You likely have a to do list.  Mine’s often a bit long and always changing.

A to do list is one thing, but I wonder what would happen if we created a to-be list? 

There’s so much to do that often in the process of doing I forget to tend to who I am becoming.  What if I spent as much time developing my character as I do trying to accomplish tasks?

After all, doesn’t character ultimately nuance and even determine what we accomplish? I love Switchfoot, but I like them even more after @jonathanforeman (Switchfoot’s front man) twittered about this rendition of one of their new songs.  A fairly famous guy gave a teenage girl who home videoed one of his songs a shout out to thousands of people.  How cool is that? It says so much about his character.

Great people are great because of who they are as much as for what they accomplish.  Great people forgive liberally.  They add value to people they meet.  They stand up for things that matter but are just as happy to take a back seat so others can shine.  They love radically and serve with selfless abandon.

For me to be more like that takes work.  Maybe we need to-be lists as badly as we need to-do lists.

I’m thinking for me these days, I’d start with one word on my to-be list: kindness.  In my daily interactions with everyone, I want to be more kind.  

If you had a to-be list today, what would be on it?  How might it change you?  How might working on being, not just doing, change your life?

I think the hardest thing I do every day is not to build or sustain momentum for the church. It’s not writing messages, or even giving leadership to our team.  The hardest thing I do is to keep the church outsider focused. 

That actually shouldn’t surprise me because the hardest thing I have to do in self-leadership is to keep my personal life pointing toward others, not myself.

The drift inward – for organizations and individuals – is automatic, gravitational and effortless.  Almost all organizations would rather care for their own interests, not the interest of others.  Like employees at a retail store who look bothered when a customer interrupts their personal conversation to ask for help, most communities are self absorbed.  Why? Because (no surprise), most of us are self-absorbed.  The nature of sin is self-focus.  We evaluate church through the lens of personal preferences (I like this…I don’t like that….), not through the lens of what will reach our neighbours or be faithful to the ultimate purpose Christ has for the church.

If an organization becomes self-focused, ultimately it becomes selfish, unprogressive, resistant to change and indifferent or even hostile to the needs of others.  An outward focused organization becomes more generous, more compassionate, more responsive and ultimately far more effective.  No surprise there of course, because Jesus said when we give our life away for His sake we’ll find it.

I’m increasingly convinced that when the church in North America is declining it’s because we are self-focused, and that when the church in North America is growing its because we are others-focused and Christ-focused.  We plant churches all the time that claim they exist to reach the lost but function as though they exist to please their members. 

But focusing outward is incredibly hard work.  Because an inward drift is steady and instinctual, an outward focus has to be intentional,  deliberate and sacrficial.

Every day, I feel like I am on a personal and collective journey to make this life about Christ and about others.  I wish it was getting easier, but it’s just hard work.

How about you?  What’s the hardest thing you do?  How is your life and your community becoming more inward focused or more outward focused?

So we’re gearing up for a December series on hope at Connexus.  Here’s the tension for the series:  Everywhere I turn in the Bible I read about hope, and yet hope seems so absent for so many Christians and those who don’t believe.

I twittered about hope last week and got a surprising number of DMs and even email messages from people who struggle with hope.

I’d love to open the conversation more widely today and hear what you have to say (of course, you can DM or create a pseudonym here on the blog too).

Some questions:

What makes you lose hope?

What makes you hopeful?

How do you remain hopeful in tough circumstances?

How fragile do you feel hope is in your life right now?  What’s making it fragile?

Could you share some stories and thoughts?  I find these real life stories so helpful when writing a series, and – as always, the series will be available to everyone free on www.connexuscommunity.com and on iTunes. 

Love to hear from you – post away.