This is a guest post from Michael Robison, Lead Pastor of Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Patience is not a virtue we teach, admire or even desire much these days. We live in a world of instant gratification; a “just add water” generation. This is especially true in the realm of church leadership.

These days there is a trend in the church that once a decision has been made, we must act immediately. Somehow we seem to often miss the crucial step of prayer. (See Philippians 4:6.) Or, how about the process of carefully choosing leaders, appointing them and training them? We must take lots of care and caution in that area according to 1 Timothy 5:22. Often times we miss both of these crucial steps and end up creating HUGE messes. All of this comes out of a desire to have instant gratification. But, when we seek instant gratification and success, we will grow weary and wear out quickly. This is the root cause of why many leaders and pastors burnout and leave the ministry!

I can think of one particular leader in scripture who had to exercise patience in order for God to work. It was Joshua at the battle against Jericho. Read Joshua 6. God asked him to march six days around the city walls in preparation for God’s victory. God asked him to appoint certain tasks to leaders during those six days. No doubt, those six days probably seemed pointless and even a waste of time. But, that time was in God’s plan! On the seventh day, by doing exactly as God had instructed, He caused the walls to crumble and the city to be over taken by Israel. During those days of waiting Joshua and the people had to seek after God, praise him and wait to see his glory revealed.

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Today is the official launch of my new eBook, Developing a Theology of Leadership. Amazingly, the stats indicate over 1,300 people have already read it since I leaked out the link before the weekend. I’m hoping you’ll find this resource helpful as you begin to consider who you are as a leader.

This eBook is based on a series of articles I wrote about two years ago. Thanks to the help of Ben Stroup, we’ve refreshed the content and added some new features to help you take your next steps in your leadership.

What I love about this and the next few resources I’m about ready to release is that you can’t just read them and put them on a shelf. (They’re eBooks. That would literally be impossible.) Aside from that, each eBook includes a discussion guide for you to begin a conversation with your ministry team. I’ve also included some recommended steps to take the content and “put it into action.” I’m challenging you to do that. Remember, teaching (or reading) shifts thinking, but systems shift behaviors.

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At the risk of not showing honor to peers in ministry, I want to tackle the topic of honor today. I’m concerned. I see a trend in churches that I think is unhealthy. Honestly, I believe it’s also unbiblical.

There are a number of churches today that are trying to teach a culture of honor. The concept of honor is biblical. In fact, Romans 12:10 tells us to:

“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (ESV)

We should show honor to our leaders, but God designed it to go both directions. If it’s one-way, it’s unhealthy and unbiblical.

Let me explain further how God designed honor to work in church leadership. First of all, we are supposed to submit to our leaders. Hebrews 13:17 says:

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

One of the ways we show honor to our leaders is by submitting to their authority. At the same time, though, leaders are instructed to show honor by serving those they lead:

“But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”

That’s the servant leadership that seems to be missing when the “culture of honor” is carried out to the extreme. Servant leadership only goes one direction. When that happens, honor only goes one direction.

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This is a guest post from Lance Morgan. (We’re not related. At least I don’t think we are.)

I remember the first (and last) time I got my mouth washed out with soap. What brought out the bottle of liquid soap and toothbrush? I had smarted off at my mom.

Now, before I had my mouth washed out, I had heard of this type of punishment from my friends. So I have to admit, I was pretty curious as to how the punishment was going to be executed. Was I going to have to hold a bar of soap in my mouth like in the movie, “The Christmas Story”? Or was I going to have to bite off a piece of soap and chew it up, and swallow it.

None of the above. I had to squirt liquid hand soap on my toothbrush and scrub my tongue for five minutes. I believe that is the worst way to execute that punishment. Since I had to use my regular toothbrush, the taste of soap lingered for a couple of days after.

Speaking of saying things we shouldn’t, have you ever said the F-word? It’s not that easy to say. There are situations in my life right now, where I need to drop an F-bomb. But this time, it’s an F-word we actually should be saying.

I forgive you.

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I’d like to test a new-to-me web solution for telecoaching that I may use in the future. I’m looking for 12 beta testers. It’s only a 60-minute commitment. Here are the details:

• WHEN: Monday, March 21, 3:00 – 4:00 pm EDT
• WHO: Staff leaders only
• WHAT: Talking about your current “pressure point” in ministry
• HOW MUCH? It’s FREE!

If you’re interested, complete the telecoaching application form. I’ll follow up and confirm final participants later this week.

