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Sep 6, 2012    |      Comments Off on Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 2 of 2)

Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 2 of 2)

The Spirit of Discovery.

I am nearly breathless after trying to describe innovation in my previous lesson. I want to now take a look into the spirit of discovery. So, keeping it old school, Webster says that discovery is “The act of finding or learning something for the first time! 

My heart beats faster just after reading that definition. You’ve read the headlines; “Her research led to many important discoveries. Reporters discovered that the Governor had been unfaithful to his wife. We discovered a talented musician. A voyage of discovery. It was one of the most important discoveries in the history of _____________!” 

Discovery! Think of Lewis and Clark and their expedition of discovery. It required teamwork. It required admitting that they had no clue what they would encounter. Discovery has a knack for showing all involved that they are not in control. Discovery forces all involved to admit this phrase; “I don’t know!” Therefore, discovery creates humility. 

Here’s what excites me about the critical difference between innovation and discovery. I wrote earlier that innovation breeds arrogance; it has to exist already to breed arrogance. What’s thrilling about the act of discovery is that it creates humility. An arrogant person thrust into an environment of discovery can become humble. Humility is born in uncertainty and danger. Opening yourself or your organization to uncertainty and risk creates humility. Discovery creates humility which causes all involved to rely on each other humbly and usefully. 

Innovators command their teams to do as told. Innovation companies rely heavily on their policy manuals to police one another, and it breeds untrusting groups inside riskless environments. Please understand me; there is a need for policy. The attitude difference behind the policy is night and day different amongst innovative and discovery-type companies. It’s the difference between arrogance and humility. Discoverers have to rely on and trust each other. Which team would you prefer to work on? Don’t forget that Innovation and Discovery are both good. I like the discovery mentality and the bias you read in this article.

An example is from the book “Good to Great” written by author Jim Collins. In his book, Collins differentiates between Levels 1,2,3,4, and 5 leaders. Jim Collins talks about how level 4 and level 5 leaders can produce similar results, but a critical difference between a level 4 leader and a level 5 leader is humility or lack thereof. Level 5 leaders always lead through humility. Level 5 leaders tend to lead companies with a reputation for being discovery oriented. 

Many companies are known for being a company of discovery, and their leaders seem arrogant. Maybe a fine example would be Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. Steve Jobs carried a reputation for being arrogant. However, I think there are some nuanced differences between arrogance, confidence, and ego. Often all of those traits are shrugged off as arrogance, requiring discernment to know the subtle differences. The differences are known by how much character is evident in a person. The difference between arrogance and confidence is not discovered by measuring their ego but by their character. The ego is a good thing when the measure of character in a person is as high as the measure of ego. However, a high ego and low character are the chemistry of an arrogant person. 

How does one transform an arrogant innovator into a humble discoverer? An excellent example of creating humility through discovery would be forcing an innovative person who struggles with arrogance in the front of the boat as you White Water Raft a raging river. This control-type person and his arrogance wash away (in this case, maybe literally washes away) into humility as everybody else in the raft hears him scream like a child. HUMILITY SERVED! 

That is what I love about discovery. It is teachable. Innovation is contagious, and discovery is teachable. 

Discovery is the mentality that focuses only on causes and even invests fully in a cause regardless of the effect or the result. I said earlier that I am a pastor. So if I study the life of Jesus, I can see He was a man who even knew the result or the effect of His life. He was going to be badly beaten and murdered. Yet he stayed with the cause. By cause, I mean the foundation, the reason, the why we are pursuing a goal instead of forcing a specific result. Innovators push results, and discoverers focus on a cause and trust the results to manifest. In the people business, like ministry, the outcome/result/effect is God’s job, not mine. My job is to focus on the cause regardless of the effect or result. In the Lewis and Clark discovery expeditions, they couldn’t control any outcomes or results. Every step could have been their end. They had to live in the moment and keep discovering new things around every corner, river, crevice, predator, and tree. The results took care of themselves and were remarkable. 

Innovation focuses on the outcome and effects…the end result. 

Discovery focuses on the cause and behavior while pursuing a cause. 

Innovation measures results. 

Discovery measures faithfulness to the cause. 

One is motivated by control, and one is motivated by love for the cause. One is living for the future at the cost of the present, and one is loving the present and leaving the results in God’s hands. 

It’s scary and breeds humility to leave the results in the hands of God. I think leaving things in the hands of God is the safest risk you could ever take. In the Big Picture of life, the most important things are not at the end of the journey; what develops and shapes along the journey makes champions and usually creates an end product more remarkable than an innovator. If a climber of Mount Everest only focuses on the end result of attaining the top of the mountain, then what happens once the pinnacle is reached? (Many Everest Climbers have witnessed people who only focused on the result and forgot to focus on their next step, resulting in a fall to their death.) Also, once the climbers of Mt. Everest achieved the result of getting to the top of the mountain, those who only focused on the result struggled with depression soon after. The journey, the cause, is where fulfillment is found. Living for a cause is unending, leading to more discoveries. Achieving a final innovative result requires more critical thinking to start another innovative process that stimulates a vicious circle of arrogance.

Discovery is all about the mentality of facilitating the purpose and progress of others. Discovery is exhilarating along the way because of the thrilling unknown yet to be discovered, but it is not about you. It has to be about others. Discovery mixed with selfishness kills people. In its purest form, discovery is about team and trust, and reliance on the critical factor that everybody has each other’s interests above their own as they risk together on a path toward discovery. 

