Some things I've learned so far

I really should use this blog to un-internalize all that's going on in my mind about our church plant. There is so much I have learned over the past few months.

I've learned that Jesus was really good at using hyperbole in his teaching, but I'm not good at it at all. In saying that we are a church for people who don't go to church I think I've turned people away before they even had a chance to check us out.

I've learned that some people are better at inviting than others and that we need more of those "connectors," as Malcolm Tidwell calls them. Not that this is a negative statement on any of the people that we have. It's just an observation. This is frustrating for me, but it's really a reflection on me and my personality. I'm not a connector. I'm not extroverted. I don't have huge relational circles. I am learning that it's true that the church will look more like it's leaders than like the picture the leaders want to produce. Thus, we need some leaders who are different than me (more below).

I've learned that disciples just don't happen. You have to have a process for making disciples. I'm working on what that process is going to be for The Point right now with the goal of taking the month of January to teach and explain it.

I've learned that I am very limited as a leader. There is only so much that I can do. I'm a git jealous of those guys who can do everything (or so it seems that they can do everything). But that's not me. With this in mind I need some staff. I'm thinking two staff would be a good start. It would help if we had the money to hire these staff, but we don't, so I'm asking God to intervene. Got any suggestions? Want to contribute?

I've learned that I might internalize my thoughts and plans a bit too much, and that I need to keep the lines of communication open by communicating more and not less. This is really a tough one for me because I am not the best at putting what's in my head into words. Liz is much better at this than me.

I've learned that being a leader means you've got to have tough conversations with people. I'm not saying I've done that yet or that I can do that, but as the leader I need to be courageous enough to have tough conversations, to hold people accountable, to dismiss people when they don't do what their supposed to do, to challenge people to greater responsibility and to coach. I suck at all of the above, but I want to get better and believe that for us to be the church that God is calling us to be I've got to step it up. It's true, "Everything rises and falls on leadership."

I've learned that blanket marketing seems like a good quick fix, but that it's really a waste of money and time. There's a reason why advertisers spend enourmous amounts of dough researching their target audience. We haven't really done any real research. We need to pick our target audience, do research to find out what they are like, then market to them, reach out to them.

This really is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things I'm learning, but it's all I can put in words at this time.