Learnings from Exodus: Hoarders, Israelite Edition

There is a show that has gained some popularity in the last 9 months or so.  It’s called Hoarders, and it is shown on the basic cable channel A&E.  The show typically focuses on two different people, interweaving their stories throughout the episode.  These two people have something in common: an uncontrollable attachment to stuff.  Personally, I don’t like to watch the show because of two reasons: 1) it almost makes me sick seeing the conditions in which these people (many of whom have a serious mental illness that leads them to hoarding in the first place) live; and 2) it gives my wife extra motivation to do some cleaning around the house, which means I have to do some extra cleaning around the house.  Now, has anyone seen my sarcasm font?  I can’t seem to find it in my pile of books and papers next to the computer…  Anyway, the show itself has fascinated people for a while, and has even led to a spin-off about animal hoarding as well.  However, hoarding is not a recent problem by any stretch of the imagination.  As we continue in Exodus, we find that hoarding, at the very least, goes all the way back to the Israelites who had just escaped Egypt.

When we get to Exodus 16, the Egyptian pursuers have been left behind in the Sea of Reeds, and the people of Israel know that they are truly free.  Nobody is coming to recapture them and take them back to Egypt now.  They are at the beginning of what ends up being a very long journey to the Promised Land.  Unfortunately, Exodus 16 begins in the same kind of way that many of the other stories during this journey begin – with the people of Israel complaining about something.  This time, they are grumbling because they don’t have enough food.  Once again, they are looking back fondly at their time in Egypt because they may have been slaves, but at least they had something to eat.  And, once again, the people are blaming Moses for this predicament.

So, the Lord offers a solution.  For five days, there will be enough bread from heaven (which is called ‘manna’) for the Israelites to collect for the day.  On the sixth day, the people are to collect enough for two days, since they want to keep the Sabbath as a day of rest.  So, in the evening, quail come and the people have meat to eat, and in the morning, there is this manna all over the ground that the people were to collect for the day (or two days if it was the day before the Sabbath).

I’d like to say that Moses told the people what was going on, and they happily obeyed the command.  I’d like to say that… but I can’t.  Here’s what happened:

16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat.  You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17 And the people of Israel did so.  They gathered, some more, some less.  18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gather much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had not lack.  Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses.  Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank.  And Moses was angry with them.

At the heart of what is going on here is a lack of trust, a lack of faith that God will provide as He has promised. After all, why would you set some aside for later unless you believed that God wasn’t going to give you more the next day?  I think this says a lot about giving all that you have as a leader on every single day.  As long as you stay connected to God, as long as you continue to trust in His promises in your life, there is no need to go out there and only give a little bit, hoping to save some for the next day.

As we read through Scripture, we see that rest is an important part of the rhythm of life, and I’m not suggesting that if you rest you aren’t giving 100% of who you are.  I think that rest is important.  Leaders especially need to be in tune with the rhythm of their lives – knowing when to rest and when to push forward.  But when it is time to work, give everything that you have.  God will replenish you during those times of rest.  But when we fail to give everything, when we try to leave it for another day, then we wake up the next morning wondering why the smell of maggots is in our nostrils.

There’s the old adage in sports of leaving everything out on the field/court.  And that’s really what I’m trying to get at here as well.  Give everything that you have because you have been called by an awesome God that expects us to give all of who we are to Him.  Pay attention to the rhythm of your life and don’t overwork yourself to the point of burnout, but don’t hold things in reserve either.  Go out there and give everything that you have for the Lord today because he will give you the strength to get through tomorrow when tomorrow comes.

Learnings from Exodus: Failure to Appreciate

I want to touch on the same passage that the last Learnings from Exodus post touched on, but I want to look at something a little different this time.  More specifically, I want to look at the reaction from the people of Israel.

11 and they [the people of Israel] said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness?  Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt?  What have you done to us?  Why did you make us leave Egypt?  12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt?  We said, ‘Leave us alone!  Let us be slaves to the Egyptians.  It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness.’”

