Years ago, I got to hear Bill Hybels tell of his recovery from a period of overwork.

Willow was on a rocket ride of growth. Bill’s ministry and impact was growing exponentially. On the outside, all was well. But inside….not so much.Through counseling and spiritual reflection, he came to realize that he was working too hard and praying too little.

I will never forget his brief but profound diagnosis:

“I came to realize that the speed at which I was doing the work of God was killing the work of God in me.”

Bullseye.

“The depth of your impact in the world is determined by the depth of God’s impact in your soul.”

Think of your life as a dashboard of a car. There are two dials. One measures the speed at which you are working in the world. The other is the speed/depth at which God is doing a work in you.

Which gauge has a higher reading? Which one is near redline? If you can commit to letting God work deeply in you, you will be able to go faster and deeper in the world. But the opposite….not so much.

It’s good to be busy, but never forget: the depth of your impact in the world is determined by the depth of God’s impact in your soul.

How’s your dashboard?

Some years ago, John Ortberg was about to undertake a new ministry, and he called Dallas Willard for some advice about how to maintain a vibrant spiritual life as he started a new and robust job. Dallas’ advice was singular:
“Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

“Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

Great advice that I’ve been thinking on. I’ve been focusing on that as my main spiritual discipline for the last few weeks and the results are counterintuitive:

I’m more productive now than ever.

Work at our executive search firm is hopping; – more robust than I ever could have dreamt. Pastoring at Cypress Creek has been a really great, but really busy time as well. But every time I go back to Dallas’ advice, I get more productive.

If you know me, you know that I love to work hard, and I believe it is what we are made to do. But there’s a difference between hard work and hurried work.

I can’t name a single time I see Jesus in a hurry. I’m beginning to think it may be the poison to a great spiritual life.

So how’s your hurry factor? Want a deeper spiritual life? Want to be more productive in your work?

Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.

I’m getting ruthless; – cutting more time for bigger margins to appointments. I’m writing this because I’m early for a meeting. How are you eliminating hurry in yours?

Frequently, highly competent people end up coming to me for career advice. Sometimes they are at the beginning of their career. Other times, it’s a person who is entering the latter stages of their run. Regardless of where they are, the question is the same:

“How do I know what I should try to do next?”

There are lots of career advice books out there that can help, but nearly all of them contain a common question:

“What would you do for free?”

If money were not an object, what would you do for no pay at all? Chances are, you won’t be able to land exactly that job. But if you can answer that question, and follow your passion, you’re on the path. And if you can line up your passion and your strengths, you’ll be highly employable.

Ultimately, if you can find a way to align your passion, your strengths, and a need in the world, you’ll not look for a job for a long, long time.

Ask yourself the question today.

“What would you do for free?”

The first couple of days this week, I’ll be at the Velocity conference at Mountain Lake Church. Great conference, and outstanding clients of our executive search firm. Velocity is all about church planting, and if you know Shawn Lovejoy, you know that’s his heart.

Tony and I will get the chance be speakers alongside Rick Warren, Matt Stone, Shawn, Steven Furtick, and a whole bunch of other great guys. In preparing for that conference, I’ve been studying what the Bible has to say about church planting.

Here’s my conclusion – it’s not revolutionary:

God uses the old things, but His movement is all about planting new things. When there was nothing, He created something. When the Law wasn’t enough, He created a New Testament in Jesus. When my life was a wreck, He planted a new heart. And the story all ends with a New Heaven, a New Earth, and a new and restored body for you and me.

Over the centuries, when He has launched movements in the church, He has planted new epicenters of the faith. In fact, we are the only religion I know of with a portable epicenter. We have no Mecca, Temple, or pilgrimmage. Rather, God moves the center of the faith into the new thing He’s doing.

God is into the new thing. It’s His heartbeat, and it’s where His best work happens.

So here’s the tough question He prompted in me:

“What new thing will you let me do in you today William?”

That’s hard. I get less flexible every day: whether it’s my joints or my habits. Doing new things gets harder as I get older. So I’m stretching today. Looking for the new thing. Trying to answer His question.

How would you answer?

Unless you are a rare find, the economic downturn has affected you and your staff/team. Perhaps the most common side effect of the downturn I’ve seen is demoralized church staffs. Even in settings that were very high growth, leaders have had to make adjustments, face red numbers, and find new ways of motivating their people. I’ve had the privilege of seeing some of our finest pastors and church leaders do so in the churches I help staff.

In yesterday’s post, I named clear vision as the number one motivator of staff. In a downturn or an upturn, people will walk through fire for a clear, compelling vision.

Here are two more motivators that I see in our best leaders:

1. Speak hope, curse fear. Our words are one of our most potent weapons in this world. They either create or destroy. What is the language of your leadership team? Is it hopeful, or fearful? I notice that even the best church leaders can get a little bit fearful with the recent downturn. I read a study of CEO’s and fear recently which pointed out that the most successful CEO’s are often the most susceptible to fear during a recession because they have always been successful. Is this your first time posting bad numbers? Unlike CEO’s, church leaders have a well of hope from the one who caused the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness to be born out of Lamentations. If you did an audit of your language tonight with a side of the ledger for hope and a side for fear, which side of the scales would weigh heavier?

2. Take a nap. One of the wisest pastors I know tells his staff that the number one quality people are looking for in their leader is a Non Anxious Presence. I’ve shortened that up to N.A.P., and around our church, we talk about leaders being able to take a “NAP” when the rest of the world is worried.  Sort of like Jesus sleeping in the boat during a nerve wrecking storm. Whether pastors are sitting by a deathbed, or in a bad budget meeting, or leading through a tough season, true leaders are able to be calm, collected, and unaffected. Think of the people we elect to be President. Think of the heroes of the military. Very few were excitable. People love a motivational sermon, and an exciting message, but they don’t want a reactionary, excitable leader. Passionate leadership = good. Reactionary, anxious leadership = bad.  Can you encourage your team to take a nap? Can you better embody a non-anxious presence?

Are there other motivational tips you know? I’d love to hear them.