How to Think Big Picture

Constantly my husband tells me, “People don’t think like you.” Sometimes this is not a compliment…like when I have once again totally missed the point of a joke (being the “humor-challenged person” that I am). But most of the time when he says not everyone thinks like I do, it is his way of reminding me that my ability to think holistically is a bit of a skill.

Big picture thinking is the ability to consider how your thoughts, actions and attitudes will impact your life or organization over the long haul. How will the decisions you make today impact others in one year, five years or ten years? If leaders fail to ask these all-important questions, their leadership will likely become shortsighted and somewhat ineffective. As leaders, we must learn to think of both the hear-and-now and the desired future.

So how do you learn to think about the big picture? While I have not mastered this ability, here are a few techniques I naturally use to keep the big picture in mind:

1. Think ahead
Simply taking a few minutes to consider a topic before I am called upon to form a leadership opinion about it allows me the time and space to consider the big picture. When I do this well, I come prepared to offer insight beyond my immediate circumstances. When I fail to think ahead, I am left to offer my gut reaction.

2. Think in terms of perspective
As I think through an issue, I try it out in my mind from multiple angles. If I need to hire an important position, I think through what I need from the position, what type of leader the team needs, what type of person will best fit the organizational culture and what type of person will complement the skills of other team members. Then I think through candidates from these angles (and many others). Perspective allows me to consider obvious and not-so-obvious implications of my decisions. And too, I have found that sometimes the best perspective is found in team discussion or in outside counsel!

3. Think in terms of outcomes
When I think about leadership issues (or life issues), I have learned to think in terms of the most desirable outcome. Sometimes leaders do not think in terms of the big picture, simply because they have not defined what a “win” would look like. When I know what I am trying to accomplish, holistic thought is more tangible and immediate. Clear desired outcomes prevent me from getting bogged down in philosophy and move me to action.

4. Think in terms of consequences
I would venture to say every leader has been in a situation where they have failed to consider the consequences of their decisions. When I have failed to consider the possible negative or positive consequences of an action, I have often found myself in trouble. While none of us can think of everything, we can be attentive to how our actions will impact others. In the best of worlds, my big picture thinking promotes healthy thoughts, actions and attitudes.

What big picture thinking skill do you need to practice today?

Develop Your Artists' Gifts

Whatever you do as an arts leader, don't let people stagnate in their gifts. Art wasn't meant to be stagnant. Sure, great art endures, but great artists seldom paint the same piece twice. Great song writers strive for new melodies and lyrics. Great church leaders strive for fresh weekend services. The same applies to the artistic talent of church artists and technical volunteers. They need to keep improving, to learn to do something new.

Next time you're faced with the decision to build into the talents of those in your ranks or assume they come fully prepared, think twice before you proceed. People in the church need us to give them the tools to make a difference for Christ with their art. Most of them will show up with a basic toolbox, but we need to figure out which tools they need that aren't in their box. Then we need to craft a plan to offer them support and personal growth.

The dividends are obvious. People get filled up. Art becomes more transformational. Community grows as people learn together. Not your job? Really? Does your church come fully stocked with professional artists who are spiritually and artistically always at their peak? Didn't think so. Take the time to build into the people within your care. Not only will you retain your volunteers longer, but your services will simply be better. It's worth it to develop your artists' gifts.

Taking Care of Your Spiritual Health

How healthy are you...spiritually? Yikes. Depending on the criteria you use to judge a person's spiritual health, it's likely that most of us will come up lacking in one way or another. Employing the basic spiritual disciplines as criteria, you could assess your spiritual growth based on how often you go to church, read your Bible or pray. Using community based criteria, you could judge your growth based on whether or not you attend a small group, serve regularly in your church or volunteer in your community. And to some extent, these measures would be accurate.

But how does God look at it? What does He use to measure my spiritual health? I think it's less about my practices and more about my heart. I think God looks upon our hearts and minds, searching for those who wholeheartedly worship and adore Him. I think He cares that I'm growing into the best Sandy Johnson He made me to become - one who displays the heart and character of Christ more and more each day.

