During the next 30 days or so, both Gwen and I want to process our Sabbatical journey with you here in this blog. It is really a way of organizing our thoughts around what has happened in us and to us in the past season of this season of being off. Bear with us as we both try to find words to express a shifting in the tectonic plates of our souls. It really does feel as if some major shifting has happened. We've regained a new perspective. We both feel renewed. We have rested, studied, read books and received wise counsel. All of this has helped us re-kindle the flame within---yes, re-kindle. That's the word. Re-kindled with God; with our own souls and with each other. It's been a rich and rewarding time despite walking through the shadow of death to release our grandson into the arms of heaven and taking another son down the aisle to be married. We've had highs and lows and most of all, we've had the time to process our journey by both looking back and looking within. We've looked up; press forward and renewed our love of life, God and each other.A sabbatical literally means “a time of ceasing.” It is like a vacation in that you literally are “vacating” your work but it is extended. A sabbatical is a season to do three things: rest, renew and re-tool. We did all three of these necessary movements and the benefits feel rich and rewarding. We said tonight over dinner that we would not change a thing in our sabbatical. We'll tell you more over the next month.I read, just this week, that only 42% of Americans take all of their allotted time off from work. For us, we were in that people group who seemed to never take the time we were given. This false arrogance all caught up with us. It always does. I felt like I was needed. I felt like I couldn't do what I was asking, coaching and telling other leaders to do. It massaged an inner sickness within me that caused demons, I long thought were asleep to wake up inside me. These demons were inner-addictions I thought I had long faced and walked away from. It was not the case.This costs us dearly. We had grown thin in our ability to care. We greatly underestimated the wear and tear to our own souls as we attempted to care for leaders in both the ministry and marketplace. It was as if my soul had a slow leak in it. Drip by drip, I felt my life flowing from me. By the fall of this past year, we knew we were in trouble. We needed to do what we needed to do. It was that simple. Since, we're not ready to retire, we both intuitively knew that if we were to finish the journey ahead...a necessary respite simply had to happen. And I would have to muster up the courage to take and extended time off. I would take a sabbatical. We'll both write more about the struggle and resolve to finally dig in and say we were going to do a sabbatical. Our choice to do so is one of the best decisions we have made in our journey thus far.The roots of a sabbatical are found in the Bible (Genesis 2:2-3; Lev. 25, Deut 5:12-15). Since the beginning of time, the Creator of this world knew that everyone and everything ought to cease from time to time because something happens in a season of ceasing that cannot and will not happen at any other time. Unless we learn to cease, we are setting ourselves up for dead-ends; burn out and flame outs. Even farmers allow a field to lie fallow for a season. They do this so that the field might be nurtured back to life by being dormant.
But this kind of thinking is almost extinct in the modern world. With this extinction we are now seeing the price we are all paying by always being on; always being available and always being wired 24/7. There is a high price to pay and many of us our mindlessly living our lives without taking into account the bankrupt nature of our souls. We live our lives on empty and have the audacity to call this life--the abundant life. The busy life is not the abundant life. Busy can be for a season, but not for more than a season.I see this error in living and thinking every day of my working life. And let me just tell you this one insight: When you burn out, it takes a long, long time to come back to life. You don’t burn out in one day. It’s a slow, steady leak in your soul that drains you. You run your life on empty and give left-overs to everyone and everything—including your self. I believe the thinness in so many leader's lives today is leading to a thinness and shallowness in our churches, in our books and in our songs. It's become dreadful to see how we are living and sharing our shallow lives on social media and more.Now, after having coached scores and scores of leaders in the marketplace and ministry to take a sabbatical, I finally took my own. It took me 40 years to muster the courage; face myself in the mirror and confess: “Steve, you are bone tired and you’re not going to make it to the end of your vocational journey unless you stop, cease and renew yourself.” Each word in that sentence is important and one you might think to underline and sit with.Is this the case for you?I took a entire 2 years to plan our sabbatical. I read everything there was in print and sadly found most of it shallow, hallow and worthless. A few lone voices in the wilderness became like prophets to me and Gwen calling us “This way—take this path and you’ll recover your life.” We listened to their voice. Heeded their advice and planned a four month season—equal to ¼ of a calendar year to be “off.”Questions to Consider:What would being “off” really look like? Where would you go? Who would you want to go with? What would you do? What would you do?
