Stop trying to be number 1!
You should be better than that!
My friends at churchrelevance.com have compiled a list of the “Top 22 Churches in America”. I know that “everyone” loves lists…but I’ll once again go on the record as someone who is NOT a fan of church lists (in particular) and I will do my best to explain why.
I have a great deal of respect for Kent at churchrelevance.com and am confident that his effort is designed to help other churches be more successful in their mission. He says, “I find lists valuable in helping me to know which churches are worth studying.”
What concerns me is that these lists are often given far more credibility than they deserve and consequently influence churches to a greater degree than is appropriate. Here are my words of caution to those of you attempting to study or learn from the lists.
- ALL of these lists are simply trying to recognize something that happened last year or in some cases even later than last year (as in THE PAST)
- As fast as this world is changing churches should NOT be looking to last year’s methods/ideas to reach today’s culture. 2006 is not 2007 (February is not March)
- Though some leaders will study what these churches do and use it as a springboard for new ideas for the future…most will attempt to do exactly the same thing except this time a year or two later…what I call “lemming leadership”
- I still see thousands of churches trying their hardest to become like the #1 church of 1995 only to find out that the world has changed by the time they get there.
- I hear from several church leaders that it takes their church a long time to embrace new changes (sometimes as long as 5 years). If that is true for you…I suggest you point your churches’ trajectory at what the church of 2012 looks like.
Please. Please. Please!! Seek what God would have YOU do and don’t aim to be the #1 church of 2006 (It’s already 2007).
Visit 
Thanks so much for blogging. I have gleaned so much reading your thoughts and insights. As a new church planter, I find lots of help and encouragement in what you write. As far as lists, you are on my top 10…grins.
{applause}
And you bring up a related, but to me equally interesting point…
How does LifeChurch.tv “measure” it’s health? What are the key indicators to which you look to identify health or not-so-health?
Many churches seem to measure growth and do so with numbers related to attendance, membership, conversions/baptisms, etc.
Are there some other paradigms out there for determining if a local gathering of Christ followers are hitting the mark (what is the right mark)?
This is a very interesting take. I love the idea of aggregating the ideas on the 7 lists. It added a perspective that was missing on any single list. At the same time, you make some really important points here! The observation that many churches are aiming at becoming the #1 church of 1995 is dead on. The obvious challenge…how to anticipate where things are actually going and move in that direction!
Thanks for an insightful post!
mark
I totally agree with your “lemming leadership” theory, and expand on it this way. What makes these churches the most successful churches in nation? I would say that these churches are the most progressive churches in the nation, and that is what makes them successful. You can’t learn to be progressive by looking at other churches. To become progressive you first thing you do is get the best, most creative, excited for lead other people to God people you can find and hire them. Then you tell them to go and give them the freedom to be progressive and creative. That is how you become a successful/progressive/creative church.
Craig…sorry for the delay in responding. Great question.
On the objective side…we have to use “metrics”. We measure a whole lot more than attendance, commitments to Christ and giving…things like volunteer show-up percentages and mission trip participation, etc.
On the subjective side…several of central staff are visiting campuses and interacting with our campus teams and the people at the campus each weekend to get a more intangible feel of how things are going. Our campus team are interacting with people before and after each experience who have just committed their life to Christ…the stories are amazing and helpful in understanding what God is doing inside of people.
I don’t know if that is great answer to your great question, but it is simple way of describing some of what we look at.
The first thing I thought of when i read your post…I bet they are number one…
Its ok to be number one…it gives us something to beat…
