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Ronn's
Blog
Special Edition
Ronn is out of town performing a
wedding this weekend. Instead of his usual blog, we thought we'd
share this blog, written by Mike Naber. Mike is the Worship Pastor
at Grace Community Church in Plano, TX. Used by
permission.
Much ado about... something.
We've all heard the phrase, "They're just making much ado about
nothing." It's a Shakespearian play, a movie title, and probably
best known as a simple phrase which I take to mean "They're making
a big deal out of something that's not a big deal." Many times
this is true - we tend to be resistant to change. We get upset
when the rug is pulled out from under us. We all think we know
better than those who make the decisions. We assign, as a
counselor friend of mine liked to say, "mal-intent" - suggesting
that the motives, or process, or tactics, or whatever of the
decision makers is just wrong. And many times we find later that
our concerns, our prognostication, and our reactions turn out to be
simply... wrong.
I have a great deal of experience with dealing with the difficulty
of change - from both ends. Throughout my professional career, I
have been subjected to a great deal of change; some of it I've been
given input, some of it I've even been a part of the decision
making process, and some of it I've had no input at all. Those of
you who know me well know that it would be an understatement to say
I have strong opinions about certain things. As someone with this
"bent," it is always hard to deal with decisions that are made -
with or without your input or consent- when they don't go your way;
when they are contrary to the direction you feel something needs to
go.
I've spent a lot of time on the other end of "change" as well. As
a leader of a worship ministry that is as large or larger than many
church congregations in America, I've instigated my fair share of
change on our people and on our congregation. I've watched as
ideas that I've had - that many people may have been against, been
concerned about, suggested were wrong - have grown our ministry and
reached people for Christ. I've also watched as some of my best
intentions have turned into an "epic fail" - things that I've
prayed about, gotten council about, navigated and lead with all of
the skill that God has given me just plain didn't work.
All that being said, our church is going through a time of
transition right now. And let me tell you... it is much ado...
about something. This one isn't inconsequential. Change is hard.
This one is big. The feelings released are real. The
consequences are vast. And as I struggle through my own feelings,
and as I watch the reactions of others, I can't help but wanting to
throw down some learning points I've had over the years, in the
hopes that it will help any random person who reads this to
process, understand, and cope with the difficulty we're going
through now in a Godly way.
Leaders don't want to hurt people - but they know they sometimes
do, and sometimes even have to. The change we are going through now
- the restructure of our staff, and consequently the loss of some
long time staff members - is going to hurt people. There's no
reason to say something different. It's true. It hurts the people
who lose their jobs. It hurts the people who have worked and
served with them. It hurts the people who have built relationships
with them. There's no way around this truth. A Godly leader would
never do this unless they felt there was a God-reason.
Leaders have to look at the organization, and make hard
decisions. Sometimes those decisions effect just a few people,
sometimes they effect the whole organization and beyond.
Underlying it all in the church is a simple question... "How can we
reach people for Christ?" A pastor is entrusted by God to do the
best he can with the resources available to him to reach people for
Christ. This is a big deal. A really big deal. A really, really
big deal. Sometimes accomplishing that mission requires difficult
decisions that effect every life in an organization. So you have
to ask yourself, do I believe the scriptures that say God has
placed those leaders in their places for a season and for a reason,
and do I believe that those leaders are doing their best for God,
for His kingdom, and for His church? I struggle with
second-guessing other leaders. I struggle with thinking my tactics
are right; that my way would work better. But I've never had any
reason - ever- to think that the leadership of our church is not
doing the best they can, using what God has given them, to reach
people for Christ and to grow the existing body into fully
functioning followers of Christ. In decisions of the magnitude that
we are dealing with right now, they have prayed, sought council,
lost sleep, prayed some more, sought some more council, lost some
more sleep... Leaders are well aware that these decisions will
hurt people, and no one wants that. But if God is speaking, saying
the church needs to shift directions a bit to reach more people for
Christ, leaders have to listen, and act.
For Leaders, These are Kobayashi Maru Situations...For awhile. OK,
I'll admit it. I'm a "Treky." I watched a lot of Star-Trek
growing up, and I know the references. For the uninitiated, the
Kobayashi Maru was a test in Star Trek - the "unwinnable
scenario." Imagine the point-of-view of a leader. Culture has
changed. Financial realities make it impossible to do everything
that you want. You look at your organization, and realize that
there are areas that have the potential to grow, to get better, to
reach more people. You feel like God gives you a plan to move the
church toward its redemptive potential. But you just can't do
everything. Reality sets in, and you realize that you have to give
up to go up. You have to sacrifice some areas to achieve the
vision. It truly feels like a no-win scenario. Change will create
pain, but ultimately achieve the goals. You decide.
