Opening the window for the 5-Minute Expert

No matter what vocation you work in, there will always be people who are experts in a certain segment of the job.

Maybe they’ve been doing it for a long time.

Maybe they’ve figured out an innovative way to do the tasks that are required.

Maybe they’ve stumbled upon a way which connects with your clientele.

No matter, most people in your workplace will have an expert niche.

A good leader looks for opportunities for that expertise to be shared.

That is why it’s important to open up periodic five-minute tutorials.

A snapshot of what works.

Hopefully, everyone in your workplace will be honest enough to realise that they haven’t worked it all out yet, respectful enough to be able to listen to a colleague for five minutes and supportive enough to be willing to try a suggestion by someone more effective then they are.

Within the church setting, it should be a no-brainer.

God has given us each different sets of spiritual gifts to use for Him.

This will shape the kind of ministry we have.

Thus, this will enable to be stronger in certain areas.

Since the body of Christ isn’t a millipede (where everyone is an identical leg), we should be more than open to glean from the wisdom of others.

Within the school context, the variety of years/classes/subjects we teach will naturally enable us to develop in specific areas.

Since so much of teacher life can involve you being placed outside your preferred context, surely hearing from those who are more effective in these areas would be advantageous.

What geography teacher (who needs to teach junior history) wouldn’t want to learn from a history colleague about effective source analysis?

What history teacher (who needs to teach junior geography) wouldn’t want strategies to effectively teach geography skills?

All it needs to take is five regular minutes…

The message that must emerge from the banter

I love my staff room.

One of the best things about it is the quality banter.

One of the common sounds amongst my colleagues is laughter.

Or at least a good chuckle.

But, the banter can get vocationally dark.

We can sarcastically banter about students, administration, marking, assessments  and preparation.

As the largest faculty in our school, we also have a lot of prac students.

This term alone, we have had a half dozen university students join us.

Whenever the banter about out job is supercharged - and bent towards the negatives of the job - I will regularly chirp in with an important disclaimer.

We love our jobs.

We enjoy teaching.

We like (the vast majority) of our students.

And young impressionable teachers need to hear this amongst the banter.

They need to hear our passion amongst the snark.

They need to sense the enjoyment in the middle of the humorous grumbling.

As you are in a profession and workplace long-term , you can - from the outside - appear and sounded cynical or jaded.

Even if you’re not.

And, young trainees must realise that underneath the banter is passion.

How should a youth group or church respond to a traumatic event on the other side of the world?

Event.

Reporting.

Reaction.

Reaction to the reaction.

This is the modern news-cycle.

So, how should a church respond to a newsworthy event?

Most of the time, if the event is detected from the congregation personally or geographically, I don’t think there needs to be much more than an acknowledgement.

Name the tragedy. 

Pray about the event.

But, business should proceeded like normal.

No radical change of plans is required.

Of course, this won’t be the case if it’s an event like 911.

Then, all your plans get tossed into the air.

But, not every event is 911.

Most aren’t.

For example, the death of Charlie Kirk isn’t a schedule destroyer if you’re in Australia.

Now, I write that without the intention of offending anyone.

Yes, his death was horrific.

Absolutely, his murder was newsworthy.

But, his assassination must be held in perspective. 

Not one person will have known Charlie Kirk personally.

Not one person will have gone to one of his events.

And, if we change our plans because of a disconnected event on the other side of the world, then we lessen the impact for nearer tragedies.

Personal tragedies.

Community shaping events.

These should redefine what you are doing.

Then, you need to provide more than just an acknowledgement and an additional prayer point.

You need to provide support.

Physical support. 

Emotional support.

Spiritual support.

You need to provide space.

Physical space. 

Emotional space.

Spiritual space.

You need to reinforce the basis of the gospel.

Goodness.

Trust.

Grace.

These are the ways to respond to tragedy.

And, if your going to set aside your original plans, these are the pillars which you build the new plans around - support, space and the gospel.

No, I will not pray FOR Charlie Kirk

Now, I didn’t write this headline because I want to be ruthlessly cancelled by a pitch-fork wielding horde online.

Frankly, I have no strong opinions on Charlie Kirk personally.

Had I heard of him prior to his death? Absolutely. 

He would regularly appear in my social feeds.

Some… maybe even many… of the things he said I would softly agree with.

Other things I’d push back upon.

If nothing else, he was an excellent debater and engaged in public discourse.

Sometimes his message would be clouded by his selected medium.

But, no, I will not pray FOR Charlie Kirk.

I don’t care what any hashtag may want me to do.

I won’t pray for someone who is dead.

Why?

Because I wouldn’t know what to pray for.

I don’t need to intercede for the dead. There time is over.

I certainly don’t need those who have passed to intercede for me. Nothing and no one is required to link myself with God beyond Jesus.

But, I will pray ABOUT Charlie Kirk.

For his widow.

For his kids.

For those who witnessed his murder.

For America.

These are things to pray for.

For, Christianity is a religion of the living, not the deceased.

Is it better to follow up a stinker or a banger?

Every Sunday falls seven days after a Sunday and, in another seven days, another Sunday will roll around.

This is the cycle of church work.

This Sunday’s sermon follows the last Sunday’s  sermon… Which will be followed by next Sunday’s.. And the following… And the following…

So, is it better to follow a stinker of a sermon or a banger?

I’ve done both.

I’ve got no doubt I’ve put those I worked with in the same position.

If course, usually, it won’t be a concern.

Most sermons are… just fine.

Not extraordinarily fantastic.

Not tremendously awful.

Just the typical-calibre sermon that gets delivered 45 times a year.

But, what if you are stepping up the to the pulpit the Sunday after a preaching outlier?

Would you rather be following up a great sermon or one which should be quickly forgotten?

Now, usually, you won’t provide a judgement on the quality of the preceding sermon (especially if it was below par), but the preceding homily-serving will inevitably impact your sermon.

You can build off the back of a memorable sermon.

You can let last Sunday’s sermon lay the platform for you to launch off.

This is the best way to follow up a banger of a predecessor.

Or, you can provide an additional point if you thought the last sermon was a bit thin and then launch into your new offering.

For the sake of your congregation, you’d rather follow on from a good-to-great sermon, but there will inevitably be Sundays when the last pitch from the pulpit was  more of a strike-out than a home-run.

Nonetheless, you can (and should) be faithful, so the person who follows you will be doing so from a firm foundation.