Jeff Iorg Blog
Evolving Obama
| May 14 2012
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When President Obama recently announced his support for gay marriage, it represented the conclusion to his self-described “evolving” position on the subject. His announcement was not too surprising, based on his track record and previous comments. The timing is interesting, yet calculated to minimize the impact on the upcoming election. In six months, the emotional impact of the decision will most likely have been dissipated by the countless other issues to be debated during the campaign.
President Obama’s position is, according to recent polling, backed by about half of the American public. Even though 30 states have passed laws supporting traditional marriage, the general opinion seems to be shifting toward support of redefining marriage. Give them their due; homosexual political operatives have done a masterful job of making gay marriage a “civil rights” issue rather than a moral issue. Americans are fair-minded and want everyone to be treated the same in the public square. By making homosexual practices a “rights issue,” the high ground in the debate has been seized. It is doubtful those of us who oppose gay marriage will ever get it back.
Standing with the biblical position on homosexual behavior – as well as all other sexual expression outside marriage – is a surefire way to be labeled intolerant, homophobic, and out-of-touch. While some Christians are negative to the point of ill-conceived anger on this issue, most are not. Most of us are simply determined to submit to the Bible as our source for behavioral instruction. We believe it should have the final word. That word is clear – God loves everyone in the world, but condemns behaviors which damage the people he loves.
Those of us who interpret the Bible as part of our vocation acknowledge we are imperfect interpreters. Some passages in the Bible are difficult to understand. We may struggle to fully understand them. The passages on homosexuality are not in that category. They are crystal clear. Homosexual behavior is a sinful choice. Labeling it something else – like a genetic disposition that can’t be resisted – may mitigate the guilt in the moment but it doesn’t undo the long-term damage.
The moral fabric of our nation continues to unravel. President Obama is contributing to that decline with his devolving position. May God give us the grace to stand strong no matter the cost on this important issue!
Mistakes Executive Leaders Make
| May 07 2012
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As we come toward the end of this academic year, it’s time for us to re-think our strategies and programs, considering possible changes to make us more effective in the future. Schools like ours usually make strategic changes only over the summer. Our cycle looks like this – we propose changes in the Fall, make strategic choices about them in the Spring, and implement those decisions over the Summer (for the following Fall semester). So, we are currently finalizing changes for our next academic year.
Over the years, I have repeated a similar process as a church, denominational, and now seminary leader. I have also watched closely as other leaders in other organizations have worked through similar processes. I have made some mistakes, and tried to learn from the mistakes of others. Two of those mistakes seem to be most common – and often hinder rather than strengthen organizations. These two mistakes are unnecessary reorganization and losing focus on your core mission.
Reorganization often seems like an indoor sport for bored executives or for those desperate to prove their value by “staying on the cutting edge.” Reorganization is never a means to organizational improvement. It should, instead, only occur as the result of initiating new strategic actions that demand a new leadership structure. Creating a new “org chart” may be fun on a long flight home on a business trip, but it is not the means to organizational improvement. Strategic choices come first, then the organizational changes to support those choices.
Losing mission focus is the other most common problem. Our mission at Golden Gate is shaping leaders who expand God’s kingdom around the world. We try to see every opportunity through that lens. We turn down some very interesting opportunities to do good things because they are not our mission. That frustrates some of our friends who just don’t understand why we don’t raise money to plant churches, have an intervention program for troubled churches, or establish a means to discipline our graduates for inappropriate ministerial behavior. These are good ideas – just not our purview.
We are making some changes for next year at Golden Gate. We are launching some new strategic initiatives, having determined those initiatives are at the heart of our mission. We will also make some organizational adjustments to sustain the changes. Keeping those three ideas lashed tightly together – and in the right order - keeps an organization healthy, stable, and growing. We believe we have done this adequately and look forward to the future with a unified team working together to continually improve as a seminary.
Stay tuned in Fall 2012 as a new Counseling degree, a new Chaplaincy concentration, a new Theology major for the PhD program, and a new Korean-English bilingual program are started!
