First Priority of America

Happy Thanksgiving

I am an imperfect leader helping to lead an imperfect organization.  Sounds logical [to my wife], but there are days and weeks that I don’t believe this is true.  I feel like First Priority of America, being an evangelistic local church strategy to teenagers, is better than or equal to anything else a person could give their life to.  I feel like God has placed me in the perfect place and nobody else in the world has the privilege I do.  Have you ever felt that way?  My pride comes before my fall, every time.

I am an imperfect person, helping to lead an imperfect group.  So what does imperfection mean for me on a daily basis?  It means that I need to manage myself and put structure in place to keep me humble and focused.  Andy Stanley says, “Don’t trade your blessing for a bowl of soup.”  He is referring to Isaac and Jacob when Jacob trades the generational blessing of his father for his immediate need for food.  I need to put priorities on my thoughts, actions, words, deeds, emotions, physical health, spiritual health, finances, marriage, and time.  I cannot allow my immediate physical desire to have a bowl of ice cream to override my goal of being below 190 pounds for the rest of my life.  At the moment, I am at 199 pounds, so the answer is no.  If I am at 189 pounds, then the answer can be a yes.

What does this have to do with leadership, especially leadership in a Christian movement?  Everything.

When my wife and I started to manage our finances well, we each lost 10 pounds.  It wasn’t because we were focused on our weight, it was because our pile of finances got cleaned up and we saw another layer of life that was a mess.  Jay Strack says, ‘Eat the big frog first.’  Why do all the little ‘easy’ things all day if you are going to get fired for not doing this one hard thing you are avoiding? If you aren’t going to do it, just quit at the beginning of the day and save yourself the day of worry.  Get up and exercise today [speaking out of imperfection again today on this one], then the next difficult task at work will be easier cause you’ve already overcome the biggest mountain of the day: to exercise.

This is important because today is important.  Today matters.  Justin Irving said, “Your barrel of leadership can only be as full as your shortest slat.”  If you are emotionally distant because you are fighting with your wife, the rest of your relationships will be affected.

I offer friendship and perspective from experience as an imperfect leader helping to lead an imperfect organization.

Confession: I have committed all 7 deadly sins, most recently, at a Pizza Ranch buffet.

Mark and I were sharing First Priority this past week with a group of church leaders.  We ran into a student pastor who loved the First Priority idea but was sad to say that he was getting fired from his church.  The reason was because he was spending too much time reaching out to students in the neighborhood where the church was located.  Now our first reaction was to say that this was horrible.  Our second reaction was to ask if he had taken any of the congregation along with him on this journey. You see,

• Ministry is about seeing a need and meeting it.
• Leadership is the action of leading a group of people towards a communal vision.
• Ministry Leadership is creating an opportunity for others to join you in meeting a need.

As you lead in ministry, it is important to remember that it is not about you meeting the need, but it’s about you creating an opportunity for others to join you in meeting a need.  How do I do that?  Well, I am glad that you asked.  There are four roles that you need to not just identify, but spend (unequal) time playing each role.

1. The first is a Spokesperson.  A spokesperson is focused on others today.  If you are a student pastor, you are often a spokesperson speaking to the adults in church on behalf of students and meeting their needs today.
2. Direction Setter is the second role and is focused on others tomorrow.  The direction setter sees a need and helps people see how we can work together to meet that need in the future.  First Priority does a lot of this before starting a club at school.  People need to see the need and what can be done down the road if some churches come together for this vision.
3. Coach is the third role who is focused us today. Again, if you are a student pastor, you spend a lot of time in this role helping students (your inner circle) walk with Christ each day.
4. Last but not least, there is the Change Agent.  A change agent is about us tomorrow.  They know where we are and the direction that we need to go.  The change agent walks the group through getting to the new location.

Whether you are desiring to start First Priority in your community or not, as a ministry leader, you will need to spend time in each of these roles.  Each week you will spend a different amount of time in each role, depending on the need.

The Roles are written by Mark McCloskey in conjunction with the 4-R Model of Transformational Leadership.  Many articles and more information can be found online.

We get asked this question all the time. Another comment people make is, “I am sorry that this is taking so long.” My response, “Don’t worry about it.” Why? Because of a core value that we hold found in the story of Nehemiah. Here it is: This is about who you are before it is about what you do.