Discovery admits that the behavior never changes, but the answers and results do. So a person of discovery never has the solutions for tomorrow and only has their behavior to control.

Jesus taught that people shouldn’t worry about tomorrow for today has enough problems. (Matthew 6:34)

People with the Spirit of Discovery keep asking, “How should I treat this person right here, right now?” How should I behave as I proceed into this business meeting?” “How can I focus my attitude to deal with this next situation that will impact my company?” “In this current conflict, how can I respond to this person to show that I care about them, even if our conflict results in separation?” 

Discovery lives for the cause regardless of the effects/results. 

Discovery focuses on the cause, not the effect. It focuses on the journey, not the results. 

Innovation forces an outcome and controls and measures results over and over and over. Discovery measures behavior and leaves the outcome up to God. Discovery measures, but it measures very different things when compared to an innovator. Discovery is the best business model. 

Hopefully, you are thinking right now, “I want to be a leader of Discovery!” 

The attitude of discovery has no silo groups individually working toward some result. Discovery breaks down the walls of separation and verifies the need for each other. Innovation creates hierarchies and power pyramids that police each other. Innovative bosses control and measure according to a predetermined result they strive to achieve at all costs. Bosses and leaders are very different. Discovery creates circles full of people who honor and trust each other’s strengths for survival and discovering the result. Discovery teams are silo-less circles with a leader that does not have a Boss mentality. Oh, please don’t mistake me, the buck must stop somewhere, but the buck stops with the one who is the true leader. A true leader naturally facilitates the purpose and progress of all the others in the circle, even willing to lay down his life for them.

There is no “Boss” in the circle of discovery. Why? Because when you are out discovering and the “boss” finds himself in Quick Sand and about to die, his boss mode transforms into humility. He might just be left to die depending on how he treated his “underlings,” and it all gets covered up as a tragic accident! I don’t want to be a boss with everybody licking my boots out of fear. I want to be a leader who discovers with my team while keeping other people’s best interests ahead of mine. That’s discovery. That’s a level 5 leader. 

The spirit of discovery’s primary focus is not on the organization’s end goals but on the environment inside the organization that leads to great team discoveries. 

A discovery team maintains focus on the cause and the organization’s culture; then, the organization will grow as a result. Focus on the cause, not the result! A result that happens out of fear, control, and force is not a result that gets celebrated, except for a bonus check at the end of the year. The next generation of leaders is not motivated by bonus checks but by discovery relational teamwork.

How does a discovery-type leader grow?

A discovery-type leader rarely, if ever, looks into their field type for how to do it better; that is what innovators do. When a company of discovery quits its attitude toward discovery, it becomes innovative. A discovery company knows its competition is a company in a different field of interest, and its worst competition is itself. I love the slogan on Michael Jordan’s web page. “The only man who could stop Michael Jordan….Is Michael Jordan!” That is true of your company, church, family, and yourself. When a company of discovery finally feels like it has arrived and has the best idea, it has now transformed into a company of innovation. 

A company of discovery is full of observation towers instead of silos. It studies and learns (discovery) from its customer but is full of interaction with others outside its own company. A company of discovery never polls its own, only interacts. You can’t poll something yet to be discovered, so the company of discovery is full of trial and error. It has a culture of permissible failures followed by grace. How many times did Abe Lincoln fail? How many times did Albert Einstein fail? With unknowns around every corner, discovery keeps you and the team humble. It has a great sense of humor and often laughs at itself. It has a mentality of meshing and sharing with others. It trusts every individual in the company to utilize and expand on their expertise and strengths. Team and trust are a must in Discovery Companies. The company of discovery has an attitude of servanthood and adventure and considers others better than the self. Obviously, I have a bias towards the discovery company and carry a bit of displeasure towards companies of innovation. That’s my problem, that I will have to deal with. My simple question is, which company do you want to be a part of? Here’s what is remarkable about companies of discovery. They never end. They continue to discover and adapt and evolve into the future. Companies of innovation sooner or later celebrate how they achieved their final result; they nailed their ultimate goal! Hip-Hip Hooray, Hip-Hip Hooray. Then what? These are the companies people talk about when they think back at what used to be. They usually last one lifetime, measured by three generations. Again, not bad, not wrong; Just not where I want to leave a mark on history. 

So which of these two is the company you work in or lead? 

Innovative? Then you have good news; you can develop your spirit of discovery and be remarkable. It’s time to get your team together and go where no man has before. It’s scary! It creates humility. Are you up for it? 

Discovery? Then stand guard, for it is easy to start coasting, which can only happen on a downward slope. The instant you think you have arrived, you have transformed into innovation, but that is okay because you can decide to discover once again!

I hope you will discover who you are.

I hope you will discover what could change the world and make it better.

I hope you will discover the freedom of working humbly with a team.

I hope you will discover that the greatest joy in life is helping others achieve their dreams and desires.

When you discover that, you will be living your dream.

The journey will be unbelievable. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts and pushback. I by no means am an expert in this. I am simply thinking out loud. I like to think it all makes sense, but I’m sure there are gaps. I’m still discovering what works for me, and it’s a thrilling and humbling adventure. 

