Logan Leadership

Have you caught the vision for The Missional Journey?  If you’re ready for some serious help on implementing incarnational, missional ministry, come to the Cultivating Missional Movements Workshop, presented by Bob Logan and Dave DeVries.

• 1 ½ day open event
• June 13-14, 2013
• Chicago

At this workshop, we’ll dig into all the systems necessary to start, support and multiply missional movements. How do you actually implement this vision in a way that results in true movements on a regional or national level?  Come join us and discover the practical strategies and action steps that get you where you want to go.

When you’re field testing something new, and it seems to be working effectively, the next thing you need to do is hand it over to someone else to let them do it without your involvement and see if it still works. I’ve done this on a number of occasions only to find that when I handed it off to someone else, it didn’t work. When I’ve examined what happened, I’ve come to realize that I was bringing something into the equation that I hadn’t written down or incorporated into what I handed off to the other person. I had been intuitively filling in pieces that hadn’t actually been part of the official process.

What would it look like if no one was admitted to a Bible college or seminary until they had made and multiplied a small group of disciples?

Enrollment would take a hit, of course. But imagine the quality of the leaders that would be graduated. These would be people whose theological training came on the heels of making disciples rather than in preparation for it.

If you’re not a leader going in, you won’t be a leader coming out.

The first time I planted a church, our first public gathering was at another church building on a Sunday evening. I had one guy who was the head usher (head meaning we only had one). He was the setup guy, the logistics guy, and the greeter. Before our first service began, I walked around the building with him explaining what precisely needed to be done and why each of those tasks was important.

Here’s one of my favorite diagrams to use when you’re having a problem with someone who is in a specific ministry role– whether it’s a staff role or a volunteer role.

When something just doesn’t seem to be working, start by asking, “Does this person understand their job or don’t they?” Clarify for them what they’re supposed to be doing. From there, ask whether they are willing to do that job or not. If the person is a volunteer, it’s their prerogative not to work in that particular role. If they’re staff, no amount of training will help if the real issue is willingness or motivation.

Jesus only trained people up to the point where they were already living out what they know. He gave his disciples a little bit to go on and expected them to act on it. (See Mark 9:14-29 or Luke 10:1-24 if you’d like an example.)

Training people beyond their obedience simply builds disobedience into their genetic code. People need an environment and context where they can put into practice what they already know… preferably with someone walking alongside them in the process to help guide them. I would not recommend that people get formal theological training unless they’re evangelizing and making disciples.