What we have here folks – if you’ll permit me to parody the famous line – is a failure to appreciate.  The Israelites were experiencing their first taste of freedom after 400+ years of slavery in Egypt.  Generation after generation after generation the Israelites had the fact that they were slaves beat into them.  They were oppressed, and worse yet, they didn’t know any better.  They had succumbed to their captivity and decided that this was just the way that life had to be.  It’s sad, really, but it happens.

People get used to the way the world around them operates, resign themselves to the “fact” that they can’t change the way things are, so they resolve to just deal with life as it is.  I was part of a large group discussion once that focused on the mission of the United Methodist Church – to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  A counterpoint was given that this mission was too ambitious, and that the idea of transforming the world was not something that was really up to us in the first place.  It saddened me to hear this point of view.

The notion that the world is as it is going to be, and there’s nothing that can change it except the action of God Himself, leaves little room for inspiration.  People need to have a vision; people need to know that what they do in this life makes a difference and resounds in the halls of eternity.  Apart from Jesus Christ, there is no hope of this happening, but as disciples of Jesus Christ, who are actively working in the world, transforming one person at a time, the world can be completely different; it can be transformed.

Yet, so many people sound like the Israelites.  ”I can’t do this or that because I’m just a speck in the sea of life.”  Yes, you are just a speck in the sea of life, but, praise the Lord, it’s not up to you to get these things done.  It is because of Jesus Christ working in you that you can make a difference in this world.

Who we are in our sin is not who we are called to be in the presence of a holy God.  We are called to something greater.  We are called to be sons and daughters of the living God.  We are adopted into His family because of His one and only Son Jesus Christ.  Stop thinking that the world is going to be as it has always been.  That’s just not the case.  Christ came so that we can be set free from our sin, free from our past, and free to follow him in a new way of living.  Embrace that freedom and stop looking longingly back at your former life.  There’s nothing for you there.  Look forward to what God is going to do in your life.  Keep your eyes on Him, and keep pushing forward to the Promised Land.

Learnings from Exodus: Cool as a Cucumber

“If you can keep your head while others are losing theirs and blaming it on you… yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and – which is more – you’ll be a man, my son.” – Rudyard Kipling

As we follow the post-exodus Israelites, we come to their first major obstacle.  After Pharaoh finally relented and allowed Moses to take the people out of Egypt, we find that he has a change of heart… again.  Only this time, he has to go after the Israelites because they were actually able to leave before he changed his mind.

The Egyptians get in their chariots, call up the army and head after the Israelites.  It’s not long before the Israelites look back and see that the Egyptians are bearing down on them, and they start to panic.  Here is how the story goes…

10 As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the LORD, 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt?

12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” 13 But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. 14 The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm” (Exodus 14:10-14).

You would think that after 400 years in slavery, these people would be a little more grateful for their freedom.  You would think that after seeing what happened in Egypt, the plagues and miracles, that they would be able to trust in the Lord at this point.  You would think that after being led by the Lord as a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night, the Israelites would realize that everything was going to be all right.  You would think… but they freak out.

They start crying out to the Lord.  They start complaining to Moses.  ”Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt?  What have you done to us?  Why did you make us leave Egypt?”  Don’t you love that?  ”Why did you make us leave Egypt?”  Yeah, because Moses was the one that wanted to take you away from your cushy jobs as brick makers.  You wanted nothing to do with freedom or release from captivity.  I know it sounds like I’m ranting a little bit here, so let’s get to the real question at hand: what does this have to do with leadership?

Moses’ response is fantastic.  People all around him are freaking out, losing their cool and going out of their minds.  He says, “Don’t be afraid.  Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today….  Just stay calm.”  Wow.  As a leader, you have to be able to keep a calm head, even in the most difficult of situations.