Go Discover!

Sep 5, 2012    |      Comments Off on Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 1 of 2)

Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 1 of 2)

Are you a person of INNOVATION or a person of DISCOVERY?

I have been in multiple meetings and asked questions about people’s perceptions of me and our organization. I have had many discussions in the past year of my life about perceptions. People’s perceptions are people’s reality, and people’s reality tends to be their truth. People’s first impression of you might be false, but it will be their perception of you. How people perceive you is more crucial than you might like to admit. How do people perceive you? I want to compare two popular leadership styles influencing how people perceive us: The spirit of innovation and the spirit of discovery. 

Please understand that innovation and discovery are strengths; each is important and good. I am confident that the spirit of discovery creates more success than the spirit of innovation. 

One is not born with either of these styles of leadership influence; they are a choice. Which type best describes you? 

The Spirit of Innovation

Webster says innovation is “to make changes or do something in a new way.” I define innovation: As taking something old and making it useable in a new way. Innovation is reformation; innovation is often the act of taking something that worked over there, tweaking it, and using it over here. Innovation is doing something old differently. 

On the surface level, the spirit of innovation sounds fantastic. I’m not opposed to the product that innovation creates; I’m apprehensive about what the spirit of innovation does to the innovators. 

When a group of people innovates something, they become very loyal to the innovation. Why? Because they innovated it, and it is theirs. 

When an innovator innovates, they take something old and reform it into something new. Once innovation occurs, the innovator naturally thinks their innovation is exceptional and loves it. 

When the innovating group believes they have created exceptionality, it is nearly impossible for them to innovate again. Why? Because innovation is making something work better. For an innovator to re-innovate is to admit that whatever they first innovated is now lacking. No innovator ever wants to admit that their innovation is no longer working or needs to be improved. 

Another problem with innovation is that anything innovative is not new but has a façade of new. Grocery Store shelves contain products with bright new advertising: “new and improved.” However, it is the same product with a newly designed label.

Innovators approach products and ideas with an attitude of “needs improvement.” Great leaders can see what’s not working and envision what is necessary to make it work. I’m calling into question the disposition of the innovator. An attitude of “that needs improvement” is usually preceded by an attitude of “I can do it better.” Having an “I can do it better” attitude and being humble is tough.

An innovator naturally believes they can improve a product and only achieves such by first criticizing it. Critics are rarely respected and sought out for advice because innovators breed arrogance. Innovation does not lead to arrogance; it breeds arrogance. To breed arrogance, one must have the arrogance to start with. 

The Wall Street Journal recently came up with a list of 5 common mistakes of Innovators. I will give a brief description of the errors, and if you want to read the full article, you can go to: “http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/05/23/five-common-mistakes-business-leaders-make-about-innovation/?mod=google_news_blog” http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/05/23/five-common-mistakes-business-leaders-make-about-innovation/?mod=google_news_blog 

I added a sixth to the mix of the five common errors of innovators.

1. You believe your numbers. You insist on “seeing the numbers” too soon, and you only have to base your numbers on your past statistics. Remember that innovation is not creating something new it is taking something old and making something you think is better, and numbers usually drive this reality. Driven by numbers creates a leadership mindset that RESULTS matter most. Using a biblical worldview to demonstrate my point, people of the Bible who focused on controlling their results always caused significant damage to relationships and hurt the numerical results.

2. The Success Trap. When a company gets financial success because it got very good at what it does, it focuses on what made it successful. This focus on “what got us here” causes a crowding out of other options and points of view, and it is only a matter of time before the company gets stuck in its inability to innovate itself, causing success to fatigue. Large companies are most susceptible to success fatigue, and their death is frustratingly slow and agonizing. In the book “In Search of Excellence,” by Peters and Waterman, the authors tell the fate of 43 companies recently leading the world that got caught in this trap. Today only 5 of those 43 companies even exist.

3. Believe they know the competition. The innovative company makes a substantial mistaken identity gaff when identifying the competition. Ask the innovative company’s CEO, “Who is your competition?” They will usually reply with the company that is most like them. The problem is that history proves that our most significant competitors typically come from a different angle. i.e., Shipping companies suffered from the steam engine; the internet threatened newspapers, and watch companies suffered because of mobile phone displays. In my opinion, Innovative companies get so caught up in the love of themselves that their greatest enemy is themselves.

4. Believe that because everybody has always done it this way, it is the best way of doing the next “new” thing. Innovative companies think they are on to something “new,” but they are only reforming the old, which is a significant detriment when entering uncharted territory. I have been in the leadership of a large innovative church. This church has such large numbers that for them to go to new levels means they have no organizations to innovate. They will never achieve the next level unless they eliminate their innovative spirit. For instance, when America landed on the moon. Innovation built the rocket, the space suits, space food, etc. But innovation is not what Neil Armstrong could build off of when he put his hand on the door hatch, opened the door to outer space, and took his first step onto the moon’s surface. The spirit of discovery was required for Neil Armstrong to achieve something that had never been done before. You cannot innovate to enter the uncharted successfully. When your company is leading the way, and you choose to move forward through innovation, you just signed a contract that says you are guaranteed to no longer be in the first position and possibly just inked your death certificate. Suppose an innovative company has earned first place. In that case, it must transition to a Discovery mentality to enter uncharted territory.

