Many churches make a critical mistake in ministry when they confuse activity for effectiveness.

In this line of thinking, the busier a church is, the more it is doing for God. So the goal becomes to fill up the calendar and clutter up the bulletin with as many events, projects, and emphases as you can. Because surely all that stuff will lead to more impact.

Actually, it just leads to exhaustion. As I speak with church leaders and read church material, it becomes more and more clear to me that there is an inverse relationship between activity and effectiveness.

So in church land in the 21st Century, the more you do, the less effective you are.

I know it's true because I've lived this truth.

So as we become more diligent at Good Shepherd, we make every effort to become less busy yet have greater impact. It's why we pour so much energy into First Serve and Pathfinder. Those ministries are how we approach servanthood and group life. Not ten ministries for each area. One. For each.

If we get it right, it's less activity and more effectiveness.

Here's a great leadership question:

"Is what got us here going to take us where we are going?"

I've got to ask myself that all the time.

Is the ministry style that brought Good Shepherd to 1500 people per Sunday what it will take to move us to 2000 per Sunday and beyond?

Is the kind of leadership I offer to staff and congregation -- the kind, again, that has helped us arrive at this current destination -- the right kind of leadership to take us to a new destination?

The answer to both those questions is probably "Yes." And "No."

"Yes" to those things that are core: faithfulness to Scripture, openness to the Spirit, passion for new people.

"No" to some of the things that are more ancillary. Any leader who is not constantly learning, growing, and then adapting leadership style is not much of a leader to begin with. So I hope to be a different kind of leader in October of 2010 than I am today.

As I ask that leadership question in this place, perhaps you should ask it in yours.

There's a new restaurant in our area with the rather clever name of Passion8 Bistro.

Passionate.

And I was asked recently, "what are you passionate about in ministry?" Behind that question was the wise observation that the church will tend to follow the lead of its pastor; that the congregation will inevitably be drawn to the ministry passions of its leader.

So I thought about that question. A lot. While driving. While mowing the lawn. While at the Y. While sleeping. (OK, that's a stretch.)

I even tried to narrow it to one, like a one-point sermon. But there are several things, that when they happen at or through Good Shepherd, really get my adrenaline flowing:

• Kinetics. I get great joy in seeing people move in their faith -- from getting invited to getting filled with the Spirit to serving in ministry and then to becoming inviters themselves.
• Culture. I love it when we are able to leverage cultural images to teach counter-cultural truths. The Toddlers & Tiaras clip from this past Sunday is an example.
• Touch. I get energized when we are a "high touch" church. Despite our size, people still get visited in the hospital. We still send notes. We still knock on doors. We still work hard at remembering names.
• Spirit. I live for those times -- both Sunday morning and beyond -- when we design experiences with such creativity and excellence that the Holy Spirit has room to run wild. The privilege of ministy is to watch Him suprise unsuspecting people . . . and then transform their lives.

That's what makes me passion8.

What about you?

I may be learning something in leadership.

It's better to be wrong than indecisive.

That's a tough idea to swallow, isn't it? But as I chew on it (hopefully, to swallow it), I believe it be more and more accurate.

If I make a wrong decision, the people I lead on the staff and in the church at least have clarity. They know what the decision is, even if they don't agree with it.

And if it proves to be wrong in some kind of spectacular way, then that gives others the opportunity to bear the spiritual fruit of lovingkindess towards me. So I'll be helping their spiritual growth!

Yet if I make no decision out of fear of making the wrong decision, the people I lead on the staff and in the church get stuck in limbo. Permanent neutral. People can't move because they live in the murkiness that comes from lack of clarity and lack of direction.

I'd rather ask their forgiveness than consign them to uncertainty.

It's better to be wrong than indecisive.

Is it?

Whenever I have taken those spiritual gift inventories, I score high on the gifts of teaching and healing.

And low on the gift of hospitality. As in it is the opposite of a spiritual gift for me. It is a spiritual burden.

So Monday, I led a meeting with five of our staff. At my house. That's a source of joy for some people. It is a source of stomach upset for me.

But that's why we did it -- to stretch me. So I did all these things that don't come naturally at all: bought food, set it out, turned on coffee, put on music, and even got a board game (Cranium, if you must know) to get us going. The only thing I forgot was fragrant candles to make the room smell nice.

That'll be next time.

The meeting went well. I think the atmosphere even had something to do with it.

So think of something at which you stink. And then go do it.