Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

books

Top Quotes on Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

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As many of you know, this year I’ve committed to reading/listening to as much of Timothy J. Keller as possible (click here to learn more about the books I’m reading/listening to and why).

I likely won’t do this for every Keller book I read/listen to, but Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters was so incredibly rich, that for personal learning purposes, I wanted to revisit the book and pull out the quotes that punched me in the face. On a few of them, I’ll add some commentary.

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A Year (or Two) to Study Timothy Keller

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I’ve discovered that if I’m not reading, I’m not learning. And if I’m not learning, I’m not growing. And if I’m not growing, I have no right to be leading.

This was the opening line to an article I wrote a couple years ago on why everyone should be reading multiple books at the same time.

With the number of books I now listen to on Audible (get 2 FREE audiobooks), and the number of podcasts I am subscribed to, the only thing I’d add to that quote (a couple years later) is the word listening.

I’ve discovered that if I’m not reading or listening, I’m not learning.

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As a discipline, I typically read and listen pretty broadly (there are five categories I generally stick to) in addition to my daily Bible reading. However, this year, I wanted to try something different.

I’m going to cut down the volume of reading/listening that I do in other areas to focus on a specific person.

In years past, Lesslie Newbigin has been that guy for me. In the area of missiology and missional life, he is the one who has most informed my thinking and practice. I’m not about to abandon him, but I did want to spend a year (or two) going deep into the theology, thinking, practice, and disciplines of another individual—Timothy Keller.

From a distance, I’ve always respected him. In fact, I’ve led multiple groups through his excellent Reason for God book and small group study. However, a couple months ago, when I met him in person through a leadership event that Ed Stetzer and I convene twice a year (CPLF), I was blown away.

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Unity vs Uniformity: A Key Issue for Urban Ministry

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urbanministry

Is your mission to fulfill God’s purpose? Or is it your fame within God’s purposes?

This is a valid question for every Christian leader, but as Dhati Lewis states in his book, Among Wolves: Disciple-Making in the City, it’s especially important for leaders in the urban context.

What is Urban?

As sociologists Gottdiener and Hutchinson explain,

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, more than 3 billion persons—about half of the world’s population—lived in urban areas. By 2030, this number is expected to increase from 3 to more than 5 billion persons—some 60 percent of the total world population. This will be the first urban century in human history.

In the face of this emerging reality, Dhati and his team—through the church he’s planted, and the ministry he leads—have developed a strategy for indigenous disciple-making in the urban context. They’ve done this by embracing both density and diversity in the city context, and by creating a culture of effective disciple-making.

By 2030, 60 percent of the world is expected to live in urban areas.

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Urban ministry is not the same thing as inner city ministry to the homeless.

Ministry to the homeless that happens in the inner city is definitely urban, but there are other dimensions that must be taken into account. For example, when a neighborhood is undergoing gentrification, you’ll have a ton of socioeconomic diversity.

Extreme poverty can be right beside extreme wealth.

For example, a family who has owned their house for generations may be forced out of their gentrifying neighborhood because they can’t pay the rising property taxes. Sure they might make a lot on the sale of their home, but where will they move? Their life and community are right there…and it has been there for decades. Is that fair just because some developer wants to build condos and make a quick buck?

Complex issues like gentrification and the mixing of socioeconomic classes are one of the many reasons Dhati defines urban as a combination of two words: density and diversity.

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Questions to Find Your Calling

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calling

“If time and money were no object, what would you do with your life?”

I forget who first asked me that question, but when they did, it was a defining moment for me. Well, it eventually became a defining moment for me. In the moment, it was just plain annoying.

I didn’t want to do the hard work of thinking. I wanted someone just to tell me what my plot in life was. I wanted someone to tell me what I was good at, so that I could just do that, and be done with it. I wanted to copy what made others successful, hoping that following their paths would do the same for me.

Boy, am I ever glad someone asked me that question. It’s what has partially catapulted me down the road to where I am today and the deep honor and privilege I have to serve pastors and church leaders.

I often return to what Sun Tzu, the Chinese general, military strategist, and author of The Art of War wrote. Let me paraphrase him,

If you know your enemy, you’ll win half of the battles. But when you know yourself, you’ll win the other half. [1]

Just imagine the implications if we spent as much time discovering the unique ways that God has wired, gifted, talented, and called us, as we do reading biographies, copying the “successful,” and mimicking models? Investing in yourself is time never wasted.

Investing in yourself is time never wasted.

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The Power of the Right Questions

I love what Peter Drucker wrote about the importance of questions,

Answers are important; you need answers before you need action. But the most important thing is to ask…questions.

In order to find your calling in life, take a moment and prayerfully answer the following questions from my friend Todd Wilson’s new book, More: Find Your Personal Calling and Live Life to the Fullest Measure:

  1. Am I willing to move and go wherever God wants me to go?
  2. Am I willing to work with whomever God wants me to work?
  3. Am I willing to go whenever God asks me to go?
  4. Am I willing to do whatever God asks me to do, regardless of consequences?
  5. How can I expect God to send me and use me if I’m not really willing to go? [2]

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Leading Change in the Church

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Conal Gallagher
Conal Gallagher

One of my favorite things to do is to help churches create alignment and momentum within their staff and leadership to move their church towards multiplication. In order to do just that, change needs to happen. There’s no other way around it.

Unfortunately, most pastors and leaders struggle with change management. This is because many forget to think through who all and what all is going to be affected by this change. As a result, people are overlooked, feelings get hurt, and easy wins are lost. Inevitably this results in unnecessary conflict that could have and should have been avoided.

Your mighty plans for change are then lost in the mire of relational trouble and politics. Nothing changes. Your church stays on the same course. And the next time you try to change something, you experience even more opposition and skepticism than ever before.

If only there were an easy step-by-step process to guide people through leading and managing change in the church.

Leading Change

John Kotter’s 8-Step Process outlined in Leading Change has heavily influenced the way that I process, think through, and lead change. I’ve implemented his 8-steps through precarious times and important shifts in churches, like when I helped my previous church make the shift to becoming more missional.

Here are his 8-steps, as now updated in his recent book, Accelerate:

  • Step 1: Create a Sense of Urgency
  • Step 2: Build a Guiding Coalition
  • Step 3: Form a Strategic Vision and Initiatives
  • Step 4: Enlist a Volunteer Army
  • Step 5: Enable Action by Removing Barriers
  • Step 6: Generate Short-Term Wins
  • Step 7: Sustain Acceleration
  • Step 8: Institute Change

Leading Change in the Church

These 8-steps are a proven system for change management and they can certainly be contextualized for use in the church, which I’ve personally done, but it’s definitely not a perfect fit.

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