Revolutionary Leaders

MOVING FORWARD (Revised)

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:3-11)

In our departure, I challenge you to continue to partner with Pastor Meyer and the leadership of this church as they walk through this time of transition and change.

Human change takes place in three arenas: the head, the heart, and the hands and we must evaluate these three arenas and commit to the pursuit of God’s will above our own.

The Arena of the HEAD:
1. Gain new Perspective
Explore the gaps between the “as is” and “should be” models of youth ministry.

2. Work as a TEAM
Create an agreeable picture of what the student ministry should look like. I call this visionering. It’s when a TEAM envisions and engineers strategies, processes and values for their goal in mind. It’s a combination of both seeing and planning with the end in mind.

3. Communicate
The last part of changing the arena of the mind is communication. People involved in our church will never be more frustrated with change than when it’s not communicated effectively. On the other hand, individuals who are “kept in the loop” gain a sense of value and will be more apt to embrace the changes being initiated. Simply put, some people hold so passionately to tradition because no one has ever clearly explained the benefits and end result of change.

The Arena of the HEART:
The heart is the seat of the emotions—a dangerous place for sure if not guarded (Proverbs 4:23). The arena of the heart is where we “flesh-out” what was accomplished in the arena of the mind. It’s where our purposes become engaged by our passions. This is usually the most difficult phase of transitioning change.

The arena of the heart is by nature selfish. Our passions are just that, OURS. Truth be told, our hearts aren’t always true to our heads. Proverbs 14:12 tells us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” How can this happen? How can something we know in our heads to be wrong still seem to be right in our hearts? It’s usually because we have passions that are unconvinced of the truth. Jeremiah verifies this reality with his statement, “The heart is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9).

1. Take “ME” out of the Picture
So how does change come about in our hearts? First, we need to understand that “it’s not about me”. We have to learn to look at the BIG picture rather than just focusing on ourselves. Transition and change will never be positive if we cannot come to terms with this truth. The student ministry is bigger than us and the sooner we get that in our spirit the better. I’ve seen far too many “good” people miss out on God’s best because they couldn’t get their eyes off of themselves.

2. Focus on the Positive
Another important ingredient of moving forward is focusing on the positive and maintaining a grateful heart. Hebrews 12:28-29 tells us, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire’.”

Murmuring, complaining and criticizing never helped anyone have a positive change. Just look at the example of the children of Israel in Numbers chapter 14. They were kept from entering the promise land because of their murmuring and complaining.

Complaining is a sure sign of ungratefulness and is usually rooted in pride and selfishness. Instead, we need to listen to the words of Paul, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure” (Philippians 2:13-15).

Allow God to speak and work in your heart when it comes to these changes. See the big picture and look for and focus on the positive.

The Arena of the HANDS:
This is the physical “hands to the plow” and “feet to your faith” arena. It is the implementation of the vision (mind) with passion (heart). Simply put, this is where you create the process and work the plan to use your passions to achieve your vision.

YOU are a very important part of this. Remember, God’s fingerprint is on your life and you have a place, a role, a spiritual gift, a responsibility to help see this through. I challenge you to take an active role in this exciting opportunity to see this ministry move forward by the power of the Holy Spirit.

You can do this by participating in one or more of the following:
Pray without ceasing
Support the established leadership
Ask how you can help
Help keep the lines open with clear and accurate communication (refuse to entertain or pass on assumptions, rumors and gossip)
Show up (physically and spiritually) with a positive attitude
Serve in love

I understand how scary change can appear. Things are uncertain in our lives as well. Just remember, God is faithful. He doesn’t always give us all the details of why and how, but that’s so we’ll trust Him and walk by faith not by sight.

God is in the business of moving His people forward. Sometimes we just need to give Him permission.

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

So no matter how young or old, “set an example for the believer in speech, love, life, faith and purity” (1 Tim 4:12).