Ask any coach who he wants on the field when the game is on the line and he will answer, “my best players”. Ask any CEO who he wants in the room when a huge deal hangs in the balance and he will answer, “my best players”. Ask any competent leader who he or she wants involved in the most crucial situations and they will always answer, “my best players”.

If you are in ministry the situation is crucial EVERY Sunday because for each person that walks into your church the game is on the line and a huge deal hangs in the balance. Any of us who are in leadership have a responsibility to play our best. I’m not just referring back my last post where I suggest that we are always supposed to put forth our best effort. I am also talking about playing our best… players.

Now, let me be as transparent as I know how to be. My tendency each week is to be alright with “that’s not too bad” instead of “that is our best”. My tendency is to put more weight on someone’s effort level instead of their execution quality. My tendency is try to find the one reason I should allow something to stay a part of the service (because of all the work that went into it) as opposed to quickly eliminating it because it doesn’t work as we had hoped.

I used to believe that tendency was a good thing. I told myself I was having a positive attitude or that I was supporting my team. Now, I believe that tendency is wrong and I may even go as far to say that it is sin.

Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Those of us in leadership love the first and last sentence… we love them so much we might skip over the middle one. Unfortunately, God does not. He adds the little phrase, “must give an account”. An account for what you might ask? I believe the account will be for the way we lead the people AND the situations we have authority over.

If all of this is true (and I believe that it is) then I am responsible for playing my best AND playing my best.

Does this mean that you should never give someone who is untested a try or never take a chance on something when the outcome is risky? NO. It simply means that when you take the chance on the person or the situation - as much as it depends upon you - you can say with integrity that you have played your best AND played your best. In most cases, though, we’re not faced with really taking chances on people or elements… we simply have to be honest in our evaluation of the person or the situation and be bold enough to do what is best… by playing our best.

I am learning that the stakes are too high to put someone’s feelings at the forefront of my decisions. I am learning that the stakes are too high to compromise the effectiveness of the most important message this world will ever hear by shrinking back from tough conversations. I am learning that the stakes are too high to put (or leave) someone in a ministry role (staff or volunteer) that they love but cannot execute with effectiveness.

When everything is said and done, we all will stand before our maker and have to answer the question “Did you play your best?” If you are a leader, I believe, you will face a follow up question, “Did you play your best?”

As an individual I believe I am obligated to give my very best effort no matter what I’m doing. Whether it’s sitting down for a meal (I Corinthians 10:31), attending to my duties at work (Colossians 3:23) or working out my salvation (Philippians 2:12). I also understand that I’m only able to do this by God’s grace (Philippians 2:1, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 14:23).

Here’s the thing, though, that God really dropped on me recently… His grace NEVER changes or weakens… it’s only my effort that does. Gulp.

There is no one on this planet that finds his peace and joy in the sovereignty of God (in all things) than me. It is the only reason I can make it through a day. Unfortunately, clinging to that truth with the wrong attitude is dangerous. I find it no different that when the devil approached Eve and said, “did God really say…?” It is so easy to just “let go and let God” and then do NOTHING and hope for the best because, “All things work together for good”. It becomes so easy to do just as Eve did when she looked at the temptation and then wanted it. We can easily look at the knowledge of God’s sovereignty and reason that we can’t REALLY do anything to affect the outcome… so why bother.

I must play my best everyday. It matters. Why does it matter if God is in complete control? I tell you what I believe God impressed upon me just the other day. It matters because I am alive at the pleasure of God FOR the pleasure of God. His word teaches and my spirit testifies with His that He is pleased when I trust Him enough to play my best.

I love the truth of this quote from Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

Why would Jesus weep over a city and people who are not following God with all they’ve been given if it didn’t matter? He knew the what would happen in the end. He purposed and secured their salvation before the foundation of the world. Yet, he wept over them AND then struggled through the effort it took his human body to endure the cross. How can we look at our saviors example and not play our best? Everyday. In every situation.

To crutch on the knowledge of God’s grace and sovereignty to the point of inaction is to blaspheme the very one who we say we follow. I’m afraid if this attitude prevails in us then we’ll find ourselves standing before God, at the end of our days, realizing that we really never loved Jesus… we loved INFORMATION about Jesus.

I believe God commands each of us to play our best by giving our best individual effort. If you’re a leader (especially in ministry), I believe He also commands us to play our best in regards to our team. I’ll hit that in my next post.

Many of you really responded to this post on temptations leaders face. I ran across another post a few days ago that has a similar tone and references an article from Business Week magazine entitled 20 Bad Habits That Can Hold You Back from the Executive Suite. If you’re in ministry I hope your goal isn’t the “executive suite”, but we could easily substitute “ministry growth”, “empowering our team” and “reaching people for Jesus”.

The post comes from The Practice of Leadership Blog, which continues to be one of my favorite blogs on leadership. It is always full of challenging and practical insight into the gift of leadership.

Not to long ago I walked up to Lee McDerment to ask a question and before I could open my mouth he said, “The answer is ‘yes’, now what’s the question?” Wow! As I walked away from that discussion his “yes” (before the question) really got me thinking about my attitude and the attitude of my team as we interact with the other areas in our church.

