It’s been 4 months since I’ve shared on here. 4 months of family, of rest, of equal parts confusion and clarity; 4 months of traveling the country to spend time with different churches—helping them understand their reputations in their cities and doing the important work of coaching their leadership into a place of health for the season ahead.    I’ve spent time with Acts 29 churches in Texas, megachurches in the midwest, church plants in Long Beach California, and most recently a 150 year old congregation that had 1,000 people in their hay-day, now dwindled down to 47 faithful elderly folks with $2m in the bank, wanting to relaunch a progressive church to serve millennials in a downtown in Michigan.    As you can imagine, I’ve been exposed to all sorts of different flavors of God; different ministry philosophies; different “callings” these pastors feel like they’ve had; different hills people are willing to die on, different theologies they’re holding with an open hand… Some are working to “save their cities” from sexual immorality, that “the gays” have a stronghold there and that it’s their job to storm the gates and take it all back for Jesus; others opening their auditoriums to house homeless LGBT youth and support single mothers…    It’s been a wild ride. This year alone, I’ve been in every corner of the country, and sat with 20 year old aspiring mega-church pastors starting in their parent’s living room, as well as accomplished, tenured pastors that have seen the rise and fall of a dozen fads of the American church… I’m grateful for the perspective, and the wisdom that comes from that breadth of relationship.   There are 3 things I’ve discerned from these churches… 3 things necessary for the success of their church… Whether starting from scratch, turning a mega-church with thousands on board, or reviving a dying congregation.    Those 3 things are: Honesty, Hope and Courage.    Honesty is essential in diagnosis. Everyone wants to be honest. They want to share openly. They want authenticity and accuracy and transparency, but very few are humble enough to get there. They either have their ego obscuring big blind spots, or their ambition doesn’t allow them to see their present reality plainly. Whatever it is, a brutal honesty is essential. And the more brutal the better. Diagnosis isn’t a time for spin or reframing or coddling. You don’t need flowery language there. You don’t want your doctor to walk back into the room and read you a poem; or worse use long, hard to pronounce theological words that obscure clarity. You want plain english, the whole truth; a clear picture of what you’re up against.    But it doesn’t stop there, because we’re not defeatist. There’s a reason we’ve chosen to pay attention. We believe that the future is worth fighting for, don’t we? Or else we wouldn’t even be engaged in the thing in the first place. We either have hope itself brimming somewhere under the surface, and hope is an incredible fuel of motivation, or we WANT to have hope… both are valid. Both are respectable. If you’re honest about hope waning and KNOWING that you need it, but feeling like you’re running on empty, you’re able to find it again. You just need the right people to cast vision for the future, and put a few puzzle pieces together and you’re there. There’s some reason you haven’t thrown in the towel entirely, and it’s either because you’ve got this little reserve of hope you’ve been protecting and ready to use in a moment like this, or you’ve been honest about your lack of hope and you’re ready to receive a few gallons from whoever might be sharing.    Brutal honesty about the diagnosis, a genuine belief that the future is worth fighting for, and lastly, the courage to do something about it.    This is where most everyone falls off the path to meaningful change. The honesty might be there, the vision of a new future filling you with hope… but the courage needed is almost this surprise at the end. It’s almost like people think they just need the first two and that’ll get them there. And then all of a sudden, a bit of opposition pops up, and they back down, or wither, or fade…    Hope is a great initiator, but courage is the sustainer.    Hope is the carb, courage is the protein.   Hope is the kindling to get the fire started, but courage is the stack of wood you’ve got ready to burn over the next 6 months, through thick and thin, sunny days and noreasters alike.    Being in the business of branding, we’re dealing with people’s reputations, and doing the work to change an organizations (or a person’s) reputation isn’t for the faint of heart. It requires some seriously uncomfortable conversations about how people present themselves; character flaws, personality traits that don’t do what someone might think they’ll do…    But the only clients we see successful are those with courage. The courage to implement the change. The courage to stand up in front of their congregations or board of directors or shareholders or employees or family members—own their mistakes, apologize, cast vision for the change ahead, and then march forward with as many other people that have the courage to join them.    It always results in at least 10% of people jumping ship… People that don’t get it. Or people that get it but don’t want it. People that are tired or scared or stuck.  People that like things the way they are and don’t think changing anything is necessary. And that’s ok. In every healthy business, every year, 10% of your clientele falls off and a new 10% show up. There’s always turn-over amongst employees and clients and customers… The church is no different. If we’re honest, our circle of friends is no different either. I’ve had some of the closest friends of the last 10 years of my life simply disappear over the last year. People I did ministry with, laughed with, cried with, just completely distance themselves from me because of this whole “coming out of the theological closet” thing. And that’s ok—it breaks my heart, but if that’s what they feel like they need to do to protect themselves, I understand.   The courage is always the kicker. And the courage season can be lonely. And that’s ok… because the work is worth it. The change taking place in the world is worth it. Changing constructs that have been handed down from generation to generation isn’t easy. No one said it would be.    Changing how people think about church, or your product, or your personality isn’t easy. In fact, it requires consistency over the long haul. Reputations are brutal to break in people’s minds. In fact, some of the traumas that people have suffered by the Church may never be fully healed and rectified on this side of heaven. But we can begin painting a new picture.    Anything worth doing is worth doing well… and it’s about time we all find something to be unapologetically passionate about… something that will outlive us when we’re gone. Or else, we’re just another consumer, taking more than we give, wasting more than we create…    A few questions for you to sit with…    Maybe you’ve identified some areas of your work or life or personal relationships that clearly aren’t healthy… What would it look like to get really, brutally honest about it? What would it look like to invite someone else into it and help see it from every angle; and give it a proper diagnosis? Not one that will coddle your feelings and keep you stuck, but one that will accurately show the cancer and all of its ugliness?    Or maybe you know what you’re against, and you’ve known for a long time, but the hope hasn’t been there. What would it look like to actually ALLOW yourself to feel hope in that area of your life? Because that’s all that needs to happen… you need to ALLOW yourself to feel hopeful. You need to tell your lizard brain that it’s safe and that it’s ok to get your hopes up and actually believe for a minute that things could change for the better, and you might actually land that dream job, or change this unhealthy church, or get your body back into sustainable health… What would that look like? Do you think you could do that?    And lastly, knowing that all the honesty in the world, and all the hope someone could muster isn’t enough to make any meaningful change in the world… It requires courage. Bravery in the face of fear, in the face of rejection, in the face of unpopularity, in the face of discouragement. Bravery isn’t being unafraid, it’s being well acquainted with fear and doing it anyways… because it’s worth it. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, but if it was easy, somebody else would’ve done it already. There’s a reason you’re in the position you’re in, with the thoughts you’re having, with the passion you have for this thing… Maybe you’re the only person God is stirring this thing in, and you’re exactly where He wants you.   Maybe you’re the person to do the hard thing that everyone knows needs to be done. Maybe that’s your job. Maybe that’s the reason this sits so heavily on you and why you’re so passionate about it. Maybe that’s what we’ve over-spiritualized with this word “calling.” Maybe you’re the one called to it. And maybe you have all the honesty, hope and courage someone needs to make it happen.    I believe in you. Make it a good day.