Tag: revitalization

Ministry for the Layman

Written on February 24, 2023.

Correcting a Common Misconception

For most of my life, I believed that the word “ministry” was only defined by the spiritually elite among us who go to Bible College and seminary and get degrees and names on a piece of paper. When I attended the Baptist College of Florida, my idea of ministry was solely vocational. I came to understand something my freshman year of Bible college. Preparing for ministry wasn’t about getting paid and starting a career. Ministry is the activity of God’s work for every believer. I was taught how to be a missionary in everyday life, outside of being a “pastor.” I realized that ministry is not just for vocational leaders. It’s for every saint.

At its foundation, I had a misconception of the role of a pastor. I thought he did all the work of ministry. After all, isn’t that what he gets paid for? Our society reassures this thought process with the American system of vocation: you only do the work you get paid for. If I worked a maintenance job and was fixing the A/C at a store, and they asked me to go to the front and ring up customers, I’d be surprised at the question. I would say, “I don’t get paid for that.”

But God’s economy and the role of the church is a bit different from our American system of vocation. Pastors and leaders haven’t always done a complete job explaining the role of church members and ministry for all the saints. Also, some lay members have bought into a lie in the American church today: we pay people to do the work of the ministry so we don’t have to. This has resulted in the inactivity of members for the work of ministry. In order for us to grasp what ministry looks like for the layman, we must first ask the question, “What is the role of the pastor?”

Equipping the What?

Let’s look at a familiar passage of scripture where Paul talks about the role of a pastor and the members, or “saints.” Ephesians 4:11-13 says,

“11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Question 1: Did God call pastors, teachers, evangelists to lead in the body of Christ? Yes, absolutely. But he called them for a purpose: that they would equip the saints for the work of ministry and build up the body of Christ. Based on this simple passage of scripture, I believe a pastor has two major roles: (1) to equip the saints for ministry and (2) to encourage the saints (building up the body).

Question 2: So, is the pastor supposed to do the work of ministry? The answer to that is yes. But not just because he is a pastor. It’s because he, also, is a “saint.” Other passages of scripture talk about the role of a pastor as it relates to the work of ministry. See Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 3:1-16, 2 Timothy 4:2, Hebrews 13:17, and 1 Peter 5:1-14. However, there is a lot of overlap between the ministry of every saint and the ministry of a pastor, such as the “Ministry of Reconciliation” in 2 Cor. 5:16-20.

Some would object. Question 3: “Isn’t ‘saint’ talking about extra-spiritual and super-religious Christians?” No, my friends. The word “Saint” refers to every born-again believer who has been saved from their sin and in relationship with God. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says,

“9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

The reason we are called “saints” is not because of our righteous acts, but because of what Jesus did on our behalf. He died to make us a holy, set apart people. That is what the word “saint” means.

Pastors, Use Your People

“I’ll just do it myself,” is a common phrase we hear ourselves say, especially serving in a Replant or Revitalization. No matter what our misbelief is about church members, we think it would just be better if we did it on our own. But if we are called to equip the saints, this means we have to let go of some of our control and give others the opportunity to lead in a variety of ways.

In the process, we may find out that there are some lay members who are gifted, skilled, and adequately able to do far more than we can. God has spiritually gifted each member in some type of way, and it’s our responsibility to help members engage with God’s work both in and outside of our churches.

I am not a Replant pastor, and I’m not in a leadership position at my church right now, other than teaching a Connect Group. As an Associational Leader I work with the churches and pastors in our area. We have a Church Development Team at the Association. This team has gone through the Replant Training together, and none of the 5 members we have on the team are pastors. Instead, we have an engineer, and superintendent of a shipyard, a pastoral-intern, an artist, and a stay-at-home mother.

What does God require of those he uses for His glory? Skill-set? Ability? No, God desires to use those who make themselves available for His great kingdom work.

Let Go and Let Them Lead

While it may require some oversight at first, pastors should feel comfortable letting go and letting lay members lead in different areas. There are times where church leaders feel the need to wear every hat in the church, sit in on every committee, and have a voice in every church matter. This type of micromanaging is more harmful than you realize. It’s time to step back and allow others to manage different areas.