Moses had no idea what was going to happen.  All he knew was that the Lord had brought them this far, and He wasn’t just going to let them die in the wilderness like this.  (Of course, later on… well… that’s a different story for a different day.)  As a leader whose identity is found in Christ, you are called to keep your head, even while those around you are losing theirs.

I’m not saying that leaders are supposed to always know what to do, either.  Read the story again, Moses did not know what was going to happen.  He just trusted in the Lord, and the impossible happened.  Even when things look bleak, even when it seems like everything and everyone is stacked against you, as a leader who is called by God, you must keep a cool head, and listen for the Lord’s direction in the midst of the madness.

Learning from Exodus: Temporary Repentance

In this Learning from Exodus post, we look at a negative aspect of leadership.  During the plagues in Egypt, the Pharaoh continually decides that he will let the people of Israel go… until the plague is no longer a problem.

“32 But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go” (Exodus 8:32).

Throughout this whole process, the Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, suffers the plagues to the point that he doesn’t want anything more to do with the Israelites and so he tells Moses that he will let the people go if the plague would just come to an end.  However, when the plague is over, he refuses to keep his word.

Keeping your word is a dying art in today’s society.  Sometimes, there are genuine reasons why things seem to conspire against us, and we have to back out, but more often than not, people over-promise and under-deliver, and that’s where we find the real problem.

Being true to what you say is critical as a leader.  If you waffle back and forth, if you fail to make a decision and stick with it, then you are going to have some problems.  When you do that over and over again, you teach people that what you say isn’t really your final decision and they should have no reason to listen to you in the first place.

However, when we do what we say we are going to do, people come to know us as trustworthy.  People see that we mean what we say and say what we mean.  Again, this doesn’t mean that every once in a blue moon something won’t come up that causes you to make a change, but do this sparingly.

Leaders, keep your word.  Don’t waffle, and people will come to know you as a person of your word.

What We Can Learn from Kodak

I learned two things that I did not know last week.  Well, I probably learned more than that, but two in particular that are relevant to this blog post.

1) In 1975, Kodak develop a prototype of the first digital camera, AND

2) On January 19, 2012, Kodak applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Kodak acknowledge that it owes roughly $6.75 billion (BILLION… with a B! Let that soak in for a second!) to over 100,000 creditors.  This is a far cry from the company that was a leader in the photography/film industry many years ago.  What happened?  What in the world could cause a company to go from pioneer and leader in the field to a bankrupted competitor on the verge of falling off the map entirely?  Lack of vision and drive.

In 1975, Steven Sasson created an “8-pound, toaster-sized contraption, which captured a black-and-white image on a digital cassette tape at a resolution of .01 megapixels.” (You can read the AP article from 2005 here.)  It was revolutionary at the time.  Nobody else was doing anything even remotely similar to this.

However, Kodak was so busy making money and pioneering celluoid photography for the masses that they never did a whole lot of development with this new idea.  They were stuck in their current model, so much so that they could not see the future of photography.

It was this inability to look further into the future that would eventually cause Kodak’s demise.  Kodak struggled to get into the digital photography game, and now, we are talking about a company that has fallen from the S&P 500 (which is supposed to represent the top 500 companies in today’s business world) and the Dow Jones.  By refusing to pursue the possibilities of the future, Kodak has become a thing of the past.

Now, how does this relate to the Church?  Churches have a tendency to gravitate towards the comfortable.  Looking to the horizon and dreaming of things to come is not something that happens in a lot of churches these days.  Consequently, there are a lot of stagnant and declining churches in today’s world.  When we try to live in the past, we end up becoming part of the past.

This isn’t to say that the past doesn’t have good things for us; however, we have to be able to bring those things into the present in relevant ways, or else they fall by the wayside.

A church that is not actively seeking ways to reach the next generation is a church that will soon find itself obsolete.  Churches that were once pillars in their community find themselves distant from their surrounding neighborhoods primarily because they lack the vision to press on into the future.

