Who Cares What You’re Not?
While traveling, I listened to podcasts from three of the most well respected pastors in the U.S. All three started by explaining what their church was not. I’ll paraphrase what they said.
Pastor One: “We never water down our message. We don’t preach a seeker sensitive message.”
Pastor Two: “How many of you have been to boring, dead, traditional churches? Churches like that shouldn’t even exist! I’ve got some news for you! We’re not your grandma’s church!”
Pastor Three: “We don’t preach topical-feel-good, entertainment sermons at this church. Most churches are into tickling ears and making people feel good about themselves, but that’s not us!”
My Rant: I’m thrilled you are passionate about your style of teaching and church! It is very likely a true reflection of your gifts and calling. I pray God blesses your church in every way.
But don’t build your church on what you’re not!
If you do, you’re training the people at your church to believe your way is best and everyone else’s is inferior. Who cares what you’re not?! Be who you are without making others look like they are less.
Visit 
I couldn’t agree more, but for different reasons. We should celebrate our diversity, not ridicule others because they are different. It seems to me that attacking the “dead” churches or churches that are different is simply attacking the body of Christ. If a church is “dead”, then let’s see if they want some support, if they are different, why not look at what they do better than we do and incorporate that into what we do. The claim that any one church is the best, or doing things the best way, strikes me as arrogant and deeply unhelpful to other churches.
Rant Ends.
Why do we do that? Insecurity? I have caught myself saying similar phrases. Great rant.
Wow, this was a much needed post. I agree with you Travis. Thanks Craig, this post hits everyone no matter what kind of church you are… or aren’t.
I appreciate the concise and directness of your rant… well said.
Great thoughts Craig! Welcome back! Is it an attitude of superiority? is it a justification for lack of growth (after all those who are growing must be doing something wrong)? Is it insecurity as Travis suggested? maybe all the above? I remember reading someone saying, “Find the 4 or 5 things you do best and focus on those.” (some author if “IT”) Why focus on what we are not or don’t do when we can present a far more positive approach? My .02 worth.
hurts my heart to read church saying they are better than other churches. what happened to the Nation of Christianity? thanks for not knocking other churches.
If as a church we are confident in our unique calling then we don’t need to compare, lift up or justify the unique calling we have. Our confidence should come from Him. If we lack the confidence then maybe we are not following Him or we need to get at His feet to renew our vision for what He is doing through our church.
Last evening I had a family member criticize the fact that we are a part of the Life Church Network. This person went on to say that all the people he asked would never come to a church that “showed a video” on Sunday morning. I got defensive and started telling him why our way was “the way”. I gave all the facts and stats. I bragged on all the big churches that used video teaching. I should have just said, we are what God has called us to be, He is working and we will do this as long as he wants us to do this.
Why do we think we need to debate when we simply need to lift up Jesus in our unique God given way?
Thank you! We like to build ourselves up by putting other people down. It really is childish and unbecoming the love for our brothers and sisters that should be a reflection of our commitment to Christ.
Thanks Craig and Rob for laying it down this morning about one of the very things that divides us and keeps us from reaching the crowd who needs a relationship with Christ more than ever. We all know we need less division and more God lead teamwork.
I think the reward of celebrating who we are is “focus”, we can really zero in on who we are and how to be better at it.
When people focus on who they aren’t all their energy goes into expanding that never ending list…and so they don’t really have an identity, just a non-identity…if that makes any sense.
Travis, I’m guessing we do this for different reasons… insecurities, justification, pride, defensiveness etc.) Like Bill said, it might be for all those reasons.
I used to do it all the time. I try to watch myself closely to avoid making any other ministries look less important.
Bottom Line: Would a person who is full of the fruit of the spirit and inspired by the Spirit of God EVER (publicly) say anything negative about another part of the body of Christ?
Nice - thanks for challenging us all to keep the forward vision and unity central. Our ministry serves very small churches helping them use media to accomplish ‘their’ mission. Those that read this blog may feel these churches are not getting ‘it’ (love the book by the way). But guess what? Most of the pastors of these churches are as passionate about reaching their community as ‘it’ churches are - they just express it in a different way - and in doing so, reach people that cannot relate to our ‘it’ churches. The leaders at these churches are in the trenches too - counseling, visiting the hospital, leading people to truth, taking hits from the ungodly. Reminder: The Body of Christ is very diverse - and we should also be about how we can assist the ‘less-it’ churches in our communities.
