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Disrupt The Voices
I am very thankful for my team.
- Sarah has been my assistant for six years.
- Mark and I have shot videos together for eight years.
- The four other directional leaders have served with me for ten years.
- Amy has been my wife and best friend for seventeen years.
I love the loyalty and consistency of those closest to me. I will always appreciate their wisdom. But the same people will often say the same thing. They lose objectivity. That’s why it is important to occasionally (or often) disrupt the voices.
- Invite someone new to offer you an opinion about your message.
- Develop a friendship with someone from a different country or religion.
- Read outside your comfort zone.
Some of our best insights can come from those outside our normal circles.
Disrupt the voices.
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Thanks for the encouragement on this. What do you mean by reading something out of your comfort zone? Any book suggestions???
You are right on the money! It is good to have a fresh point of view. Talking to different people allows for opportunities for ministering or being ministered to. It also creates teachable moments. Great post!
Thanks, Bryon.
Terry, No specific suggestions. I know I drift toward the same type of books. This past year, after every fourth or fifth book, I am forcing myself to read something totally different.
Oh man Craig is this a good one! In your multi-staff situation you have a unique (or at least the chance) opportunity to hear other voices. But in a small community that gets tough. When I began blogging several months ago I spent about a month just reading others before I started. I still read as many as I can in a day. That has been a real eye-opener. And I started reading more. I have read books that several months ago I would have scoffed at. But it has been “educational” (to quote Marty McFly)to read such a varied scope of reading. One of the first I read was some “Confessions” book I read by some pastor-dude. :) I miss personal, face-to-face interaction on a regular basis but do welcome the variety of views on blogs.
this can happen in LGs also. Not that you should hop LGs all the time - but any group can fall prey to the group think thing
visit a few other groups now and again, it’s extremely eye opening plus you get to meet new people
I make an effort to establish relationships with attendees at my church that are from different backgrounds, have different perspectives and are on different places along the spiritual continuum. I find that I get out of the ivory tower and see and feel what our ministry is REALLY doing.
One of the strategic relationships is with a guy who has only been a Christ-follower for a short time. His insight is invaluable to me! I ALWAYS use him a s a sounding board. I find that if I just hang out with ministry types I have no idea what “real” people need!
This is awesome! I love that you write on this because when we don’t surround ourselves with people of different backgrounds, etc., we become numb to the needs of the world! Introduce yourself to someone new each week during your lunch appointments and buy their lunch. Go to the homeless shelter in downtown OKC and invite a person there to coffee. Do the unthinkable and pick up a hitch-hiker!!! Put yourself in situations to disrupt the voices!
I try to keep some of those “disruptive voices” around me because they ask me (or cause me to ask myself) the questions I usually don’t want to answer.
By the way C, I really enjoyed your message at the Creative Marriage Retreat. My wife and I really enjoyed hearing from Amy too.
Bill, You so right on the blogs. Great way to find different voices!
Tony, Yes… a Life Group can grow stagnant as well. Some churches won’t let a group meet for more than a year.
Ryan, Wise stuff! Thanks for sharing.
Adam, Great suggestions. Thanks.
Travis, Glad you enjoyed the marriage conference. It was great to be a part of!
Craig,
How do you–personally–find the new voices that you allow access to your life? I trust that you don’t allow just anyone to enter into your “inner circle”.
Thank you for the response.
Craig,
Who do you do when your inner-circle and outer-circle give you contradictory advice. How do you know who to trust?
Nick asked, “How do you–personally–find the new voices that you allow access to your life? I trust that you don’t allow just anyone to enter into your “inner circle”.
Great question. I intentionally seek some people to speak into my life. For one, I spent some time with a counselor getting objective help. Most of the people I look to learn from are other seasoned leaders. (I don’t limit this to church leaders but also learn from people in business.)
To me, I can get feedback without inviting someone to live in the “inner circle.”
Mike asked, “Who do you do when your inner-circle and outer-circle give you contradictory advice. How do you know who to trust?”
I wish I could give you a definitive answer to your important question. My best attempt… I ask God for wisdom and discernment. Sometimes, I can actually sense what God is trying to tell me through others.
Occasionally, those closest to me are missing the bigger picture that others can see. At different times, those closest are the only ones really seeing clearly and love me enough to speak frankly. Wish I could answer better.
oooo..that’s good!