Lessons on Leadership from New Orleans’ “Patron” Saint

I imagine that Drew Brees’ youth minister is really proud of the man his former youth has become.  And certainly that pastor who preached about the “few good men” God was looking for, had no idea that someone would be talking about that Sunday morning message so 16 years later!  There are several lessons we can learn from the “Patron Saint” of New Orleans.  The first of which is you never know what God is doing in the life of each young person in your ministry nor what God has planned for their life.  And second, never underestimate the impact one message, one comment, one visit over lunch, or one service project can have in the life of someone.  God can take anything and use it to “turn on the light bulb” in someone’s life.

Drew Brees, the star quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, has a pretty interesting story, full of potholes and detours, setbacks and victories.  As a Boilermaker, Brees’ college career included setting five Big Ten Conference quarterback records including career passing yards (11,792) and total touchdown passes (90).  And then in 2001, the San Diego Chargers nabbed Brees in the first pick of the second round in the 2001 NFL Draft.  I can imagine that for Brees, it must have seemed like a dream come true.  But his time with the Chargers was up and down, and ended in an injury that must have left he and his family and fans wondering what his future would hold.   What team would ever take a risk drafting an injured quarterback?

But God had bigger plans for Brees.  And God, as He often does, worked this bad situation into something amazing…not just for an injured NFL quarterback, but for an injured city as well.   Brees says about that unfortunate injury:

“At the time, I felt like that was the worst thing that could ever happen to me at the worst time. I started to feel sorry for myself and ask, ‘Why me? Why now?’ All those things were very easy to ask. But, as I look back now, I can say, ‘God, that was probably the best thing that could ever have happened to me.’”

In 2006, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Saints’ future was just as unsure as their soon-to-be quarterback.  The Superdome suffered some damage and was being used as a homeless shelter for thousands of displaced residents of New Orleans.  And their record was in  as much turmoil as the city.  At the end of the season, the team was homeless, without a coach and leaderless.  So it was fitting that they would place their hope in Brees.  Who better to help a struggling, demoralized team recuperating from their own injuries from a hard hit?

As Breese said about the move, ““At the time, we were all in the process of rebuilding. The Saints were trying to rebuild. The city was trying to rebuild. And I was trying to rebuild, literally, a shoulder and a career.”  And so together, Breese and his team and the city itself found healing in each other.  Brees and his wife jumped in all the way with their new community.  They began a foundation to help in the rebuilding of New Orleans, and Brees would often be found right beside residents and construction workers sawing boards and hammering nails.  They become involved in the local school system helping encourage and motivate students and teachers.  And of course, Brees become the leader the Saints needed to turn them around from an abysmal 13-loss team into 10-6 division champs and NFC runners-up! And of course, this season Brees lead his team to the big game itself, facing the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl on February 7th.

What impresses me the most about Brees is how he leads his team.  He really does put his team (and his family and community) before himself.  Heath Evans, a Saints fullback said of Brees:

“What makes a man is the ability to sacrificially give expecting nothing in return, and what makes a leader is someone who is willing to die to self every day for the benefit of the team. Drew has that down pat.  Real men of God are always trying to find ways to draw closer to the King.  Drew never misses a chapel, team Bible study or couples’ Bible study. His focus is always team-focused instead of Drew-focused. That is the make-up of a true leader.”

As youth ministers and leaders in our own churches and student ministries, we can take a page out of Brees’ playbook (if you’ll pardon the obvious pun).  Too often at conferences and in networks, I hear youth ministers puffing themselves up by talking about how big their groups are, how many big things they’ve done, how awesome their youth buildings are, and how cutting edge their ministry approach is.  I also hear them undercutting their pastors or gripping about their churches, as if the church they were working for was an albatross around their necks holding them back from really doing great things!  This is NOT working as a team!  This is not leadership!  Our ministries do not exist for us.  They aren’t there for our career or to pad our resumés. 

If anyone had a right to gripe about their team and blame any losses or mistakes on them, it was Brees.  If any team had a good excuse for a lack luster season, it was the Saints.  But that was not their approach.  And it should never be ours.  You may be the Drew Brees your church is looking for, the leader who comes alongside his pastor, takes the ball, and helps his church run the plays to make a difference in your community for God’s Kingdom.

Brees said that every member of the team has a role, and then he said his role on the team  ”is helping others and putting them in positions to succeed. Obviously, I have to work to be the best quarterback I can be for the team, but, if there’s ever a time when I can help a guy by pulling him aside and talking to him about a route or showing him something in the weight room, I want to do that. But not only with things on the field, but also things in life.”