A Replant or Revitalization may not have the funds to hire someone who is a seminary-trained, ordained pastor. The usage of laity is essential. As church leaders, we need to recapture what it means to help members identify their spiritual gifts, and put them to work…which is a different blog for a different day. Use lay leaders in children’s ministry. Use lay leaders in youth ministry. Use lay leaders in worship ministry. Use lay leaders in missions and outreach. Use lay leaders as greeters, ushers, and partners in ministry.

Martin Robinson, former president of Formission College, once said, “A missionary church cannot rely on the professional ministry for the primary work of mission. The role of the laity is critical because it is the lay members of the church who have the greatest contact with those who are outside of the normal structures of church life. In such a situation the task of clergy is not so much to engage in mission themselves, as to support the laity in their mission.”

Integrity in Leadership- Part Five of the Godly Leadership Series

Written on February 20, 2023.

This is part five of a series of five on the characteristics of Godly leaders. Part one, Humility, can be found here, Part two, Goodwill, can be found here, Part Three, Empathy, can be found here, and Part Four, Respect, can be found here.

For the past five weeks, we have studied the traits of a Godly leader and the qualities we must have to fulfill God’s calling. This week, we end the series with a characteristic that builds on the other four: Integrity. Integrity is the direct result of having humility, goodwill, empathy, and respect for others– but without integrity, none of the others will do any good.

Failure to Stand

In structural engineering, one of the most important aspects of architecture and building is structural integrity. Without it, a building can be destroyed if a disaster strikes.

In Ancient Rome, an entrepreneur named Atilius set about to build a new amphitheater for patrons to watch gladiator competitions. Atilius was wealthy but opted for a quick and cheap construction. At its completion in 27 AD, the Fidenae Amphiteater was set to hold 50,000 spectators– but due to its lack of structural integrity, the amphitheater collapsed under the weight, resulting in the deaths of over 20,000 people. The integrity couldn’t support the demand.

As replant pastors, we must remember that a lack of integrity won’t show up in the good times of growth and revival. As Carey Nieuwhof writes, “‘Normal’ doesn’t really test your integrity. Crises do. But when a crisis comes, it’s often too late to fix what’s wrong. The damage is happening in real-time.” This is the problem with a lack of integrity– you won’t know you lack it until you need it.

Godly Integrity

Thankfully, God is not silent when it comes to this subject. God’s word speaks directly to the topic of integrity so that we can remain “structurally intact” in times of crisis.

In Matthew 5:37, Jesus tells us, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” In Proverbs 10:9, Solomon reminds us, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. And again in Proverbs 11:3, we read, “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.” Both Job and David are praised by God for their integrity and their uprightness. In Titus 2:6-8, Paul reminds Titus to “Show [himself] in all respects to be a model of good works, and in [his] teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say” about them.

Imperatives for Integrity

There are five imperatives to be a leader with integrity. When we look at these, we have to be willing to examine ourselves and see where we are lacking. Without that examination, we run the very real risk that the next crisis will be the one that exposes our weakness.

