Issue No. 548 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting asks, “What’s on your name badge?” and “Is God up to something this month?” And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), click here for over 500 book reviews, and click here for my review of Hardwiring New Leadership Habits. (Plus, check out The Discerning Leader Podcast below.)
John Jackson’s new book, Grace Ambassador, urges churches to flip the script on the 80/20 Rule—with 80% of us deployed “in the community as the Church distributed.”
Aircraft Carrier or Cruise Ship?
Imagine—if you really, really, truly believed that you were a Grace Ambassador! Imagine if that moniker was on your name badge:
• At your workplace!
• At your school!
• In your neighborhood!
• In your home!
Imagine—if the ripple effect of the Asbury Revival (some call it the Asbury Awakening) prompted thousands (millions?) of Christ-followers across the globe to really, really, truly engage with the world as Grace Ambassadors!
Church Gathered vs. Church Distributed! Imagine—if you flipped the script in local churches and just 20 percent of the church family “would be needed for the ministries of the Church gathered and 80 percent could be equipped and released for redemptive presence ministry in the community as the Church distributed.”
Every so often, over the decades, a book comes along and sparks a spiritual awakening. Books like:
• A Taste of New Wine, by Keith Miller
• Body Life, by Ray Stedman
• Discover Your Spiritual Gifts, by C. Peter Wagner
• Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby
• What book(s) would you add?
Coincidence? Serendipitous? A God-wink? Perhaps as you follow the sparks from the Feb. 8, 2023, Asbury Revival, you too will thirst for next steps. Perhaps this is the book, in God’s timing, for this season:
Bringing Heaven to Earth
by Dr. John Jackson
John Jackson’s short book (just released this week) is profound, powerful, and prophetic. Think heart, mind, and soul—no surprise for a university president. The insights and bold challenges—also no surprise. The humor? A wonderful bonus. Read this:
“I am not sure how many of us would invite a modern-day Jesus to address our church leadership conferences, since His three years of public ministry left only 120 frightened followers in that Upper Room!”
“Full Employment Policy.” Caution! Jackson will disrupt your “lethal misbeliefs” and reorient your theology. What will it take to get people out of the pews and into their God-given kingdom assignments? This former pastor, ministry leader, and prolific author believes the church today needs a “full employment policy”—but it’s not what you’re thinking. He writes:
“Every Christian has received a specific calling of God to ministry. Do you know your place in God’s plan? The vast majority of us are not employed on a pastoral ministry team in a local church setting.
• That means our primary call to ministry—our place—is within a non-church setting.
• Our secondary call to ministry is within a local church family.”
What? The drill isn’t Sunday morning at eleven anymore?
In my old age, the final book I’d like to write will be titled, If You’ve Only Got an Hour-a-Week to Give to God—Come and Hear Me Preach! My opinion: that’s the dominant message of many local churches. Fill the pews on Sunday morning—and we’re all happy. (Don’t get me started.)
Jackson’s 20/80 rule is so, so contrarian. But just imagine when Grace Ambassadors—already equipped for service—deeply understand that their workplaces are “not a curse, but a calling.” Imagine! He asks us to affirm that the mission of the church is more like an aircraft carrier—not a cruise ship!
Note: Larry Peabody, author of God Loves Your Work, quotes a pastor who confesses, “…I had spent the majority of my time equipping my congregation for what they were called to do in the minority of their lives. This majority-minority disparity is rampant across the pulpits of America. It is fundamental that we need to address this Sunday-to-Monday gap.”
Jackson invests two chapters on spiritual giftedness with a memorable metaphor—this 2003 Super Bowl commercial spoofing the Cast Away movie, starring Tom Hanks. (View this 45-second hilarious video!)
“What’s in the package?” asks the FedEx executive/desert island survivor when, five years later, he delivers the FedEx box to its rightful owner—unopened, of course. View the 45-second video.
The memorable line: “What’s in the package?” That's what the curious FedEx executive/desert island survivor asks when he delivers the box. The woman at the door opens the box and answers, “Nothing, really, just a satellite phone, GPS locator, fishing rod, water purifier, and some seeds.”
Jackson notes, “This is how some of us live! We possess packages that contain exactly what we need, treasures right in front of our noses, and we do not even open them.” He adds, “Your treasure is your spiritual gift. If you are unaware of it, then it remains an unopened package that contains exactly what you need to find your place in God’s plan.”
