Who Are We Reaching? By Shawn Lovejoy

May 10, 2012 in Church, Leadership with 1 Comment

Who were the types of people Jesus picked to make disciples? People like Levi.  Levi probably made religious people uncomfortable when he walked in to the room. Conversations stopped; or started, if you know what I mean.

Why did Jesus love to hang around with people like Levi? “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Mark 2:17).

Here’s my question: As churches, if we are to follow the example of Jesus, why does the majority of our ministry programming relate to religious people, or long-time Christians? Is the church as a whole guilty of being so focused on itself that it can’t meet the needs of the spiritually sick? While so much fuss is made about fast-growing churches, is anyone asking about how much of that growth is actual conversion growth? Years ago, a friend of mine once joked that the churches in his town didn’t grow; they swapped sheep. In years of ministry since, I’ve often found that to be true, even with some of the fastest-growing churches in America.

The cry of the day seems to be deep preaching, more Bible studies and more Christian activities for the kids. Don’t get me wrong. Equipping believers to grow in their understanding and knowledge of God are crucial elements of the healthy Christian’s life, and it is our responsibility to equip believers to do just that.  However, if we begin to cater primarily to the church crowd, that becomes a problem. When that happens, we’ve ignored the example of Jesus, in going after the spiritually sick! Sadly, too many of our churches are designed to meet the needs of people who already know God and ignore the needs of those far from him.

The reason we planted Mountain Lake is because we wanted to create a safe place where we could welcome our unchurched friends; a place where they would be accepted as they were and allowed time to get to know God; then allow Him to change them. To date, we have baptized over sixty percent of our congregation’s weekly attendance. Success in our church is reaching the spiritually sick. We’re just trying to follow Jesus and His example. Anyone want to go with us?

Excerpt from The Measure of Our Success: An Impassioned Plea To Pastors, available today on Amazon.

Shawn Lovejoy is the Founding and Lead Pastor of Mountain Lake Church, the Directional Leader of churchplanters.com and the author of the newly released book, ‘The Measure of Our Success – An Impassioned Plea to Pastors”.  God has used Mountain Lake Church and churchplanters.com to become one of the most influential church planting ministries in the world, and Shawn gives Jesus all the credit. Shawn loves his wife, his kids, the church, pastors, college football, and PlayStation3. In that order. He lives near Atlanta, Georgia.

 

It’s Not a Secret

May 5, 2012 in Church, Leadership, Uncategorized with 1 Comment *Pastor's Coach Article

Jerry Robertson is a real estate agent, motorcycle rider, and a cool guy. But let me tell you how everyone knows him. He leads the coffee ministry at 12Stone Church®.  Jerry wears a nametag that says “Chaplain of Caffeine.” Thousands of people get their caffeine fix at church and they love Jerry for it!  He recently lost a lot of weight and I asked him how he did it.  I leaned in and asked him in such a way that might suggest his answer would reveal a secret.  A secret that was powerful and well guarded, in fact, known only to Tibetan monks and a select few others.  Can you guess what he said?  “Well, I started eating less and exercising more, and I’ve been doing that for a long time.”  I almost felt like he was holding out on me!  But there is no secret to weight loss. It’s always the same, burn more calories than you consume, and you will lose weight – get up the next day, press repeat.

Pastors and church leaders ask me every week about the secret to church growth. They don’t always use that word, but they are asking for the “insider scoop” that apparently no one else knows.  When Outreach Magazine named 12Stone Church the fastest growing church in America in 2010 our phones rang even more. I remember meeting with a pastor in our coffee shop.  He leaned over, then looked over both shoulders, as if he was going to slip me some money and I would slide him “the good stuff.”  He had that look of – I want the secret. He asked: “OK, for real, what are you doing to cause this growth?” (There’s got to be a secret.)

I said to the pastor, I know you understand this, but this is all God’s doing. It’s His power, favor and anointing.  His response: “Yeah, Yeah, I know.  Now, what are you guys doing?” He had that look like I was holding out on him. I said: “Nothing different.”  I thought he would get up and walk out on me.  I said: “Really! Let me explain.”  “It’s NOT a secret!!” The problem is that many churches behave as if it’s a secret.

There are only three things that consistently drive any church forward.