Nehemiah 1:1, “Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year.” The month of Chislev is around the March/April time of year. Now check out Nehemiah 2:1, “In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.” The month of Nisan is around December. WHAT? That’s eight months! That’s eight months of not doing ANYTHING! The only things we know that Nehemiah did between April and December of that year were praying, fasting, mourning, and doing his job as cupbearer to the king. Well, he did his job as cupbearer until December when he was sad. Do you realize what being sad in front of the king meant for him? It meant that Nehemiah was no longer doing his job. Anyone who was not happy before the king could be put to death. The king had absolute authority. If he didn’t like how you were acting, he could put to you death for no more reason than being sad in front of him. So why was Nehemiah willing to be sad in front of the king? Because he was more concerned and burdened about the condition of the walls of Jerusalem than he was about preserving his own life! Now that is a burden!

So, how long does it take to start First Priority?

1. It takes burden for the condition of the schools in your community.
2. However long it takes for you to get there.

I just talked to our Director of Communications, Brandon, yesterday about this very issue. On one hand, within 2 to 6 weeks someone could have a team of people from 3 to 5 churches in the room ready to start something. On the other hand, we get calls from people 2 to 3 years after their initial point of contact saying they have to get First Priority going; the time is now right for them.

How long is it going to take you? That is between you and God and the holy discontent rising up in your soul.

“Strategy is only as meaningful as the vision that gives it life; but a vision is only as effective as the strategy that gives it legs.”

What? I couldn’t believe my professor from Minneapolis knew about First Priority and what we were up against as leaders!  I heard this in a class lecture I was listening to by Justin Irving, who is in charge of the leadership doctorate at Bethel Seminary in Minneapolis, MN.  I guess he must have lived in Birmingham two decades ago when Mark Roberts helped start it there. He went on to share the ABCDEF’s of Vision Casting as:

• Appropriate: it connects in a meaningful way to who you are

What is more appropriate than for Christian students to share Jesus with their peers?

• Bold: it challenges things and asks for more than what is presently given

FP extends your student ministry (not just you) to the school.

• Clear: immediately understandable

FP helps students reach students at school. Clear enough?

• Desirable: immediate value

Students who begin a relationship with Jesus do need a place to be followed up with and discipled. How about your church?

• Energizing: simple and satisfying; challenges and motivates; helps everyone say ‘ME TOO!’

How about when a student hears about Jesus at school and takes his whole family to church?  Happens every year multiple times.

• Feasible: Continuity with reality.  It separates wise leadership from the dreamers.

First Priority is possible.  It happens all over the country for the first time every month of the year in cities, suburbs, counties, small towns, and villages.  It can happen in the school closest to you too.

“A vision with feasibility is more than a pipe dream… Strategy provides both a logic and a first level of detail to show how a vision can be accomplished.” John Kotter Would you take a look [again] at our First Steps guide to see how our strategy can help you see “The Hope of Christ in Every Student” in your school this year?  With 300,000 churches and close to 69,000 public middle and high schools in America, together we can reach them all.

Nehemiah 3 states:

“I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”

As we look at the 7th chapter of Nehemiah, we notice that Nehemiah gave specific instructions to the people of Jerusalem. Your job as the coordinator for First Priority is to organize and challenge the networks of people to bring the Hope of Christ to every student. Notice that the gates were not to be opened “until the sun is hot”. Ask yourself these questions, “Is the school we are launching on ‘hot’? Is everything in place?”  When you get to Phase 3 (Direction), here are the things that need to be “hot”.

• A network of churches.
• A network of parents.
• Trained Campus Coach.
• Trained student leaders.
• A faculty sponsor.
• Has your network of student leaders gotten permission from the school?
• Do you have a meeting place?
• Are the churches promoting the launch of the cycle?

Nehemiah gave instruction, motivated, challenged and organized the people to do their part. You do that through the Initiation Team and the Vision Casting Event.  They successfully completed their task and the walls were rebuilt. You will notice if you read on that the rebuilding of the walls and the unity of the people caused a revival in the city.

Your work is important. God has placed you in your community to unite the church and bring about revival. Go and make sure it is “hot”.