Here's the really interesting thing, though. Things are not what
they seem. Is it possible that leaving things the way they are is
actually a worse option than change? Here's a reality that not a
lot of people are willing to talk about. Our church hadn't grown
in 7 years. That's not to say that ministry isn't being done.
Lives are being changed. People are coming to know Christ. People
are growing in their relationship with him. But let's contrast
that with the 30% yearly growth rate that we had for the first four
or five years I served here. Is it possible that some change is
needed? While it's undeniable that people are being reached, how
many more people could be reached if we could regain the growth
that we once had? And that's where the no-win scenario can become
a win. If it works. If the changes, made to support the vision,
achieve that vision. Look at the great leaders in history, in the
church, wherever. I guarantee that one unifying factor is that
they were willing to make the hard choices to achieve the vision,
despite public opinion that at times didn't agree or understand.
We need to look at the motivation behind the changes we are going
through - change the lens we are looking through - and see how God
may change our understanding, attitudes, and responses.
It's A Rare Person Who Truly Seeks to Understand. I think of the
verse that says, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to
become angry." I don't know about you, but with something like
this I tend to be quick to react, quick to speak my mind, and my
anger overwhelms me. How very Christian - not! We tend to react
emotionally - even those of us who are not high on the emotional
scale. We tend to think about how the change will affect us. We
think how the change will affect the people losing their jobs. We
think how the change will affect the church. And we don't like
it. We like the way it was. We like the people we were doing it
with. We don't agree.
But do we truly seek to understand. Are we quick to listen - to
find out the why's behind the decision. If we have questions or
concerns, are we contacting the leaders who have the answers, or
are we sharing our questions and concerns with our friends. I hate
to be the one to break it to you, but there's a biblical word for
that one... it's gossip.
I'm sad to say that when things like this come up, it's a rare
person who steps up and actually talks to the leadership who make
the decisions. People talk to everyone else. We judge. We quit.
We leave. This is where the "assigning of mal-intent" comes into
play. We assume the worst. We assume that the decisions weren't
well thought out, or prayed about. But rarely do we bring the
concerns to the people who can actually answer the questions.
Rarely do we seek to understand all of the pain, thought, work, and
agony that went into the decisions in the first place.
So, what can we do? What should we do. This is just one man's
opinion, but in the unlikely event you've made it this far through
this novella, then I guess you might want to hear it. I, for one,
am sad. I'm angry. I'm struggling with my feelings, and wanting to
make sure my reactions are Godly. But here's where I'm at...
- Honor those who have served faithfully. I think this is
a time to honor those who have lost their positions. Just because
what they were doing no longer fits into the vision of the church
with the resources available to us, it doesn't mean that what
they've done to serve God and His church isn't valuable. It
doesn't take away from the blessings that they have given us. It
doesn't take away from the eternal rewards that God will surely
give for their service. So let's honor those people who are most
effected by the change.
- Believe the best of our leaders. We get ourselves in big
trouble when we assign mal-intent. And we rarely catch ourselves
doing it. Here are some questions that might be helpful. Do I
really believe that the leaders of the church are out for the good
of the church? Do I think they are driven by reaching the lost,
and growing people into fully functioning followers of Christ? Are
our leaders actions consistent with biblical moral values? Would
our leaders ever purposely do something to sabotage the welfare of
the church or its people? I'm sure I could come up with a bunch
more like it, but you get the drift. If you're answering "yes" to
any of these questions, then it sounds like a conversation is in
order.
- Seek to understand where we are at, where we are going,
and the "why's" of all of the above before reacting, making
life-changing decisions, or judging.
- For heaven's sake (and really - think of the meaning of
that phrase; what we as Christians are called to do and be) if you
have questions, problems, concerns, issues, etc. etc., come in and
talk to someone who can give you correct answers. Let's not let
the gossip train gain steam. That's a sure way to make Satan
happy, and that's a sure way to make sure we're the ones who are
sabotaging the vision and direction.
I hope all of this is helpful to you in some way. I titled this -
my first blog - as "A much ado about something." It's because I
think it's reasonable to see the changes going on in our church as
a big thing. It is. It's affecting all of us. My prayer is
two-fold. That as we walk through this together, we can all look
to God to help us respond according to His will, and that as we
look back on this time in our church's history, we can see with the
20/20 vision that hindsight gives us that God was indeed working
through it all, and that He did indeed have plans for us... plans
to prosper us, not to harm us. Plans to give us hope and a
future.
http://mikenaber.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/much-ado-about-something/
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 Discovering Alpine's Website:
Site Tools
You've probably visited Alpine's website from time to time. But you
may not have discovered all the helpful tools you can find there.