5. Asking the customers for their opinions. An innovative company is good at answering customers’ questions while ignoring new prospects’ desires. The organization’s current customers have already bought into the company and do not need to be asked about their loyalty. The mistakes breed when the company’s leadership team, which has innovated its methods from an old idea, is now sitting around the table making decisions based on past success. The company makes decisions based on keeping their customers happy while new and unreached people need to be “Discovered!” 

The spirit of innovation’s downfall is the team’s inability to innovate anymore because they would have to admit that their innovative idea “used” to be a good idea but is obsolete now. An innovative company never wants to acknowledge that its product no longer works. “Pride comes before the fall.” 

Innovators work hard to appear correct, regardless of the actual results. It is fascinating to me that innovators love upward results. Still, when the results prove a downward trajectory, the innovator’s arrogance cannot admit that their innovation is no longer performing. “Every bad idea used to be a good idea!” Innovation always leads to an eventual dead end.

6. Stop taking ultimate risks. Large innovative companies tend only to take calculated risks based on past success. There is a difference between discovery risk and innovative risk. 

Innovative Leaders are calculated risk-takers. The problem is that if you are the leading innovative company, which means nobody is ahead of you, you can’t calculate using your innovative spirit because there is nobody to innovate from in front of you. One can only discover from this point forward, and the risk required for an innovative company to shift into the spirit of discovery is terrifying. 

Companies in the lead usually end up not being in the lead anymore because the leader ran out of ideas to innovate. The top dog company begins to focus on how much there is to lose, settle in on their success, and “play it safe.” It’s like a Pro football game. The game is close, and the winning team has the ball at the beginning of the 4th quarter. The offensive coordinator tries to protect the lead and thus changes the game plan from ‘playing to win’ to ‘playing not to lose.’ What usually happens when that game plan is employed? It’s called an upset. 

What’s the solution? The leading company can only open themselves up to new learning experiences that make them feel uncertain and incompetent. Because there is nothing to innovate on, the leader must become like Neil Armstrong and begin to discover new! As my next post will describe, I call it the mentality of DISCOVERY.

Aug 2, 2012    |       25 comments

Trajectory – Shift Happens

One decision, one person, one integrity problem, one accident, one encounter…and your entire life trajectory can be altered for eternity. We are all just one decision from having our entire life trajectory being altered for eternity. I have never in my life imagined living in Orlando Florida. I planted a church in Phoenix Arizona and dreamed to be the Lead Pastor of that Church for 40 years and then retire and pass the baton to one of my sons and ask to have the Church broom so I could be the Church Janitor and best cheerleader the new pastor could dream of. To be perfectly honest I hate the phrase, ‘If you want to make God laugh just tell Him your plans.” I hate it, but I get it.

I am completely dumbfounded, flabbergasted, blown away, that I now live in Orlando Florida. My family’s trajectory change has moments of thrill and moments of chill…yah…the bad kind of chill. One decision… has me living 2,180 miles from anything I have ever known and facing giants and obstacles that make my skin crawl, my heart ache, my blood pressure to rise, and my heart to beat faster for the thrill of the challenge. One decision led to this. One decision that I know I was supposed to make. How do I know that I was supposed to make it? Because God told me to. It was so clear that, if I had to make the decision again, knowing what I know now, I would have to make the same decision because God was that clear. Steve Jobs said that we can never connect the dots looking forward, only looking back. Others say we all have 20/20 hindsight.

So the average comfy Christian would reply to my paragraph above, “Its okay, Trent…God must have wanted you to live in Orlando Florida and have you doing what you are doing now…or… what happened wouldn’t have happened, its all God’s plan…so let go and let God.” Isn’t that convenient. I’m not a Calvanist and I think that answer is a copout. Its wrong to place all the blame or responsibility on God. Its easy to blame God for the disasters/trajectory changes going on in your life. When you blame God nobody else has to accept responsibility. The phrase, “God’s Got This” is true but that is different than saying God caused this. Want an example?

Adam and Eve. Did God plan and intend for them to break His rules of not eating of the specific trees in the Garden of Eden? Did God tell Himself before He created Adam and Eve….”Hey I’m going to create this thing called people and I am going to love them because I made them in my image to be like me…but in my plan I’ve got this little fun twist I want to play around with…I’m going to cause them to screw it all up. I am going to watch them become ashamed of each other and then I plan on watching them kill each other and then I’m going to kill my own Son to pay the price for their screw ups and how fun it will be…because I”m gonna blow them all away by raising my son from the dead after I kill Him! God leans to His right and asks His Son…”Sound Cool, Jesus?” “You up for this great plan, Son?” Jesus says, “that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Dad.” God replies, “Oh, Jesus…don’t be a bad sport. You can do it! Think of the adventure!” So God proceeds with his “will” and for thousands of years orchestrates rapes, gangster murder, divorce and hate, suicide bombers, as He leans back into His memory foam love-sac and from His game room in His gated community called Heaven, xbox 360 controller in hand, intensely playing through His favorite game called Life. Press X for Jump, Y to knife, UP arrow to receive prayer, DOWN arrow for eternal punishment…

Too cynical for you? Yah…me too…I’m in a sassy mood. Its been a rough week. It all makes we want to scream from my roof top that Life was never intended to be this way. If you can read through my cynicism there’s actually a good lesson here.