Let’s model this kind of leadership, this kind of teamwork, for our students and churches.  Be the kind of youth minister your pastor dreams of–a Drew Brees kind of quarterback–who understands it’s not about me or “my” ministry.  It’s about the team.  It’s about God’s Kingdom.  Remember, we are all just members of One Body, and that is Christ (1 Cor. 12:12).  It is for Him, to Him, and through Him that we exist and serve together.

For more information about Drew Brees and more video clips to use with your students, visit the FCA’s website HERE.

Is It Taboo to Share Your Faith?

I was amazed the other week to see Brit Hume on Fox News Sunday openly declare Tiger Woods need for what Christianity offers:  hope, forgiveness, and a fresh start.  Not only did Hume talk about the Christian faith in a positive light, but he also criticized Wood’s Buddhist faith as incomplete.

In todays politically correct atmosphere, where Christianity is seen as the crutch for gun-totin’ rednecks and simple-minded Americans in fly-over-country, that was a HUGE taboo!  And the media and blogosphere reacted vigorously to it.

It raises a good question, both for discussing with our students, and for thinking through ourselves:   When, where, and how can we witness for Christ in an appropriate manner?

Here is a fantastic article about  this from the Associated Baptist Press:  “Opinion: Brit Hume, Tiger Woods, and Evangelsim”

The author, Jim Denison, breaks evangelism down into two approaches–coersive and conversational.  Of course, conversational evangelism would be the appropriate method.  But how do we determine if we are being coercive or conversational in our witnessing?

Denison gives a couple of tests:  First, have you earned the right to share your faith?  Have you done the hard work to earn the right to be heard?

Second, does your life match your words?  Are you consistently living out the faith you are sharing with others?

If you answer “no” to either of these, Denison says you’re not being genuine in your evangelism, you aren’t engaging people in an honest conversation about life and faith, and therefore you are more likely to be coercive.   And by coercive, he means you are using your power or authority (real or perceived) to manipulate, guilt, scare, or force people into faith in Christ.

I encourage you to read his article, and pay special attention to what he says about Hume in the last paragraph.  It may give you a different perspective on him and what he said on national TV.

But finally, ask yourself:  Do I employ coercive methods of evangelism with the students in my ministry?  Or am I building the kind of relationships and living the kind of life that earns me the right to speak truth into their lives?  Am I manipulating and scaring students “into the Kingdom” or inviting them into a conversation about their spiritual journey?

And use this current news item to engage your students in a discussion about how they share their faith (or what keeps them from sharing their faith).  That kind of honest, healthy discussion can do more than all the “evangelism training” in the world.

Great News on the YS front!

I was so glad to read the news that YouthWorks has brought Tic Long back into the Youth Specialties family this past week.  As many of you know, Youth Specialties has had a rough 18 months.  With the laying-off of so many of the key players, with YS being sold to a new company, many questioned whether this was the end of the YS we’ve all known, loved, and trusted.

I joined countless numbers of people in youth ministry who blogged about this.  And I’m happy to join another mass of bloggers in reporting this great news.

This development has answered some of the questions I raised in my previous blog entry, and has gone a long way in building trust with YouthWorks. 

In his blog, Walt Mueller had this to say about his impressions of YouthWorks and their handling of the “passing of the YS torch” (emphasis mine):

I’m grateful for the folks at Youthworks who have purchased Youth Specialties. Several months ago a small group of us had the opportunity to meet them, learn about their heart for ministry and plans for YS, and have them ask us questions about the YS that we all knew and loved. Three things impressed me about the folks at Youthworks. First, they have a real heart for Christ and His Kingdom. That was clear after meeting them personally, visiting their website, and hearing from people who have ministered with them over the years. It was very evident in their deep humility and maturity. Second, they are very wise. As I watched the process of purchasing YS unfold, I realized that I needed to watch carefully. I was being afforded an opportunity to learn from some people who were doing things right. And finally, they are people of prayer…

I encourage you to go to Walt’s blog and read the entire article.  Since most of us won’t have the opprotunity to sit and talk with the leadership of YW, we have to rely on those who have and will to help us understand our new partners in the world of youth ministry.  Of course, one of the greatest voices (especially on this issue) is that of Marko.  His blog on this is insightful and encouraging.  Please check it out.  And I’ll leave you with his closing words, a fitting benediction:

so join me in raising a toast and a prayer of thanks. three cheers and a prayer of blessing on tic as he re-begins. three cheers and a prayer of blessing on the leadership of youthworks for having the insight and humility to bring back a leader of such character, skill, and childlike wonder.