Our Sabbatical Journey: Insights on the Road Back to Life
Friends, I"m excited to share that both Gwen and I will be blogging soon about our Sabbatical Journey. As many of you know, we've unplugged, gone under the radar and not worked at Potter's Inn for five months. Fifteen years of pioneering Potter's Inn; giving and giving; caring for the souls of so very many leaders across the world left us tired, worn out and weary. Let me just spill the beans... our sabbatical has exceeded our hopes and expectations in every way. Despite witnessing our grandson dying and consumed with grief in our sabbatical time; despite the marriage of our third son, Cameron--and the addition of Lindsey whom we love already; despite knowing the fragility of raising our support and the thinness of finances at Potter's Inn--we felt called and compelled to take the time we've written about; taught about; coached so many folks across the world to do what we had NEVER done for ourselves----we took a Sabbatical.Both Gwen and I will be sharing our insights, lessons, take-a-ways and on-going questions and nagging fears about re-entry. I'm excited because Gwen has finally said "Yes" to documenting her own journey and pulling back the curtain--so to speak so you can witness her own journey and in her own words. I'll be sharing my road back to health in losing 60 pounds and watching my blood pressure drop significantly. I'll be sharing what I did and how I did it. It's been the biggest paradigm shift I've ever made thus far in my life. With the help of my medical doctor, now turned coach, friend and colleague in our teaching at Potter's Inn, we will both be blogging about the maze of un-doing habits, thinking and addictions and having our minds transformed about how we are now looking at food. I'm afraid for decades, I lived to eat---and now I am eating to live!Living in a world where we live 24/7 being "on", wired to the max and always available, we will both share why we stopped doing "social media" and insights we gained from our technology fast. The blog will be rich with insights we WANT to share and it is our hope that our own journey might benefit you in some, life giving way.Spiritually, renewal has come. A stream has come to the desert and we are rejoicing. We'll be sharing the significant books we've read that have nursed us to life and sustained us with courage for the next leg of our journey.In late May, Gwen and I will be doing our own "Re-entry Retreat" with a wise sage who will guide us to re-enter our life and work with all we've learned in these good yet hard months.You'll need to subscribe to the blog as it will be a DAILY update from Monday-Friday and will be replacing the Food for the Soul Daily Devotion for the month of June and perhaps a bit beyond. We'll see how it goes; how you're enjoying it and what your feedback is for us. So please do leave us comments.If you are subscribed and are already receiving FOOD For The Soul--the daily devotional I send out of my writings, no need to worry. You'll receive a link each Monday-Friday which will direct you to the blog.Take a moment and ask some friends to join you on our Sabbatical Journey and consider our journey as a place to have your discussions about your longings, desires and yearnings in your heart for your own life.This new way of sharing through this blog will begin mid-May. Be on the look for it and share it on your own streams of Social Media! We'd be so grateful.Every blessing,Steve and Gwen
There's Something About Peter
Tertullian (A.D. 155-250), the early Christian historian, wrote that “Peter endured a passion like that of the Lord.” Peter’s name is mentioned roughly 200 times in the New Testament. He began his vocational career as a small business owner along with his brother Andrew and their associates, James and John. His fishing enterprise was abruptly cut short, perhaps in a mid-career sort of crisis, when he met Jesus. That encounter changed everything for Peter.