The simple truth is that the world around us is changing.  The next big thing in the church is not going to come from today’s generation.  It is going to come from tomorrow’s generation.  That is why it is so important for us to invest in the younger generations.

Kodak spent so much time staring at its increasing wallet in the ’70′s and ’80′s that it neglected to see what was going to happen in the ’90′s and beyond.  In today’s world, things move rapidly, especially change and the need to adapt.  If the only change in your church in the last 30 years has been the dwindling attendance numbers, then maybe it’s time to start looking for a way to drive forward into the future.

Learning from Exodus: The Right Person

The Learning from Exodus series is going to be a series of posts with some leadership reflections from my recent reading of Exodus.  You can click on the “Leadership” tab at the top of the blog page to see the previous two postings.

In the previous postings of this series, I’ve been looking at God’s call to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.  Moses continues making excuses as to why he doesn’t think he is the right person for the job until we get to his final plea, which is found in Exodus 4:13.

13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” (Ex 4:13, NLT)

This is the culmination of Moses’ objections for why he shouldn’t be the one to appear before Pharaoh and call for the release of the Israelite slaves.  Every excuse that he could come up with was met by an answer from the Lord.  He was not going to take “No” for an answer.  Nor should he.  After all, we are talking about God here, the Creator of all things.  When God calls us to something, He expects us to do it.

And yet, often times, we find ourselves facing difficult situations, and we echo Moses in saying, “Lord, please!  Send anyone else.”  The truth is, however, we are the ones perfectly positioned to deal with whatever issue God presents to us.  God would not call us to a task for which He has not prepared us.  God prepares those whom He calls.  At times, yes, we feel overwhelmed by our responsibilities; however, that doesn’t mean that God hasn’t prepared us for them.  And, perhaps, in those times when we feel least prepared, we rely the most on God.  Isn’t that what we should be doing in the first place?

As a leader, you are expected to have the right answer, or know what to do next.  But do you?  It is in these times that we can feel overwhelmed.  It is in these times that we are most tempted to give up and move on to something else.  But we need to remember something very important in these times.  God is with us.  Moses was looking for a way out because he forgot that God was the one who was going to be with him through it all.  Don’t do that.  Don’t neglect and don’t forget about the source of your strength as a leader.  It is found in the One who has called and equipped you.

Learning from Exodus: Stepping Out in Faith

The second entry in the Learning from Exodus series stays in Exodus 3, with the conversation that Moses is having with the Lord.

12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.

I love this verse.  Moses just gets done asking the question: Who am I?  And this is God’s response.  You can read about my thoughts on the question in the previous post of this series.  What I want to address in this post, though, is the sign that God gives Moses.

Too often we want a sign from God before we go forward with something.  We think that we ought to wait on the Lord to show us something before we do what He has called us to do.  This is a little backwards, according to what we see here.  But the sign that God gives Moses is not some awesome display of his otherworldly power.  It is a promise of what will happen when Moses has completed the task.

The Lord basically says, “You want to know that I’ve been with you.  You’ll know when you come back to this mountain with the people of Israel.”  Instead of giving Moses the satisfaction of an immediate sign, God gives Moses a vision of an ideal future.

Isn’t that what vision is?  An picture of an ideal future.  Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, in his Back to Methuselah, writes, “You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream of things that never were; and say, ‘Why not?’”  That’s vision. A picture, not of the way things are, or even the ways will be if everything continues as is.  Vision is a picture of what could be.  It is an ideal future.  That’s what God gives Moses.  He gives Moses a picture of him leading the Israelites out of Egypt to worship on the holy mountain where he now stands.

Is it immediately achieved?  No.  A vision that is worth something is rarely easily or immediately achieved.  Vision stretches us.  It causes us to go beyond ourselves and into something greater.  An accomplished vision is the result of us stepping out in faith.  That is exactly what Moses needed to do in order to accomplish this vision.  Moses had to trust in the Lord so that his ideal future could be a reality.  He had to step out in faith, trusting that God was good to His word.

