Dave Ferguson Responds to Session 9
Dave Ferguson is back to share another session reaction, and once again, he displays his expertise at working through complexity and getting down to the simple and essential truths.
That's exactly the power that Dave shares in his latest book, The Big Idea. Dave knows that churches can bombard people with so many little ideas that they can miss the big idea. Many church leaders can't stop talking about how this book has changed their outlook and is beginning to make a difference in their churches. You can learn more about Dave, Community Christian Church (where he is the senior pastor), or New Thing (a network for church planting and multi-site churches) on his blog Velocity. Dave's reflections on Bill Hybels' fascinating interview with President Jimmy Carter clearly communicates his key takeaway: how every leader needs a place to go home to. By this time, many of you are well on your way home, back to normal life after this mountain-top conference experience. With that in mind, I think you'll find this reflection especially applicable:
Leaders are change agents. Leaders live to challenge the status quo. Leaders' gifting calls them to bring transformation. We know this. Jimmy Carter's track record of failures and great successes as a leader is well documented. He was a change agent for peace in the Middle East. He challenged the status quo of prejudice and racial discrimination. He continues to bring transformation to homeless families through Habitat for Humanity and to entire countries through the Carter Center. Carter jokes, "You might say that I have gone too far ... I'm still here." But perhaps one of the big lessons that I took away from Jimmy Carter is that a leader also needs a place to "go home"to.
A Town to Come Home To
I have been to Plains, Ga., and I think Jimmy kind of oversold it in the interview. Why? It's his hometown. It's the place where he grew up, and it's the place where he lives till this day. There is something compelling about a leader who is so comfortable with himself that he doesn’t have to "move up," but can still live among the same common people with whom he grew up. And you get the sense from former President Carter that Plains was not only the place he grew up, but also a place where he could come home to, and rather than being President Carter, he was "Hot" or "Jimmy." Maybe we leaders all need a place to come home to.
A Family to Come Home To
How many leaders finish a lifetime not only as a successful leader but also as a successful family man? Not many? I admire any leader who can find the rhythm of life and not only be a significant change agent, but also love the same woman for all his days. Jimmy and Rosalyn were married 61 years ago in 1946. That is something I admire and that I want to emulate. Even in his toughest hour, when the hostages were not going to be released during his Presidency, his concern was for his wife who seemed to be taking it emotionally even harder than he was. Could it be that having a family to come home to is what brought Carter the strength to be the greatest ex-President our country has known? Or could it be that serving the same family over a lifetime has made him the great leader that he not was but still is till this day?
A Faith to Come Home To
When Jimmy stood before the world to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, he said much the same thing that he has been saying in the Sunday school class for over half a decade, "I worship Jesus Christ, who we Christians consider the Prince of Peace." This faith informed his values as President, businessman, and citizen that insisted on peace and hated war; that insisted on reconciliation and rejected discrimination; that followed Jesus Christ and said that he is the way. Shifting values to accommodate popularity always leaves me wondering where a leader will stand next, but Carter has a faith he always comes home to. And that faith informs the direction of his life and leadership.
Former President Carter is one of those people who is comfortable in his own skin. You get the feeling that whether he is front of kings or picking peanuts this guy is the same. It shows up in his self-deprecating humor: "When I told my mom that I was going to run for President, my Mom said, 'President of what?'" It shows up in how comfortable he is with his failures, like being the catalyst for the best-selling Playboy of all time, and his successes, like bringing peace to Israel between Egypt. Jimmy Carter knows who he is, where he is from, who he belongs to, what he believes, and where home is. Leaders need a place to come home to. Jimmy Carter reminds me why.