  1. Prayer (This is about spiritual intensity and includes the worship service.)
  2. Evangelism (This involves reaching people who are far from God.)
  3. Leadership Development  (This is specifically about systematically raising up new leaders.)

There are a multitude of variations that impact, as I call them, The Big Three.  Things such as your church’s DNA and culture, the city where you are located, your history, the gifting of the pastor and the list goes on. But regardless of the size of the church, the essence of The Big Three doesn’t change. They just get more complicated as a church gets larger.

The curious thing is that as I consult with churches I find these three areas among the weakest in what they practice consistently.  Or for those who do them, it’s often program oriented rather than in the culture, organic and Spirit driven.

Leadership development is consistently the weakest of the big three in most churches. So, for the remainder of this article, I’d like to make that my focus. Candidly, I think some churches want “the secret” more than the practical truth. A secret carries the promise of something easy, like a new fad diet. The truth involves discipline and grind just like a real diet. You never escape the reality of “get up the next day and do it again.”

  • Good leadership is different than leadership development.

You can be a good leader and yet not develop other leaders.  You may be highly gifted, have a winning personality and be effective at what you do. But your church or organization will never grow beyond what you can personally carry if you don’t invest in and raise up other competent leaders.

If you don’t develop other leaders to help further the mission, you become the lid. Everyone has limits. Whether you are the pastor, CEO, or a department leader, your productivity will eventually stall out as you hit the ceiling of what you can do. When you develop other leaders you multiply, expand, and increase your potential.

Let me be candid. It takes more energy to develop other leaders than to develop yourself. That’s why so many leaders don’t do it. You are under pressure to make things happen and get things done. Your first instinct is “just do it” and you think, “I don’t have time” to develop others. Resist that instinct and commit to invest in your team!

  • It’s essential that you continue to grow as a leader.

How are you growing as a leader? What specifically are you working on so that you are a better leader? I mentioned that it takes more energy to develop others than to develop yourself, but it’s no small feat to improve as a leader.  And to be good at developing leaders, you must continue to grow yourself.

You first need to be self aware enough to know where you need to improve. Then you need to be willing to pay the price and dig in.  In most cases you need a coach. You need someone to tell you the truth, give you wisdom, and encourage you along the way. You don’t need to meet with this person as often as you might think. In fact, you could meet with a great coach 3-4 times a year for 2-3 hours of process and that’s it. It will usually take you several months to practice what you talked about in your coaching session. If you have multiple coaches, ones who cover different areas of your life, you can literally meet with each one only 2-3 times a year!  There are good coaches who meet much more often and that’s OK, but know that it’s not always necessary.

  • Focus on simplicity and consistency.

Let me leave you with a practical plan to get started developing others. First let me say that development is different than equipping.  Equipping involves training people for competence in a specific ministry task.  For example, training people in your children’s ministry so they know how to lead a child to Christ, or training your small group leaders so they know how to lead effective small group discussion.  Developing is investing in people so that they are “bigger, better and stronger people” regardless of what they do. There are two primary platforms for development – spiritual life and leadership.  Spiritual leadership is the ultimate outcome.

It’s important that you keep your plan simple.  Without simplicity it’s not likely that you will maintain consistency.  If, under the pressure of getting your work done, you falter in consistency or quit developing altogether, you will never realize the powerful long-term impact of leadership development. This is a lifelong investment, not just a weekend experience or one time conference.

So, start here. Choose a good leadership book. There are dozens to pick from. If you aren’t sure where to start, pick up The Five Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell or The Truth about Leadership, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, or Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley.  All three of these are excellent books to train leaders with.

Then select the group you want to develop. Ideally, choose between 3 and 9 people to meet with once a month.  You can have a larger group, but the dynamic will change substantially with a larger group. Assign a section of the book and when you meet, do two things. 1. Discuss what you are learning.  2. Discuss how you are applying what you are learning. That’s it. It’s that simple. Yes, there is more you can do, but don’t rush to complicate it. Keep it simple and gain consistency before you make it more involved.

My prayer is that you jump in and go for it!  You won’t be disappointed at the results!

 

Starting Over

April 26, 2012 in Church, Ministry with 0 Comments *Pastor's Coach Article

It seems like there are too many local church stories that don’t have an “and they lived happily ever after” ending. Pastors tell me their story and it’s no wonder why so many leave the local church in pursuit of secular jobs.