I’m so grateful for leaders who helped me discover my spiritual gifts—and deploy them in God’s unique assignments for me. Reading these two chapters reinforced again my wonder and appreciation for God’s plan for the church. (See my Mistake #18 in Mastering Mistake-Making, “Not Understanding My Spiritual Gift Mix,” and Book #53 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.)
“Double Listening.” Today, culture is a mess. In summarizing each of the spiritual gifts noted in the Bible, Jackson quotes John R. W. Stott who acknowledged Karl Barth’s wisdom on the spiritual gift of teaching. “…the goal of the communicator, the teacher of God’s Word, is to practice ‘double listening’—taking the newspaper in one hand, the Bible in the other and building a bridge between the two, so the timeless truths of God’s Word connects with the reality of today’s news.”
(In my seminary days, Dick Ottoson was my very innovative pastor. He would often do just that in Sunday services: read the headlines of the Chicago Tribune—and then pray through the problems on our behalf. Powerful!)
Second Reformation. Jackson is also praying—for a second Reformation. He is “…praying for a corporate revival as the Church of Jesus begins to release His grace and goodness to the world in every sphere of culture.” He challenges readers and leaders to affirm, “What season of life we are in and when it would be best to move into other realms of service.”
Are you hanging on to your current assignment with clenched fists? Or like Jackson, are you praying that you “will have the spiritual maturity to serve in a different capacity for the sake of the Kingdom of God” when your current assignment is over and you enter a different season of life? (That takes spiritual guts!)
Hmmm. Asbury Revival this month. A new and powerful book this month. A new movie this month, Jesus Revolution (opening Feb. 24) chronicling the Jesus People movement of the 70s. Hmmm. What is God up to? In his book, Jackson also reminds us about the 1857 New York City revival (imagine!) when businessman Jeremiah Lanphier “started a noontime prayer meeting. His church had appointed him as a ‘city missionary,’ and not knowing what to do, he prayed a simple prayer: ‘Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?’” (Listen to the rest of the story here.)
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Grace Ambassador: Bringing Heaven to Earth, by Dr. John Jackson (foreword by Ed Stetzer). Listen on Libro (4 hours, 47 minutes).
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) John Jackson writes, “The concept and reality of grace is like a sumo wrestler—hard to get your arms around!” (He defines it further.) How would you define grace? If your name badge read “Grace Ambassador,” how might your life change?
2) Are your spiritual gifts deployed or, per Jackson’s metaphor, still in the FedEx box? Visit this website (for individuals and teams) for a discovery tool that provides you with a personalized analysis of your God-given spiritual gifts. What are your spiritual gifts—and do your co-workers and boss know them and encourage you to leverage your gifts in your workplace?
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books - Part 2: Books-of-the-Year
Book #19 of 100:
Peter Drucker’s Five Most Important Questions
For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by spotlighting Book #19 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
Peter Drucker’s Five Most Important Questions:
Enduring Wisdom for Today’s Leaders
by Peter F. Drucker, Frances Hesselbein, and Joan Snyder Kuhl
Books #6 through #21 spotlight 16 books that I named the Book-of-the-Year from 2006 to 2020. Peter Drucker writes, “Self-assessment is the first action requirement of leadership: the constant resharpening, constant refocusing, never being really satisfied.”
• Read my review.
• Order from Amazon: Peter Drucker’s Five Most Important Questions
• Listen on Libro (2 hours, 55 minutes)
• Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson)
Who is your primary customer? Peter Drucker writes that “the primary customer is the person whose life is changed because of your work.” As you think about Grace Ambassador and Drucker’s five questions (especially “Who is our customer?”), download Worksheet 2.1, “Local Church Simplified Segmenting Chart: Who is God calling you to reach and serve?” from the Customer Bucket. Click here.
PODCAST: Steve Macchia Invites John to Discern!
Listen to The Discerning Leader Podcast as Steve Macchia and Matt Scott from Leadership Transformations drill down with guest John Pearson on the 10 phases of a spiritual discernment process—from Steve’s book, The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything (John’s 2022 Book-of-the-Year). Click here for Episode 1, "The Big Question (Phase 1)" in Season 25, "A Process for Discernment" (Feb. 23). The podcast is 37 minutes.
PEARPOD | TELLING YOUR STORY. Do you know the spiritual gifts of each person on your communication and marketing teams? Are you leveraging them? Do they view their story telling roles as a calling or a curse (per Grace Ambassador)? Are you leveraging the spiritual giftedness of your current volunteers? We can help! Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social).
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