Trajectory Shift. Your’s might shift tomorrow. Everything you’ve been doing for the past 13/20/60 years could be completely annihilated before your very eyes…tomorrow. If it happens you’ll be put in a trajectory change that will make you question everything you thought you knew about life, the people around you and leave you screaming, Why?!” Ask yourself… Do you trust that person you are about to make the deal with? Do you trust your spouse? Do you trust your dad? Do you trust that taxi driver as you jump in the back seat. Do you trust the engineer who just built the bridge. Do you trust the man who put the bolt in the truss hanging over your head in that giant football stadium? Do you trust the driver on the other side of the dotted yellow line? Do you trust the councelor who is meeting behind closed doors with your child? Do you trust the guy working under you as he sees the rungs of the ladder above you? Do you trust the spiritual mentor you’ve had in your life for the past 20 plus years? Do you trust your preacher and how he handles the church finances? Do you trust the man dressed up in a SWAT uniform carrying a gun across the parking lot of the movie theater? Trust and Trajectory shifts…they go hand in hand.

Its tough to walk the fine line of trusting someone, something, and at the same time making sure everybody signs the dotted line of security.

In God We Trust…everybody else pays cash and signs the agreement.
I’ve learned in the past year about trust and security and trajectory shift. God is the only one we can fully trust without thinking much about it, without worry, without stress. He always has our best interest in mind, even if it doesn’t feel good. Everybody else…you will have to choose to trust, it will require some security backup like contracts and waivers. Even then its a finicky trust. Its a trust that if all parties aren’t seeking the best interest of each other it will end up in a trajectory shift in your life that will take your breath away and you will be bothered by it the rest of your life. Shift Happens!

I chose to trust. 20/20 hindsight proves that it was a blind and naive trust. I didn’t have anybody sign the agreement that I wrote up. I didn’t get perfect clarity before I committed. I feel like a dummy. I trusted. I quietly pulled back the paperwork, folded it in half and slid it in my back pocket. Oh…I’d like that 20 seconds of time back. I believed in the idealistic dream that everybody has everybody else’s benefit in mind. You see…it takes two to make a plan work right. It takes all parties listening to God and behaving like God to make God’s plan work. Even one entity thinking only for themselves and the deal is bust. Trajectory Shift starting in 10…9…8…

I do not blame anyone, but myself. I don’t blame the other party. I most definitely do not blame God. I’m just heart broken over all the shift! Its a load of shift. I’m sick to my stomach…frequently…about it all. What does a man do now? I know the answer to that question!

You get up, shake the dust off your clothes and put your feet on the ground and start over. What else can you do? It doesn’t work to keep laying in the dirt bloodied and pathetic. It doesn’t work to listen to the voice of the critic. It doesn’t work to listen to the voice of one who is celebrating as you suffer the shift. You get up! Tomorrow arrives consistently everyday. Time keeps ticking whether I want it to stop or not. I must choose to fully grasp the shift and make the most of it. Shifts make for new beginnings, new places, new plans. Pain and trajectory shifts are twins. Pain doesn’t mean its bad, its just reality. Trajectory shifts means somebody didn’t get what they hoped for. That causes agony, but new beginnings too. My trajectory shift has landed me in another part of the country and feels like another part of the world. My trajectory shift has me realizing that everybody is the same whether you live in Arizona or in Florida…Uganda or Peru…Jerusalem or Paris.

I am truly understanding for the first time in my life what the Bible means by all Creation groans for the return of the King, Jesus Christ. I used to think only weak people groaned for the return of Jesus. I’ve realized its just the opposite. People who really haven’t faced a crushing trajectory shift in their life, who sit under the umbrella of false security and false contentment are the soft ones who don’t understand why people groan for the return of Jesus. If you aren’t groaning for the return of Jesus you have the “blessed” position of comfort and a life truly unaltered. You’ve gotten your way for too long. To this type of person, it is alarming to think of Jesus returning, for life is too good to have it all end now. Death terrifies this type of person because life is too good. What a crazy, wild, out of control world we live in…its quite thrilling if you think about it. I guess its all how you view life.

I am astonished at the patience and love that Jesus carried with Him every minute of the short time He lived here as one of us. He encountered such selfish people. On rare occasions we can see when He encountered a person that “inspired” Him. It was usually a person who had faced incredible hardship and trajectory shifts in their life. It takes my breath away when I think about how much restraint, that God the Father must have, to NOT send His Son back down here to settle the score once and for all and end the nonsense, the selfishness, the clamoring for power and privilege and position. Fighting for who answers to who. Scheming to get what they want when they want it. I want to scream…Jesus…please stop the madness! God’s patience is maddening to me and at the same time a beautiful gift to me. And you!

Its enough to make a pastor throw in the towel of ministry to go work at Home Depot. But…

No chance.
I’ll never quit.
Yes…I said it…Never.

I have been crushed. The crushing has made me smarter, harder, more aware. I’m not sure if all of those things are good or not? I assume it depends on how I use those weapons from this day forward.