Peter became one of only a handful of important eyewitnesses to the life and legacy of Jesus of Nazareth. Not only did Peter’s passion change from fishing for food to shaping and discipling men and women, but Peter’s own life was transformed—changed from the inside out. Perhaps this is precisely why Peter is so concerned with the inner-traits of a would-be leader and outlines for us the important inner-markers that are necessary to living successfully and finishing well. Peter knows about the work before the work.Luke, the medical doctor and 1st church historian, tells us that Peter was the leader, second to none, of the rapidly spreading church. It was Peter, not Paul, who first realized that the message of Jesus was intended for people outside of the Jewish faith.[1] He was a persuasive preacher par excellence; a formidable thinker about life, faith, and leadership; and a passionate defender of the faith against the criticisms and persecution that threatened the expanding church. In the end, Peter was martyred for his participation in the greatest movement the world has ever known. According to legend, he was crucified upside down. The world’s final assessment of him was that he got it all backwards.On the practical side Peter was married and his wife even accompanied him on some of his journeys.[2] Peter was a family man caring for his mother-in-law[3] and brother Andrew. He knew well the attempts of seeking to balance a life with the pressures of a small business against the competing demands from a family. Peter’s proximity to Jesus is clearly seen as he was present during many of Jesus’ major miracles, including Jesus walking on water, and what is known as the Transfiguration. Peter was witness to Jesus’ remarkable ability to perform miracles thus foreshadowing the miracles he himself would be doing later as seen in the book of Acts. Luke tells us that Peter had such power that people scrambled to stand in his literal shadow as he walked by.[4] This kind of charisma, influence, and leadership make Peter worthy of our examination. It ought to tell us something.[1] See Acts 10.[2] I Cor. 9:5; I Peter 5:13[3] Mark 1:29[4] See Acts 5 for this story.From my latest book Inside Job: Doing The Work Within The Work (Due for release June, 2015 by InterVarsity Press)
Nothing New
It would be tempting to think this is some new phenomenon, that we are the first to see such an unprecedented crisis of character. But that’s not true. This problem is sadly recorded throughout the pages of the Bible where we see men and women with undeniable promise and gifting become tripped up in unwise choices and bottom out in disgrace and dishonor.
Do you remember David, the warrior poet? Instead of going to war with his men he went to bed with another man’s wife. The consequences were catastrophic. Or how about Barnabas, Paul’s companion on many of his missionary journeys? He simply could not find a way in his heart to be a team-player. The result was a tragic split in their shared leadership. And it’s not just the men. The women are there too. Two women in one of Paul’s first churches nearly split the church because of their uncontrolled tongues and poisoned hearts for each other. Then there’s Sapphira. She could not bring her husband or herself to make good choices regarding money. They fell into hoarding and so became a negative example for all, a couple of misers with their God given resources.And don’t forget Peter, that impetuous disciple who always spoke before thinking. He would definitely be an unlikely candidate to speak about character. Or would he? Interestingly enough, based on the extraordinary writings of this apostle, I’ve found that we can discover the much needed and absolutely necessary character building blocks that assure us of “never falling”[1] and will keep us from becoming “ineffective and unproductive.”[2][1] II Peter 1:10[2] II Peter 1:8 From my latest book Inside Job: Doing The Work Within The Work (Due for release June, 2015 by InterVarsity Press)
Dirty Little Secret, Part 2
Have you ever thought some of those things to yourself? Those phrases are the whisperings of the bitch-goddess:“I did it all, all by myself.”“Look at what I have become.”“It’s all mine.”J.B. Phillips, author and translator of the Bible, wrote in “The Danger of Success” -
“I was in a state of some excitement throughout 1955. My work was intrinsically exciting. My health was excellent; my future prospects were rosier than my wildest dreams could suggest; applause, honor and appreciation met me everywhere I went. I was well aware of the dangers of sudden wealth and took some severe measures to make sure that, although comfortable, I should never be rich. I was not nearly so aware of the dangers of success. The subtle corrosion of character, the unconscious changing of values and the secret monstrous growth of a vastly inflated idea of myself seeped slowly into me. Vaguely I was aware of this and, like some frightful parody of St. Augustine, I prayed, ‘Lord, make me humble, but not yet.’ I can still savor the sweet and gorgeous taste of it all: the warm admiration, the sense of power, of overwhelming ability, of boundless energy and never-failing enthusiasm. It is very plain to me now why my one-man kingdom of power and glory had to stop.”
