Preston Mitchell's Blog

Common Sense vs. Leadership

The topic of leadership must be the most over used, over hyped, over promised, and over analyzed word in the world.  I am tired of it.  Not that it isn't important.  It is!  But I am beginning to wonder if there are really that many great leaders.  If there were as many great leaders as claimed in blogs, conferences and books, then things should be going a little better.  Don't you think?  There should be fewer problems in the economy, the local church, families, marriages, churches, etc.  Somehow, the leaders aren't leading.

Anyone can appoint themselves a great leader.  I call them fauxleaders.  All they have to do is learn the leadership language and become a part of the leadership speaking circuit and they are ready to teach leadership.  There has been nothing new said about leadership since the time of Christ.  It's all the same stuff repackaged.  Some of the fauxleadership gurus of our day are swapping stories and statistics, which is all right as long as they give the source of their wisdom.  Too many people, especially in the church world, are so caught up in leadership that they forget about being themselves - a human being crafted by the God of the universe who gives each person a purpose - whether you are a leader or not. 

I propose that someone do a conference on how to function without leadership gifts. That would be called the "common sense" conference.  It's just not as sexy a word.  I think the key to leading anything is common sense, which as Ed Young says, "common sense is not so common."  We need more conferences on common sense than leadership.  You can't number common sense principles because each of us make hundreds of common sense decisions every day.  You will never read a blog on leadership by me.  I'm not that great of a leader.  And I only know about 5 truly gifted leaders.   One is my pastor.  God gives the rest of us common sense to survive one day after another.  Some in the secular world would say "some people are better lucky than good."  That describes my life much more honestly than leadership.  It seems to me that a lot of people who claim to be leaders must have suffered from low self esteem at some point in their life.  Why else would they have to remind us  every day that they are a leader?

Did Jesus ever claim to be a leader?  I can't remember off the top of my blog, but he talked a lot about common sense and service and love and forgiveness...leadership must have been way down on the list of character traits.

So for all of us who are uncommonly unleadershiped gifted, let's use our common sense and run circles around the fauxleaders. 

Anniversary

Today marks the one year anniversary of my kidney transplant.  It's hard to believe that it's been a year.  This is a strategic anniversary because I now have a much better chance of keeping the kidney longer after surviving for a year. 

As I think back to one year ago today, it was Easter Sunday.  As we celebrated the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, I was experiencing resurrection from near death on that day.  I grieve for the young boy who died so that I could live.  I thank God for the team of nurses and doctors who made the miracle happen.  I thank all my friends who visited, brought food, sent cards and prayed for me.  I thank God for the family of staff at Fellowship Church who supported our family through some difficult times.  Most of all, I thank God for His healing power in my life. My kidney is working well and I am considered normal (by most people).  I also thank God for Dedo, who not only had to care for me, but plan two weddings last summer.  She was my rock and I could not have done it without her.

Someone asked me last night if I ever felt angry at God for allowing kidney failure to happen to me.  I can honestly say that I never was angry at God.  I asked a lot of questions, I had doubts and disappointments, but God never let me down.  Through everything, He was present with me at all times.

How long will this kidney last?  I don't know.  I just know that I am going to enjoy all the days I have left to follow after my Savior.

The Man Purse

 thought I would never do it, but never say never.  I am now the proud owner of a man purse.  I don't know what the official name is, but that's what my wife calls it and it seems to fit.  I love this thing.  How do we as a male species survive without it?  Think about how we have evolved as men.  We carried bags made out of limbs in ancient days, moved to saddlebags in the Old West, briefcases in the Industrial Revolution, back packs for the high tech era and now a man purse.  Dedo has really helped me understand the etiquette of using a man purse.  For example, she told me not to set it down on the floor of a public restroom - why, I don't know.

I carry my man purse to and from the office or Starbucks.  I keep it in my car all the time.  It has my journal, Bible, camera, watercolor pencils and sketch book and a few odds and ends.  I don't carry a laptop so my bag is light.  The first time I ever saw a man purse was at a wedding of an NBA basketball player.  Many of his teammates were carrying man purses - and that was almost 20 years ago.  I am behind the times, no doubt.  At Fellowship, a lot of our staff guys are carrying them now.  It's kind of funny when you think about it.

