This is the guy I've always wanted to be…out there on the edge of the cliff, looking out at the horizon to see what's coming. I never wanted to be like the boxer, backed up into the corner taking blows and only being able to defend himself against the stuff coming his way.
I guess that's why I've always liked 1 Chronicles 12:32. Chapter 12 is pretty much a list of men who fought with David and just a quick word about them or what they were good at. In verse 32 it says that the men of Issachar understood the times and knew what Israel should do.
What a great goal…to understand the times and know what to do. As a marketer or a minister…its a must. Otherwise you'll get kicked to the curb as out of touch and irrelevant, unable to reach the very people you are supposed to be reaching.
So…how can you be the one person in the next staff meeting that really understands these times? In a day where most of us feel much more like the cornered boxer than the guy in the crow's nest, how can you understand what's happening and put yourself in a place to succeed?
Well…there's an adage that folks have used to predict the weather for centuries, "Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." I know this simple saying helped me plenty of times at camp! Sailors had to study the weather carefully and become adept at predicting it because their lives often depended on it.
The same is true of us. If we want to understand the times and stave off irrelevance we must become students of the early cultural indicators. The media, politics, advertising, the church, all in their own way give us clues as to what's important in our culture. The voices in the arts and entertainment industries have often been pre-cursors to things on the horizon. In their own way, Bob Dylan, Madonna and Eminem were all voices of their generations and heralded their own "new days."
So…what do the following things tell you about today's culture and how you can reach them with your message?
- the growth of Facebook
- the popularity of the Toyota Prius
- the election of Barak Obama
- the rise of the mega-church
- the fall of the mega-ministry
- the popularity of the Twilight book and movie series
- the high ratings of American Idol
Remember…you've got to be a student of this stuff. It might be like algebra…you may not like it, but you've got to learn it. And once you are able to allow this stuff to teach you, you'll be able to make better decisions for your organization or ministry–you'll be the one in the room who will understand the times and know what to do.
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