Time tells all things. Trajectory shift changes all things.
For now…the trajectory has shifted. Shift happens. I can handle it. It just makes me weary. I must rest…for tomorrow is guaranteed to begin. The sun will rise. The Son will return. In the mean time….
I’ll try not to screw it up. If I do…that’ll change the trajectory again. Trajectory change wouldn’t be so bad if it was just me that it affected. The trajectory shift I experienced a year ago…because of one decision,…affected more than 20,000 people. Their trajectory was altered, even though multitudes of them will never know. I wish it would have just affected me. I faced an incredibly scary decision just a few nights ago that I had to make. I made it and my trajectory has shifted again. This trajectory shift has affected nearly 1000 people. In the next few days and weeks all involved with experience more trajectory shift because of the choices of a few.

I wonder if there is a viewing room in Heaven where we can someday go to see what should have been or what could have been if all parties would have just acted like Jesus. I don’t think an actual room exists, though, because the Bible says there will be no tears. Sitting in the viewing room of what should have been, would make any viewer watching their “should have been life” flash before their eyes, cry. If there was such a room, it would have a no vacancy sign on because it would be full of those who insisted that their life stay the same. It will be full of people who clawed and fought for only what they want. The video playing in that room will terrify those who refused to change, stretch, grow, give and risk. If you haven’t faced tremendous trajectory shift in your life, it will only be a matter of time. I think there are two kinds of people in the world. Those coming out of a crushing trajectory shift and those who are getting ready to enter a crushing trajectory shift.

As hard as the trajectory shift is…the shift is actually a gift from God. This wasn’t all in God’s plan. I will never know what God had planned in the plan before this trajectory shift. I will be thought provoked for the rest of my life wondering what could have been if everybody would have stayed in God’s will.
The things that happened has caused God to have to change His plan. It has caused God to pick up the ashes
What does a man do in this situation?

It makes him simply say…What now Lord? Here I am use me.

Trust God that He didn’t cause this trajectory change. Man did.
Trust God at His word that He’ll make beauty from ashes. He will.

The Shift is a Gift!

May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

Trent

Mar 19, 2012    |       2 comments

HYDRATE — WINNING FROM THE INSIDE 21 (Mt. 5:41) “Two Miles”

41 “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”
Matthew 5:41 (NIV)

In the previous two posts, Jesus commands us to “turn the other cheek” and “give until you are naked.” I have presented a different way to think about these commands from Jesus, by using and understanding the Hebrew Culture that Jesus grew up with. This passage about going two miles when asked to go only one is no different from the previous two posts. I want to present an ancient Roman law that Jesus would have been familiar with that I think He is referring to in this command.

DRINK IT IN:
The ancient Roman law I am referring to is called the Law of Angaria. You can do a search via the internet and find all kinds of information about this ancient rule. The Law of Angaria was enacted as a way to keep the Roman Empire from looking uncivilized. The Roman Empire wanted to be known as a dominating force, yet civilized. So, the Roman Empire adopted a law that the Persians created. This law gave authority to any Roman official…Military or not…to require of any person or vessel, living in Roman occupied territory, to carry anything the Roman official needed carried, but only for one mile. (If we got really technical, 1000 steps) If the official was caught having the person carry something more than a mile, he could be reprimanded, demoted and in some cases potentially put to death. The Law of Angaria is what the Romans used when they forced Jesus to carry his own cross. Its fascinating to know, that the distance between the place where Jesus was put on trial and the actual crucifixion sight (Golgotha or Skull Hill), was right at one mile. There are arguably two location where Golgotha is located, and both locations are right at one mile of distance from the Trial location.

So, Jesus tells his listeners,”If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” Is it possible that Jesus is being a bit ornery here? You have to agree with me that it is likely. Again, to repeat what I said in the previous two posts, Jesus does command us to be as sly as a snake and innocent as a dove. He does tell us to conquer evil by doing good.

Imagine an arrogant Roman officer demanding that you carry his pack for one mile. He has the right to do so because it is the law of the land. You, as a Christian, comply and you do exactly as the Roman officer commands you. As you traverse with the Roman officer for a mile, he would expect you to stop and return the pack. Imagine, without saying a word, you continue carrying the pack and you cross the one mile threshold. Not only are you doing an act of service and kindness to this Roman officer, that used the law of the land to take advantage of you, but you now have strategically and legally caused this Roman officer to be at your mercy. Its a double win for the Christian! Of course, as a Christian you are not going to mistreat this travel partner of yours, but you most definitely have the upper hand now. He knows he could be demoted for this situation and you now have the control. I have read about early Christians and have ventured across some stories of Christians walking the second mile with Romans and using the extra time to tell of the story of Jesus as the Son of God and the only way to Heaven.

I assure you, that after this happens once to any Roman, he would not use the Law of Angaria on a Christian again.

Be as a sly as a snake and innocent as a dove.
Conquer evil by doing good.

The early Christians had quite a reputation in the Roman Empire. A good and strong reputation. It fueled a great fire of hate within the belly of the bully. It caused unbelievable persecution upon the Christians. That very persecution, caused the message of Jesus, to spread like a wildfire out of control. Except it was controlled. God had it right where He wanted it.

SWEAT IT OUT:

Is there someone in your life who is trying to dominate you? Figure out a way to strategically and lovingly put them in their place. Do it without sinning. Our world needs more demonstrations of the strength and holiness and wisdom of Christianity. Be very careful with this. Remember that you and I are always one decision away from blowing our credibility. This also means that you and I are always one decision away from hurting the credibility of Jesus.

