If you have not read any of Tim Keller’s work, you are missing out on some of the deepest reflective writing ever published. Pastor Keller started Redeemer Presbyterian in New York with just a hand full of people and it grew into 5,000 adult worshippers weekly. He retired from his position 3 years ago. During COVID in May 2020 he was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer. So, during a global crisis Tim Keller is faced with his own personal crisis. It was during this time that he completed his latest book; Hope In Times of Fear. A book about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Recently Tim Keller was featured on the Church Pulse Weekly Podcast in an interview that focused upon leadership in the face of a crisis and a crisis within a crisis. I want to share some high-level insights from Pastor Keller that I believe to be of great value for our current situation.
While dealing with a pandemic crisis and yet receiving his own devastating medical report, He shares key leadership insights.
Keller stated that two words were impressed within his heart that has become game changers for his stage of life – those words are Sanctification and Focus.
Sanctification is about a personal spiritual journey that transforms you for purposes of a higher calling. Pastor Keller stated that his pace and rhythm of life was being too absorbed into actions that were not taking him to his higher calling as a spiritual leader. He states that a personal health crisis can become clarifying to see what is important.
As Spiritual Leaders, if our goal is to return to what existed pre-covid, perhaps we are positioning ourselves for disappointment. That world by all indication does not exist in the same way post-covid. Perhaps the clarifying moment should be upon a higher calling and heavenly purposes. Perhaps our calling should be in new directions and purposes that now we can pivot whereas before we could not.
To awaken us to the need to pivot in our faith work consider how Church attenders are now classified for research purposes. Practicing Christiansare those individuals that attend church monthly – this “more committed group” comprises of about 25% or 63.5 million people. On the other hand, consider that Churched Adults are those who have attended at least one service in the last six months – this group is comprised of about 49% or 124.4 million people. If this is what church attendance has now become, may I suggest that something is very wrong with a sanctified calling to ministry. David Kinnaman suggests the more that you are in contact with other worshippers physically, the more likely your will feel your church worship experience is meaningful and life altering.
Focus is the second word that Pastor Keller stated how impactful this was. In the face of a crisis within a crisis this pastor discovers how out of focus his ministry had become. To him this meant that business had overtaken significance!
When your leadership is more about business versus significance, you are scattered in your work. You are not centered and ground in what will last instead of what will thrill. It has been stated that a crisis is a revealer of chaos, lack of purpose, and a lack of clarity. The question becomes as you allow these truths to settle within you, In what ways is my leadership out of focus? What needs to change in my daily habit? Is my sermonic presentations transformative or informative? What does this matter?
The two largest segments of population the churched world is not reaching Millennials and Gen-Z’s. These two demographics were checking out of organized church pre-pandemic. Our mobile world is robbing us of true meaningful community.
Pastor Keller’s observation of his crisis within a crisis has challenged my thinking. I am working out this transformation even as I am recording this podcast.
COVID Leadership Detox
At Shepherds we are offering church leadership teams an opportunity to experience a COVID Leadership Detox. It is painfully obvious that we all are coming out of this pandemic a bit shaky and wobblily. This is a 90-minute virtual experience that is rooted in reacquainting ourselves with our core values. We have been shaken by COVID. It is time to reconnect ourselves and our teams with our Core Values.
Contact me at shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com. Your leadership team can experience this at a cost of $124.90.
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Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!
