Leaders, are YOU a shepherd?

We’ve probably all heard the concept of shepherd leadership.  But do we really think about what this means?  Do we lead like shepherds?  Jesus does.

Shepherds guide their sheep…they never drive them.  In fact, if you try and drive a group of sheep they will scatter…..the way to move a group of sheep is to lead them in the direction you want them to go.

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording over those entrusted you, but being examples to the flock.  And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of glory that will never fade away.”   1 Peter 5:2-4

We are called to lead like shepherds.  But remember, the life of a shepherd yields little glory.  Sheep are very frustrating to lead!  But that does not mean we stop leading like a shepherd.  It is so easy for us as leaders to put tasks before people and when we do, we stop leading and begin ‘driving’ people in the direction we want them to go.  We begin looking at people as the objects that help us achieve our goals rather than people we are called to love and serve.  Just like sheep, when we ‘drive’ people rather than ‘love’ people they will scatter.

Leaders, are YOU leading like a shepherd?  Or are the people you are leading scattering in many different directions?  May we all strive to lead like Jesus….the Great Shepherd.

Viewing Grouplife as ‘church’ – PART 2

When Paul wrote about ‘ecclesia’ (the church) meeting in homes all across the landscape, he was not thinking strategically about how these small groups were a strategy to grow the church or reach the lost.  Small groups were not a focus of the early church.  They were the church! There were no church buildings nor was the church recognized with any official status.  The church was a movement of small groups meeting in individual’s homes.  Somehow today, small groups are viewed as a program or just one of the ways to help the church assimilate people and disciple people.  In very few cases are small groups actually viewed as the church or as ‘ecclesia’.

I think it is fascinating to think that the small group was the paradigm or perspective of how the church was to function or how early Christians thought about church.  It’s also interesting to consider that the Scriptures do not outline for us just what a church gathering should look like or how church gatherings were to be structured.  You just don’t find this.

But what you do find is a lot of writing about how Christians are to relate to each other.  Love God, love one another, serve one another, encourage one another, care for one another……..and it can only be within the context of community that we do this.

Group life is ‘ecclesia’!

Organic Community – Measurement

“We have 175 small groups in our church.”  “45% of our congregation is in a small group.”  “The small group I lead meets every other week and we have an 80% attendance rate.”  “We had 300 people show up at the church picnic.”  In our feeble attempts to measure community, I am pretty confident that we have given answers and heard answers similar to those just stated.  I have heard of small group pastors that were fired because their effectiveness was matched to these types of bottom line measurements.

This leads us to an important question: How do we measure success in community?  Can you take a bottom line approach?  Is a numerical measurement of how many people are connected a valid way to assess the health of what is really happening?

Joe Myers, in his book ‘Organic Community’, believes that the answer to this question is found by asking ourselves what we are hoping for.  I agree.  If we simply want everyone in a group, then a bottom line approach may work.  But if we want to create spaces where people find authentic connection and learn to become disciples of Christ, a bottom line measurement will not help us out.

Authentic connection and spiritual growth cannot be measured by the presence or lack of presence in any one space.  For example, the fact that you or I are in a small group does not mean that we are experiencing authentic connection or spiritual growth.  Or if you or I go to a weekend retreat, does that qualify us for now being connected into the life of our church?  Of course not.

So how can we measure community?  Here is what I have found to be true, feel free to disagree.  In order to measure community we must first identify what it is we are hoping to achieve through our connecting efforts.  Once that is accomplished, we then measure our efforts through story.  Here is what I mean.  At Oakbrook Church (my home), we want small groups to pursue 3 things: Intimacy with Christ, Community with Insiders, & Influence with Outsiders.  Every small group leader is coached to go after these 3 ideals with their group.  With these 3 purposes of group life now known, we can measure our effectiveness through the use of story.  In other words, we ask group members if these 3 values are being pursued.  The stories we hear allow us to measure the effectiveness of our communities.  Make sense?

Here is a great example of the power of story as a measurement tool for life.  Our church was challenged to grow in generosity towards others and as we did that we were encouraged to share our experiences on our church blog.  Look up ‘Salt Packet’ stories and read through all the comments.  Story is powerful and life changing.

Bottom line measurements offer some value but in the context of community what we are measuring is life and we simply cannot measure life with statistics.  We measure life through story.

“Shared stories may not fit neat and tidy into a chart or on the back of a Sunday bulletin, but we grow to trust them as a powerful way to measure whether what we are hoping for is taking place.  Shared stories are the easiest way to ensure what is important is taken into account.  Story helps us measure the life of our communities.”  (Joe Myers – Organic Community p.80)

Question:  What are the most effective measuring tools you have used to measure community?  The Community Channel wants to know!