Top 10 "Take Homes" from the Leadership Summit

1. Have a Laser Sharp Focus.
Stop doing what others are doing and do what God has uniquely equipped you to do. Don’t try to do everything well. You won’t. Know, with precision clarity and focus, what it is you are called to do and to be. Then chase after that with all you have. Do less in order to do more! What are the things we need to STOP doing?

2. Pursue Excellence.
Love people thoughtfully, carefully, excellently, and rigorously. Say “no” to the Christian-adjusted scale of mediocrity. We are loving, working, and speaking on behalf of the king of kings. Love, work, and speak with all your heart and strength. Do it well. God deserves it.

3. Don’t get stuck in the visitor’s center.
Don’t go on the trip, but miss the adventure. That’s like going to a national park and spending 4 hours looking through the gift shop instead of hiking in and having the adventure. If my following doesn’t feel risky, I might want to check and see if I’m actually following. Jesus liberates us from the emptiness of safe faith. Don’t be content with comfortable cul-de-sac kind of faith.

4. Faith and Joy are inseperable.
Joy is a core value! The first thing to disappear when spiritual health declines is laughter and joy. The word “Joy” shows up in 241 different verses in the Bible (about the same as “Worship”). The joy of the lord is our strength. The harder it gets the more important that we have joy – for that is our strength. And when you stop and think about it, it’s pretty darn hilarious that God has put his stock in us goofy, bumbling, sell-outs. His plan is us. That’s funny stuff. How can we not laugh? A good many of us need to remind our faces about the joy we are supposed to have in our hearts.

5. Failure is not an option. It is a requirement.
It’s often the only way to find your way into God’s will. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying. Take a risk once in a while. “Take a flyer.”

6. Remove Barriers.
If we want people who are far from God to come to know God, we’ve got to remove the barriers that stand in the way. (And we’ve constructed an AWFUL lot of barriers). Note: We are not talking about the Gospel as a barrier. But we absolutely are talking about anything that people might experience that keeps them from feeling fully welcomed and accepted.

7. The #1 thing people say they want their church to do more of? CHALLENGE THEM.
Why are we afraid to ask people to sacrifice? Why are we afraid to set the bar high? Why are we afraid to challenge them? This contributes to the “Christian adjusted scale of mediocrity.”

8. Create motion for motion’s sake.
People will jump on board for a new thing in a way they won’t for a tweaked old thing. Doing something can create and sustain energy and momentum. Doing something helps keep people motivated and moving forward. Even if you only do it for a little while, even if it turns out not to be the right thing (see #5 above), doing something is often better than doing nothing.

9. Get the right people asking the right questions and you’ll get the right answers.
A primary task of leadership is to get the right people gathered at the table and to get them asking the right questions. A related point (from Colin Powell): “Reward top performers, remove non-performers.” This may seem like the opposite of grace. But it is actually about getting people in the right place. If I’m serving in a place that isn’t a good fit for me, I’m going to do poor work and I’m not going to enjoy it. Nobody benefits from that. (See #2 above).

10. Obstacles usually make great opportunities. The things that seem to create the most difficulty or tension might just point you to the great opportunities that God is presenting you.



Bonus: God has a plan to overthrow the problems of evil, injustice, and oppression. We are that plan. There is no other plan. (If justice is not your thing, then God is not your thing).