Pastoring

Uh, Pastor… Being Right Is Not an Excuse to Be Mean

/ 4 minutes of reading

Some pastors seem to delight in being hard and mean.

We’re in a spiritual battle! they’ll say.

Jesus used a whip and turned over tables! they’ll remind us.

OK. Yes, Jesus did that. Towards religious leaders.

But to the average person seeking help and truth? He was almost universally meek and gentle – a friend of sinners. So kind and nice that it got him in trouble at times.

Pastors have a lot of power in the church and in people’s lives. Many would argue that we often have more power than we should – and I would fully agree with that. But that is reality. A reality we need to take into account then we’re dealing with people.

In addition, there seems to be a group of pastors who are perpetually angry. They can quote chapter-and-verse for everyone else’s sins, but they’re not so good at remembering James 1:20 which reminds us that “…man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

As pastors, we don’t even need to be angry for our words – even true words – to hurt people unnecessarily.

Here’s an example.

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Why Doing the Right Thing Isn’t Enough for a Healthy Church

/ 6 minutes of reading

Have you been struggling to lead your church to health and strength, but can’t seem to get there?

You’re doing what you believe God is calling you to do and you’re taking wise counsel from others, but there’s very little, if any progress being made? Not just numerically. But in health, discipleship, worship and the other essentials.

This post might be for you.

There are four ways to lead:

1. Do the right thing in the right way
2. Do the right thing in the wrong way
3. Do the wrong thing in the right way
4. Do the wrong thing in the wrong way

Only one of those combinations will produce a healthy church. Let’s take a look at all four and see what happens with each one.

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Don’t Let Your Church Building Kill Your Church

/ 5 minutes of reading

The church in North America is getting smaller.

No, I don’t think we’re going to say goodbye to the megachurch any time soon – at least I hope not. By all indications, the biggest churches will become even bigger.

But, according to many church trend-watchers like Ed Stetzer, even megachurch leaders are understanding the need for multiple smaller venues instead of bigger and bigger megabuildings.

The era of the mega-church-building, even as megachurches keep growing, may be over.

This is just part of an overall societal trend towards more personalization. The one-size-fits-all era is gone.

For instance, in the last few decades we’ve gone from the big three TV networks, to hundreds of cable channels, to online TV and movie queues tailored to each person’s specific watching habits. The same has happened in radio, automobiles, musical genres, books… you name it.

I think this tendency towards smaller, bistro-style niche tastes leaves the church in North America with a choice.

Fight the tendency towards smaller and lose out, or do Small Church really well and lead the culture into a better way.

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How Pastors and Congregations See Sundays Differently – And How It Changes Everything

/ 5 minutes of reading

“Why can’t I get more people to volunteer on Sundays?”

It’s one of the most common frustrations I hear from pastors – especially pastor of Small Churches.

Over the past few years, I’ve tried to offer a few ideas to help get volunteerism up. But today, like a blow to the back of the head, it hit me why this challenge never seems to go away.

Pastors and congregations see Sundays in opposite ways. And this affects everything.

Here’s the difference.

Sunday is their day OFF!

But Sunday is the pastor’s biggest day ON!

No wonder we’re not seeing eye-to-eye.

Sunday is their Sabbath. Their day of rest and worship. But Sunday isn’t the pastor’s Sabbath. Yes, it’s a day of worship, but it’s not a day of rest. Because it’s our biggest day on, a lot of us think it needs to be our church members’ day on too.

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Never, Ever Say This To a Struggling Pastor

/ 4 minutes of reading

“If you do what I did, your church will grow.”

If you’re the pastor of a healthy, growing church, please stop saying that to struggling pastors.

Even if you’ve never said those exact words, stop implying it or assuming it. Even if you believe it. For one simple reason.

It’s not true.

It’s not that struggling pastors of struggling churches don’t want to learn from you. It sure isn’t that we don’t want our churches to grow. Of course we want our churches to grow. If we didn’t, there’d be no struggle.

The problem comes when pastors of growing, healthy churches assume that what worked for them will work in the same way everywhere else. The truth is, it won’t.

Sure, there are universal principals for church leadership and health. But there are no one-size-fits-all solutions for church growth. What worked for you won’t work for someone else – at least not on a one-for-one basis.

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5 Cautions About Emphasizing Leadership Over Followership

/ 4 minutes of reading

Leadership matters. A lot.

But sometimes I wonder if we’ve elevated the value of church leadership over a much more important biblical trait – followership. Also known as discipleship.

Before any of us are leaders, we’re all supposed to be followers. Followers of Jesus. Together.

At best, any leadership authority we have in the church is reflected and borrowed leadership from Jesus himself.