Uh, oh. I sense a tension point here. Though spiritual practices are never the measure of a heart solely devoted to Christ, the more I become like Him, the more I will want to participate in the life He has to offer. The more I desire to grow, the more I will realize that growth requires me to put myself into positions to be taught and stretched by God. Some of these are spiritual practices.

It's easy to forgo reading the Bible or praying. It's simple to stay home on Sunday mornings or skip serving. Personal stagnation requires little to no effort on our part. Taking care of yourself spiritually requires more. It means placing yourself in positions to become more like Christ. And it means every time you encounter more of His truth, you yield more of yourself to that truth.

If you're the leader of an arts ministry, consider how you can work toward spiritual health yourself. Then lead your teams there. Artists who minister on the platform and behind the scenes must be yielded to Christ. There is no other option, if we are to draw people to God.

Relevance in the Church

Our churches must be relevant. Think about it. Do we really want the opposite to be true? Do we want our churches to be known as irrelevant? Certainly not! But when we say we want to create relevant worship services, what exactly do we mean? Are we just trying to be cool or hip? If we define the word relevant as the Encarta Dictionary does, “having some sensible or logical connection with something else such as a matter being discussed or investigated,” our churches simply must be relevant. Either we step up in this area, or people will label us irrelevant and tune us out completely.
To create relevant worship services, we must consider three types of relevance and how to create next steps:

1. Become spiritually relevant.
People come to church to meet with and understand God. Most likely, they didn’t walk into church to sit in a coffee shop, walk through a bookstore or attend a concert. When we plan and execute our worship services, we must be intentional about helping people experience and respond to God. His truths, found in scripture, are timeless and relevant. Let’s make a commitment in our churches to preach truth well and to help people open their Bibles and dig into scripture that moves their heart toward God.

2. Become relevant to daily life.
When someone sits through our services, do they feel we meet them where they’re at? No matter why people come to our churches, they are seeking an experience related to their daily life. If you live in a metropolitan area, seek to understand the concerns of those who live downtown. If you have a ton of parents, talk frequently about the joys and struggles of raising kids. If you’re a church with a high percentage of college students, talk about how they can make a difference with their one and only life. Most of our churches are filled with a mix of people, but if we’re intentional about speaking into the lives of our congregation, we will become relevant to their lives.

3. Become culturally relevant.
For many people, culturally relevance in the church is a sticking point. But the world will either see our churches as a source of truth or they will relegate us to the list of those out of touch with society. Becoming culturally relevant means we seek to include references to or aspects of our local, regional, national and global culture. If our area is being flooded, we need to speak to it. If our region is having an important holiday, we can use elements of it in the service. If our nation is currently attracted to a certain type of music, let’s consider using it. And if our world is worried about global warming, let’s figure out how we can take these concerns seriously. Cultural relevance does have a place in the church.

4. Provide next steps.

Whether it’s spiritual, life or cultural relevance, perhaps the best way for our churches to be relevant is to help people engage in worship and apply what we’re teaching about God in our services to their daily lives… Challenge those who attend your services to life-change. Give people a worthwhile assignment. Help them think differently about their Monday-thru-Saturday-life. Move their hearts to recognize their Creator. When we do this relevance goes beyond a point of connection and becomes a catalyst to point people to God.

What's Your Ministry DNA?

Churches have a certain feel to them. Walk into one church and it's friendly and laid back. Visit another and it's more formal and liturgical. Every church feels different. That's what I'd call church DNA. It's the visible and invisible culture of a church or ministry.

Ever think about how your church "feels" to the people to attend? To visitors? My guess is that the first time you entered your building or attended a church service, you thought a ton about it. You wondered if it felt right to you. You carefully critiqued the atmosphere, the people and the services. You wanted to know if you could feel at home at the church. You explored its DNA.

We either resonate with the DNA of a church or ministry or we don't. So, what if you're the leader and you don't like some of the things you discover about your DNA? Well, it can be changed, but be prepared for an intentional and lengthy change process, because DNA shifts require time, patience and visionary leadership.