Amen…Amen…Amen!!!!!
Scott R. I have actually encountered leaders in the past 5 years who believe that God has LITERALLY “called” them to be “fruit checkers” of “their” church body…and they truly believe God has given them authority to judge even their own body….so sad…The good news…God IS who he says HE is!
YES! YES! YES!
In addition to this, the church is being known for what we are AGAINST and not what we are FOR. This may be a bit off topic, but we tell the world and church what we are NOT and what are AGAINST. Maybe if we told the world and the church what we ARE and what we are FOR we could make a bigger difference. I get emails about what we are boycotting and complaining about -and I’m all for making a difference and making our voice heard - but how about something positive.
Back to your post - sounds like those pastors you quoted are lifting up thier churches by putting down other churches. Not good, not good at all.
thanks
Great post, Craig. Very timely, too, considering many conversations I hear down here in the south (SC) as older churches are sharing towns with newer, and often bigger, churches.
I’d say that the “we’re not that” comes from human nature (of course) in that we have a hard time saying that something else is “good” without feeling that our stuff is “bad”. It always seems to be a zero sum game to most folks.
Now, I’m not saying “all roads lead to Heaven no matter what.” There is only one Gospel of Jesus Christ. The content doesn’t change. There are, however, any number of delivery methods because we’re not all wired the same way.
Peace.
[...] Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor at what is perhaps the U.S.’s most innovative church, LifeChurch.tv, recently posted a great blog post speaking to pastors around the nation. It’s worth reading…. Who Care’s What You’re Not? [...]
This is great!
I’m guessing this comes out of some serious heart work that God did in you, because passion for unity in the church isn’t natural, it comes from God.
I think this issue is a huge trap for pastors because in my experience the easiest way to create a hero is to identify a villain. Unfortunately, many of us, myself included, have identified the wrong villain.
Thanks for this post!
Great post Craig! I have to admit that I have also fallen prey to this attitude out of my anger toward religion. Very simply, it’s allowing ourselves to become what we say we are not. The only fix I have found is to continually keep my focus on Christ. When I take my focus off of Him my mouth always does stupid things!
Great post. However, to some degree it is ok to discern the differences between churches. Once it becomes a point used to criticize and tear down other churches is when it becomes unhealthy.
Paul addressed divisions like this in 1 Corinthians 1:10, 17 saying “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
It’s ok to be different from the other church, but we much remember what’s truly important, the message of Jesus Christ.
Great word! in OKC, where Lifechurch is..I love the spirit of cooperation and mutual love that I see many churches and pastors having for each other, working together to build up and encourage each other and the body of Christ..is this true in other towns?..I hope so but I know it often is not..I love the heart of my church to never speak negatively of other churches or ministries..thank you Lifechurch and Craig for modeling this!
@brandonduff my family including me said we are not going to watch a message on video..now, talk about loving where the Lord has placed us..love the vision and what we are about..we’re in!..love your words, “we are what God has called us to be, He is working and we will do this as long as he wants us to do this”..blessings!
Great post! I do disagree with pastors who keep on preaching about stuff they are intimated to embrace. I pastor a traditional church who is making the transition to be progressive. I’m not into riding a dead horse, but sometimes all that horse needs is a fresh drink of water!
“Popeye Style” - I like that, Scott Williams!
Well said Craig! I too listen to many podcasts… it fires me up when I hear messages on how the churches are pushing back the gates of hell! But it saddens me to hear messages on church pushing back other churches. Keep up the great work! Our leaders are loving IT!
This is hugely important to remember, especially when planting a church. It’s not about what you are doing different or better than another…it’s about what you are doing to lead people to Christ and bring Him glory.
Scotty Rock is on to something…
Scott R. and Cindy B. -
I agree that no one should build a ministry on what they are not and I agree that people aren’t likely to be led by the Spirit to “EVER” say “negative” things about another believer.
But, how many of us can claim that what comes out of our mouth is always Spirit driven? I see examples in the Scriptures where Jesus rebuked His disciples for questioning the motives and authority of others who weren’t hanging with Jesus’ inner circle. Then, I see Paul and Peter having a little dialouge (argument?) about the Good News and its interplay with the law.
