Letting Go of Old Assumptions

The world is changing faster every day. Too many Christian leaders are working off old assumptions rather than new revelations.

When we assume that our way of doing ministry is best:

• We stop learning from others.
• We rarely try something new.
• We quickly see faults in new ideas rather than seeing opportunities.

To reach people no one is reaching, we have to do things no one is doing.

If you think the way everyone else is thinking, you’ll do what everyone is doing.

It is time to let go of old assumptions about how to reach people.

What assumptions about church and ministry are you shedding?

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Higher Threshold for Chaos

When we’re entering into a new season, I always challenge our leaders to have a higher threshold for chaos.

Systems tend to produce predictable outcomes. When we are innovating and growing, we never know what the outcome will be.

Many “great” ideas bomb. Then God seems to bless some average ideas in a big way.

While we are willing to allow things to get a little messy, we also work hard to make sure we are students.

• What is God showing us?
• What did we learn from the last failure?
• What success is hidden in the last failure?

Our church is currently moving into a season of discovery. Once we discern what God wants us to know, we’ll recruit the right people. Then we’ll build systems and enjoy the ride—until God leads us into a learning and chaotic period again.

Personally, these are my favorite times!

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How Do You Change the Culture? Part 1

Although this might sound obvious, before you can change the culture, you must identify what about it needs to be changed.

When leading toward a cultural change, I suggest you, as the leader, acknowledge what about your ministry culture isn’t what it could be.

Admitting to a weak area first is one of the best ways to strengthen a weakness quickly. Too often, many leaders are unwilling to acknowledge the weakness.

Call it what it is, then work on fixing it.

What is a weakness you’d like to change?

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Fresh Work in My Family

It is hard to admit this but it’s true: I’ve occasionally been a better spiritual leader to the church than to my own family.

Over and over again I’ve made promises that didn’t last. We’re going to do family devotions every week! And my good intentions rarely converted to actions.

I’m excited to say that we are experiencing a fresh work of God in our family. Although it doesn’t appear dramatic, it truly is special.

God put two ideas on my heart:

1) We’re devoting much of our dinner discussions to spiritual things.

I didn’t expect that my kids (including the young ones) would so readily engage in these conversations. They’ve become something we all anticipate.

2) We’re spending extended time praying for specific things at bed time.

In the past, I’ve typically prayed the general, “God bless my child” prayers. By asking them for specifics and spending just a few minutes more, this prayer time has been a huge blessing.

I’d love to hear how it is going in your family spiritually. If you are flat, be honest. If you have good ideas, please share them.

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Thoughts on Pastoral Preparation

More than classroom education, I’m a big believer in mentoring and discipleship. I’d love to see more seminaries or bible schools design programs that allow student pastors to minister and study simultaneously.

Although I see the value in what students learn in the classroom, I honestly believe that churches should take the lead role in preparing pastors. (This could also help eliminate some financial pressures that keep too many pastors from furthering their education.)

I can’t think of a better way to learn than serving under great men and women of God. Rather than three years in classrooms, I’d rather see students serving in a church while taking specialized classes.

Each pastor has such different developmental needs. Some need more time learning the basics of God’s word. Others are strong in the word, but have significant relational or leadership challenges. These are different needs that deserve different educational approaches.

Although no system is perfect, I prefer throwing gifted people into the ministry waters and helping them learn to swim rather than sending them to three years of classes to learn how to clean the pool, treat the water, and apply sunscreen.

I’m grateful for what God did in my life through seminary, but so much of the time (and money) invested doesn’t apply to what I do today. Just as I love seeing innovation in the church, I’d love to see innovation in the way we prepare pastors.

Thoughts?

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Even More Hillsong Reflections

If I heard Brian Houston say it once, he must have said it a dozen times: “Church is about God and people.” In everything Hillsong does, you can sense their genuine hunger for God and love for people.

Even though their church is the largest church in Australia, it seemed small because of their relational emphasis. At each service, they took time to read prayer requests and praise reports.  This helped engage the church members in prayer and encouraged them to keep a ministry focus. The campus pastors (or stage leaders) would also highlight when key volunteers got engaged or had a baby.

This relational focus bled over into the conference. Each day, the leaders highlighted a “delegate of the day.” The staff would choose someone from the 20,000 attending and set them up front in a lounge chair, fed them, and highlighted them to the whole crowd. Some how this gesture made the conference seem smaller.

Most of all, I was blessed by the intimacy fostered between the speakers and key leaders. In the U.S., at most conferences, speakers fly in and out and aren’t expected to do much else.

At Hillsong, even though no one requested it, all the speakers and their families attended all the main sessions. Between and after each session, everyone gathered for extended meals. Even though we were exhausted and jet lagged, this wasn’t a burden. It was deeply meaningful and obviously a significant part of the culture.

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The Bible Trumps Creativity

Without question, we at LifeChurch.tv have worked hard to be creative and relevant. We’ve never shied away from having fun in church. But creativity, relevance, and fun should never be the top goals when planning the weekend worship experience.

• Jesus never said, “You will watch this funny video, and the funny video will set you free.”
• John the Baptist never said, “Creativity must increase and I must decrease.”
• Paul never proclaimed, “We should preach relevance and relevance crucified.”

Perhaps some pastors are unintentionally omitting the more important questions.

• Instead of asking, “What will bring glory to God?” some appear to be asking, “What will bring in a crowd?”
• Instead of asking, “How do we communicate Scripture accurately?” some are asking, “How can we be creative?”
• Instead of asking, “How can we truly disciple those in our church?” some are asking, “How can we get people back to church?”

While the second question in each bullet point is not wrong to ask, if we aren’t asking the first questions, we are drifting into dangerous territory.

Thanks for the constructive and respectful discussion yesterday. Let’s do it again.

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Suggestions for Today’s “Relevant” Church

When we started Life Church in 1996, we intentionally desired to be a “relevant” church. For way too long, what happened in church on Sunday seemed way too disconnected to the other 6 days and 23 hours of the week. With sincere intentions, we (and many others) deliberately sought to present God’s eternal truths with daily applications.

A decade and a half later, it is rare to find a church that isn’t making an attempt at a “contemporary” service. While I believe the shift that occurred in the 80s and 90s was appropriate and in some ways necessary, in my opinion—at many churches—the pendulum has swung too far. Another correction is necessary for many.

• What used to be edgy is becoming distasteful.
• What used to be cool is becoming cheesy.
• What used to be creative is becoming gimmicky.

While the intentions of most relevant pastors (including my own) are generally to reach those who don’t know Christ, we have to ask ourselves, “How effective are our ministries really?” Just because we are “growing” numerically doesn’t mean the people coming are growing spiritually.

This week, let’s respectfully discuss some possible corrections for the “relevant church.”

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