- Intro: Starting a church, Andy had way too much to do. There was a bunch of stuff that had to get done with the church and he had a wife, two kids, and a third on the way. Simply not enough time.
- We tend to cheat home and give to work. Work is measurable. Work feels like progress. If you are in Christian ministry, there’s the added sense that you are giving to God, that you ought to.
- Also, we are afraid. If I don’t _____, it won’t _____. The fear is that if we lean the other way, towards family, we will be a failure at work.
- If I don’t ____, I’m afraid You won’t _____.
- Ultimately, was afraid that God’s will for his life didn’t match his will for his life.
- Previously his unvoiced prayer was “while I am working hard for you, please be with my family”. At some point he realized there was simply not enough time to do everything, so he prayed “God, I can only give you 45 hours a week. If you can build a church on that, build whatever you can. I will fulfill my unique role as husband and father; please fill in the gaps at church”
- The best decision he made was to cheat the church and not cheat his family.
- Christ said “I will build my church"—and He has—and Paul said to “love your wife like Christ loved the church”
- We were never called to build the church. And God is not supposed to love our wife, because that’s our job.
- Andy’s observation is that those who love the church more than their family have neither a great church nor a great family. And those who love their family more than the church have a great family and great church.
- How cheating the church rather than his family impacted his leadership
- Forced Andy to play to his strengths and delegate his weaknesses.
- Only do what only you can do. This is probably the most important leadership principle
- The less time you spend, the more you do. It forces you to do what only you can do.
- Forced Andy to prioritize the success of the church rather than the his own success.
- Was able to say no to a lot of things that would have been nice, because he already didn’t have enough time for his ministry.
- Once you decide to cheat your family, there’s always another afternoon.
- This value allows a sustainable pace
- Ex. He always says no to a Saturday night service because it would be too much for his team and him personally. “I was commanded to love my family, not love the church.”
- Healthy people are attracted to an organization with a sustainable pace
- Unhealthy people want to speed it up.
- The first day on the job he tells his employees that “you cheat me, cheat the church. Do not cheat your family.”
- "Never violate the principles of God to gain or maintain the blessings of God"
- Create a culture where people feel free to cheat the church to love their family.
- God may do something great because there is no way they can take credit for it ('cause Andy’s only working 45 hours a week).
- Question: Who or what feels cheated by you?
- The question is ultimately, who are you going to trust? You or God?
- For business, what will make or break your career is not how many hours your work. It is things that you have no control over: the market, your industry, who you meet, etc. You are just as dependent on things that you cannot control as I am in ministry.