The first presenter at the Leadership Summit, appropriately, was Bill Hybels, Pastor of the Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. As typical for the man, he shared keen insights and hard-won lessons that will doubtless smooth the way for many leaders in these rough times.
The subject for Hybels' talk was "Leading in a New Reality."
Hybels is well-known for his love of sailing; it's to be expected that his opener was a nautical illustration. He shared that before hitting the open water, any sailor worth his salt will take note of weather forecasts, and particularly the wave reports. On a simple flip chart (a chuckle from me as he was flanked by technology on all sides), he sketched what a wave report might look like: the page filled up with jaggy peaks that reminded me of an EKG. The peaks represented varying wave-heights; as they get higher, an experienced skipper becomes increasingly concerned about the wisdom of taking a voyage. Though a skilled sailor can handle fairly rough waters, there is one condition under which NO one with a brain will venture out. Suddenly Hybels' hand jerked way to the top of the page, denoting a "rogue wave." This phenomenon is a seemingly-random wave much higher than others; Wikipedia states that they reach up to 35m, or 110 ft., more often than anyone previously thought. Needless to say, waves of this size are cataclysmic. They spell danger or death to any vessels unlucky enough to encounter one. Some believe it was a rogue wave that caused the Edmund Fitzgerald to sink in November 1975. (Gordon Lightfoot fans such as I are nodding sagely about now, thinking ourselves experts).
Hybels used the rogue wave concept as an analogy to the economic meltdown we've experienced over the past months. Individuals and corporations have been staggered by the downturn, and so have churches. In the case of churches like Willow, one would presume the hit must be especially hard--a very large church, multimillion dollar budgets, parishioners who've been working for just the sort of corporations that have been seriously wounded. It's hard to grasp just how serious the personal and financial toll has been. He shared a sober bit of writing from a friend of his, who had come to the realization that everything he once understood to be "normal" had gone...and possibly won't come back. We've entered a time of great volatility: nationally, socially, personally, economically, spiritually, you name it. The truth is that this volatility may become the new norm. From here on, "normal" may come to be a synonym for "chaotic." As a guy who likes comfortable, controllable, peaceful surroundings, I'm not cheered by this thought.
It's undeniable that we've reached a time of serious crisis, but Hybels brightened up at this. He said that this sort of situation causes those with leadership gifts to become curiously energized. (Perhaps I need to revise my gifts inventory...crisis is hardly "energizing" to me!) Stormy seas, as Hybels said, force creativity to flourish. The leader will encounter the steepest learning curve, and greatest opportunities, they've ever encountered. Point well-made.
Even if Hybels' leadership gifts have been running on full speed ahead lately, and this exhilarates him, the personal toll of keeping constant attention on the helm can be very draining. He admitted that his "replenishment bucket" has gotten dangerously low at times (more on that later). Though he and the church have had to draw heavily on God's strength through these tough times, he said he's learned some important lessons through them. He presented them under four categories: a Philosophical Lesson, a Financial Lesson, a Relational Lesson, and a Personal Lesson.
1) The Philosophical Lesson
If it were me, I'd probably have called this "The Ecclesiological Lesson," but Hybels believes in using plain English--and let's face it, "ecclesiology" (the study of the nature and mission of the church) is a word that doesn't enter into many daily conversations.
The setting has already been referred to: the ecomony is in the trash can. Stocks plummet. Portfolios hemorrhage. IRA's lose massive amounts of value. Jobs are lost, payments missed, homes foreclosed, families' hopes devastated. People are hurting...terribly. Even as Hybels pastors a church with thousands of people in pain, the organization itself is reeling as revenues plummet and budgets have to be massively revised. How to deal with such upheaval? Was Willow to slash ministries and crawl into a self-protective hole until the storm passes, or could it somehow, by God's provision and strength, rise to the challenges facing so many in the church and community?
Hybels related how he called his leadership together, and one can only guess at how long and desperately they sought the Lord's direction in prayer. Looking to a textbook example of the church living up to it's highest calling, found in Acts 2, he challenged everyone with the question: do we still believe that the local church, headed by Christ, is the hope of this hurting world? Even in times like this? You see, he and Willow have held this as a bedrock value their whole time together. If it could be made to crumble in scarcity, it would hardly be much of a value after all. They were steadfast in it, though. Hardship would not deter them from their mission.
I would have loved to be there on the day that Hybels told his flock of the church's commitment to walk with them and serve them until the storm passed, and beyond. He called his people to be determined that they would BE the church in every sense of the word--loving, serving, sacrificing, giving, encouraging. Keeping in mind that there must have been hundreds in the congregation who'd always been on the "giving" side of the equation, imagine how it must have felt to hear Hybels pleading with them, "let us be the church for you now. Trust in our love, generosity and support." Can eyes have possibly remained dry? I think not. Seeing the church live up to its full potential is just heart-bursting, I can tell you. Along with the call to the hurting, "let us help and bless you," he likewise issued a call to those not so grievously hurt by the downturn. Hybels doesn't mince words, and he flat-out told those folks that it was their time to step it up. Their duty was to give, sacrifice and love as much as it takes to see their brothers and sisters through their trials. No if's, and's or buts. You might think that such a message would be hotly rejected as meddling, but it wasn't at all. It was just the battle cry needed to galvanize the church. One young couple running a prospering business despite the recession admitted to Hybels that at first they thought he'd slipped a gear...but then they realized how incredibly blessed they were to be part of a church that would really BE the church, no matter what the circumstances. They made out a check for a truly sacrificial gift...one of those on which, Hybels said, you had to count the zeros very carefully. Surely this couple must have put much at risk to make such a gift! This is not casual Christianity...this is the real deal!
Willow's social ministries, therefore, (food pantry, etc) have kicked into overdrive--not just to members, but to their hurting community. They dramatically redesigned their worship services as well. Setting aside planned sermon series, they began focusing on scriptures which promise God's healing to the hurting, and giving victory to those who wait on Him. They "blurred" the ending of the service as well. It became clear to the leaders that there were many people in the congregation who were hurting so badly, they just needed to stay in God's presence and experience His healing for their hearts. Folks are welcome to stay as long as they need, pray, weep if they want, and let healing music wash over them as the worship team sings gently.
I am glad that Willow has chosen to really BE the church when times are tough. Any church of their size and scope could easily have opted to cut losses and draw inward until the storm passes over. In other words, to be a corporation instead of a church, which unfortunately sometimes happens. In this case, Christ wins--and I'm very glad of it. As many faults as the Church still has--we won't be perfected until the marriage of the Lamb--sometimes the occasion stirs her out of her slumber, and you get a little preview of the glorified Bride that God has destined her to be. It gives one such hope. May we see this side of the Church more and more, as the time truly is short.
In my next post, we'll continue on to Hybels' second lesson for Leading in a New Reality--the Financial Lesson.
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