Barnabas File

Good concepts can quickly become clichés. One of those concepts is “lifelong learning.” When I first heard the term it sounded fresh and challenging. Now, when I talk to someone about being a lifelong learner, I realize that it is more commonly articulated than practiced. So what does it take to be a lifelong learner? Here are some ideas; you may have your own. First, a lifelong learner reads. This means not just reading in the area of your professional expertise, but reading broadly--delving into other areas that may even be a bit unfamiliar to you. Reading should include the news whether you access it in the newspaper, a newsmagazine, or online. Fiction and nonfiction should also be on the agenda. Second, a lifelong learner attends seminars or conferences to learn from others. I think we can add webinars and teleconferences to this list now. The real lifelong learner then does something with what he or she has learned by coming up with at least one action plan based on the experience...

In the recent past the leadership of organizations was built on a mechanistic model. There was a clear organizational chart, decisions flowed from the top down, and responsibilities were codified in job descriptions. The primary responsibility of each succeeding level of supervision was to make sure that those individuals at the level below were doing what he or she was hired to do—nothing more and nothing less. This mechanistic model stifled creativity, meaning, and relationships for everyone except (perhaps) those at the very top. The new organic model of leadership is built on a core of spirituality and relationships. When the leadership team of the Union Baptist Association in Houston began seeking to create a way to lead churches in transformational change, they realized that spiritual and relational vitality was the driving force for church transformation. They also realized that they needed to model it themselves as a team if they were going to guide churches in transformational...

Although I am a great fan of all things digital, I still enjoy browsing a good bookstore. There’s nothing like wandering the aisles, noting an interesting cover or title, and picking up a book and leafing through it. Some people talk about Facebook being addictive, but I can testify that spending time in a bookstore may be even more addictive! I could even give you a list of great bookstores I have found. Some may no longer exist. I remember discovering a bookstore in Wake Forest, North Carolina, just off the campus of Southeastern Seminary. This former supermarket had tables holding thousands of books. Whenever I was in the area, I would spend a couple of hours just walking through and browsing. One of my favorites was BookStar in Nashville. The owners had taken an old movie theater and converted it into a bookstore, but they had kept the lobby cards, décor, and screen in place. Unfortunately, it is now closed. I enjoy browsing online bookstores, and I am grateful that more publishers...

For the last several blogs, I have suggested five characteristics or functions of 21st century leadership—pathfinding, aligning, empowering, coaching, and networking. In this blog, I would like to bring the focus specifically to the work of judicatories or denominational structures in the 21st century and suggest a biblical model for this approach. When we think of the work of the apostle Paul, we tend to focus on him alone. In reality, Paul was surrounded by a team of gifted individuals that was continually changing. We know the names of some of them—Barnabas, Luke, Timothy, John Mark, even Priscilla and Aquila. At various points, different individuals became part of the apostolic team led by Paul. The composition of the group evolved and changed over the years. Very often members came on board, made their contribution to the work of planting and encouraging churches in an area, and then attached themselves to a particular church or churches to continue their work apart from Paul. Som...

“Networking” has become a common term among individuals—especially entrepreneurs—who are attempting to connect with those who can help them achieve their business plan and those who are potential customers. Networking is also an essential skill for leaders of 21st century organizations. Peter Senge has explained the importance of internal networkers or community builders in developing learning organizations. He describes such people as “the seed carriers of the new culture, who can move freely about the organization to find those who are predisposed to bring about change, help out in organizational experiments and aid in the diffusion of new learnings.” If you have a 20th century perspective on leadership, this characteristic of leadership will really get under your skin. If you are part of an organization or judicatory, you may not see the value of encouraging the “gadfly” employee who flits from desk to desk, cubicle to cubicle, or office to office looking over other employees’ shoul...

With March Madness upon us, I am not sure that this is the best time to talk about coaching. At this time of the year, the word evokes pictures of nicely dressed men and women yelling, sweating, and throwing tantrums on the sidelines of college basketball games. At the same time, these coaches show that there is a certain passion involved in the art of coaching. They encourage young men and women to stay the course to achieve a goal and that is what coaching is all about. Those who lead organizations in the 21st century will have to exercise a coaching function. Coaches are people who walk along beside others and help them to attain their full potential. Like the characteristic of empowering, coaching is a highly relational matter. A coach establishes rapport with the client, helps him or her determine an action plan and agenda, and then holds the individual accountable for his or her actions. This is a dynamic and interactive process; along the way, the plan will have to be revised as...

I don’t think it was a Dilbert cartoon, but the sentiment is in keeping with that venue. A leader was addressing a group and commented, “It is our goal to find each person’s spark of creativity and to water it.” Unfortunately, that mixed metaphor often describes the task that leaders of churches and other organizations embrace! The word “empowerment” is not in their vocabulary. One of the key leadership characteristics of the leader of a 21st century organization is empowering. The leader must learn how to truly empower individuals. Each person has unique gifts, skills, and abilities. An effective leader will help the individual discover those attributes and release the individual to use them in the work of the organization. The leader’s role is more than saying, “You can do this,” but to give responsibility, resources, and space for the participants to act. This is not simply helping persons to discover their gifts so that their names can be penciled into boxes on an organizational ch...

Super Bowl commercials can either be memorable or outrageous (or both). I don’t remember the product or service, but my favorite was one that appeared several years ago. The commercial featured several cowboys on horseback attempting to “herd cats.” I suppose I liked it because it was so familiar—anyone in a leadership role has found that working with a group of independent-minded people is often like herding cats! It is difficult to get all of them going in the same direction. Another of the tasks that an organization in 21st century must do is to align team members and constituents in such a way that they are all pursuing the same goal. Once you have found the path that you wish to follow, how do you get everyone onto that path and moving forward? This assumes that everyone is motivated to some degree and actually moving. I believe that there is a law of physics that states that it is easier to change the direction of an object in motion than to put a body at rest into motion. ...

Last Saturday, I spent most of the afternoon helping my grandson, Noah, prepare for an oral report on Davy Crockett, the Tennessee frontiersman, hunter, politician, and popular hero. We even went to iTunes and downloaded “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” from the 1950’s TV series. Although Crockett’s adventures may not have opened up new territory like Daniel Boone, Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, John Fremont, or other pioneers, he was something of a pathfinder, discovering new trails and hunting lands in the rapidly changing Tennessee wilderness. Men like Crockett were always just one step ahead of civilization. They prepared the way for expansion into new territories. Pathfinders are still needed today. As we consider what makes effective organizations in the 21st century (churches, judicatories, etc.), we have to name “ pathfinding ” as one of the key values of such organizations. Every group needs someone who is out there on the cutting edge, scouting out new possibilities and identifying r...

With the financial challenges that we are facing, one of the greatest temptations for a church is fall into a survival mode. When a church adopts this perspective, its priorities change drastically. Leaders become more concerned about maintenance than mission. Like the man in the proverb, we want to dig a hole and hide our gift because we fear losing it. If we are honest we will admit that the maintenance mode is the usual operating procedure of many churches even when they are not facing financial crisis. In this approach, the care and maintenance of those in the “family of faith” is more important than the needs of the unchurched and dechurched. Maybe we no longer have the philosophy that the church should be primarily committed to “keeping up the graveyard and having someone to conduct funerals,” but we may be more concerned about providing for our own members than about outreach and ministry to the community. When I use the term “outreach” I am not simply talking about bringing in ...