Paul encouraged the Corinthians to “follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” The very strong implication of that statement is that if the leader stops following Jesus, we should stop following that leader.

That’s why church leaders need to be very careful to be followers of Jesus first. In fact, our followership should be more on display than our leadership.

Another phrase for this is “servant leadership.” And the order of those words matters. Being a servant always comes first.

When we forget this, bad things can happen. I don’t need to go over the list of Christian leaders that have fallen. But it’s hard to think of any Christian servants that have fallen.

If you’re in church leadership – a high, noble and important calling – here are five cautions we should all be aware of:

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The Immeasurable Influence of Encouraging Leadership

/ 4 minutes of reading

As a leader, I’ve always believed that one of my primary roles is it try to say “yes” to people’s ideas. This week, I heard a story that reinforces that principle in a very powerful way. For all of us.

As a boy, Mitchell loved to draw. When he started first grade, he walked up to his teacher and told her “If you’d like any drawings or artwork done for the classroom, I’m your man.”

Upon hearing this bold proclamation, the teacher went to her desk, pulled out a box of multi-colored chalk, removed one piece and drew a square in the corner of the chalkboard at just the right height for little Mitchell.

She then leaned down to him, met him face-to-face and told him. “I would like that. Whenever you’ve finished with all the assigned work, you may draw whatever you would like in that square.”

Mitchell was in heaven. He worked hard at his studies every day, then drew in that square. Getting better every day, he completed hundreds of pieces of chalk art by the end of the school year.

The next year, he went into second grade. Feeling confident, he walked up to his new teacher and told her “If you’d like any drawings or artwork done for the classroom, I’m your man.”

The teacher looked down at Mitchell, placed her hands on her hips and scowled, “Get back to your seat!”

Thankfully, that second grade teacher didn’t stop Mitchell from drawing. The inspiration he had received from his first grade teacher had buoyed his spirits enough to overcome the negativity from his second grade teacher.

Mitchell Tolle went on to become a great American artist.

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How to Drop Your Church’s Secret Menu and Make Your Guests Feel Welcome

/ 3 minutes of reading

Every church has a secret menu. Things we say and do that our regulars take for granted, but can be confusing and frustrating to newcomers. Here’s an example of how frustrating a secret menu can be.

I was at a Starbucks this week, when the man in front of me ordered short latte. The employee responded “a tall latte”. Then they went back-and-forth with these exact words.

Short
Tall
Short
Tall
Short
Tall

I leaned in and told the man “tall is the shortest one they have”. He thanked me. The Starbucks employee looked perturbed.

I posted this on Facebook and got quick responses from friends about how funny and frustrating that sounded. Then Jonny Craig, from 200Churches.com commented, “As a former Starbucks employee, I am appalled! Short is, in fact, a size option! (it’s 8 oz).”

It seems Starbucks has a secret menu. So secret that this employee didn’t even know about it. In addition to the short option (as seen in the above photo, supplied by Facebook friend Lou Covey), they also have a super-size called a Trenta.

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How to Stop People from Playing On Their Phones In Church

/ 4 minutes of reading

“Pastor, does it bug you when you see people on their cell phones when you’re preaching? Does it make you wonder if they’re on Facebook or playing a game?”

A church member asked me that question last week.

My answer? No. It doesn’t bother me at all. Honestly.

As I told her, people on phones in church could be using their bible app, taking notes or tweeting my last point to their friends (I know that happens, I’ve seen the time-stamp).

Sure, some of them are playing Words With Friends when they get bored. Years ago, people doodled on the back of the bulletins when they got bored. They still do. Different technology, same problem.

Cell phones in church don’t bother me because I’ve discovered an ancient secret that keeps people from getting bored in church.

Do church better!

The answer to people being bored in church isn’t to get upset at them for being bored, it’s to give them a less boring church experience.

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10 Principles to Get the Best From Volunteer Church Leaders

/ 8 minutes of reading

Volunteer leaders are the backbone of the Small Church.

In bigger churches, most or all of the first- and second-tier leaders are hired (Namely, the pastoral staff and department heads). That’s a great thing. When you hire someone, it’s much easier to require certain tasks and enforce your expectations. After all, they have a financial stake in how well they perform as a church leader.

But Small Churches are led by volunteers. Volunteers who can quit at any time. And when they do quit, it doesn’t hurt them financially, it actually frees up more of their spare time. So we need to give them good reasons to stick around.

It’s one of many aspects that make pastoring the Small Church a unique challenge.

I’ve been in Small Church ministry for almost three decades – over 22 at my current church. In that time, I’ve learned a handful of great principles that help our church attract and keep the best group of volunteer leaders I’ve ever worked with.

Here are 10 of them:

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