DRIVE 2015 Notes

Session One:  Navigating Culture.

Andy Stanley

Foundation:  We believe Jesus gave us everything we need to navigate culture.

Mission: Create churches that unchurched people love to attend.

Walk toward the messes.

INTRODUCTION:

Our approach to cultural engagement is informed by:

• Something Jesus said.
• Something said about Jesus.
• Something Jesus said without saying it
• Something Jesus didn't say.

1) Something said about Jesus:

• He embodied grace and truth.
• John 1:14, 17-18
• Jesus wasn't the balance of Grace and Truth he was the embodiment of both.
• Jesus never dumbed down the truth and never turned down the grace.

A. Truth

B. Grace

C. The grace/truth tension requires that we present the ideal while embracing what's real.

IDEAL: Sex is for married people.

REAL: Aint nobody doing that.

These won't ever match up.

2) Something Jesus said without saying it:

• Distinguish between theology and ministry.
• Mark 2:23-24, 27 NIV

A. Distinguishing between theology and ministry liberates ministry without compromising theology.

B. Theology is what we believe.  Ministry is what we do for others as a result of what we believe.

• The law of God is not more important than the people to whom it was given.
• The Bible is not more important than the people to whom it was given.
• Pharisees: Those people are breaking the law! (Preserve the law)
• Jesus:  Those people are breaking themselves against the law. (Preserve the people)
• IF WHAT YOU BELIEVE LIMITS WHO YOU TO MINISTER TO YOU NEED TO CHANGE WHAT YOU BELIEVE.

C. Jesus' theology broadens rather than limited his scope of ministry.

• If Jesus had been worried about guilt by association he would have stayed in heaven.

D. When churches fail to distinguish between theology and ministry, ministry becomes rigid and idealistic.

• Idealistic ministry systems eventually collapse under the weight of the real world.
• Ministry is akin to family.

3) Something Jesus didn't say:

• Never give up influence unnecessarily.
• Luke 20:1-8
• There are times when you should keep your mouth shut even if you know the answer.

A. Never make a point at the expense of making a difference.

B. Think twice before answering a question that has the potential to burn a bridge or close a door.

• When people pressure you to take a stand, they normally want you to take their stand.
• This why your groups model is so important...circles are better than rows.  It allows people to follow up in one on one circumstances.

4) Something Jesus actually said:

• Love your enemies.
• Matthew 5:43-48

A. What groups traditionally push back against the local church?

B. What groups are pushing back against your local church?

• Those who feel condemned...Sunday AM Sport ppl, drinkers, atheist groups, other churches, music/drum haters..etc. (City Govt. local charity, communities, neighborhoods)

C. Illustrations: Gwinnett Church

D.Objection: But didn't Jesus say we should be concerned about people speaking well of us?

• Luke 6

• Matthew 5:16

5) Next Steps for your Church

• Clarify the win organizationally and departmentally.
• Take a fresh look at current policies.
• Resist the temptation to create new policies.
• Think twice about using weekend services to address complicated or divisive cultural issues.
• Teach your leaders to distinguish between ministry and theology.
• Brainstorm ways to love your actual and potential enemies.

Matthew 10:16 - to navigate culture we need to be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.

Session Two:

Andy Stanley

We need to be the last generation of Church leaders that have kids growing up with same sex attraction has to leave the church.

NPCC Rule:  No e-mail or social media interaction about the topic on homosexuality.  It all requires an in person conversation.

Results of Gay Meeting Andy had with 13 people:

• We don't want to go to churches that affirm gay lifestyle, we want to learn the scripture.
• We are worried about the other shoe dropping

Circles are better than ROWS. (Gay Mens Small group)

Survey Question to 25 Gay Attenders:  What do you wish your church or school would have said to you when you were in middle school?

• Response - tell the young men, they are still a man
• THEME:  The church should be the safest place in the world for students to talk about anything, including same sex attraction.

Tenets of a Group Presentation to Small Group Leaders at NP on Gay Subject:

• There is not and never will be theological consensus on this topic. (Not really consensus on any topic, except that Jesus is God)
• What is Gods will for a person who believes the Bible, placed their faith in Christ and has experienced same sex attraction?
• Many people have changed their view once someone they loved experienced same sex attraction.

The Question:

1) Can we minister to gay individuals, couples and children without theological consensus?

• Many within the church "Being Gay" is an unanswered prayer

Gay Christians are faced with 3 real options:

• Celibacy (unbearable)
• Traditional Marriage (impractical)
• Monogamous Same-sex relationships (unBiblical)
• READ: Washed in Waiting (Wesley Hill)

2) Can we minister to, involved and have community with gay individuals based on the theological gay that exists?

3) Are we condoning sin by allowing gay individuals to be a part of your church?

• Andy would say no.  We are creating a space to have the conversation.
• Our approach is to create a safe place for a group of people to decide how best to follow Jesus while bearing a burden Jesus has chosen not to remove.

It is usually easier to figure out how to love, then it is to figure out what to believe.

One side will pressure us to abandon the ideal.  One side is will pressure us to ignore whats real.  We will do neither.

