It’s one thing when you’re stuck in the airport, in the wrong checkout line, or traffic; but it’s a completely other thing when your kids start making decisions that don’t reflect the values of your family and those decisions are leading them on a path towards an impending trainwreck. When that moment comes and you don’t know what to do next…your stuck in your parenting. When you get married and you think you’ve met Mr. or Mrs. Right and your headed towards eternal maritial bliss only to find out that their breath smells bad in the morning too, all of the sudden this marriage isn’t what you thought it was going to be…your stuck in your marriage. People are stuck in their singleness, their finances, in their carreers, even in their relationship with God. This past weekend we landed a series that we’ve been working through at Sun Valley called “Momentum.” In it we’ve been unpacking the life of Moses and the story of the Exodus…having a conversation about what to do when you feel stuck in life. Here’s the talk that I gave this weekend to land the series, hope you find it encouraging!
Throughout the years culture has continued to be a dilemma for many Christians. As people we have a tendency to be skeptical, fearful, antagonistic, and even attack that which we don’t understand. Throw religion into the mix and we can turn into crusaders. Ironic isn’t it?
Is culture bad? Should we separate ourselves from the world and build our own culture? Should we embrace the culture and simply change with the times? What about fighting, campaigning, and politicking for change? Or should we just ignore culture all together? Fortunately, in Acts 17 the Apostle Paul gives us a great example of 4 steps we should take to interact with the culture around us.
Most of us know exactly what it feels like to be stuck. We’ve been stuck in traffic, stuck in the wrong checkout line at the grocery store, or even stuck going to some chic-flic in an attempt to be a better husband. It’s a bad feeling…feeling stuck. And it can be unbearable when you’re leading a church that’s stuck. You feel strongly that you have a clear and compelling picture from God about where the church needs to go…but…you’re stuck. No matter how hard you try it seems like you can’t get the church to move from where you are, to where you know God wants it to be. And the longer things stay stuck the more you begin to doubt the picture you think God gave you about that preferred future, or that you’re even the person to lead it there at all.
Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with author, coach, and consultant Tony Morgan and discuss this issue of “stuckness” that so many churches and leaders are facing today. In the middle of the conversation something he said really resonated with me, “Where churches typically get stuck isn’t on the vision and dream, but rather the gap between vision and ministry.” Vision alone isn’t enough. Churches get stuck on the “how.” How you are actually going to get it done and make the dream reality.
We went on to discuss his latest installment of the Leisure Suit Series, “How to Get Unstuck.” In which he unpacks the following issues that must be addressed if you’re going to move towards the dream God has placed on your heart:
Director Scott Moore is at it again. The guys at Authetikos, who brought you the riveting film “Reparando” which exposed the plight of Guatemala and the amazing Gospel work that is breaking out there, are working on their next project, “Becoming Fools.” Check out the trailer below and follow this link to see how you can be a part of the movement…and maybe save a child’s life.
I help churches make vision real. I am a pastor, speaker, strategist, and ministry consultant at The Unstuck Group.
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