It seems like these stories shouldn’t be so common in the church. I’m not naive, people are people, but it’s still hard to hear. Stuff happens. I know. The local church is not immune to unhappy endings.

“John”, pastored in a suburb of a large city and stood up against a wealthy member who tithed to the church. The member had recently made a significant pledge during a building campaign. The pastor wanted chairs in the new building and this member wanted pews. The member said he would pull his pledge if chairs were purchased for the new worship auditorium. The battle got ugly. The financial pressures were huge. They were in too deep to get out. The board felt they “needed” the member’s money. Pews were selected. The pastor was encouraged to leave, and was gone in three months with next to no severance. How could this happen?!

There is no end to the variety of these sad stories. I’m sure you know some tragic stories too. No one can predict great endings, but starting over with wisdom, will make a significant difference how the next chapter ends.

  • To the best of your ability – leave well.

This is easier said than done, but nonetheless important.  Even if you feel you’ve been wronged, don’t burn your bridges. You may have been treated terribly, but take the high road anyway. I’m not suggesting that you become a voiceless doormat, but turning the other cheek is Christ’s example to us. And candidly, fighting these situations is usually a losing battle. Humanly speaking you may never be rewarded for your suffering, but God will honor you if you leave well.

When you are gone, be gone. Don’t take calls from those you once shepherded, at least for several months. You are not their pastor any longer. Say your goodbyes, let them know it was your privilege to serve them, and tell them they must look to the next pastor. You are not abandoning them. You are leaving well and helping the church have a chance to succeed. Your close friends will always be with you.

  • Take time to thoughtfully assess the damage.

It’s important for you to know the real damage.  Do you have a bruised ego or a broken heart? Do you feel betrayed? Do you feel someone owes you something? Has your faith been challenged? How did this impact your family? Are you angry with God? Do you feel disenfranchised from the local church?  Have you lost your confidence? The answers to these kinds of questions will help you make sure you are headed down the right road of re-entry to ministry.  Don’t tackle these questions on your own. I encourage you to take some time with a couple of close friends or possibly a trusted counselor and walk through these questions.

  • Take sufficient time to heal.

If you’re hurting, face the hurt and move toward healing, don’t bury yourself in more work.  Don’t rush into the next church. You may need to take a short sabbatical from church work. A time frame as limited as 30-90 days, can make a big difference. The healing process won’t be complete in that length of time, but enough can take place that full healing can come.

If you go to the next church too soon, you will find great tension between needing to heal and needing to lead. While it’s not impossible, it’s very difficult to fully engage in both at the same time. A pastor doesn’t need to be “perfect” (who is?) to move to the next church. There is always some baggage from a difficult situation – my caution is to do what you can so that the baggage is light.

Pastor, remember that God does not love you because you are valuable. You are valuable because He loves you. If God’s love is based on our own merit, we are all in trouble. You are valuable because of God’s incredible and unconditional love for you. Your healing is based upon this simple yet profound concept.

  • Learn from your mistakes.

Let’s establish a generous benefit of the doubt. It may have been 95% those who opposed you and 5% you, but no matter how you slice it you were part of the equation. It’s like a marriage, sometimes a divorce truly can be attributed largely to one person, but there is always at least a little of the issue that the other person must own. The healthiest and most productive thing to do is to courageously accept responsibility for your contribution to what happened and learn from your mistakes. Don’t blame yourself for everything that took place, just take responsibility for your stuff. Don’t dwell on what is in the past, but learn for the future. It’s part of healing and getting ready to lead again.

  • Test your Personal Readiness Factor.

There is something I call the “Personal Readiness Factor”, and it’s a valuable process for you to work through before saying yes to your next church. It’s essential in times of a difficult transition. It’s as simple (not easy) as honestly working through some tough questions, such as the following:

Can I let the past go? (Are you ready to stop talking about it?) Have I forgiven those who hurt me? Is my family ready for me to lead another church?  Is my energy level sufficient to lead a local church?  Am I more confident than cautious?  Am I more like a caged tiger than a whipped puppy?  Am I ready to give more than I receive? What is my dream or vision for the future?  How have I grown – How am I different? Has God given me a green light?