Romans 12:20 (NIV) says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

I think it is fascinating that the author actually writes the part about heaping burning coals upon their head. That’s ornery. That’s strategic. Its not nice. Yet, according to the Bible, its not wrong!

Somewhere along the way of life, we confused the love of Jesus with simple nice-ness.

So, you know your circumstances. You know most of the people you encounter everyday. Right?

So, as you encounter these people today and tomorrow and the next, what do they think of Jesus because of you and your actions? Are they inspired by your strength, strategy, humility, boldness, wisdom, servanthood, innocent conquering ability?

Go inspire!

Mar 17, 2012    |      Comments Off on HYDRATE — WINNING FROM THE INSIDE 20 (Mt 5:40) “Naked”

HYDRATE — WINNING FROM THE INSIDE 20 (Mt 5:40) “Naked”

“And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”
Matthew 5:40

Did you read, Hydrate 19 yet? Its a bit long, but only because it lays the foundation for this command of Jesus’ too. If you don’t read Hydrate 19 before you read this one, it might cause a little confusion as you read this one, and the next one.

I mentioned in “Hydrate –Winning from the inside 19″ that I have traveled to the Holy Lands several times and while there I always make it a point to visit with any elderly Jewish person, that will speak with me, about some things that Jesus said. My first time to the Holy Lands I encountered an elderly Jewish woman who shared with me some ideas about Jewish history that might help some of Jesus’ commands and teachings make a bit more sense. As a reminder, Jesus was born into a very devoted Jewish family. Jewish law and tradition would have been reinforced in Jesus’ family. He would have obeyed the Jewish Old Testament laws. All 613 of them. Many times, as you read a New Testament passage and it causes confusion, the best way to make sense of it, is to sift it through Jewish Culture. Hydrate’s 19,20 and 21 are all teachings that I have sifted through Jewish Culture.

DRINK IT IN:
Jesus says in this passage, that we are devoting ourselves to today, “And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”

I have heard many messages and teachings on this passage, and each one that I have heard, has only left me disappointed and frustrated at what seems to be a teaching on how to be a wimpy christian. The way I have heard this passage taught, leaves me thinking, that in order to be a good Christian boy, I am not allowed to stand up to anyone. I’m not allowed to push back with my words. I am not allowed to be strong and bold, but should be passive and weak. What has happened in our society, that people think to be Christian means, we must be timid and quiet? The only scene I can think about in Scripture, where Jesus MIGHT have appeared to be a “walking mat,” a push-over, or “wimpy,” is when He allowed Himself to be beaten, flogged, mocked, and humiliated during the crucifixion. While watching the Mel Gibson movie called “The Passion,” I kept wanting to stand and yell during the crucifixion scene, “Fight Back, Jesus!” But, I recognize, that Hollywood and the American revenge mentality, caused me to want to shout. That attitude has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. You and I both know that Jesus didn’t fight back, or rarely even talked back, during His nearly 18 hours of torture, before He died from asphyxiation on the Roman Cross. Why? Because Jesus knew His entire purpose, for living amongst us, was to lay down His life for us so that we could receive forgiveness of our sins. Of course He wouldn’t fight back during the crucifixion. If He did, it would have negated His entire purpose and most importantly would have been disobedient to His Father.

So, with that…
I challenge you to find me one other time in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John where Jesus didn’t push back on those who were trying to take advantage of Him. You won’t find one. In EVERY OTHER SCENARIO, Jesus always showed a strong demeanor and never allowed the “bully” to get away with pushing others around. In fact, you will find just the opposite. Read through the four gospel accounts in the Bible and you will find Jesus making a whip, knocking over tables, calling the religious leaders terrible names, exposing the religious bullies’ sins, and causing them to drop the stones they intended to throw, He even called out the sin of the Samaritan woman. You get the idea? What is amazing, is that, in those forms of strength, He remained sinless and perfect. So, why is it that we seem to have allowed His ‘submissive’ demeanor during the crucifixion…a one time scenario…to overrule the multitude of scenes where He didn’t submit, but conquered the evil around Him by doing good?

So, what the heck did Jesus mean when He said if someone takes you to court let them have everything? In Jesus’ time it was common to have two pieces of clothing that you wore every day. First, the Tunic – a long piece of plain cotton or linen cloth as an undergarment for the upper body, but sometimes reaching all the way down to the ankles. In today’s culture we would call this our underwear. I am thinking that we wouldn’t like these as underwear today. A tunic was not what we call “tighty-whities,” or “boxers.” The second piece of clothing, that was commonly worn, is the Cloak– a robe worn over all of the other items of clothing as an outer garment for warmth and appearance.

In Jesus time there were other “accessories” that people wore like, belts, sandals, prayer shawls, but the two key pieces of clothing were your Tunic and Cloak. Without the tunic or cloak one would basically be naked.

So, Jesus says, “And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well,” this means that Jesus is telling you to give of your tunic too, and you will be left naked. If I allowed this to happen while in court during the time period of Jesus, I would have to go home naked, or would I? This is where it gets good!