For the most part, DNA is discovered, not decided. Ultimately changes over a long period of time can alter the DNA of your church or ministry, but for the most part, your church DNA is set. If you've always been known as the most friendly church in town, it's unlikely that you'll suddenly become unfriendly. If you've always valued solid Bible teaching, you're not going to give that up. But once you discover and understand your DNA, you can work with it...not against it.

Why not throw your energy behind your reputation as a "compassionate, friendly, authentic, forward-thinking church?" Or whatever positives your church is known for. It makes sense to build on those attributes of your church God is already using to move people toward Christ.

5 Ways to Influence Your Church

Ever wish you could change your church? I have. While change for the sake of change itself is never the goal, sometimes our churches get stuck in patterns of activity or ministry that are no longer effective. When this occurs, sitting in the pews (or even in a seat of leadership) and observing fruitless leadership or ministry can drive a person crazy.

So how can you gain influence in your church? How can you gain the ability to speak into ministry? Check out these five suggestions:

1. Be respectful - Criticizing and pulling in the opposite direction of your current leadership is a certain way to diminish your voice. Most pastors and leaders are doing the best they can. Offer respect for their efforts.
   
2. Get involved - Want to make your voice heard? Get into the trenches first by serving selflessly and earning the right to be heard. Your voice will mean more when you're a participant instead of an observer.
   
3. Offer support - Pastors and leaders in the church are super busy, so when you come alongside them and meet their immediate needs, you'll likely have space and opportunity to offer influence as well.
   
4. Offer solutions - If you see a problem, become a problem solver. Offer viable solutions to an existing problem and you will be seen as a partner in ministry, instead of a critic.
   
5. Stay positive - While you might easily picture a better future, you cannot expect your church to change overnight. Stay helpful and positive. It's one of the best ways you can continue to encourage and motivate your leaders.

Why does it matter? You may be the one to change a church for the better...and in the process offer eternal life and connection with God to hundreds if not thousands of people. Influence is an investment. Choose where to invest yours wisely.

Vision and Art

A few months ago, I was caught driving in a thunderstorm on my way from state to state. I knew I would need to drive into it, because the radar predicted storms all night, and I had my children with me. We couldn't stay where we were and yet we knew we'd have to face a huge storm to get where we needed to be. To make matters worse, tornadoes had touched down along the road we needed to travel along. After waiting for the right moment, double-checking the radar and saying a prayer, we set out.

At one point as we drove the rain was so intense the road seemed to disappear under the dark river of water and the windshield wipers refused to keep up with the torrent of rain. My stomach knotted up as I drove, seemingly knowing it was unsafe to keep going and unsafe to stop. It's amazing how much a situation like that fosters prayer! After several hours of wheel-gripping stress-producing driving, we made it home safely and without incident.

I am struck by the fact that sometimes leading in the church can feel an awful lot like my moments of terror on the road. We know we can't stay where we are, we know we need to move forward but we fear the journey will be filled with unpredictable and somewhat dangerous events. In times like this, we desperately need vision!

"Vision," says Andy Stanley, author of Visioneering, "is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be." I love this definition. We need both a picture of a preferred future and a conviction that moves us to action. Our churches need this type of vision.

So what role do the arts play in vision? Put basically, a clear mental picture of the future is just that: a picture. And painting pictures is what art does so well. Art acts as a tool for bringing both the mind, emotions and spirit together as you paint a portrait of a preferred future. Art connects a mental image with the story we're all living, while adding color, life and energy to the ideas. Art has the power to influence and convey your vision.

While all visions have those scary, dark moments when it seems like we cannot see the road ahead, art gives us the ability to focus our hearts and minds on the convictions we carry that move us ahead even during the difficult times. Art also helps us see the beauty of God's plans for our lives and churches, turning storm clouds into beacons that guide us home.

Let's use our art to help our churches see the wonder of bringing souls into God's Kingdom, the beauty of fully surrendering ourselves to our Maker and the plans God has for our own hope and future. Art speaks. It feels. It breathes into us. Let's harness the power of art to help us move to the places we know we need to be and toward the people we want to become.