The Mystery of Ministry
| Apr 30 2012
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The longer I am in the ministry, the more of a mystery it is to me. That may be a strange confession for someone who has been doing ministry for 30 years, preaches and teaches about it, and writes books on the subject. But a fact is a fact. The longer I do ministry, the more of a mystery it is. Here’s what I mean.
For many years, we have been working and praying to start a counseling program at Golden Gate. For all those years, not much has happened. We hoped to finance it with an estate gift promised to us many years ago for that purpose. The donor, however, lived for many more years after promising the gift. We were grateful for her long life and sought other financial options. None materialized. Finally, last year, a different donor gave $200,000 to initiate the program. Last week, our Board of Trustees elected an additional faculty member to start the program. Two nights before the Board meeting, the original donor passed away and the seminary immediately received $1.4 million to endow a counseling program.
It is now quite evident God is ready for us to start this program. The mystery is why did it take so long? When the need has been evident for a decade, why has it taken so long to fund it? Only God knows. His timetable is a mystery to me.
Most of you know I work as a chaplain to a professional baseball team. In that context, we pray for men to open themselves to the gospel. Sometimes, life circumstances conspire to – it seems to me – guide a player toward God. Then, nothing happens. But, out of the blue for no perceivable reason, a different player will suddenly start attending chapel, asking questions about God, and consider becoming a Christian. It’s a serendipitous surprise who God draws to himself.
The ministry is a mystery because God’s ways are mysterious. God can be known, but no one knows everything about him. God’s ways can be discerned and some patterns observed. But no one sees the full picture like he does. Today, some people want to create a perfect theological system that explains everything about God and how he interacts with us. Not me! God is too magnificent, complex, and mysterious to reduce to system.
While God and his ministry are mysterious, that is the adventure of it! Who knows what’s around the next corner!
Barriers and Blockades
| Apr 23 2012
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One of the most puzzling spiritual dilemmas is discerning the difference between a barrier and a blockade. Sometimes, God allows difficulties to test our faith. He wants to build endurance in us and show his power through us. It’s painful, but God shapes our character through these challenges. Let’s label these circumstances “barriers” to be broken down, climbed over, or otherwise surmounted. We are better Christians when we triumph through these struggles.
Other times, God allows similar difficulties – not to test us, but to stop us in our tracks. Let’s call these circumstances “barricades.” These are huge stop signs God erects to get us to freeze, reconsider our options, and go a different direction. Continuing to pound your head into an immovable, God-sized obstruction is painful and futile.
Discerning the difference between barriers and barricades is challenging. It’s not easy to figure out what to do when you first run into resistance. Most Christians aren’t quitters. We expect to swim upstream and paddle harder when the current intensifies. But is that always the best response? Initially, probably so! But when increased flow is a precursor to a coming tsunami of God-generated opposition, it’s best to get out of that stream altogether.
When we planted our church in Gresham, Oregon a marketing consultant surveyed the community on our behalf and told us, “Get out while you can. This will be a very difficult place to start a church.” We considered that counsel, rejected it, and plowed ahead. It was hard – some days, very hard. But we persevered and a great church resulted. A barricade that was really a barrier!
When we wanted to add a staff person to the Northwest Convention staff, the need seemed genuine and a suitable candidate was willing to serve. But there was no money. We prayed and worked and asked and connived – to no avail. God thwarted us at every turn. The opportunity passed and that position was never filled. A barrier that turned out to be barricade!
These are just two examples of how puzzling this dilemma can be. It continues to be a major discernment issue for me as a leader. My usual sources for direction in decision-making – the Bible, the Spirit, past experiences, timely information, and wise counsel – are helpful but, to be honest, it’s still a struggle. My hunch is sorting out the differences between barricades and barriers are a struggle for a lot of you – but also something some of you do better than me.
What have you learned about this process? I would like to hear your story at jeffiorg@ggbts.edu.