In today's culture, almost everyone carries some kind of bag.  Both men and women.  It reminds me that we also carry baggage..  Broken relationships, sexual sins, divorce, hatred, bigotry.  We wear our baggage wrapped around our shoulders, just like a man purse.  The Bible tells us that we are to give all our baggage to God and He will deal with it in an appropriate manner.  That is an awesome promise of the grace and mercy of God. 

Keep the man purse, get rid of the baggage.  It will make you look so much more fashionable.

Crisis of Ageing

I think I have officially entered a middle-aged crisis. It's taken me a long time to get to this point.  The key is to find my way out of the crisis while still growing older.  Age is more of a mental state than a physical state.  When the mid-life crises strike, we can't let our minds grow old.  It is easy to do.  I find myself more aware of the changes in my body, the aches and pains,  feeling out of place in a room full of younger people, worrying about retirement and whether I have done a good job of preparing my family financially.  Am I relevant and do I replinish the people I hang around with or do I just drain the life out of them?  I find that today more than ever, I have to challenge myself to stay mentally young.  Working as a student pastor is a good way to do that.  Trying to keep up with the challenges that face our teens keeps me young at heart.  But if you aren't a student pastor, here are some of the things you can do to keep your mind young:

*    Dress as young as I can without looking like an idiot.   There is a fine line.  What you wear determines how you feel.  Best way to tell is to ask one of your children.  They will tell you the truth.

*    Hang around younger people.  It's more exciting to be with younger people.  When I am around people my age (for the most part) I feel old.  

*    Keep up with technology like Facebook and Twitter.  You can go overboard with them, but like it or not, that's what younger people are using today to build community.  I don't have a Kindle yet, but who knows?

*   Read books and newspapers and go to movies.  Keping up with the culture is important to staying relevant to our culture. 

*    Remember that we are a vital resource to our community.  I can help younger men who may be struggling in marriage or jobs or whatever.  I can look back and say that I have just about experienced it all.  

*    Change taste in music.  I will always love the Beatles, but now I enjoy John Mayer, Cold Play and Sara Barriles among others.  Sorry, I can't do the rap thing.  Having a 19-year old musician in the house will make me listen to all kinds of music.

*   Serving at a church with an exciting future.  I pray to God that I stay in the mainstream of life so that I can make a difference for Him.  I love Fellowship Church and what God is doing today and what He will do in the future. I can't miss it.

If you are like me, keep it young. 

Vegas? Come On!

Sorry I have been off blog for a few days.  I had a chance to get away and now I am catching up.  My family had an opportunity to go see the Beatles show "Love" which is at The Mirage in Las Vegas.  Vegas is not a place I enjoy, but I really wanted to see the show.  It was as good as advertised.  The music, artistry, programming, creativity, stage design, signage and sound was incredible.  The seats had speakers built in to get the full effect of the band. To bad we can't do that in the church!  What!   We can?  Are you kidding me?  Really? 

Can the church be as good as a Vegas show?  Where will we get the money?  It costs a lot to do what they did.  They charge like $150 to go to a show.  No wonder they can do all the stuff they do.  They have the cash to make it happen.  We can barely afford donuts in Sunday School. 

There is no way we can find people in our community that have that kind of talent.  Are you kidding me?  We live in the sticks. Have you heard the choir? It would take a lot of work to think up all the creative elements and some people may not get it.  People may even complain that the band wore skinny ties and jeans with a scarf.  This isn't Hollywood!  Loud sound like they have in Vegas may rupture ear drums.  Besides, I don't know all the words to the Beatles songs.  How can I sing?  We can't change anything on our platform.  It's all nailed down into concrete.  We can't move it, can we?

People know who the Beatles are.  Sure, people will come to a show like that!  Are you kidding?  The best rock band of the 20th century.  But we don't have anyone that famous they want to see, do we?  You probably think we should greet people who walk in the door.  Offer stuff to drink and eat. Our kitchen isn't big enough and how would we keep pimento cheese sandwiches fresh?  The signs around the hotel really were helpful getting us to the right place.  But why would we want to spend a lot of money on signage when we can make our own with a Sharpie and Scotch Tape?  Besides, everyone knows where everything is.  We never have anyone new here, so why worry?  Video elements, scrims, cool lighting?  Have you lost your mind?  There is no way we can do that.  Who would do it?  Who understands the technology stuff?  Not me.  I can't do it.  They can hire people in Las Vegas to do that.  We can't hire people to help.  That's why we have a staff.  That is their job, isn't it? 

Let's get real!  A Vegas show is way out of our church league. Right?