Who's on First Row?

By Charles Scott
Two friends are talking as they enter the sanctuary. The following is their conversation.

“There are a lot of new people in church; even the front row is filled. I remember when people who came in late had to sit up front, maybe as close as the fifth row.”
“Yeah, now church is so full you have to get here early to sit in the back. There are so many people I will never learn their names. Who’s on the front row?”
“Yes, it is. And behind him is, What, and I Don’t Know is next to him.”
“Do you know their names?”
“I just told you their names.”
“Who’s on the front row?”
“Who.”
“On the front row?”
“Who.”
“The person sitting on the end of the front row, who is it?”
“Yes, it is Who.”
“Who?”
“Who.”
“Why are you asking me? I’m asking you who is on the front row?”
“That’s his name—Who.”
“What’s whose name?”
“No, What is behind Who.”
“When the usher takes up the offering, who gives the tithe?”
“Absolutely.”
“Who?”
“Right.”
“Who gives it?”
“Of course, he is a new member and a regular tither, and his wife too.”
“Whose wife?”
“That’s right; they joined the church together.”
“What’s the guy’s name on the end of the front row?”
“No, What’s on the second row and I Don’t Know is next to him.”
“I’m not asking you who’s on the second row!”
“Who’s on the front row!”
“The church has a new worship leader. Is she good?”
“Yes.”
“What’s her name?”
“Why.”
“Well, I just thought I would ask!”
“Well, I just told you!”
“Who’s preaching now?”
“Who’s on the front row.”
“I Don’t know.”
“He is on the second row next to What.”
“I don’t know what!”
“Come on let me introduce you.”
“I don’t care!”
“I Don’t Care left our church a long time ago. That’s when we started to grow.”

Forgive the parody of Abbot and Costello. Apologies to those of you were expecting something much more spiritual. Just wanted to make a few points:

• It is not important to my worship experience that I know everyone in the service. In growing churches a vibrant experience with the Presence of God is absolutely necessary. In growing churches, there is more emphasis on the One who sits on the throne than who is sitting in the pew.
  
• It is not a requirement to sit by someone I know in order to learn more from the Word of God. In growing churches, a relevant message from God’s Word is absolutely necessary.
  
• It is not essential to be married or have children to go to church. People who are single can love Jesus. A growing church knows that the largest segment of society is single, and most single people are not Christians. In a growing church, integrating singles into the corporate Body is essential.
  
• It is not compulsory to diminish the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in order to make people feel comfortable. In growing churches, there is a culture of conviction and repentance.
  
• It is not necessary to become the culture to be a healthy growing church. It is absolutely necessary that the Church is a countercultural community expressing citizenship in the kingdom of God. The growing church expresses devotion to Jesus Christ by living in obedience to His Word. The growing church does not support missions; the growing church lives missions. The growing church is passionate about each generation and the legacy of faith. The growing church knows that countercultural lifestyle attracts people to Jesus Christ.
  
• It is not central to enjoy church or be entertained in a growing church. It is central that each person has a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit.
  
• It is not crucial to have all the answers. The growing church gets messy sometimes, and not everyone is perfect. In a growing church it is permissible and people are encouraged to ask hard questions. In a growing church the gospel is held as timeless truth and eternal principles for living.

You may not care for my parody or agree with these points, but one thing is certain: a church cannot grow until I Don’t Care leaves. Hopefully, we see that eye to eye.

The Theology of Traffic Jams

By Charles G. Scott
Like a fiery serpent stretched across the landscape the endless line of vehicles stretches as far as the eye can see. It is at the same time bewildering and frustrating: you need to move, you want to move and you wonder what is going on that is not allowing you to move.

It must be horrific. It must be a massive problem. It must be gigantic.

You arrive at the scene of the bottleneck. There is nothing there.

What caused the traffic jam?

For some of you this is a rare if ever occurring situation. You live and commute in an area where traffic jams rarely interfere with your progress. For others it is daily or several times a day and you plan your schedule around the snarls of shuttling sojourners. For all of us working in the realm of the Kingdom of God spiritual setbacks and slowdowns are a constant companion.

A lot can be learned from traffic jams that apply to our spiritual lives.