Here are a couple things you may want to explore - both can be
found under the "Site Tools" menu, available from any page...
Registrations click here to visit
Many of the events and ministries at Alpine require registration
and registration fees. On our registration page, you can make sure
your place is reserved, and use your bank card to pay the
registration fees. Many Alpiners have found this a more convenient
way to sign up than visiting ministry booths on Sunday, and leaves
more time for catching up with friends, meeting new friends, or
getting to Sunday volunteer assignments. As we ramp up for this
ministry year, many events and ministries have online registration
available. Online at this moment:
-Men's Ministry:
FREE Breakfast
Quest Studies
-Women's Ministry:
Oasis AM & PM Bible Studies
Women of Faith Conference
October Chick Adventure
-Dave Ramsey EntreLeadership Simulcast
Online Giving click here to visit
Many Alpine families use EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer - info found
here) or the bill pay service
available from most banks for their regular weekly or monthly
giving. But for those who would like to give special gifts, or
gifts that vary from week to week, we have a web-based giving tool
available. It's a convenient way to give as you sit down to write
out your bills. Bookmark the web page and it's even faster!
Both these services are secure. Our web service provider and our
card processing service both go to great lengths to provide a safe
online experience.
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Sunday
Schedule - September 5
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Services 9:00 &
10:30
Noah's Ark Nursery & Adventure
Village 9:00 & 10:30
Communion & Benevolence Offering
SHIFT (young adults) noon
Puerta Del Cielo (Spanish speaking) 2:00 pm
Fusion Church 5:00 pm
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Where
will YOU be?
NEXT SUNDAY September 12 is
national "Back to Church" Sunday, and we're calling all Alpiners
back to church!
You might need to cancel or change
schedules, commitments, or games...
but it will be well worth it!
Let's show our community that our passion is gathering to worship
our great God...
HE is our top priority!
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This
is It!
September
is here, and it's time for Alpine's ministries to kick off their
new ministry years. Make sure you visit the website often, and stop
in the gym on Sunday mornings for registration and detailed
information. Here are just a few upcoming dates:
Kids
Sunday schedule resumes
this Sunday!
September 5 9:00 & 10:30
Awana Fun Fair
September 14 6:30pm
Clubs begin September 21
Youth
Jr./Sr. High Midweek Kickoff
September 15 7:00pm
Jr. High Sunday Kickoff
September 19 10:30am
Women
Nightline Study
(2nd & 4th Mondays)
September 13 7:00pm
Oasis AM Women's Study
September 14 9:15am
Oasis PM
(1st & 3rd Mondays)
September 20 7:00pm
MOPS
(moms of preschoolers)
October 7 9:00am
Men
Men's Breakfast
September 11 7:30am
Men's Quest
September 30 6:00am
Adults
Financial Peace University
September 7 (YMCA) 7:15pm
Everyone in Church Sunday
September 12 9:00 & 10:30am
Financial Peace University
September 19 (Alpine) 10:30am
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Dave
Ramsey - Financial Peace and Special Event!
Financial Peace University is a life-changing program that teaches
you how to make the right decisions with your money. You'll be
empowered with the practical skills and confidence needed to
achieve your financial goals and experience true financial peace!
If you have questions, or would like more information, email Katy Dement.
Special Offer: Attend the first week of class FREE before
committing to the whole course!
Two new classes start in
September:
Tuesdays, 7:15pm -
Foglia YMCA
beginning September 7
Sundays, 10:30am - 12:30pm
Alpine Chapel
beginning September 19
Alpine Chapel is pleased to announce
an amazing opportunity to see Dave Ramsey simulcast live! Register
on Alpine's website here. For more information on
this seminar designed for small business entrepreneurs and
managers, visit Dave's website.
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This
Week
Friday, 09/03
Celebrate Recovery 7:00pm
Saturday, 09/04
Men's Basketball 6:30am
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Monday, 09/06
Labor Day -
Alpine Office closed
Tuesday, 09/07
Financial Peace 7:15 (Foglia Y)
Men's Basketball 8:30pm
Thursday, 09/09
SHIFT (Young Adults) 7:00pm
Friday, 09/10
Celebrate Recovery 7:00pm
Saturday, 09/11
Men's Basketball 6:30am
Men's FREE Breakfast
7:30am
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