So, what about you?  What is the ideal future to which you aspire?  What vision has God given you for the future?  Know that it is going to take some time and a whole lot of work, but God is trustworthy.  God will not give you a vision that is impossible to accomplish because with God all things are possible.

Learning from Exodus: Who Am I?

I’ve have spent some time reading through the book of Exodus recently, and it is an interesting book.  The first half of Exodus is filled with incredible lessons that we can learn from God, Moses, Pharaoh and the Israelites.  The Learning from Exodus series is going to explore some of the lessons that I have gleaned from this book.  Hopefully, they are lessons that will help to encourage you in your walk of faith.

10 “Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh.  You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”  11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh?  Who am I to leada the people of Israel out of Egypt?”  12 God answered, “I will be with you…” – Exodus 3:10-12a

To give you the context of the verse, Moses is having a conversation with God at the burning bush.  This is the first encounter that Moses has with the Lord; well, at least the first one that is recorded by Scripture.  Moses is standing there, sandals off to the side, talking to a bush that is on fire but is not consumed.  God is basically giving Moses his call to ministry here, and Moses does what so many people do when they are called to do a difficult task – he makes excuses.

Moses is told that he will go to Pharaoh, and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt – a place where they have been slaves for over 400 years.  Moses’ response is classic.  It’s almost like he’s saying, “Are you serious?  I’m just a shepherd, hanging out in the wilderness, and you want me to go to Pharaoh and tell him to release these people that I don’t really know all that much?  I mean, sure, I’m one of them, but I’ve got my own things going on here.”

And what is God’s answer?  ”I will be with you,” God says.  He doesn’t address Moses’ question; at least, not in the way that we think he ought to address it.  God doesn’t build Moses up and make him think that he’s the greatest thing since… well, I’m not sure what at this point in history; “sliced bread” doesn’t seem to work here.  God doesn’t pat him on the back and say, “You can do it, buddy!  I believe in you.”  What makes Moses the one to do this task?  Because God is the one who called Him to it.

Moses is not going to accomplish this task because he is some great leader that has all the answers and is a strategic mastermind.  Moses is going to accomplish this task because God is with him.  Who Moses is doesn’t matter because he is backed up by the Almighty God.

I think people shy away from ministry opportunities because they are afraid.  They are afraid that they don’t have the talent necessary.  They are afraid because they don’t have the appropriate training.  They are afraid because they don’t have everything figured out.  This isn’t limited to those who feel like God is calling them to vocational ministry either.  Any kind of ministry – vocational or volunteer – can be sidetracked by a person who asks the same question as Moses: “Are you serious?  Who am I to be doing this?”  The simple truth of the matter is, it doesn’t matter who you are; what matters is that God is with you.

Moses had a speech impediment.  David had an affair.  Jeremiah struggled with depression.  Nehemiah was the cupbearer for a king in a distant land.  The Twelve disciples had all kinds of flaws; it seems like they just don’t “get it” most of the time, or spend too much time arguing over petty things.  Paul was a murderer and persecutor of the church.  And yet, God was with all of them – through their good times and their bad times.  And all were able to accomplish great things for the kingdom of God.

When we ask, “Who am I?”  we are asking the wrong question.  It’s not about who we are.  It’s about who God has shown himself to be.

Book Review: Leading on Empty

In addition to reading through the Bible twice this year, I’m also challenging myself to be more intentional about my other reading.  I’m going to read one personal development and one professional development book each month.  The first personal development book that I read actually blurs the line between personal and professional just a little bit, but I’m okay with that.  It was Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordeiro.

Cordeiro is the founding pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu.  I know, right?  Who gets the sweet gig of planting a church in Hawaii?  This guy.  Cordeiro has also written extensively, and has a whole list of things that he has accomplished through the grace of God.  You can check those out on his bio page here.