According to research done by a team of mathematicians, the leading cause of traffic jams is human error. Someone drives too fast or pokes along too slow. The mistake of one driver can cause a ripple effect slowing down traffic for miles and hours of time. The impact of an unexpected event on the road causes a “backward traveling wave” that can slow down traffic as far as thirty miles!

The team developed a mathematical model to show the impact of unexpected events such as a tractor-trailer pulling out of its lane on a dual carriageway (divided highway with median between traffic going in opposite directions). Their model revealed that slowing down below a critical speed when reacting to such an event, a driver would force the car behind to slow down further and the next car back to reduce its speed further still. The result of this is that several miles back, cars would finally grind to a halt, with drivers oblivious to the reason for their delay.

The model predicts that this is a very typical scenario on a busy highway (above 15 vehicles per km). The jam moves backwards through the traffic creating a so-called ‘backward traveling wave’, which drivers may encounter many miles upstream, several minutes after it was triggered. (Science Daily)

Leaders have to deal with “backward traveling waves.” The progress you are desperately trying to achieve can come to a grinding halt by the action, lack of action or reaction of a solitary soul. The result is spiritual stagnation, atrophy and people become frustrated and some even pull off the road you’re trying to lead them and decide to travel another direction.

How do you deal with the spiritual traffic jams in your ministry? The key is found in your prayer life and your personal relationship with Christ.

Traffic jams or leadership/visionary jams occur in every organization at practically every level. Leaders often misperceive that their church, group or organization is facing a “jam” that is peculiar to them. Not true. People are people, organizations are organizations and the problems do not vary. Jams often occur because of these reasons across the board, whether you are driving or leading your organization:

1. Not every one moves at the same pace – It is a hard lesson for leaders to learn but not every one operates at the same speed. When the light turns green some drivers are ready to get across the intersection and move! Others adjust their mirrors, check incoming traffic, turn up the volume on the radio, talk to their passengers, the list is endless. But the point is that not everyone goes at the same pace. When a vision is cast, some people are ready to go! They have been waiting for direction and they are motivated to move! Others are later adopters – the key for leaders to understand is that neither is all right nor is either all wrong. When leaders try to make late adopters feel bad for not moving faster, relationship issues can become bigger than the visionary goal. Leaders must identify the early movers and the late adopters and learn to communicate effectively to both. Early adopters need to make sure they do not run over innocent people in their pursuit of progress. Late adopters need time to adjust their mirrors before they get started. The leader is the key to keep the traffic moving toward the desired end. It doesn’t matter who gets there first. What matters is that we arrive safely and soundly.
   
2. Something is in the way – The main cause of congestion on the freeway or in the organization is an obstacle of some means. It is amazing how traffic slows when a car has pulled off the driveway with a flat tire! Everyone slows down to look! Leaders know that people in general get sidetracked easily! We all do! Most of us carry a phone, laptop, digital tablet, paper tablet, and other devices into meetings. These tools can become major distractions. Our policy dictates meeting requirements that no email, text messaging or accepting phone calls can be done while in the meeting. We can lose our concentration and get distracted by simple things and cause a major jam in the progress!
   
3. There is a detour ahead – This is a hard truth for leaders to swallow: sometimes the direction that has been vision cast has to be detoured! We want to believe that we are always perfectly in tune with the need, the direction and the methods necessary to get where we want to go – but sometimes the issue is: we are trying to get where we want to go and NOT where God wants us to go! My favorite chapter is Acts 27. The moral of the stormy story of Acts 27 is simple: it is a redirection of a ship to get Paul to an island that desperately needs the Gospel and a manifestation of the power of God! A stubborn resistance to reroute, redirect and readdress direction can cause severe backups to the plan of God. A rebellion in the leadership took Israel on an extra forty-year journey that delayed an entire nation! Leaders must remain humble and sensitive to the Holy Spirit; this can only occur through extended times of prayer, fasting and accountability to the Word of God. When leaders determine to go their direction it causes snarls to the Body of Christ.

Directing traffic is part of leadership. Moving people into the flow of God’s direction for their lives and the organization means navigating the snarled backflow of jams that occur along the way. It is your duty to God and people to stay on the highway and keep directing traffic! Eventually, the highway will open to the God-directed destiny ordained for you and the people you serve!