How long does it take to stand up and go out?

Last Sunday two things happened, both worthy of note and both connected.  The first was easy to miss.  A young father stood up and delivered a brief “temple talk.”  Folks a little less staid than Lutherans would have called it a “testimony,” but…  In that little talk Bruce shared how his life had been changed over the past eighteen months by interacting with other dads who wanted to have a faith worth passing on to their kids.  They were tired of watching as their wives lead bedtime prayers, read Bible passages, and talked about God with their children while they looked on, not knowing what to say, not knowing how to pray, not knowing…

Every single one of these guys grew up in the Church.  The Christian Church.  The Lutheran Church.  Every single one went through Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Confirmation.  Every single one pretty much dropped out after Confirmation, never to open a Bible until their babies were presented with Bibles at their Baptisms.  Well, one guy admitted he’d opened his Bible for a required religion class at his Church related college.

Tougher still…when each one was asked what “blessing” they had to share with their children, they couldn’t answer.  So, we met for the past eighteen months.   At 6:30 in the A.M. once a month in my home.  Early so as not to conflict with soccer, baseball, Scouts, skiing, etc. We should have such devoted participation in worship!  They didn’t miss.  Using Mike Breen’s Covenant and Kingdom we looked at the blessing they bear from their heavenly Father.  They began, sheepishly, praying with their wives.  They started reading devotional booklets on their pdas, smartphones, IPads, Kindles, and, yes, even their print Bibles.

In addition to talking about the blessing they bear from their heavenly Father, they also started discovering the blessings they had to share with their own children.  Many, many blessings.  Then they started discussing and putting into practice the call of their King to be his representatives, in their homes, places of work, on the golf course…throughout all of life.  To live and learn from Jesus, while leading like him, as well.

So, after seven years and three rounds of huddle “strategies,” two of which turned into cul-de-sac “we really care for each other too much to expand our groups…” small group movements, Bruce stood before the congregation, gave his testimony on bearing his Father’s blessing, and then invited any and all to join him and his huddle buddies as they begin to form huddles of their own.  And then went out to look for those Persons of Peace God is raising up to join him (and his buddies).

So…seven years, nine guys.  not exactly a “one minute leadership wonder.”  But, there’s more.  Because the fathers started meeting in huddle, Cheri (my lovely better two-thirds) ended up forming a “mom’s huddle” with spouses who were somewhat amazed at the transformations in their husbands.  Which is leading to yet another round of huddle launching.  Slow going?  Yes.  Absolutely worth it?  Absolutely.

Why did it take so long?  Well, there had to be a series of conversions.  First, the conversion of my heart and practices.  Although my tendency is to the “challenge” side of life, there is also a fairly heavy weighting on the “relational” end of things.  Which means with the first two rounds of huddle launches, even though I’d start with a high and hardy challenge to have “everyone in a huddle” turn into a leader of the next round of huddles, when push came to shove I couldn’t shove past the relationships formed through the deep sharing that comes from life together in the community of the Cross.  Unfortunately, that makes for a very small community and there’s not much cross in it.

What changed?  Focus.  The third time, from the beginning, and continued at the beginning and end of every huddle came the challenge to “start praying for persons of peace God will raise up to join in your huddle when you launch.” For many of you this would be as easy as opening a beer can, but, for me, its a bit more challenging.  This time, as we moved forward and reservations about leading started coming out, my tone was far less “there, there, we can wait to launch…” and far more, encouragement to get out and lead.  Even to the point of reading for the umpteenth time Luke 10 and having them repeat, verbatim, the mantra of Mike Breen:  ”Anyone in front of me is a shepherd, anyone behind me is a sheep.”

And now, they’re launching a whole new round of huddles!  Thanks be to God.  Going back to the opening, Bruce’s temple talk was the first thing.  The second was a visit from a distinguished professor of preaching from a seminary of my denomination.  Nice guy, actually, great guy.  But, a disconcerting visit.  Seems these days one of the primary questions being asked among the seminaries is “how do we get them to come in?”  After seven years, well, in truth, far more than that, or trying to get folks to “go out,” it was a bit disconcerting to hear the primary concern of the trainers of the future pulpit fillers of my denomination is how to get folks back in the pews, instead of how to get the ones who are still in the pews out into their communities to invite others to join them, starting with the fellowship and hospitality of their own tables.  This includes kitchen, dining, coffee shops, cafes…whatever tables they may claim as their own.

As it turns out, #2 is a rant.  Which is best left for another day.  For all who are seeking to step into the life of missional leadership, please know this:  it takes time.  As much time as it took Jacob to win the hands of both Leah and Rachel.  Given how determined we are to believe we’re still living in Christendom, it might take as much time as it it took the Israelites to journey through the wilderness.  However, the time, and the journey, are absolutely worth every step.