit to temptation for fear it would play to his detractors’ advantage. But Patrick was open about his struggles with intense temptation. He writes: *I hope to do what I should. I know I cannot trust myself as long as I am in this body subject to death. There is one who is strong, who tries every day to undermine my faith, and the chastity of genuine religion I have chosen to the end of my life for Christ my Lord. The flesh can be an enemy dragging towards death, that is, towards doing those enticing things which are against the law. This is a man who knows his weakness and is not so proud as to think he was beyond risk of falling. He was no superhero. He had feet of clay, just like every servant of Christ. Here then are the three challenges Patrick faced in service of God: self-doubt and misunderstandings, betrayal and opposition, and daily temptation to sin. Yet, by God’s grace, he ran the race and left a legacy in the converts he baptised, the ministers he trained and, of course, the few words he wrote. These three challenges are part and parcel of ministry. I find it heartening to know when I face these same three challenges that I am not alone. Patrick inspires me to think about my values and what measures I need to take in order to continue on the path of faithfulness. In his policy around money and his practice of confession – albeit that he was betrayed by a confessor – he reminds us of the necessity for clear and consistent boundaries in ministry. In his way of writing, he models dependence on God through immersion in the Scriptures and regularly renewed joy in God’s salvation and calling. And he inspires us to be sure that our legacy is less about our own achievements – he wrote little – and more about the people we develop to carry the baton after us. He appointed many servants of God who would sustain and nurture the new indigenous Irish church in its gospel mission. Above all, Patrick’s faithfulness despite his sense of unworthiness reminds us that God can use the insignificant and weak. People like you and me. Indeed, such are always the people God uses, for there is no other kind. I am glad I have come to know the real Patrick. From now on, I think St Patrick’s Day will be for me less a time for celebration and more an opportunity for reflection. A time to offer back to God my hopes and fears. A time to pray as Patrick did: *I pray that God give me perseverance, and that he grant me to bear faithful witness to him right up to my passing from this life, for the sake of my God. […] I pray for those who believe in and have reverence for God. Some of them may happen to inspect or come upon this writing which Patrick, a sinner without learning, wrote in Ireland. May none of them ever say that whatever little I did or made known to please God was done through ignorance. Instead, you can judge and believe in all truth that it was a gift of God. This is my confession before I die. --- *Quotations in this post are from the modern translation of Patrick’s Confession by Pádraig McCarthy, which can be read online and purchased in print from www.confessio.ie.

“What were you doing last night?” “Excuse me?!” “I said, what were you doing last night? After your spouse went off to bed, what were you doing?” Does this question make you feel defensive? Am I stepping over your boundaries? Do you feel the urge to tell me to shove it? In the nicest possible way, of course, because you’re a church leader. Today, accountability. Accountability is one of those buzzwords, which cause people to nod sagely and say, “Oh yes, very important, very important.” The problem is, hardly anyone ever asks a church leader if they’re in relationships of accountability, let alone what the word actually means. Here are some vain attempts: “So, *Rev. Smith, are you, er, meeting with anyone right now?” “Oh yes, I am.” Sum total of useful information: zero. “Do you have a group of people who hold you accountable, *Rev.?” “Oh, yes I do.” Slightly better, but still well short of satisfactory. Who are these people? What is the *Rev.’s understanding of accountability? And most importantly, who keeps the *Rev. accountable for the frequency of his meetings? What is accountability and what function does it serve? In recent weeks and months, the church has had several incidents of high-profile Christian leaders/speakers who have fallen. Very badly. Abuse of power and position. Sexual indiscretions. No, let me use the right word. Abuse. You may have read the stories; you may have avoided them. In almost every case, the famous Christian speaker/leader has had woeful accountability. Strike that. No accountability. In fact, sometimes the deficiencies within the organisation or church were so extraordinary that it’s mystifying that the person managed to get away with their behaviour. Furthermore, when the famous fall, they drag others with them. The gospel of our Lord is never advanced by these events. It always suffers damage. So what is the function of accountability? Well, at the very minimum, it’s to avoid these headline-grabbing events which do so much damage. But what about us? Most of us aren’t headline material, yet we still need accountability. What is it? At its core, it’s the process of opening one’s life up to examination and questioning by people who love and care for us. Its purpose is to make us better people, better leaders. Every leader, I believe, should be accountable to a group of friends of the same gender. Two or three others who meet with us reasonably frequently. But more to the point, it should be a group of friends who love and care for us AND are brave enough to ask us hard questions. Here are some possible options: • Have you been viewing pornography? • Are you hiding anything from your spouse? • Do you think you have an anger problem? • Do you involve God when you make financial choices? Any examples? • Is there anything that is taking up too much of your time? • How honest are you with your tax returns? • Describe your most challenging family relationship right now. • What is God actually teaching you right now? If you’re uncomfortable with some of these questions, you could simply opt for a catch-all question: Have you done anything this past week/month which causes you shame? Of course a group like this isn’t ONLY focused on unearthing bad behaviour, it’s much more than that. But unless it includes the kinds of questions I’ve listed above, it doesn’t rise to the definition of accountability. Not really. Because accountability entails the idea of ‘giving an account.’ It, therefore, means exploring those areas of our lives which we would prefer to keep hidden. It’s done in the hope that the answers to these questions will eventually cease causing unease and discomfort. Why is it important to be held accountable? In short, because we need protecting from ourselves. Listen to Jesus. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. Mark 7.21-22 Then add in the words of St. Paul in Romans 7. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Rom 7.18-19 Finally, there’s the famous verse in Jeremiah. The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jer 17.9 Are we new creations? Yes indeed, but as we all know, we’re a work in progress. Most leaders I know offer two reasons for not setting up an accountability group. It’s too difficult. I live in a remote area and I really don’t have the ability to meet with two others. I’m not sure I could name two others who would be suitable. I can see this a good idea, but I just haven’t got round to it. In response to the second of these, please see my post on procrastination. The road to the bad place is paved with good intentions, a hokey saying perhaps, but one that contains a warning. Excuses are excuses, even when they’re called reasons. To address the first objection, here’s a word: Zoom. But now I must stop and pull back for a moment. The purpose of our blog posts here at Living Leadership is never to load our readers up with impossible demands. It’s hard enough being a leader without another person taking us to task. Instead, the purpose of our posts is to provide insight perhaps, encourage, and challenge, all with the goal of helping our readers become better leaders, better people. I wonder what you think of those Scriptures above. Do you see the need? Because it’s almost certain that your church won’t require you to be part of such a group. That’s extremely rare. It’s even rarer that they check to see that it’s functioning properly. No, if you’re going to do this, you have to see the need, and you have to take action yourself. No one is going to push you. This is up to you. What converts desire into action? Ah, now there’s a question. Perhaps, at a minimum, it happens when a person understands the benefits of the proposed behaviour. I can only speak from my own experience but I can testify to the tremendous benefits of meeting in a small group. In fact, the most enriching times in my spiritual life have been during those times. Have the groups risen to the level I’ve described above? Not always. It is hard to find a friend who is brave enough to ask those questions. But when they do, let me tell you what that means. It means they are willing to step out boldly for your sake. Because they love you. Because they want the best for you. That is walking in Jesus’ footsteps. That is making a sacrifice for another which entails a cost. That is genuine love. And who doesn’t want relationships of genuine love? *Other ministerial titles are available We are always updating our resources, including our growing database of articles. New this week: Redundancy and Unemployment. Peter Hicks provides practical advice and things you can say to those you are supporting through job loss.