The Influence of Worship

Ever since I can remember, I have been inspired by attending worship services. As a Kindergartner I listened in awe to our traditional church choir sing, all dressed up in fancy choir robes. As the melody drifted over me, I wanted to sing with them! Then there were Christmas pageants, and I got to dress up as an angel (thank goodness I didn't get the part of a sheep). Then children's choirs, solos in church and a youth traveling choir.

In high school, I got a chance to contribute even more. I directed my first drama in the church at age 17. It was a full Christmas pageant. Not terribly difficult, since it was a few pre-written scenes packaged between traditional choral music, but it was amazing! I got to help people worship.

Ever since I got my first taste of what it meant to lift up God's name in holy praise, I was in! I wanted to be part of the story. I wanted to create something that would suggest the fullness and beauty of God. Singing, dancing, acting or working behind the scenes...it didn't matter. I loved it all. Still do. (Well not the dancing so much anymore. We'll leave that to people who have maintained their flexibility.)

What I didn't realize at the time is that I have a heart of worship. And specifically, I have a heart to use creativity and the arts to help others experience and respond to God. That's what worship is all about. Worship is our response to our experience of God. It's our way to tell our Savior that we love Him, that He is good, that He is trustworthy and powerful. Worship is my way to reach out to God in the same way He's reached to me.

The life-giving power available to us as we breathe in the influence of our own worship and the worship of others changes us. It makes us more aware of our sinful and broken nature and the sacrifice God made to cover all our failings and separate them from us forever. It makes us more able to find freedom at Christ's throne. It helps us connect in relationship to our Maker. Worship cannot help but influence us.

Whether you express worship in music, service or simple prayers, I challenge you to embrace your own heart of worship and connect with the living God. It'll change you from the inside out. And if you're a leader of worship in the church, don't diminish the importance of your role. You help people respond to their experience of God! That's a high calling worthy of a well-spent life.

Inspiration

Did you know that one of the meanings of the word inspire is "to breathe into or upon; infuse with life by breathing?" That means when we're inspired by something we're actually changing at a deep level. We're taking life from that which gives us inspiration. Inspiration is breath that gives us life.

It feels empowering to be inspired: to have something sparked deep within that offers creativity, ideas, energy and growth. If you're not sure, consider what it feels like to be uninspired. Dead, unenthused and lifeless are words that come to my mind; being uninspired is energy draining. Inspired is just the opposite; it offers you new life.

So today, my challenge to you is to figure out what inspires you. The arts have significant influence in our lives. We are moved by drama done well, by a song that stirs our soul or by a video that captures our human experience. Combining both intellect and emotion, art activates both sides of our brains and helps us discover things about ourselves, our Maker and our human experience. How can you allow yourself to be captivated by inspiration today?

Where Healthy Church Begins

Books on healthy church abound. They contain references to relationships, emotions and workloads. They talk about ministry, programs and balance. With simple or radical methods of building church health, they each expound upon the idea that God desires the church to be a place of unity and community.

So why doesn't the church thrive on unity and community?

Sin is the obvious answer. We are all sinful people. And the church is made up of sinful people just like you and I. As Paul says in Romans 7:17, "For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time."

We hurt when we should help. We lie when we ought to offer truth. We hide when we should be exposed. We doubt when we should hope. We insist when we should desist. Our desire to do good is hindered by our sinful nature; we are broken.

Where does that leave the community of God?

It seems clear to me we have a choice. Every day we can choose to surrender to our sinful nature that seeks to hurt and deflect OR we can choose to believe in the power of God within us to create a healthy community filled with love, optimism and unity.

We choose our direction, for what we believe will inform our actions. And our actions will create the community of our mind's choosing. A healthy community of God begins in the minds and hearts a leader and a congregation who will not succumb to the failings of man's limited sight, but who will rely on God's presence and supernatural vision. It is only with godly, humble dependence on Him that healthy church begins.