Take these questions seriously. And again, I recommend that you meet with a couple of friends to answer these questions. They will help you with perspective and encourage you in the process.

  • Ask the next church key questions.

Part of what you may have learned is to do a better job of prayerfully selecting the right church. As I’ve said, no one can predict the future, and sometimes it just doesn’t work, but doing your homework is helpful in discerning God’s wisdom.

Ask questions like: Is the primary leadership unified? Are they willing to change?  How are decisions made? What are they willing to do to accomplish the desired results? Is the primary leadership supportive?  What is the full financial picture? What would prevent them from realizing the next step in pursuit of the mission?  Discern things like: How solid are the relationships? Are there any unaddressed “elephants” in the room? Is there unresolved conflict? Is the culture healthy? What do they really want to accomplish?

  • Listen to your heart, take a risk, and go full throttle.

When it’s time, jump back in with your full heart and mind in gear. Don’t hold back and don’t self-protect to avoid being hurt again. Don’t “ease in”, be yourself and go for it.

Don’t choose a safe and easy church. Go where God directs and you know you need Him to make it.  Dream again and dream big. God is with you, and there are more people than you know, in the larger body of Christ, who really care and believe that what you do matters.

 

Young Leaders – Start Smart

April 13, 2012 in Church, Leadership with 0 Comments *Pastor's Coach Article

Are you heading to your first church?  Maybe your second? You probably feel a combination of passion and uncertainty. How you start out in your church matters greatly.

Olympic coaches and runners have taught us that how a sprinter comes out of the blocks is a significant factor in how well he or she runs the race.  The same is true for a leader in a local church.  If you get off on the wrong angle, or wrong foot – it may be a difficult race at best.

There is no one formula that fits every person, but there are guidelines that can help you get out of the blocks strong, swift and sure-footed. The guidelines offered here work best based on the assumption that you have prayerfully chosen the right church.

  • Transition from leading person to leader.

Some young leaders I talk to consider their first church the fifth year of college – and their real education! Just saying. When you make the transition from preparation, (from college or an internship or whatever it might have been), to your church, there are several adjustments to be made.

The most crucial of these adjustments is a change of mind-set from one that focuses largely on moving (growing) yourself from point A to B, (graduation), to moving an entire congregation from point A to point B.  It’s a huge difference.  The transition is from being a leading person (one who does things well) to being a leader of persons (one who leads others to do things well.)  A leading person may excel in what they do personally, but has no track record in leading others to excel together. It’s a gigantic transition from being a good student to a good leader. Don’t let it overwhelm you. Just knowing you need to make the shift is half the battle!

  • Learn as much as you can as fast as you can.

Learn the history of the church. The past will give you great insight about to how to lead into the future.  Spend time getting to know the leaders. Find their heart and learn what they think. Ask about the strengths and weaknesses of the church, but not like a consultant conducting a survey, ask like a parent who cares about their kids.

Still on learning, but from a different angle, I encourage you to find a mentor or two. Very specifically, find a pastor whose church attendance is just one step above yours. For example, if your church averages about 200, find a mentor who leads a church of 400. You want to learn what he knows!! Find a church as close to yours as you can. There is no secret to proximity. It’s only for practical reasons. If you need to travel a couple hours to find one, then get your Starbucks on and start driving.

  • Gather some change before you make change.

Change will always cost you as a leader, so you need “change in your pocket” before you make changes. This comes by earning trust, building strong relationships, and getting some wins under your belt. The good news is that the church will loan you some change upon your arrival.  If you spend it well they will give you more.  If you spend it unwisely, they will charge you interest that will kill you.

One young pastor used his borrowed change to announce from the platform on his first Sunday, without discussing this with anyone, that the choir would no longer be wearing robes.  He said it was about time they caught up with the 21st Century.  He didn’t last long.

Another and wiser pastor, a United Methodist in Georgia, not a week on the job, saw that his church of 200 plus desperately needed a win.   It was a plateaued church with little money and even less hope.  They really wanted new choir robes but couldn’t afford them.  The pastor knew that choir robes had little to do with the success of the church in the big picture but was wise enough to know they needed a win.  He told the congregation that God was big enough to provide the money for the choir robes – $2400.  He stood beside the pulpit and lovingly challenged the people to give.   He took a risk and God blessed. Over $2500 came in and you never saw such a pumped and enthused church.  They thought, “If we can do that” what could we really do?  The pastor gained serious “change in his pockets” that morning!

