Feel It! [Part 1]

Feel it! What is it?

It is the need for the vision and mission of the Gospel to go forward, to advance. It means the Church matters. It means the parish is supposed to bring the people in the pews deeper into their faith and reach the lost in our communities. To feel it means we recognize there is always more we can do for the Lord, and fulfill the Great Commission. To feel it means to go forward because we are not there yet.

To feel it includes our emotions but is not limited to our emotions. Our emotions matter. They are a gift from God that can be signals and signs of something good or something bad. Our emotions can also change in an instant. So to feel it must mean just more than our emotions.

To feel it means that we have a passion and a strong desire to lead positive change in our parishes. It is a holy discontent with the status quo. To feel it is a holy discontent that so many people think that the Church has nothing to offer them. It is a holy discontent that the Church does not always have the impact it should because it does not always operate to its potential. To feel it means to have a vision of a brighter future of what could be and should but does not yet exist. To feel it means we develop a sense of urgency that we cannot wait for someone else to fix the problems we face as a Church but will solve them by God’s grace. To feel it means we have a desire for our parishes to move from a consumer culture to a discipleship culture. To feel it means we want to move our parishes from insider-focused to reaching the lost and people disconnected from Christ and his Church. To feel it means a desire to serve God in our generation.

We must feel it in our bones because so much works against positive change and protects the status quo. We have to feel it because, without the deep conviction in our hearts, we won’t push past those obstacles. The world, the flesh and the devil work against our efforts to build God’s kingdom. We have to feel it because although we cannot control the devil or the actions of others, we can take responsibility for overcoming our flesh.

We can take responsibility for our heart and lead ourselves well. Fifty percent of leadership is self-leadership. When spiritual leaders take responsibility for their hearts, others will follow. They will see our passion and commitment to the cause of Christ and be drawn into that work. We have to feel it so that others will feel it as well.

Make no mistake about it, convictions and feelings are absolutely required if we want to lead our parishes into a brighter future.

In their book Switch: "How to Change When Change Is Hard", authors Chip and Dan Heath write about the importance of emotions when it comes to change. They especially talk about the importance of emotions in moving our wills or what they call “motivating the elephant:”

In almost all successful change efforts, the sequence of change is not ANALYZE-THINK-CHANGE, but rather SEE-FEEL-CHANGE. You’re presented with evidence that makes you feel something. It might be a disturbing look at the problem, or a hopeful glimpse of the solution, or a sobering reflection of your current habits, but regardless, it’s something that hits you at the emotional level. It’s something that speaks to the Elephant. (page 106)

Leadership requires that we see what needs to be done and then help others not only see it but feel it as well. Until a community feels the need to change, it will remain stuck in the status quo. We can only help them feel it if we feel it ourselves.

Seeing problems and opportunities helps us to feel the change that needs to take place and to take appropriate action. Take a moment to ask God to open your eyes to see the problems he wants you to solve and the opportunities he is calling you to seize. Ask God to open your eyes over the course of this next week to see what he wants you to see. If you need help, consider attending our Rebuilt Conference. We have chosen the theme, “Can you imagine?” Our hope is that every participant will see the opportunities they have in their parish, feel inspired and convicted to act and take steps to lead change. To register go to https://rebuiltconference.com

Rooting for you,
Tom