Yesterday I told you about a little known book that could change everything.

The premise: what if our physical wastes weren’t negatives, what if they were positive?

In my odd way of thinking, the entire book made me think about faith communities.

Lots and lots of people have had experience with a church or with christians or something like that. There are just parts of church life that are weird and awkward and draining. Too often, I think those in churches soldier on  through the negatives in pursuit of a “goal.” In reality, I think Cradle to Cradle teaches us that there needed be any negatives or things we “just do.”

First example: volunteers. How often do we church workers – no matter how hard we try – simply see volunteers as the vehicle for our ministry rather than our co-workers in ministry? How often do i neglect my adult volunteers in order to connect with teenagers? How often do the adult volunteers feel like they are there to help me put on my show.

Another example: coffee. Instead of just getting the cheapest or standard coffee to sell/give out at your church on Sunday mornings, why not support the world and buy some coffee here.

Another glaring example: buildings. Instead of  draining the congregation of 3 million dollars for a building – or a bridge – why  not share a space. You could share with a club, a bar (bars are RARELY open on Sunday morning), a coffee shop, a small business, or another church (read here how Holy Trinity and RockHarbor are sharing space).

I just read through The (un)Offical Church Staff Manual: Youth Pastor Edition by Mark Riddle. While there is enough humorous material to make any youth worker smile – even after a the 10th reprimanding by the church custodian, there is a deep and heavy truth laced between the quips and jokes.

Here’s a brief example:

How to Crash and Burn as a Youth Pastor in Less Than Five Years

1. Believe that you’re a rock star – THE youth ministry expert in the church.
2. Take responsibility for everything that happens to, with, and for the kids in your church.
3. Completely ignore theology and its role in what you do week in and week out.
4. Spend time regularly in relationship-building adn one-on-one prayer with someone of the opposite gender.
5. Exclude, alienate, talk against, and look down on your students’ parents. Never to anything that actually supports parents in their ministry to their children.
6. Send anonymous hate mail to your pastor from your church computer.
7. Believe you ahve all the resources you need to lead a youth ministry at the age of 25. Its also helpful to believe that 20-somethings hold the most important and effective gifts for youth ministry.
8. Believe that you’re a wiser and more gifted leader than your pastor.
9. Never take a vacation or days off.
10. Feel surprised every time something goes wrong, because you believe there will actually be a time when everything always goes smoothly.

This is just a list from one page. The book is well worth the $5 bucks it costs. Great buy.

I have a personal trainer. He puts me through grueling workouts and – by the end – I pretty much dispise him. He makes me do more when I think I can’t. He pushes me to finish the workout even though my heart near failure and my vision is blurry (i’m not exagerating). At the end of yesterday’s workout I asked him, “Do people ever just get pissed off at you?” He replied, “Yeah, all the time. I have one women who I train who always calls me ‘a&%hole’.”

He went on: “I mean, I know I’m making people work hard. They’re paying me – voluntarily – for results. So that’s what I’m pushing them towards. They can quit whenever they want.”

They he said something that struck me so deeply: “I come in here everyday and see people jogging or doing the eliptical and you know what…they never change. You know why they never change? Because it’s easy.”

How many times, do those of us who are part of a church body – slink back from really challenging people?

Think about this you paid church staff: People are vountarily paying you. Just like my personal trainer, they’re paying you (and me) for results. They want a pastor. They want to be lead like sheep. Yes, sometimes they’ll complain. Heck, they’ll even refuse to do the workout you’re giving them. But ultimately, no one is forcing them to be a part of your church.

So the challege is to push. Push harder. Push deeper. Push them to the extrememes. Ask them to do hard things. They may complain, but that’s what they really want.

Scott Williams pumped out a baller list called “10 signs you’re a bad leader.” Here is an exerpt, head to Scott’s blog to check out the rest:

1. they are not willing to fail.
2. they only talk and never listen.

I think I’ve made a list similar to this in the past, but I’m going to do it again. Buy these books. Read them. Eat them. Absorb the nutrients, discard the waste….. OK. That’s enough.

-these books are important to me:

• The Secret Message of Jesus – Some people think McLaren is a heretic, some don’t. Who cares, I think this book rocks. Changed my faith.
• How People Grow – Cloud and Townsend are golden. They write great stuff that is SO applicable if your ministry is about helping people grow. Every minister and small group leader ought to read this gem.
• Youth Ministry 3.0 – Marko writes a manifesto for the future of youth ministry. Sign me up.
• Sex God – Rob Bell sets the framework for sexuality and relationships.
• The Great Emergence – Phyllis Tickle paints the past in giant brushstrokes and shows us how faith and culture emerge and change.
• Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry – If you work for Young Life or Youth for Christ, don’t read it. You’ll either quit your job or hate the entire book.
• Wild at Heart – Some people hate this book. I loved it. Read it 3 times.
• Tribes - Seth Godin is golden. Everyone knows it. Deal with it.
• Death by Meeting – This book made me rethink what by beliefs about the “norms” of office life.
• Cradle to Cradle – Every government in the world should make this book a law. Would solve all the environment problems in one swoop. Heaven will look like the cities described in this book.
• Contemplative Youth Ministry – Read this book twice. I wish my ministry looked more like this.
• Your Money or Your Life – A foundational book about understanding money and resources.
• The Total Money Makeover – Dave Ramsey is an icon i look to for so many reasons.