But, you don’t get to be this well known unless you work your tail off along the way… or somehow end up on a trashy reality show.  Of course, the down side to working this hard is that there is a possibility of crashing in flames.  In a sense, that’s what this book is about.  It’s not about a moral failure or anything of that sort.  It’s about how Cordeiro didn’t take the time to truly care for himself in the midst of the craziness and busyness of ministry, and ended up suffering from burnout and depression.

Leading on Empty relates his struggle with burnout – the conditions that causes it and the symptoms that showed up – his battle with depression, and the changes that he had to make in his life in order to continue being a top-notch pastor, speaker and leader.

There is a lot that can be learned from this book – some of which I’m sure I’ll tackle in more detail down the road.  But perhaps the biggest lesson that I pulled from it is the fact that you need to rest.  Even in the most-packed season of ministry, there needs to be time to step away and relax.  In creation, God saw fit to rest on the seventh day, so why do we create church cultures that don’t allow pastors to rest?

Everybody needs to have some time away.  It helps to refresh and recharge us, and Leading on Empty is written as a warning for those who think they are invincible and that burnout and depression only happens to those “other” guys.

It’s an easy read, and well worth your time.  Check it out.

Entitlement

In a story that came out in last week’s Boston Globe, Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lester was named, among other starting pitchers, as participating clubhouse activities during the games when they were not pitching; activities like: drinking beer, playing video games, and indulging in some fried chicken.  Recently, Lester has been saying that the report blew things out of proportion, saying that while they did occasionally drink beer, they rarely played video games and only ordered the take-out chicken three times in six months.  Regardless of the frequency of these events, the larger problem is the fact that it is being discussed at all.

Between the three starting pitcher named (Lester, Lackey and Beckett), we’re looking at about $38 million of Boston’s $160 million payroll.  Three guys that take up nearly a quarter of the team’s pay should be setting an example for the rest of the team.  Now, is that fair?  No, but welcome to the real world, where things are rarely fair.

If any other person were to have a few beers during the course of his/her workday, it would not be unreasonable to expect that person to get fired.  And yet, these professional athletes feel like it’s not that big of a deal for them to be in the clubhouse during a game, taking part in these activities.  What this reveals is a ridiculous sense of entitlement.

If you are being paid a significant amount of money as a baseball player, then you have more responsibility, not less.  You don’t get to do whatever you want; you have to set an example of what it means to be a good teammate and support the guys that are out on the field.  Would it have made a difference?  Probably not, but that’s not the point.

Now, I can hear the objections: they weren’t pitching that day; they weren’t going to go on the field at all; they had no effect on what happened on the field.  I agree.  However, again, that’s not the point.  It betrays a sense of entitlement that these guys can do whatever they want and get away with it.

Down the stretch, as the Red Sox were faltering, I (among others) thought that they would be able to turn it around, and that they would be very dangerous in the playoffs.  However, the way they played (especially compared to the Rays, who eventually caught and passed them) was with the same attitude.  You got the sense that it didn’t really matter that they lost that game, because they could just turn it on the next night and win.  But they couldn’t.

In baseball, it really is an accomplishment to get into the playoffs.  Only four teams from each league make the cut; that’s it – 8 teams in all of major league baseball make the playoffs.  It isn’t the NBA where 16 teams make it in.  It isn’t even the NFL where 12 teams are playoff bound.  If you make the playoffs, you earn it in baseball.  However, it seemed as though the Red Sox just expected their playoff spot to be handed to them, but they didn’t earn it, so they didn’t make it.

It’s easy to point the finger at all kinds of issues down the stretch for the Red Sox.  In fact, that’s exactly what the Boston Globe was trying to do in it’s article.  Everything from Francona to Epstein to beer-drinking to lack of leadership was brought up in the article.  But the underlying issue, the issue that really comes to the forefront as I look at the article and the response, is this sense of entitlement.

Nobody owes us anything in this life, especially not professional athletes.  You go out there, and you compete on a daily basis.  If you deserve to be at the top of the game, then you will earn it, but nobody is going to give it to you.