  • Be yourself.

People like you best when you are yourself. Not everyone will like you, but people like you best when you are genuinely you. When you are yourself people can connect with you. When they connect with you they can trust you. When they trust you they will follow you.  It’s not easy, but it is that simple.  Just be you.

Relationships are always important, but especially in the first three to six months. Invest time with the people, not to be their pal but their leader and friend.  Let people get to know you as you get to know them. Don’t try to make everyone happy and don’t lose sleep worrying about what everyone thinks. Remember that while you lay awake at night thinking about it, they are snoring.  Find the key leaders and care about what they think, but remain true to yourself.

  • Develop leaders.

This is obviously a much larger topic than a paragraph or so can cover in one article. But I can at least make the point. If you want your ministry to be larger than you, you must develop leaders to help you realize the largest possible Kingdom impact. It’s not about numbers and size, it’s about impact. I don’t care if your church is 100, 1,000 or 10,000 as long as it’s growing and people’s lives are being changed.  You need more leaders to help you do that.

If you are already doing leadership development, great! Skip this paragraph. If you are new at it, let’s get started in a simple doable pattern. Here it is. Gather up a small group  of leaders. They can be paid staff, volunteer or a combination. It’s OK to have rookie leaders with potential and veteran leaders if they want to grow. Pick a great leadership book and meet twice a month to learn leadership together. Hit a chapter or two each time and focus on two things: 1. What are you learning? 2. How are you applying it? That’s it!  The key is simplicity and consistency.  Leadership development is a lifelong commitment not an event. Stay at it.  Leadership development can get much more involved than what I just said, but those two things work very well. Just keep doing it and you’ll expand your process naturally.

If you’d like several good book suggestions to develop leaders with go to my blog at http://danreiland.com and click on the “books” button.

  • Chase God.

This may be the most obvious of all, but curiously it gets left out more often than you might think. Young leaders are so eager to lead, build and succeed that it’s easy to crowd out that which really matters. Don’t get me wrong. I applaud the zeal, energy and hard work. But God is the one who adds the favor, blessing and true power to make anything of eternal value happen.

The two things that will keep your heart hot for God are prayer and evangelism. Stay close to God and never lose a heart for people who are far from God.

Yes, you and I could make this list longer. But if you make it much longer you’ll get lost in the list. The idea is just to get started on the right foot. Start smart and the rest will come in time.

 

Don’t Give Up!

April 8, 2012 in Leadership with 1 Comment

Easter always marks great victories and celebrations.

This post is a shout out to my friend Dr. Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church http://www.skylinechurch.org/ in San Diego, and the pastor of one of the greatest congregations in the country.

Today they celebrated their first Easter in a beautiful brand new worship auditorium. I can’t begin to tell you of the battle they fought and won to see this vision become a reality. Jim is a brilliant and tenacious leader and the congregation is strong and courageous.

Skyline was founded in 1954 by Dr. Orval Butcher. He carved the ministry out of nothing… from dirt and barely a neighborhood to a thriving congregation.

The second pastor, Dr. John Maxwell began his incredible ministry there in 1981.  Maxwell began the process of relocation. Under John’s leadership, Skyline located, rezoned and paid for the land. What a battle that was for more than 10 years.

Jim moved the congregation onto the new land but met for worship in a multipurpose room for these many years. Great ministry took place, but the battle from that time up to recently was crazy! Hurdle after hurdle after daunting hurdle! But Skyline persevered! The story is really quite amazing. From millions of dollars to countless hours of prayer, God wins!

TODAY — several thousand people met to worship and many gave their lives to Jesus in Skyline’s new worship auditorium that seats 2,000.

Congrats to Jim and Carol, his beautiful bride and partner in ministry, and Skyline. You are an inspiration to all of us!!

Personally, I can’t to visit and take a tour. . . for there is no question that is holy ground.

Church leaders, take heart. Don’t give up. It can be done!

And you, like Jim, can claim great new territory for the Kingdom!!

 

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