The other day someone brought up the name of a person who had left our church. Then they mentioned another person who left. Soon I chimed in about two or three people who had left, and before I knew it, I felt that old familiar sick to the stomach feeling…the feeling of failure.

Thousands of people have become a part of our church over the last 4 years. And, hundreds of people have left our church over the last 4 years.

But just because someone has left your life doesn’t necessarily mean you lost.

Some people leave because their life situation changed, God has work for them to do elsewhere, or their part in the story is simply over.

And even when someone leaves on more negative terms, that doesn’t mean you can’t rejoice in the part of their life that you did impact in a positive way.

I’ve had a few men who served in close proximity to me who ended up really going off the deep end spiritually. Watching the progression of how they left the church, destroyed their marriages, and seemingly gave up on God broke my heart. I did what I could to bring them back. It didn’t work. They’re gone.

I felt like I had lost. Did any of the investments I made in them matter? Was it all for nothing? Was all my preaching, teaching, and praying in vain?

I refuse to see it that way. I’ve just got to believe that God’s Word doesn’t return void, and there may come a day that all the seed I’ve sown will produce a harvest. I won’t let the devil tell me that I’m a loser or a failure because not everyone who is a part of my ministry completes their 180 degree transformation. Even Jesus didn’t have that kind of success rate.

Maybe sometimes God just allows me to help redirect someone back to Him in smaller increments-1 or 2 degrees. That counts for something too. Maybe He won’t always allow me to witness the complete success of someone I’ve invested in.

But if I’m faithful and obedient, my work in the Lord is never in vain.
It’s always a win.

This may be the most random blog entry I’ve written in years.  But here goes.

I have two digital picture frames that are very special to me.  One sits on a coffee table in my living room.  My staff gave it to me.  It scrolls through individual pictures of them.  Along with each picture is a line from one of my sermons or leadership teachings that really impacted them.  I use it to pray for all of them regularly, and to talk to my boys about everyone who works at Elevation.

The other one sits on my desk here at the office.  It has about 200 pictures (wild guess) of the time I spent in Uganda with our lead team last November.  You’d be surprised how much perspective the images in that digital picture frame bring to my day as they rotate through.  For instance, when I’m tempted to feel sorry for myself because our offering totals were kind of low, maybe I see a picture of Pastor Joshua in the slums of Kampala, and remember how he’s trying desperately to build toilets for his village so the kids won’t have to eat food that has been cooked in a place right next to a hole in the ground where they use the bathroom.  And suddenly, I don’t feel so sorry for myself.

I love that picture frame too.
And I’m telling you about both of these picture frames for two different reasons.

First, I highly suggest you get one, fill it with meaningful images, and put it in a place where you can see it all the time.  You’ll love it.

But on a deeper level, I think my digital picture frame is a sort of analogy for the power of the images that we allow to dominate our thinking from moment to moment.  Our minds process an astounding number of images every moment of every day.  Some are conscious, some are subconscious.  Some are positive, some are negative.  Some are real, some are imagined.  Some are rooted in regret, others are filled with future potential.

According to Romans 12:1, we have the God-given ability to renew our minds.  That means we can download new images, concepts, and patterns of thinking, and literally change the way we see the world.

What images are programmed into the digital picture frame of your mind?
Are you consistently setting your mind on things above?
Are you thinking on the things of God?

The images that capture your focus will determine your destiny.
Program them selectively, and give them prominent placement.

I really enjoyed Donald Miller’s most recent book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. It’s all about living a good story.

Here’s one of the most salient points in the book: in order for a story to be interesting, or worthwhile, the main character has to be thrown into the middle of a conflict. These are the parts of our life stories that we’d probably prefer to skip. But they’re also the elements that create significant change and make life meaningful.

I think one of the reasons the whole comparison between storytelling and real life resonated with me is that I consider myself a master storyteller. Not because I’m a preacher and a writer. But because I’m a dad. And when you’re trying to be the best dad ever to preschool boys, you’d better be able to spin a good story.

My boys love my stories. I know just how to get ‘em hooked. I usually start pretty slow, introducing the main character. Typically, he’s a crocodile, pirate, shark, dinosaur, or a little boy named Elijah or Graham. I share some details about said character-nothing too exciting yet-just the basic pertinent stuff-and I wait until it looks like the boys are getting a little fidgety and bored.

Then I hit ‘em with the line that is guaranteed to snap their hyperactive minds back into focus every single time.

“And then, something terrible happened…”

Now I’ve got their attention. The part of the plot that follows is sure to be spellbinding. The dinosaur falls into the chocolate lake of fire and starts to drown. The pirate gets attacked by an alien as big as the moon with 3 heads and teeth made of glass and metal and claws made of tigers.

Etc.

For the rest of the story, the boys are glued. Their eyes are wide, their jaws are dropped, and they can’t get enough.

I actually have to moderate myself. I’ve discovered that the content can quickly drift into the Daddy that’s way too scary realm. I learned this the hard way.

Now, in Daddy’s stories, the hero always wins. I know that’s not always the way it goes in real life. But I’m trying to entertain a four year old and a two year old-not give them nightmares and break their hearts by exposing them to the harsh truths of the real world.

Still, isn’t it interesting that-instinctively-that line: “And then something terrible happened…” is the line that holds our attention-even before we’re 5 years old?

It’s not just the line that makes a good bedtime story. It’s the line that turns our lives into a platform for God to be the hero, save the day, and glorify himself through us.

You’ll probably never look forward to the parts of your life when something terrible happens. I’m not saying that you should.

But when something terrible does happen-and it will-at least you’ll have a story worth telling.

And if you’ll let Jesus finish what He started, it’s going to be a good one.

Before I became a pastor, I did pretty normal work. I spent the majority of my days making phone calls, sending emails, and completing tasks.

As Elevation Church has grown over the last 4 years, the work has gotten weirder and weirder at every step along the way. The tasks required for me to lead at a new level aren’t always obvious. They’re hard to measure. They can feel ethereal and abstract.

But learning to do weird work is a key to seeing uncommon results.

For example, I spend a lot of my time during the week alone … thinking. And it’s not a 5 or 6 good ideas per minute kind of thinking. Often, it’s a grueling, nebulous, circular problem solving process that won’t result in a resolution until an unspecified time in the future. It’s weird work, but it has to be done.

Another major portion of my time is spent preparing my sermon each week. And to be honest, I probably have the fundamentals of preaching dialed in to the point that I could fill up my 40 minute time slot with minimal preparation. After all, when is a sermon really done? I can’t tell you that. But I do know that there’s nothing more important on my weekly to do list than grappling with what God wants me to say, and letting it permeate every part of me. There’s no 3 step procedure that I can follow to arrive at that place. It’s weird work. Maybe the weirdest work out there. But the weirdness of the work is directly correlated to the significance of its unique value.

Read that last sentence again.

Anybody can do normal work. It’s the weird work that separates the men from the boys. The weird work is the work that births visions, inspires movements, and cultivates creative breakthrough.

Somebody’s got to do the weird work. Have the hard conversations. Find the hidden solutions. Challenge the cultural norms.

It may as well be you.