As I spoke with the elderly Jewish woman, I mentioned earlier, I asked her about this passage and told her why it frustrated me. She shared something pretty cool about the Old Testament that I had never thought about. She said there are Old Testament Scriptures that suggest it is a curse to see someone naked other than your spouse. She said that it is okay to be naked, but not to be seen naked. I asked her if she could remember any of the passages that she was referring to. She shared with me three things, two stories and one scripture verse. The first story she told me is when Adam and Eve recognized they were naked in Genesis 3 and how they used leaves to cover each other’s sexual parts because they felt ashamed. The second story she told me was of Noah and his three sons recorded in Genesis chapter 9. It is the story that happens right after Noah’s family comes off the Ark after the great flood. The Bible story is below and is found in Genesis 9:18-27.(NIV)

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[a] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

“Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

“Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 May God extend Japheth’s[b] territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

Q: What did Noah’s youngest son, Canaan, do to Noah that caused Canaan to be cursed?
A: He saw his father naked.

The elderly woman told me that in the Jewish culture, because of this specific Bible story, Jewish tradition says that it is a shame to see someone, other than your spouse, naked. Now, please be patient with me in this understanding. I have tried to verify this by looking in books, commentaries, ask Jewish people in America, and even Google it, and I find very little to verify it. I say, “take it or leave it.” I choose to take it, because it helps me understand this passage of having your Cloak and Tunic taken from you, as a passage of strength, not weakness. Please note the following. Whatever you believe about this specific idea, it is a non-essential Biblically. As I said in previous chapters, this entire Hydrate series is a devotional thing, not a theological thing. If I ever make it a theological issue, I will mention it, as so, specifically. So…back to the point.

Don’t forget that Jesus said things like, “Conquer evil by doing good.” Also, “Be sly as a snake and innocent as a dove.” The elderly Jewish woman helped me understand these passages when she told me about this Jewish tradition. Let’s play it out in a mock court room. Imagine that I am in court and someone has chosen to sue me for my Cloak and they win and in the process of taking my cloak, I go ahead and strip naked and give them my tunic as well! What did I just do to this person…now that they would have seen me naked? I would have caused them to be “cursed” in a very strategic and innocent way. I actually conquered them by doing something good! Jesus said, “Conquer evil by doing good!” By them seeing me naked, because I gave my cloak AND my tunic, I was innocent to do so, but sly as a snake as well as I conquered the evil they were doing to me.

I think this understanding is a way to, as we like to say, “kill people with kindness.” For my enemy to sue me for my cloak and win, but then, I give him my tunic as well, I am treating my enemy with kindness, I could pray for him, I serve him, yet I show him not to mess with me, a Christian! I treated him with kindness AND “beat him in his evil game.” I will leave an impression with my accuser that I am smart, kind, strong, and most definitely not timid. I love that! (The next blog will build on this even more.)

Now to be fully forthcoming, there is one other idea out there about this teaching of Jesus’. I mentioned the elderly Jewish woman shared with me three Old Testament scenarios about nakedness. The third passage, she shared with me, is Isaiah 58:6-8(NIV), it reads,

“6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Verse 8 says, “when you see the naked, clothe them.” If you think with me back to the courtroom scene, it is obvious this passage would be a way to conquer evil by doing good as well. If you gave your cloak and your tunic to your accuser, your accuser would see you naked and would then be in a moral dilemma as to whether or not he wanted to break the old testament commandment of Isaiah 58:7. When the accuser saw you naked He would then be forced, by His own conscience, to give you your tunic back, which would show that He now was defeated by you! Or, he could ignore the Old Testament command in Isaiah and deal with his own sin and guilty conscience. Either way, you stood up to your accuser without doing anything wrong. You conquered evil by doing good! Does this understanding give you clarity on how to be a christian without being a wimp? I hope so.

SWEAT IT OUT:

How do we make this relevant today? I think that each of us must think of our current lives and our current enemies and figure out ways to treat them with kindness, but at the same time show them they have no dominance over us at all. Its perfectly fine to stand up to people as long as we don’t have sinful behavior. The Bible is full of language about patience, taming the tongue, gentleness, respect for others, not being vengeful, etc. There is a way to be and do all those things and at the same time not be seen as a push-over or wimp. I personally think a majority of true Christians get this part, but we have fallen prey to being overly “nice” and therefore not taking a stronger stand than we should. There is also a fine line of behavior here. I think some might use this material as a way to justify their sinful behavior of standing on street corners and yelling with “boldness” at people who are living in sin. I’m asking the reader of this to use extreme common sense in how to be strategic AND innocent. I’m talking about how to take a strong stance AND be gentle and respectful. The extremes of either side are dangerous to the reputation and cause of Jesus Christ.

Other than hypocrisy and sin, there is no greater thing that can be shown by Christians to harm sharing the love of Jesus, than timidity and “wimpy-ness.” Christianity already has a stereotype of being for people who need a crutch in life. Christians must learn to take an innocent stand, a strategic stand, and be bold for Jesus without harming His cause.

In your current situation, where you may be being dominated by someone, how can you conquer their evil by doing good? How can you stand up to them with strategy and innocence? Before you decide and act on this, run it by a trusted Christian friend first.

You must start by praying for your enemy. Don’t seek revenge, leave that to God. Treat people with kindness and respect, and if they are being abusive, figure out an innocent way to demonstrate to them that Christians are a Holy force to reckon with.

But, please, by all means….Do not be a weakling. Its not how Jesus is.

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