One-man and one-woman kingdoms “of power and glory.” That’s the danger. That kind of success can lead us to that place where we forget who it is that is behind whatever strength and wealth we have achieved. It’s not that success is inherently wrong. It’s that we have allowed it to rival God and God will share His worship with no one and no thing. Maybe the term “bitch-goddess of success” just might need to resurface in our world to remind us of the threat. For God is a jealous God. And we have become unfaithful spouses.But guess what? It doesn’t have to be this way.Here’s the good news. I believe you can climb that ladder of success to live and finish well. Now does this indicate we’re going to have to define exactly what “success” and “finishing well” means? Yes, and that’s a part of what this book is about. In fact, much of what is presented here will be a redefinition of such words and phrases.And here’s the hard news: It’s going to take work, something called “the work before the work.”In the opening story, I shared with you about the celebrated Chinese woodcarver. What set him apart from all the rest was his decision to first do the work before the work. Had he skipped this crucial step it’s likely he would have been like any other wood carver. But he didn’t, and in the wake of that choice widespread enduring success and a sterling reputation followed. From my latest book Inside Job: Doing The Work Within The Work (Due for release June, 2015 by InterVarsity Press)
Dirty Little Secret, Part 1
William James - author, philosopher, and psychologist - told us over a hundred years ago that success is the national disease of America. He went on further to say that success had become the “bitch-goddess” that allures us, captivates us, and then captures us to be its own servant. That’s a pretty rough phrase, I’ll give you that. You probably won’t hear it from your church’s pulpit. And maybe that’s part of the problem; we’ve a few too many pastors and not enough prophets.
Success as the world defines has become a god to us. Yet the first of the Ten Commandments is “You shall have no other gods before me.” We may not have put success before the Lord God but we’ve sure put it alongside. Moses feared success for his people more than he feared a life in the wilderness. He warned his people of the dangers. Make sure you don’t forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God, your God,
the God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery;the God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness,those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions;the God who gave you water gushing from hard rock;the God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you.
If you start thinking to yourselves, “I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!”—well, think again. Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors—as it is today. From my latest book Inside Job: Doing The Work Within The Work (Due for release June, 2015 by InterVarsity Press)
The Dangerous Ladder To Success
Long ago a Chinese man began his career making bell-stands for the huge bronze bells that hang in Buddhist temples. This particular man became prized and celebrated for making the best, most elaborate and enduring bell-stands in the entire region. No other person could make the bell-stands which such strength and beauty. His reputation grew vast and his skill was in high demand. One day the celebrated woodcarver was asked, “Please tell us the secret of your success!” He replied, “Long before I start making and carving the bell-stand, I go into the forest to do the work before the work. I look at all of the hundreds of trees to find the ideal tree—already formed by God to become a bell-stand. I look for the bows of the tree to be massive, strong and already shaped. It takes a long time to find the right tree. But without doing the work before the work, I could not do what I have accomplished.”
NEVER?The ground at the foot of the ladder of success is littered with the names and faces and stories of leaders who self-destructed on the way up. Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, you know this. You know their names and faces. You’ve seen them interviewed by nightly news anchors, you’ve read the scandalous articles online, and you’ve possibly thought but that could never happen to me.According to the Harvard Business Review, 2 out of 5 new CEOs fail in their first 18 months on the job. It appears that the major reason for the failure has nothing to do with competence, or knowledge, or experience, but rather with hubris and ego. In other words, they thought but that could never happen to me.I’m here to tell you that it can happen to you. And if by some stretch of the imagination you believe that you’re immune to a crash-and-burn because of your faith in God, then you’re living with the exact kind of naivete that can ruin your reputation, your family, your health, and your legacy. Your name can be added to that ever-growing pile at the bottom of the ladder of success. In my work with hundreds of leaders from across the world, I find that far too many have eagerly entered the workplace, marketplace, or mission field with the goal of establishing themselves and striving toward a successful future. But unfortunately they missed or overlooked something crucial along the way. They end up in my office soaked in tears and shame because they were fired for ethical violations, they didn’t know how to work on a team, and some even succumbed to the much darker sides of money, sex and power. At one time they thought but that could never happen to me. But it did.The obvious question here is why? I’ll offer my take. But I warn you, the answer is not pretty. From my latest book Inside Job: Doing The Work Within The Work (Due for release June, 2015 by InterVarsity Press)