Today I’d love to switch gears and ask: of all the things you’ve done to reach outsiders, which have been some of the best ideas, and how might they have offended people?

Here’s a quick survey with a few things we’ve tried:

• We meet in  movie theaters (in part its just practical – it fits us for now).  Some Christians left because they can’t worship in a movie theater.  Some non-Christians come because it’s in a movie theater and not in a church.  For the record, we just keep pointing them all to Jesus.  (It’s not about a movie theater.)
• On Easter 2008, we tattooed a person live on stage.  It was to make the point from Acts 17 that all of us – even non-Christians – have a notion of God imprinted on our hearts.  A handful of Christians left our church over it.  Some non-Christians said it made them want to come back.  The tattoo artist himself hadn’t been to church for years.  He was very suspicious of church.  He said it was a great experience and impacted him deeply spiritually.  He was surprised a group of Christians accepted invited him in.
• We opened Christmas Eve 09 with Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll to try to break up the sacharine expectations around Christmas.  No one left. Everybody liked it and thought it was funny.  Clearly not edgy enough. :0)

We’ve done quite a few other things that have ruffled feathers (some male band members dressed up as Beyonce <not sure we’d do that one again, or would we?>, we gave away Starbucks cards to people who brought their friends <we’ll do that again>), all in the desire to see non-churched people move into a growing relationship with Jesus.

What have you done?  Or maybe more interestingly, what do you wish you would have done?  What was the reaction or what feared reaction kept you from doing it?

But then this irony struck me – hard.  We start setting up church before 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning.  Trust me, everyone but our volunteers and a handful of gas station clerks are asleep.  As I drove off of campus after lunch, the world is waking up, the parking lots at malls are filling up.  And we’re winding up, putting it all away.  It’s like we missed each other.

I’m not suggesting that we should move worship off Sundays or even off Sunday mornings (churches that have tried it rarely see great results).  If unchurched people are going to attend a service, it’s probably going to be on Sunday mornings. I’m not even saying we should be open 24/7.  That can often just mean the church becomes a cocoon – a retreat from our friends and neighbours.

What I’m thinking about this morning is that I hope there is plenty of evidence of our faith left on Mondays (and Wednesdays and Saturdays).  What a shame it is if as the world goes to sleep, the church wakes up and as the church goes to sleep, the world wakes up.

What do you think is the most effective way to personally and collectively lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus when the world is alive, awake and fully engaged?

Over the last few years, here are some changes I’ve made to how I think about personal change that I thought I’d share.  So far, I’m finding this approach bears more fruit.  Here’s what I’ve been doing:

• Reflect constantly. Self-awareness is key to understanding.  Over the last year, I’ve sought feedback from my wife, my kids, our leadership team, staff, elders, mentors and others.  I’m always seeking to grow and learn.  I also am integrating personal growth into my prayer life.   Keeping a running tab of the issues you are working on can help select a few focal points.  Who do you have in your life that is giving you honest feedback on strengths and weaknesses?
• Start early. Our leadership team did a complete strategic plan for 2010 back in October/November 09.  I’ve been in ‘what can I do differently/better’ mode for a few months now.    It isn’t January first yet.  Take a few days to reflect, pray, consult and identify a few areas.
• Get a system. Life is busy.  I have a lot of inboxes and some days get more messages than I think I can handle.  When that happens, I live out of ‘reactive’ mode.  The urgent always wins out over the important.  As soon as that starts to happen, I start the slow slide to dropping balls. Two weeks ago on a flight (airplanes are great workspace), I completely reprogrammed my Things app, which I use as a project management/to do list.   I organized my life into areas of responsibility and projects, and entered every imaginable task and issue I’m facing into a series of neatly organized, time sensitive task list.  I’m two weeks into this system and love it.  Way fewer dropped balls.  Far ahead of where I would have been without it.  Whatever system you use is up to you.  I just know I need a system.
• Narrow the focus. I can’t get better at everything, but here are five areas I want to make progress in during 2010:
  • Focused Family Time.  Between my lap top and iPhone, I can be working far too much.  I’m going to shut it down more often at night and be fully focused on my family.  Work when I work.  Play when I play.  I thought I was doing better than I was at this, so a change is needed.
  • Clearer Messages. I preach over 35 messages per year and do conferences and other talks on top of that.  The best path to clarity for me is to spend time planning a message weeks or months before I give it.  Clarity is hard work.  I want to be in front of series, talks and messages than I ever have been.
  • Lose the Last 10 Pounds. I joined a gym to kick off 09 and lost 15 pounds this year, but I’m still at least 10-15 pounds above where I need to be.  For me that means diet.  Self control, self control, self control.  (That’s a spiritual discipline, isn’t it?)  This will no doubt be the hardest goal in 2010, because I haven’t been under 200 pounds since I was in college.  Here we go.
  • Become a Better Manager I have no trouble leading an organization and am passionate about casting vision for our mission, but I struggle in management.  I want to stay focused on my strengths, but the reality is I will serve the people I work with much better if I develop stronger follow up and better attention to organizational detail.  Reorganizing my Things app was a first step in the right direction. I’ll be looking for constant improvement and constant feedback on this in 2010.
  • Deepen My Prayer Life. Scripture reading was a major focus for 2009, and the passion in my Bible reading is probably at an all time high.  I want to see a deeper, more intimate prayer life emerge.  Not sure how to accomplish this, but God has a way of partnering with you when you seek Him more deeply.  So I’ll keep at it.
• Keep your goals in sight all year. If you’re only working on a few things (I’ve got five), you can make progress more easily than if you were trying to do 10.  Because there are only five, I can keep them on my dashboard all year long.

Those are thoughts on how I plan for the new year.  How do you do it?  What are some best practices that have helped you?

That’s a very different question than "are we growing?"  or "are we meeting budget?" or "do we like what we’re doing?"  (three easy questions to ask).  

Primarily we ask these three questions: 

- Are we creating a church unchurched people love to attend? 

- Are we leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ? 

- Are we helping parents and families win at home?

The first answers our vision statement, the second, our mission statement and the third, our family ministry philosophy. 

But I find as a leader I am tempted to dump these questions in favour of this question:  Did I try really hard?  I find this to be true: the more I invest in a message/series/project/venture the more likely I’m going to declare it a win whether it’s a win or not. 

I am constantly tempted to measure organizational success by effort rather than results.  I think it’s one of the key ways organizations get off track.  It’s how 50 very sincere Christians can end up building a church no one but them wants to attend.  It’s how artists produce music no one wants to listen to or preachers pour their hearts in messages that have little relevance.  It’s how a great organization can become a once-great organization.

Our entire team can work relentlessly hard on a project, but if we fail to reach unchurched people, don’t help people grow in their relationship with Christ or avoid helping families win at home, we’re engaged in a heartfelt exercise in missing the point. That’s not why we started the church.  It’s not why we exist. 

As we plan for 2010, we are focusing increasingly on measuring outcomes.  As I regularly share with our staff, staff spend 99% of their time planning for ministry and 1% evaluating ministry.  The congregation and community do exactly the opposite – they spend 1% of their time planning and 99% of their time evaluating.

How about you?  Do you find it easy to keep focus?  What helps you stay focused?  How do you measure what really matters most?