No, I don’t actually have a note on my desk reminding me that the size of my church isn’t up to me. But maybe I should. Maybe a lot of us should. I know one thing for sure. If the size of my church was up to me, it would have been a lot bigger a long […]
Note to Pastors: The Size and Growth of the Church is Not Up to Us Read More »
Megachurch pastors are a step beneath used car salesmen and ambulance-chasing lawyers in the eyes of many people in our culture. On the other side, we have a church growth culture that idealizes megachurches almost to the point of idolatry.
So who are these megachurch pastors? Villains who have corrupted the Gospel? Or heroes of the faith?
Here are 5 principles that help me avoid either extreme in my attitude towards megachurches and their leaders.
Megachurch Pastors: Heroes, Villains or Something Else? Read More »
Pastors face a lot of pressure to perform. Some of it, admittedly, is self-imposed.
One of the main places this pressure is felt is in the demand to research, write and deliver a great sermon every week. In fact, several times in the last few months, I’ve read blog posts that have suggested that every Sunday sermon should be like a TED Talk.
In today’s post, I’d like to do two things that may seem impossible to accomplish simultaneously. Relieve some of the performance pressure and challenge us all towards something better.
Pastors, We Don’t Expect a TED Talk, But We Need a God-and-You Talk Read More »
In a big church, the ranching/spiritual triage model makes sense. There’s no way one person can care for thousands of people individually. A well-trained team of staff and volunteers is essential to every aspect of ministry.
In a Small Church, when the pastor stops doing hospital visits, ceases having an open door policy and starts delegating those responsibilities to others, the congregation members feel neglected and unimportant.
Then they start looking for another church. I know. I’ve experienced it first-hand.
I’m not the only one with this experience. I’ve talked to many discouraged pastors with stories just like mine, who tried the rancher model only to find their congregation members feeling neglected.
That neglected feeling is understandable. After all, when Jesus commissioned Peter, he told him, “feed my sheep” not “tend my ranch”. The ranching model tells us that our primary focus needs to move from “doing the caring” to “develop and manage a system of care” for the body we serve. There’s just one problem with that. As a pastor friend of mine says, “People want to be pastored, not spiritually managed.”
Stop Thinking Like a Big Church Read More »
There are some bullies in the church growth movement. No, not most of them. And even those who are bullies probably don’t realize it. But they’re bullies, just the same.
It’s because I don’t think they intend to be bullies that I’m using such a strong term – to help them see the hurt they’ve been causing to their fellow Christians and church leaders.
Small Churches and their leaders have suffered under this problem for years. But no one has dared say it out loud. So I’m saying it today, because we can’t fix a problem until we acknowledge it.
Small Church pastors often feel bullied and insulted by the very church leaders we go to for help.
This problem is real. It’s hurtful. And it needs to stop.
I Am a Small Church Pastor and I’m Calling Out the Church Leadership Bullies Read More »
When you’re in business to make widgets, you live and die by the numbers. But we’re pastors. We’re not in business. And we’re not making widgets. As John Piper reminds us, “Brothers, We Are Not Professionals”.
So yes, we need to count people. Because people count. But people aren’t numbers. And numbers aren’t people. People matter more than numbers.
When we overemphasize how many people came to church, we run the risk of devaluing the unique gifts and needs of the individuals who make up the crowd. Jesus never did that.
Jesus and Crowds – An Unhappy Marriage Read More »
“I can’t” may be the two most liberating words missing from your leadership lexicon.
For years I’ve been told by well-meaning preachers and teachers that if I have enough faith, I can do anything I want to do.
But it’s not true. I can’t do anything I want to do. Neither can you. Knowing and embracing that truth has freed me. And it can free you, too.
Saying “I Can’t” May Be Your Missing Key to Success Read More »
I am a proud American. But Jesus wasn’t. The church isn’t. And my faith isn’t.
I’m also white and English-speaking. But Jesus wasn’t those either. And neither is the vast majority of his church.
Yet, if you pay attention to the church stats cited by most bloggers, speakers and authors, they tend to be very heavily slanted towards white, English-speaking Americans. Often exclusively so.
This slanted view gives us an inaccurate picture of who and what the 21st century church looks like.
It’s a big world out there. Jesus cares about all of it.
So should we.
In today’s post I’m going to take a hard, possibly uncomfortable look at two lies we end up believing when we pay almost exclusive attention to the white, English-speaking, American church.
Two More Church Growth & Leadership Lies: The Church is American and White Read More »
People have frustrating tendency to believe statements that reinforce our previous opinions, even if those statements are obviously false. Christians are not immune to this. Neither are Christian leaders. And we seem to be especially susceptible to this when it comes to church growth. We believe what we want to believe. Facts are secondary.
14 Church Growth and Leadership Lies We Need to Stop Believing Read More »
Do I stay, or do I go? It’s one of the toughest questions a pastor has to face. The question for many pastors, especially in Small Churches is “how do I know which issues are worth fighting through and which ones are signs that it’s time to leave?”
Deal-Breakers: 7 Ways God May Tell You to Leave Your Church Read More »
