Gut Check

By Eddie Lowen

Pixar”s movie Inside Out is clever. It”s about an 11-year-old girl whose family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. The genius of the film is its vivid and humorous portrayal of the memories, thoughts, and emotions that compete to control the girl”s behavior.

If I had to select one word to capture all three of those elements””memory, thought, and emotion””I”d choose the word instinct.

How good are your instincts? Let me guess: pretty good. As you read my question, you thought, I trust my gut. My instincts are above average.

That”s the problem. Everyone thinks his or her instincts are better than average. I”m not a statistician, but I”m pretty sure it can”t work that way, mathematically! Remember Garrison Keillor”s fictional town, Lake Wobegon, where “all the children are above average”?

Psychologists call this illusory superiority. The Bible calls it pride. One of the distinctive characteristics of the human race is that we trust our instincts way too much. In light of our record (human history), you would think “gut trusting” would be considered foolish.

But then we hear of someone who trusted his or her instincts and won a war, or saved a child, or discovered a cure, or invented an amazing technology. So, it appears to work both ways. Should we trust our instincts or not?

Hard Lessons

My earliest attempts at employing my own ministry instincts were painful. On my very first weekend as a church staff member, I made three bad calls. The good news is I dispersed my ineptitude across several areas of ministry, which may have saved the church.

Error 1: While directing games at a church picnic, I led a game in which the students were challenged to fish pieces of candy out of plate full of syrup with their tongues. It was disastrous on several levels. Girls got syrup on their hair, as their parents watched. Students placed their noses and tongues in syrup where other students had placed their noses and tongues, as their parents watched. Flies and bees gathered to enjoy the syrup, including the syrup on the students. Did I mention that parents were watching?

Error 2: I offered a single mother a ride to the church picnic. Both of us were single, so it wasn”t a problem that we were in a car together. The problem was that it was the early 1980s (before child safety laws) and she decided to nurse the baby. I somehow found a route to the park using all left turns.

Error 3: After leading a hymn that Sunday in church, I offered some theological commentary on the song. It disrupted the flow of our worship gathering. It added several minutes to the service. It was stuffy and stupid.

Other than those three blunders, my first weekend on a church staff was a huge success! My instincts let me down in a big way. Here”s some guidance for evaluating your own.

“¢ The younger you are, the sooner you should ask for input.

When I was a young leader, I was often too eager to prove I didn”t need guidance. I now understand I would have earned greater respect if I had been less threatened by help.

What would have happened if I had called Rob Raynor, a friend and one of the finest student pastors of that era, who was a few miles away at a sister church? He would have told me the syrup game was a bad idea. He would have suggested I take someone with me to pick up the single mom. Rob was a great worship leader, too, so he would have nixed my theological yapping, if I had asked for his input.

Young leaders: rarely will you disappoint a supervisor by asking a question. In fact, asking peers and subordinates will help, too.

“¢ Test the quality of your instincts when everything is not on the line.

There is such a thing as leadership. I”m convinced God distributes the gift of leadership because there are times when someone needs to know what to do, even if he doesn”t know how he knows.

If you”re gifted to lead, there will be moments when you just know that you know. I”m not talking about times when insecurity or ego is driving you to be right. I”m speaking of moments when your heart is humble, but an answer is crystal clear.

If you have that gift, be careful about exercising it when everything is on the line. If a mistake would damage a lot of people or require years of recovery, look for confirmation.

“¢ Assess your instinctive moves from the past.

When you review the gut-level decisions you”ve made in the past, what do you see? What do others see? Disillusioned people? Confusion? Or, do you see people who are glad they followed you?

Not every good decision produces more growth and happy people, but over the course of time, your instincts will be proven either reliable or questionable. The people around you will normally tell you which it is.

By the way, most people have areas of strength in which they tend to make excellent calls, even though they show weakness in other areas. You might need to go with your gut in one realm, while leaning on other people”s instincts in another. We all have a wheelhouse and an outhouse.

“¢ What does the Bible teach?

Several years ago, I would have included this one just out of principle. But years of ministry are reteaching me that the Bible is an unending source of wisdom. Experience is valuable. Giftedness makes a huge difference, but drawing insight from the Bible will enrich everyone around you. Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly.”

 “¢ What will the future me want to be able to say about this decision? 

Solomon begged his son to chase what is wise, rather than what was pleasing at the moment. I frequently tell my young adult son, “Make decisions that your 30-year-old self and your 40-year-old self will congratulate you for making. Make decisions that you wife will thank you for making.”

Weigh your decisions on future scales. In fact, when something has an immediate reward, be skeptical. Be suspicious. We often hear people cite the brevity of life for perspective. That”s biblical thinking. But if God gives you two more years, or 10 more years, or 20 more years, what do you want the future to look like? Lay the foundation for that vision now. Ask the future you what to do.

Eddie Lowen serves as lead minister with West Side Christian Church in Springfield, Illinois, and on Standard Publishing”s Publishing Committee.