First Priority is a strategy for the local church.  It is a community owned movement.  As Nehemiah, this means you will most likely go from leading followers to leading leaders.  One of the first steps in developing a new First Priority is putting together an Initiation Team.  From teachers to parents, from church leaders to business leaders, your Initiation Team will be filled with people who are overseeing others as well.  This is a time for 2 Timothy 2:2 to come into effect in your life if it hasn’t already: and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.  If this is a little intimidating, that is a good thing.  You are on the edge of a God ordained call for your community.  Your role is to help leaders see the crisis (students haven’t heard the gospel of Jesus – and sometimes what they have heard on the news has caused them to distrust Christians), understand the solution (working together as the body of Christ in our community makes us stronger), and how to fulfill the call (networks working together – each playing their role).

On a level, you will look for like minded people who believe in the same vision and mission that you do.  Yet, most of the people you are looking for will be very different from you.  A business leader generally needs a different set of strengths than a mom or a teacher; and each will bring a different set of abilities to the FP table to do what only they can do.  Phase 1 of First Priority is a lot of networking.  So you will need people who are social to get in front of others.  You will also need people who like to follow up and send regular email updates.  Phase 2 brings financial considerations and an accountant becomes invaluable.

Different Network leaders have different opportunities as well. Youth Pastors have the opportunity to invest in student leaders’ spiritual development alongside the parents, where the teacher does not.  But the teacher is with the students for eight hours a day, which makes their consistency and influence key.  EVERYONE plays a role and is important to the launch, health and success of a First Priority Movement.

Have open conversations with your new and growing team about what each person can bring to the table (prayer, accounting, influence, school leadership, community grants, etc).  Whatever it is, everyone has strength that brings opportunity to influence students at school.

The more diverse your group is, the more beautiful working together becomes.

There is Hope,

Brad

VISION: (The what) The Hope of Christ in Every Student in your community

MISSION: (The How) Unite the Local Body of Christ to Influence the School with the Gospel

DISTINCTIVE: (The Why) There are more students who call themselves Christian walking the halls of your public middle and high school than football players; why are they not the most influential?  The football program has many teams including the freshman, JV, and Varsity.  They all work together for the same purpose: to win a state championchip.  The local body of Christ has many churches, are they all working together at the school for the same purpose?  Not a para-church ministry, but a local church mission.

CORE VALUE: (The Who) Send your students on a mission trip nine months a year where they live most of their day: at school.  Many students who do not call themselves Christian haven’t outright rejected the life and message of Jesus, they’ve never heard it from someone they trust.  They’ve gleaned from the movies, media, and political issues.  What if the local church had a strategy to work together to influence the students at school with the gospel of Jesus Christ?  Christian students as missionaries with networks of adults supporting and enabling them to succeed.  That strategy is First Priority.

The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”  Nehemiah 2:4-5

The king and queen asked for his plan and Nehemiah laid out what he needed to accomplish the task before him. Have you laid out your plan? Do you know what you want?  If God gave you favor with a King in your city, are you ready to lay out your plan? Take a look at the details laid out in the First Priority Phase 1 Guide.  Have you taken the time to fill out your city diagnostic? Do you know the condition of the walls in your city? How is your burden for the broken students?  Have you prayed and fasted, the preparing work for the king’s question?  Can you tell them the process you will work to rebuild the walls? Can you explain what you are doing to make people aware of First Priority and building an initiation team?  Clarity is key.  Knowing where you are going is important.  God has given you a heart to see the Hope of Christ in Every Student.  Today is an opportunity to take a step forward by being ready when the opportunity presents itself.

There is one thing to remember as you plan and schedule your launch for First Priority.  You have a date in mind, plans in place, and people interested, but have you inspected the ‘walls’?

11 So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days.12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.13 I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass.15 Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. Nehemiah 2

Did you see it? The walls were so broken that the normal paths of travel were impassable.  The same may be true for students in your community.  The normal paths of healthy growth, development, and learning are broken.  Does Sarah really care about chemistry if dad beat mom the night before?  Will Steve really get the most out of the youth ministry tonight if his best friend that day tried to commit suicide and only he knows?  Examine your community’s walls!  Get with the guidance counselor to see what the students are dealing with in school.  Set a meeting with local law enforcement to see what they are getting in trouble for on Friday nights and what their parents are getting arrested for.  Dig around, but do it quietly and with humility.  Your heart is passionate and concerned for the status of the community.  As your heart grows more desperate for the Lord’s movement in your schools, you will begin to see the overflow of sharing the First Priority vision with those you talk to everyday.

Peace.