UPDATE: Applications have closed. I received a phenomenal response to this opportunity and will be confirming the participants later today.

Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!” – Joshua 1:16-18 (NIV)

A lot of emphasis these days is put on the need for good leadership in the church, but the reality is the church does not just need good leadership and good leaders but also good “followship” — people that can follow well.

It’s easy to point the finger at leaders that have made mistakes or not led well, but what about followers taking responsibility for how well they have followed leadership? I think this is a really interesting thought that has the potential to produce a whole lot of good and very healthy, effective churches – if we dare to think about it.

In the scripture above, we read about some great followers – the followers of Joshua. This is the second time Israel had been given an opportunity to inherit the land God had promised (as you know the first time did not go so well). Why did it all go wrong that first time when Moses was leading? If you read about that account, the problem was not actually with the leaders (Moses, Joshua and Caleb) it was with the followers. They were the ones that caused the nation to not enter in.

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We are excited to announce that LAUNCH will be hosting one of the “Best Practices Pre-session Intensives” at Exponential this year.   We will be focusing on “Nurturing Spiritual Vitality and Family Health”.

Several senior pastors and their spouses will engage church planting couples who are learning how to effectively build strong, healthy families while building strong, healthy churches.  They will discuss the questions and situations that can potentially hijack families.  How do we create and maintain “safe” friendships?  How do we protect our children from the expectations of others?  Where do we go to build relationships outside of the church?  When and how do we communicate with our children about major ministry transitions?  Who should be in our inner circles?  What are appropriate guardrails for safeguarding relationships and reputation?  Our family is our most significant ministry.  They will help you formulate a game plan for success.

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Seth Godin

Last week, Seth Godin’s most recent book, Poke the Box, released in the wild. I finished reading it on my flight back from California, and I’ll share my highlights later this week. In the mean time, I caught up with Seth this weekend, and we discussed the new book. Here’s the interview:

TONY: What’s the big idea behind Poke the Box?

SETH: Initiative is taken, it’s not given, and it’s the scarcest resource in most organizations. Individuals who choose to initiate are priceless.

TONY: Why do you think people are so comfortable waiting for orders?

SETH: Total deniability! If someone else gives the instructions, well, then it can’t be your fault, can it?

TONY: What’s one thing leaders could do differently to get their teams to initiate change?

SETH: This is the hard one, Tony. What leaders have to do is seek out and embrace (and possibly reward) smart failure. If you’re not willing to fail, you have no chance to succeed.

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Only the courageous will engage problems that have never been addressed.

• “It’s not important to be lucky. It’s important to create awareness when fortunate circumstances occur.”
• when original business plan failed: “Ev said, ‘Go off in groups. Figure something out.’”
• on the greatest value of Twitter: “It changes every single day.”
• “Twitter is a utility akin to electricity.”
• “Twitter is a blank canvas to build whatever product you want.”
• on Twitter: “It’s amazing how people define and redefine the system every single day.”
• on teams: “You can only do so much when you’re just alone.”
• part of leadership is “removing negative elements” from the team
• “We could be doing a thousand different, but there are only 1 or 2 that really matter. Everything else needs to be shelved.”
• “There is still an offset that we need to account for.”
• “Technology is a tool. It is not an end.”
• “Twitter at it’s best connects people instantly to what’s most meaningful to them.”

How would your organization change if courage was the foundation of your culture?

• “To create a courageous culture, you need to collaborate.”
• “I don’t want to work in an organization where I’m only asked to implement someone else’s vision.”
• “No one can put you on a pedestal unless you let them.”
• “You are not the omni-competent leader that you think you are.”
• “Great leaders do not avoid conflict. Great leaders lead toward it.”
• “We have confused spirituality with terminal niceness.”
• “As a consultant, no one ever comes to you and says, ‘I’m the problem on the team. I need your help.’”
• as a consultant: “When people are looking at their feet, you’re on to something.”
• “When we avoid conflict, we say, ‘We don’t want to hurt her feelings.’ What we really mean is, ‘We don’t want to hurt her feeling when she’s in the room.’”
• “Difficult feedback is part of what it means to be a leader.”
• “There’s a fine line between being courageous and being a jerk.”
• “Allow people to doing something poorly in order that they’ll learn how to do it well.”
• “Do you really want courage? Because courage is not about being famous… The only way to courage is through fear and obstacles. It’s through surrender and fear.”
• “Courage is not a trend, and it’s not a hobby. It’s a character crucible.”