Consider this…

If you lead a team that provides a service (of any kind) to other teams in your church or organization, I bet you (or those on your team) spend a good deal of time dealing with requests for new project ideas. This is a good thing, of course, because it proves your team is needed. This can be a frustrating thing, though, because time and energy are limited and everyone believes their project should be the priority.

Then comes the dilemma… to say “yes” or to say “no” to the request. If you say “yes” you’re everyones best friend… if you say “no” you are the bad guy and “don’t even care at all about anyone but your own team”… or something like that.

The word “no” immediately causes any of us who hear it to begin to defend our position and fight for a “yes”. This, of course, leads to conflicts that just frustrate everyone… even the person who is saying “no”.

So, I offer a solution… just say “yes” to everything.

Think about it. If everyone who submits a request to your team gets an immediate “yes”, how do you think the tone of the ensuing conversation will go? Their defenses will be down… they’ll be open to listening to the obstacles (costs, resources, outsourcing, better solutions, etc) their project presents and the reality of how much time it will take to deliver it. Once those facts are known, the one making the request is then put in a position to offer their own “no” instead of getting one thrown at them.

If your church or organization has clear vision, then each request you receive has some level of merit. If you have confidence in your team, then you know that they can do anything. So, if we empower our team to be purveyors of “yes”, then they can let down their defenses and simply analyze each request and provide the requester with options.

Clear vision followed by clear communication is the key to a successful organization. I believe communication gets clearer right off the bat when as many “no’s” as possible are eliminated. Here are the immediate wins with this philosophy:

1. Our team is pushed to find “yes” answers and the other teams are given solid solutions.
2. Our team doesn’t feel the pressure of being the bad guys and other teams see our team as a valuable resource.
3. Our team is forced to recognize priorities and manage resources better and other teams are as well.
4. Our team and other teams begin to see each other at The Team and lose the “us vs. them” mentality.

The answer is “yes”, now what’s the question?

“The greatest disappointment (and resulting pain) you can feel is when you have just experienced that which you thought would bring you the ultimate in pleasure - and it has let you down. Pleasure without boundaries produces a life without purpose. That is real pain. No death, no tragedy, no atrocity - nothing really matters. Life is sheer hollowness, with no purpose.” Ravi Zacharias - The End of Reason

Dr. Zacharias’ new book is a response to a book written by atheist Sam Harris. The statement above does speak to the sad state of anyone who ascribes to an atheistic view, but it also speaks to the religious person seeking to find purpose somewhere other than in Jesus.

Jesus tells us in John 10:1-18, one of His purposes for us… “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

We all strive for a full life. One is offered us. A full life is only found in the One who is Life (John 14:6). Unfortunately we are at war with our flesh, the devil and this world. Each offering what it claims will provide a full life and always proving itself wrong. The only proof necessary for this is our own experience. No one can claim a life that is full - of purpose and peace - apart from Jesus… at least not with integrity.

As one who for too many years sought a “full” life in obtaining a higher position, more power, and a lot of possessions, I can say without hesitation that a full life can only be found in a person. That person is Jesus and his promise of a full life is the only place we can find our true purpose. When we experience the fullness he offers our “greatest disappointment” then shifts from ourself to those we see around us who are still searching. Not to offer them pity from a pious position, but to offer them hope from one broken person to another.

No, this is not a post about the Trinity. My wife and I had an opportunity to attend three different churches in Nashville, TN in less than a days time and I just wanted to reflect on that experience.

It had been quite a while since I had the chance to attend a church service somewhere other than NewSpring Church. I love the fact that this is true because I love my church and I don’t really want to be anywhere else on a Sunday.

Here’s our itinerary and a little bit of what we experienced:

Saturday, 5pm, Fellowship Bible Church - Christy Nockels of Watermark led worship. She has an incredible voice and humble stage presence. Her singing “Knees to the Earth” while we took communion was a very powerful moment.

Sunday, 9am, Cross Point Community Church - Pete Wilson is the lead pastor and we were able to talk with him for a few minutes before the service. He has huge vision and heart for his community and his church is making an impact. We really enjoyed the service and Pete’s message was strong. The staff and volunteers that we encountered were very helpful. I’d love the opportunity to spend some more time with these folks.

Sunday, 11am, Long Hollow Baptist - Long Hollow is a well established church in the suburbs of Nashville. Their pastor, David Landrith, is one of the best communicators I have ever heard. I have heard him on several occasions (this is my dad’s home church), so this was no surprise. The church has a very impressive children’s and student’s area and a 2500 seat auditorium. In David’s sermon he asked the question, “What will be your excuse to God for rejecting Jesus?”. He has a great passion for lost people and this was easy to see as he posed this question and called for people to respond to the gospel. David and a few of his leadership team attended Unleash this year and apparently were inspired to have their church write the names of lost people on their walls. It’s cool to see how we (the big “C” church) can inspire each other to do whatever it takes to reach our community.

The best thing about this experience was the opportunity to simply go to church with my wife and focus on worship. It was also a great reminder that there are churches everywhere with the same focus, passion and vision to reach lost people for Jesus. Along with those things, we took away a few ministry ideas.

A big thank you to these three churches, I wish you all Godspeed!