I wholeheartedly agree with the spirit of this post but realize that man will sometimes slip into this. A healthy, gentle rebuke is needed, for sure, but we don’t want to fulfill our own prophecy by unlovingly scolding those who scold others.
peace.
So true. I guess I’ve listened to the same guys and caught up in doing that myself too. Thanks for showing some truth.
Was it Tozer who said “A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself”…
So, I am wondering what you guys consider a “DEAD CHURCH”….seriously …I would like to know what you guys think…
Thanks for these thoughts, Craig. It’s a slightly different thing, but the same wisdom applies to discussion about Bible translations as well.
It’s easy to criticize, but the reality is that all the major translations are earnest attempts to help people understand and engage with God’s Word. In that light, what does it say about a person who is being harshly critical?
Having had a similiar experience over Christmas I could not have said it any better. We need to build each other up and encourage a diversity of preaching, teaching and ministry. A Churches ethos boils down in a disciples life as he/she strives to love the Lord their God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbour as yourself. All of our messages must submit to this summary of the law. And their are many ways of doing that.
This come with an appreciation “that to reach people no one else is reaching you have to do what no one else is doing”(CG). Happy New Year everyone
Scott R says:
Bottom Line: Would a person who is full of the fruit of the spirit and inspired by the Spirit of God EVER (publicly) say anything negative about another part of the body of Christ?
My answer: YES. The apostle Paul did and the apostle John did (Revelation 2-3). I realize that the statements were directed to the churches but the fact that we know about them means they are public. Jesus said some pretty harsh words to the leaders of the church in His day. According to Matthew Jesus also lays out a discipline procedure that leads to publicly exposing a non-repentant Christian.
That being said, most, if not all, of the comments we are talking about or thinking of are not Spirit led.
Good post, Craig.
That is a really awesome perceptive and post Pastor Craig, it is WAY too easy for Church BASHING to go on, we pray for each other and rejoice when others are saved through other ministries, pray for God to continue the fire that burns in all of us..
Absolutely Craig!!! God only has ONE church. To say that one is better than any of the others is the equivalent of saying one person is better than someone else. I confess that at one point, I thought my church was the best at everything we did. I even caught myself once comparing our enormous mega church to my sister’s small town church, and telling her that “you should hear our music!” and “there’s no one sleeping in my church because it’s never boring.” I had a superiority complex when it came to churches. My Father didn’t put up with it for too long, and I’m very grateful for the lesson I learned. I can sum it up by saying that there are no perfect churches just like there are no perfect people. And to believe there are is a form of idolatry.
Love the blog article, it is simple yet very profound. I would have to say that one of the greatest hindrances to the gospel is the focus by Christians on the differences between Christians. It gives the world around us that we are disconnected and could not spell the word love more less practice it among each other. Thank God that even though we cannot love He stile does. Maybe some day we will learn to love each other no matter what church they go to or what they do. Just to love that is how God will be seen in us.
Craig - thank you so much. This was exactly what I needed to hear. It is encouraging to know we have linked as a Network Church with LifeChurch and are like-minded when it comes to His Kingdom. Thank you for your ministering to all of us.
Wow, very true!
To me the problem is definitely insecurity and a “we’re all separate” mindset.
If we don’t have confidence in what God is doing through us and the vision He has given us, then we will feel a need to defend ourselves before we are even attacked.
By saying we’re not something, we’re saying, “I think you are thinking this about me…and therefore I’m going to (in defense out of insecurity) tell you I’m not that.”
That’s where IT is lost. When we focus on what people think instead of what God thinks. That shows 1) No confidence in what God has said and saying and 2)No trust in what God is saying.
Push who you are, not who you’re not.
Just a few thoughts!
Thanks for the wisdom, Craig! It’s an honor to be able to hear this stuff early on (I get to skip all the crap you went through to find it,
!
God’s best to you all!
