Fireside Chat: Tuesday Morning Session

My biggest take-aways from the morning sessions:

• Jesus said he will build his church. He will do it.
• Wait on God.
• Value people.
  
• Don't turn creativity into an idol.
• Information can come to us online, but wisdom is only imparted through community.
  

Questions that were covered in this first session this morning include the following.

What is the single-most attribute as a leader that you insist on carrying with you in the final leg of the journey?

• Perkins- Confessing, understanding the forgiveness of sin, an forgiving others. When I preach, I don't depend on my words as much anymore but on the Spirit to do something through me that I can't do myself.
• Schuller- Self-confidence, not built on yourself but on Christ- Philippians 1:6- I'm living by that, that God will complete it. I just show up for work.
• Ogilvie- For communication, only what happens to you can be communicated through you. Administration, people can only support what they've shared in developing.
• Hayford- Looking down the road to the end of the trail, I think the thing that increasingly governs me is dependency on the grace of God.
• Cunningham- Ephesians 4- humility. Self-control. Both come by grace.
• Pratney- it's not how you start the race but how you finish it that counts.

Describe a time when you found yourself threatened by someone else's leadership and giftings. How did you respond?

• Perkins- the men who come up under me are typically more gifted than me, so I turn the ministry over to them. It helps us center on our own gifts and strengths. I was an initiator, not a manager.
• Schuller- realizing that Jesus will build his church.
• Ogilvie- the only way to deal with envy and jealousy is to take it to the Lord and thank him for the gifting in the other person and thanking God for the way he has used you.
• Hayford- I was competing and comparing myself with another Bible teacher. It became an idol. There are things that will threaten you; many times that is something the adversary has constructed to destroy the image of Jesus in you.
• Cunningham- i had to help some of our leaders start other organizations and I had to do it cheerfully. I wanted YWAM to be a bridge-- easy to get on, easy to get off-- not a cul-de-sac. In every major missions organization, there are former YWAMers. I didn't always pass the test.

Describe a time when you chose to intentionally manipulate or control someone or something instead of surrendering it to the Lord, and what were the consequences of that?

• Perkins- there were people I gave up on too quickly. I wish I had been more patient with certain people. There's a difference between letting someone go, and freeing them.
• Schuller- just trust God, "sheesh." shared about an incident as early as a week ago-- needing 1.3 million to make payroll; a woman left 1.4 million to his ministry in her will.
• Ogilvie- when I get controlling, I hear the same thing that Jesus said to Lazarus: "Unbind him."
• Hayford- early on, you wanted things to be right in the ministry. anytime something went wrong, there were times I would go back to the sound board and ask them what was going on. I wounded people by mandating perfectionism rather than creating a sense of partnership.
• Cunningham- i had a staff member who had a problem publicly correcting people, and I pointed it out publicly. Public correction is a form of manipulation.
• Pratney- the desire to have things "right" can sometimes overrule what is kind.

What do you believe to be the root in a leader who abuses authority, and how would you advise them?

• Perkins- lack of a sense of one's calling. Deep in your soul, you've got to know what God has called you to.
• Schuller- learn to wait. wait, wait, wait wait. some of my dreams of 43 years ago are coming true now.
• Ogilvie- you have to earn the right to be heard. A lot of leaders misuse their authority because they have no accountability.
• Hayford- No human being really has power. We have been delegated authority for us to steward. Abusive situations happen when people take power into their own hands as opposed to stewarding the authority they have been delegated. True leadership will always serve the interest of the people; manipulation will always serve the interest of the person leading. Sometimes, you have to lead assertively, and some may view that as manipulation. The motivation is important.
• Cunningham- you don't discover your gift by searching but by serving.
• Pratney- when people misuse power against you, try to serve them and bless them.

What was the biggest mistake you made as a leader and what did you learn?

• Perkins- Burden for poor white people. I could have done more in the area of reconciliation if I had given more of myself to poor white people.
• Schuller- God always turns the bad luck into good luck; it astonishes me. That Bible is the Word of God. My mistake is that I didn't have the strongest concept of the Scriptures because of my tradition. I had my theology but not the Scriptures. If I could start over, be more rooted in the Bible
• Ogilvie- taking people for granted. iIve been overly impressed with the position and power of people and overlooked that inside their heart is an ache or problem that only God can meet.
• Hayford- separation of sacred and secular. My call is not to succeed in ministry but help others succeed in theirs.
• Cunningham- Once, in buying a hospital ship, we moved from faith to presumption which took us away from God's direction. And we took glory from God.
• Pratney- people learn more from failure stories than success stories. Even a dumb kid doesn't kiss a hot stove twice. When I speak to people, I try to tell them how disqualified I am to be there. I apologize for having a name like a purple teletubby. Kids learn more from what we don't have than from what we do have.

What do you envy most about the opportunity this next generation have?
This question was presented to Pratney only. The digital flatland in which they live. Everything is connected. if something happens, within seconds, action can happen. Revival affects your neighbor, and the neighbors these kids have are not just geophysical. People can be instantly and globally touched by the presence of God.


What concerns you most about next generation?

• Perkins- generation is missing is the importance of incarnation. They are dismissing the church. Thinking they can have it all without their history. They are missing the incarnated wisdom of God that can only come through action with the people. Information is communicated through the net. Wisdom is communicated through the touch of people.
• Hayford- idolatry surrounding creativity- forgetting what has gone before and acting on the impulse of now. We need to encourage creativity but we need to be about redeeming, as well. It's always easier to create than it is to redeem.
• Cunningham- Bible speaks to two sins more than any other- injustice and idolatry. The vertical is the most important communication line. If they are only horizontal in their digitalizing, they will miss the greatest creativity, justice, and thrill of worship.

Where are the biggest battlefields that lie in the way of advancing the Kingdom of God now?

• Schuller- I don't feel qualified to answer that question. The older I get the more I realize the importance of humility. Focus on Jesus. Don't get distracted.
• Ogilvie- we need to stop pretending we are the river of the power of God and focus more on being the riverbed.
• Hayford- disunity, sense of superiority in the Body of Christ. Self-righteousness that brings separatism. The biggest battlefield is within the church itself.