The Best Christmas Parade…

is the one you don’t watch!

Listen HERE to my sermon from Sunday morning.

A quick summary: Christians (especially in this country) have a tendancy to see ourselves as consumers of religious services. We often find ourselves as observers, as an audience, to the professional and really dedicated Christians as they do the work of service, witnessing, and worship. How can we break free of that? How can we stop watching the parade, and be in it?

A Christmas Eve Teaser

Merry Christmas Eve!

Below is the introduction to the sermon I’ll be preaching this Sunday morning, the 1st Sunday after Christmas, at our church.  May these thoughts inspire you and challenge you on this day before the Feast of our Lord, Jesus the Christ.

Did you know…

• Advent means “coming” and is a 4-week period of waiting and preparing for the coming of the Messiah.  We reflect on the hope and longing Israel had for God’s Messiah to deliver them.  We prepare our own hearts for God’s coming into our lives personally and for the 2^nd coming of Jesus.  During Advent we realize our world is broken, we are broken, and we long for God’s making things right. One author said, “Of all types of waiting, the waiting of pregnancy is most like the waiting that we do during Advent.  The waiting of pregnancy is like the waiting we do for God.” (Living the Chrisian Year, Bobby Gross p. 37)
• The 1^st Sunday of Advent is the Christian’s New Years Day.  It begins the Church Calendar and carries us through a year of storying the life of Christ.
• Christmas is NOT a one-day, single event?  It is a 12-day long season of celebration of wonder and joy.  Our wait is over.  God has made His home with us!  The Word has become flesh. God is not some distant and passive deity. He is an active participant in the world.  He has entered into it as a baby.  The Creator has become part of His creation. The Author has become a Character in the Story He is writing.
• 12 Days of Christmas begins the day after Christmas and goes through January 6^th, which is called Epiphany.  On Epiphany we focus on the Magi coming to Jesus, representing His being revealed to all the world.  These 12 days are meant to be celebrated with feasting, prayer, reflection, and service.  There are feast days in it that focus on Stephen, the 1^st Martyr, John the Revelator, Herod’s murder of the innocent babies of Bethlehem, and the day Jesus was presented in the Temple to be circumcised and named.

 So, why have we lost these parts of our Christian heritage and tradition?  They’re like long-lost family heirlooms.  Christmas has been hijacked by Wall Street, Madison Square, and Hollywood.  Christmas has been secularized.

And it’s not writting out“Xmas” or saying “Happy Holidays” that has done the damage.  Christmas has become the season of selfishness—it’s all about materialism, getting the latest stuff, being entertained, watching parades and Christmas Specials.  Even in church we can be guilty of secularizing worship.  We approach the Baby Jesus in the manger like Santa Claus…what can He do for me?  What can I get out of church.  We bring the same consumerist, “entertain me” mentality.

 Our obstacles to a truly meaningful Christmas are three: (taken from Living the Christian Year by Bobby Gross, pp. 64-65)

• Over familiarity—We’ve seen the Drive-through Nativity a dozen times, sung the same old carols, heard a hundred Choir specials, and hung the green year-after-year.
• Sentimentality—family traditions, Hallmark-like Christmas wishes, nostalgic music, the food and festivities, the presents, and the memories of Christmases gone by.  These things aren’t bad.  But the danger is allowing them to water-down the real meaning and message of Christmas to a good feeling of family, friends, and festive get-togethers.
• The commercial eclipse of Advent compounded by our reducing Christmas to a single day—albeit, a joyful and satisfying day.  One writer put it like this, “We take our Christmas with lots of sugar. And we take it in a day.”  Most people think the 12 Days of Christmas are the last 12 shopping days BEFORE Christmas.  People start taking down the lights and tree on December 26^th, and it’s back to business as usual…and playing with the latest gadgets and toys we got.

 So how do we break free from a secularized approach to Christmas?  How can it be more than just a day or season of TV specials, concerts, parties, and gifts?  How can we overcome the sentimentality and the sense of “here we go again…another, Christmas fill in the blank”?  How can we stop viewing church and worship from a “What can it do for me?” and “Entertain/bless/inspire me” attitude?

 I think the answer is quiet simple…and I’m only recently learning what this means:  Stop watching the parade!

Either come to church Sunday morning for the rest…or stay tuned.  I’ll either post the rest of the sermon’s text, or a link to the audio message on our church’s website.

Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!