BREAKOUT SESSION 1: Managing the Tension in MultiSite

Introduction:

Are you considering a multi site strategy?  Maybe you have a strategy, but the problems that have surfaced are causing you to rethink it.  In this breakout, we'll share the tensions that have helped us construct, share, and evolve our multi site model.

1) What we are convinced of..

A. The local church should be irresistible in the local community.

B. Every new church should be better than the previous one.

C. Every previous church should be better because of the new one.

D. The local expression of the church is always better when we work together.

• MultiSite Continuum, pic of rowing boat. Centralized vs. Decentralized.

2) The Greatest Tension of Multisite:

A. Are we on our own, or are we with each other?

• Answer is YES!

B. Who gets to actually make decisions?

• WE DO.  Meaning all of us.

C. The tension that multi site creates should not be resolved; the problems created by multi site should be.

D. Our desire is to create and develop healthy churches that are independently aligned.

3) What we have done to solve the problems multisite creates...

A. Communicate consistently and predictably.

• Err on the side of over communication versus covert communication.
• Simply being in the know minimizes most frustrations.

B. Collaborate whenever possible.

• Collaborate even when there is no consensus.
• Consistently cast the vision that collaboration always makes us better.
• Create collaboration around ideas and decisions without the expectation of execution.
• It always allows more the wow when you dont have to worry about the how.

C. Clarify to create alignment.

• Who can we expect to do that?
• Who gets to make this decision?
• Who is responsible for this?

4) Resist the urge to be one-size-fits-all...

• We are more centralized in some areas than others.
• The more specific the audience, the more comfortable we are centralized systems, programming, and messaging.
• The more diverse the audience, the greater the need to contextualize systems, programming, and messaging.
• At certain times of year, there are broad initiatives where one voice matters.
• When together, the impact is tangible.
• When together, the influence is multiplied.
• When together, the invitation is far reaching.

Conclusion:

The multisite model is here to stay. Creating unity and synergy by working together even when miles apart will never be easy.  Learning to be comfortable with the tension created by the multisite model is possible.  Within the tension, communicates, collaborate, and clarify in order to solve the problems the tensions create.

Breakout 2: The Best Team You've Ever Lead

Introduction:

Wouldn't we all want to lead the team everyone wants to join?  In this breakout, we will introduce a new mindset and process for developing a high-capacity team that attracts the best people.

1) Start with Who

• We have found that the most successful individuals for our culture and organization are:
• Self-directed:  they know exactly what they are supposed to do' they go for it every day with determination, confidence and full engagement.
• High Capacity:  when they have everything they need they are able to achieve great things.
• Value-adds:  When given the opportunity they are willing and able to contribute beyond what's expected.
• Hire the right people
• The right people have the right attitude and aptitude.
• Right attitude: positive disposition; healthy mental and emotional outlook
• Right aptitude: high innate or acquired capacity; quickness in learning they get it done; they will figure it out.
• The Right process helps you hire the right people.
• North Point Resources Current Practice: hiring process funnel

(Wonderlic Test)

Candidate Pool

Phone Screen

First Office Visit

Right Path Testing

Second Office Visit

Sunday Visit/Operational Tour

Final Interview Offer

• Start them right
• In Good to great, leadership guru Jim Collins concludes that great leaders begin transformation by first getting the right people on the bus then figuring out where to drive it -- FIRST WHO THEN WHAT.
• With new employees, shift your focus from "warm and fuzzy" to equipping them.
• Read Ken Blanchard's 3 Keys to Empowerment to learn more about developing employees over time.

2) Articulate the big picture clearly

• Change causes confusion and uncertainty on the team.  The antidote to confusion and uncertainty is clear communication.
• Inspire people with why the team exists
• Do all team members know exactly what they're working toward and why?
• North Point Resources Current Practice:  one page vision document
• Communicate why each person is on the team and what the team values.
• North Point Resources Current Practice:  new-staff discussions
• Tell people why are they on the team and set them up for success.
• Do all team members have responsibility for everything they do?
• Do all team members view their specific roles and responsibilities as meaningful and critical to team success?
• Tell them why the team exists
• Pinpoint roles by setting and resetting who is doing what.
• NPR Current Practices:  one-sentence job descriptions and current number one priority.

3) Develop Systems for effective day to day management.

• Systems are the 'way we do things'
• Designed systems reap desirable results
• Default systems reap undesirable results
• Implement a system to freely share information with everyone on the team.
• Meeting are parts of the system.  For better or worse, your meetings share your workplace culture.  All meetings should reinforce team values, behaviors, beliefs, and vision.
• Is your system of meetings creating desired outcomes?
• NPR Current practice: staff meetings, one-on-one meetings, and prayer meetings.
• Share clear, time-bound objectives and wins with the team
• NPR Current practice:  Take 5 (monthly objectives and wins)

4) Get Honest Feedback

• Ask insightful questions, follow up questions and what we should do.  Am I getting the last 10 percent?
• NPR Current Practice: ship-level meetings
• Is there anything I don't know you think I should know?
• What is the first thing you would change if you had my job?
• Expose and address dysfunction.
• Squash 'Power-Tower'; eliminating energy-sapping, negative politics.
• Avoid bloody unwinnable battles.
• NPR Current Practice: Employment Engagement Survey
• Anything I do that gets in the way of doing your job?
• Anything I have said or done that has robbed you of passion or energy to do your job?