If I had the power, I would say it and we would be done with such mindset in “Church”, but it’s been happening since before Paul, as he combatted it often. The spirit of exclusiveism, or eliteism, is as real a sin as all the rest. I believe we need to watch ourselves carefully less we too be tempted. I do believe LifeChurch is among the most innovative of churches right now, but what does that mean? Does it mean we are better, or more right than those who aren’t innovative? Does it mean we, even Craig is always right as a leader and following others is just worng? “How can you who are stuck in a traditionalist rut, not affecting the world around you continue to think you’re right, can’t you see those LifeChurch folks have all the answers?” I do recoil at those who speak as they did in the podacasts, but i must watch myself lest I too succomb to this insideous sin that has hurt the progress of the church for centuries. We do need to speak to the sin that is real, as Jesus would, but lets lift the folks decieved by it to come out from it. When Jesus spoke to churches and individuals about their walk, He came down hard on the sin, even said they could rise above it, He did nothing to promote more division. Learn who our enemies really are and fight against that which so easily entangles us all. I love the passion that speaks out to wrong when we see it, but I guess I’m just warning us not to be tempted ourselves in the process. Serious business this attempting to help those caught up in sin. I lived with folks who made these statements for decades and i used to just right them off, pigeon whole them, but Jesus can turn even a pharissee. Any time we start bragging on ourselves, judging ourselves, “boy we’re so spiritual, above all the others”, look to being on top of the heap in anyway, we are on dangerous territory, almost surely poised to fall in some way. Let’s continue to preach the message of the vision we all share, of bringing people to be fully devoted followers of Jesus, not any church, or system of doing things. He is the only one with the power to keep us pure in this and open to fully accepting all who come our way. We can make a huge difference in this, if we keep our focus on the right source.
[...] via Who Cares What You’re Not? - Craig G. [...]
Terry Jimmerson here from Las Vegas.
GREAT ending to this article. If we would spend more time promoting the vision God gave us instead of downing every other church that isn’t like us we might see some different results in our country. Last time i checked we were all still on the same team……we just use different field houses!! Bless u man. COME TO VEGAS!!!!!!
Scott Rodgers said:
Hmm… I think it boils down to perception…
When Jesus called the pharisees whitewashed catacombs full of dead men’s bones… some perceived it as negative…
When John the Baptist called some a “brood of vipers”… some perceived it as negative…
Both of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…
On the other hand many false teachers almost always said something perceived as positive… but proved to be the destruction of those who believed their message…
I am not sure the perception of positivity is a sign of being filled with the Spirit or not… I think truth is a better indicator… and truth doesn’t compromise… it is exclusive, and it can’t inter marry…
Based on that… maybe humility and truth can shape perception, rather than vice-versa… but that is going to take some work…
IMHO
Good stuff. It’s kind of like watching politicians bash each other rather than letting us know what they themselves have to bring to the table.
[...] Groeschel at Life Church nailed it today in his blog……..good stuff Craig! [...]
I can relate to your rant, but, and there is always a “but” aren’t you stating what “you are not” by coming in through the backdoor? You are disagreeing with these others, and in effect preaching that this is what “you are not.” And, maybe, they are being “who they are.” Could it be that they are actually being somewhat more honest than you, because you state that this is who you “are not” when in effect that is exactly who you are. Our human nature tangles us in so many webs of deceit. We all to some degree love to stick a feather in our own hats by focusing attention on a perceived fault in others. It may be that what those others were saying is the truth, although in a negative way. We all have tried to set ourselves apart from the crowd by our differences, but in the end we find that we are a real part of that crowd, the human crowd, partaking of the same sins, albeit, sanctified in our own minds.
Blessings,
Steve Blackwell
Thank you so much for saying this!
Craig: great word. thank you for sharing. it is dissapointing that even after you shed light on our own vain conceit and selfish ambition, there are still others who vigorously defend their attacks on churches who are truly leading others to become fully devoted followers of Christ. How much longer must we remain a divided body of Christ? Didn’t Christ call us to be united? I wonder what Paul would write to our churches today - i have to think that he would give us a 21st century version of Philippians, reminding us to contend as one man for the faith of the gosple, making his joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
it is my absolute joy to be apart of the body of Christ, and to be able to contribute to it’s edification. Lord Jesus, make us one!
[...] Awesome post from Lifechurch.tv as well about pumping up what you do without putting down what other churches do. Check it out here. [...]
Well said Craig! What is that saying… “the Body has many parts”? That guy was smart.
[...] was reminded of something that we as pastors do that really sucks! Pastor Craig Groeschel posted here about a rebuke that more in church leadership should [...]