Drive Conference Update

This week I went to the Drive Conference and enjoyed every minute of it. First off Andy Stanley is an amazing teacher. He is practical, funny and addresses topics people don't want to talk about. They also brought in Jeff Foxworthy Tuesday night and he was stinkin hilarious. Here are some notes from Andy's first session that really spoke to me:

A. Often there are unexplainable gaps between what we expect people to do and what they actually do. "This is so true"
1. We choose what we place in those gaps.
2. Our choices determine the integrity of the relationships.
3. We can choose to fill the gaps with trust or suspicion.

My thoughts on this - I don't know about you, but I've seen a lot of gaps in churches and leadership that never get addressed. We need to get rid of the buddy system in our churches and start addressing the gaps.

B. There are three commitments we need to make when it comes to being trustworthy.
1. I commit to do what I say I will do and when I don't, I'll tell you.
2. I commit to not over promise and under deliver. But, if it looks like that's where things are headed, I'll tell you.
3. If you confront me about the gaps I have created, I'll tell you the truth.

My thoughts on this - Take this to heart youth pastors. Too many churches have a serious lack of communication. As a youth pastor I need to do my part and apply all three of those commitments to the way I communicate with my senior pastor.

C. When you choose not to trust and refuse to confront, your concealed suspicion grows and poisons your attitude. Your attitudes about the people in your organization are telegraphed. People know!

D. The consequences of confrontation are far less severe than the consequences of concealment. "this is so stinkin true"
1. The consequences of confrontation are tangible, immediate, and impact only a few relationships.
2. The consequences of concealment are intangible, long-lasting, and can impact every relationship in your organization.

E. As leaders, we must learn to fear the consequences of concealment more than the transparency of a culture built around trust.

My thoughts on this - It's never enjoyable to confront but it needs to be done if we are going to run a ministry with excellence. I think we let too much stuff slide with no accountability, low expectations and underchallenging our leaders. Then we get frustrated, face the consequences of concealment and hinder our ministry from reaching it's full potential.

These are just a few highlights from his session but I thought it was amazing. Matter of fact I believe every senior pastor and his staff needs to listen to this teaching and apply it to their organization. They will be posting all the sessions on their website www.driveconference.com

Well I hope you enjoyed this insight and I will share some notes from his second session next week.