Conclusion:

Cultivating a great team requires intentional effort over time. What new practices will you begin with your team?

Session Three: How to lead when you are not in charge.

1) Lead Me.

• No one can lead you better than you are leading yourself.
• When I wait to be led, I reduce my influence and lose my opportunity to lead.
• Leading myself requires:
• Modeling follower ship
• Monitoring my heart and my behaviors
• Making a plan
• There are intangible benefits beyond being led well.
• You will become the easiest to lead
• You will become the most desired to be led
• You will become the quickest to lead next.

2) Choose Positivity

• The greatest benefit I bring to my team is not my talent, gifts, experiences, or education.  Its my energy.
• Positivity is a fight for we over me
• When I am not part of the decision-making process, my default is to abdicate leadership.
• If you want someone to buy in, you have to let people weigh in.
• More important than making the right decision is owning the decision and making it right.
• In a complex, multitiered, multilevel organization, there is always a choice between these two perspectives.
• I'm frustrated at what I'm not getting to be a part of.
• I'm grateful for what they do for me to allow me to do what I get to do.

3) Think Critically.

• We want every leader at every level thinking about how we can make it better.
• Critical thinking requires a switch from employee to owner.
• By being fully present in relationships and environments, critical thinkers have a high with it factor.
• Thinking critically is a skill.  Being critical is a snare.
• The clipboard is for giving a grade.
• The towel is for lending a hand.

4) Reject Passivity.

• At every level in our organization, there is information, experience and perspectives that affects our direction.
• The lie is that when I'm in the leader's seat, I will have influence.  Instead, influence needs to be cultivated wherever you are.
• When I am only waiting for someone to hand me something, I have the potential to become someone who will not be handed anything.
• Learn to reject passivity while under authority and you will become a leader worthy of authority.

Breakout 4: How to have difficult conversations

difficultconversationsbreakout@gmail.com

INTRO:  There is a difference between being willing to have a hard conversation and having a hard conversation well.

1) An Unavoidable Reality

• Genuine love is incomplete without difficult conversations.
• Biblical love involves grace and truth
• Niceness leads to artificial harmony and ultimately to unhealth.
• Difficult conversations are a vital part of our personal growth process.
• They are a kind of trial, and God uses trials to grow us.
• We will never get better at it without doing it.
• They are the responsibility and expectations of leadership.
• Church leaders must "guard" what has been entrusted to them.
• A willingness to have difficult conversations creates confidence and stability in those who follow.

2) Three Things to Do

• Work hard to uncover the real issue.
• At the heart of every difficult conversation is a reality that needs to be addressed.
• Most issues are rooted in one of the 4 Cs (character, chemistry, culture, competence).
• Calculate the influence of design differences.
• All of us are combinations of wiring personality, experiences, values and more.
• Our designs inform our perspectives, and all perspectives are incomplete and biased.
• Reduces the noise to a minimum before the first conversation.
• Noise is the results of our flesh energizing our differences.
• Noise interferes with our ability to see clearly and respond productively.

3) Four Keys to Effectiveness.

• Healthy detachment is a good indicator of readiness.
• Begin the conversation with genuine curiosity by asking discovery-based questions.
• Find emotional common ground to help the other person see what you see.
• Great Example - Nathan confrontation of David (Murder & Adultery)  Nathan's story of the sheep, David was a shepherd.
• Have realistic expectations for the first conversation.

4) Follow Up

• Re-establish communication as quickly as possible.
• Affirm that you are for the other person.
• As what he/she heard.
• Schedule a follow-up conversation right away.

Session Four: That's a Great Questions

Andy Stanley

Introduction:

• Great leaders ask great questions
• Great leaders surround themselves with people who ask great questions.
• Great leaders understand that there is a difference between being asked a question a being questioned.
• Leaders who don't allow great questions find themselves surrounded by people who don't have anything of value to say.

1) Great Questions:

• Reveal Values
• Reinforce Values
• What happened this weekend? - showing the value Andy has on the weekend.
• Numbers matter because people count.
• Stories and Questions are the two best ways to reinforce organizational values.
• Reinforce Behaviors
• Make it better - What am I doing personally to help us improve organizationally?

2) One of the most powerful, clarifying, and disturbing questions a leader can ask is:

What would a great leader do?

• This question raises the standard of your leadership above the circumstances of your leadership.
• Great leaders look beyond the immediate.  (emotions strap us to the immediate)
• Great leaders transcend the emotion of the moment.
• Great leaders absorb; mediocre leaders defend.
• When we take things personally, we tend to make emotionally devastating decisions.
• This question unveils motives.
• Corporate mission and vision will eventually conflict with personal ambition.
• Leaders are good at camouflaging personal agendas with the languages of mission and vision.
• The question creates instant clarity.
• This question reveals weakness.
• It creates tension that deserves our attention.
• This question will inspire you to reach beyond the limits of personality and style.

Conclusion:  What would a great leader do?