Authenticity: As Bob pointed out on the podcast, this word may need a bit of reclamation. Often when someone says they are “being authentic” today, what they typically mean is that they are comfortable with their sin. There is a lack of conviction that allows them to sink to their base level, whether that means using foul language regularly or being too rude in their speech. At our core, we are sinful people, so if being “authentic” means that you aren’t allowing God’s conviction to change you, it’s time to remind yourself that you are still being sanctified. If we look at what it means to be “authentic” in the biblical sense, it means you can be “authenticated” as to your ownership. When people walk away from their encounters with you, do they feel you represented Christ to them? Can they tell that God is the author of your life? Is there evidence to show that you belong to Him? Are you marked by the fruits of the spirit listed in Galatians 5?
Consistency: Maya Angelou has a great quote on consistency. She said, “When people show you who they are, believe them.” It really speaks to the idea that we need to accept what people show us through their behavior. But the inverse is true, as well– we are showing our teams and our congregations who we are through our behavior, too. If you are habitually late to meetings, what you’ve displayed is that you don’t value your team’s time. If you consistently fail to respond to messages or to do what you say you will, then you’ve shown others that you aren’t dependable and they shouldn’t rely on you. When you act differently at your vocational job than you do in the pulpit, your reputation is tarnished and you seem inauthentic to others. A leader with integrity is consistent with his behavior.
Tell the truth: This seems self-explanatory, but a leader with integrity has to tell the truth. Like our structural engineering example, if our foundation can’t be trusted, we will fall. All of us have heard stories of pastors whose private life proved their public persona to be a lie. While they preached a good Word, they lived a lie of infidelity and abuse. Lying erodes trust. If you can’t be trusted to tell the truth, then you can’t be trusted to lead well. When you lie, you encourage other people to lie to you, as well. Telling the truth keeps you accountable to others.
Seeks feedback: A leader with integrity is looking for ways to grow and change. They never see themselves as the smartest person in the room, because they know that everyone has blind spots to things. By definition, a blind spot is something you can’t see yourself, you must ask others to help you. Proverbs 12:1 tells us, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” (Don’t get mad at me, God said it.) Leaders with integrity look for accountability. I have a small circle of people that I trust to challenge me and help me grow. Any one of those people have access and authority in my life to tell me when I’m headed in the wrong direction.
Trustworthiness: If you look back at our journey through the five characteristics of Godly leaders and the five imperatives that go with each one, you will find that they all add up to this final character trait, being trustworthy. Can your church trust you? Can your spouse? Can your team? You may think immediately, yes, of course, but can I challenge you? Ask them. Ask them if they feel that you are trustworthy. Do they feel that you have the integrity you need to withstand the strong winds and weight of a crisis? Do they feel that they are safe with you as the leader? (If they are too scared to answer the question, then they have answered the question.)

Summing it Up

As we’ve studied the five characteristics of a Godly leader, we can see how each builds on the next. The fruit of godly leadership is best summed up by Ephesians 4:1-3. Paul says, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness (goodwill toward others), with patience (empathy for others), bearing with one another in love (respecting others), eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit (integrity) in the bond of peace.” (ESV, italics mine)

When we look at these traits, we may be quick to assume we are doing well in each of them. But I encourage you to remember that a crisis for your church may only be one phone call away. There is too much to lose to take these imperatives lightly. We are in a battle for eternity, and when the battle gets intense, will we be left standing?

The Pitfalls of “Personality” Leadership

Written on February 17, 2023.

Pride in Leadership

Recently, I began reading a book that has been deeply convicting my soul. The more that I read it, the more evidence I see in my own life of areas that I need to change…that I need the Holy Spirit to change me. This book is called The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Timothy Keller. In the book, he defines our culture’s incessant need for the inflation of our own ego, and talks about how the path to true Joy in the Christian life is one of humility and repentance of pride.

In this book, Keller defines our ego as empty, painful, busy, and fragile. The solution to an over-inflated sense of self worth is having a transformed view of yourself that only comes by the saving power of the Gospel and walking daily with God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This led me on a study through James where I have been teaching/preaching/writing over the past several weeks. And trust me, the podcast this week was just the icing on the cake. If we as pastors, leaders, ministers, etc. think that we can lead from the power of our own personality and ideas, void of the Spirit of God, we will accomplish nothing for God’s glory.

I believe that pride is the root of all sin. This is because all sin is self-seeking behavior, and all flesh is affected by sin in the world. We naturally have an inclination to inflate ourselves, exalt ourselves, and worship ourselves. This not only carries into our everyday lives, but also into our leadership positions. And I believe that pride is at the very root of the podcast episode this week: “Leading Beyond the Force of Personality.”

Sole-Dependence on Skills and Abilities

One of the characteristics of a productive organization is a charismatic leader. But it can also be a major pitfall. Organizations that are built solely on the personality of one person are not only problematic, but they are seriously dangerous. Last summer, I listened to another podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. It’s a podcast that documents the rise of Mars Hill church to prominence and influence, but also the falling apart of the church after a series of bad leadership decisions. When this podcast first aired, it stirred up a lot of conversation about church leadership.

Some who were a part of the Mars Hill family only had good things to say about their time as members. Many more ended up leaving the church because of unhealthy leadership, bad relationships, loss of gospel standards, and a lack of clear communication. Some people were hurt because of an abuse of power. Listening to the podcast is a tragic story about how hard a church can fall when they have built their whole structure around one man’s personality.

The reason why this type of leadership can result in failure is frankly because of the sin and pride in our hearts. Trying to lead solely based on our own personality is like telling God “I don’t need you,” while spending every moment wondering how a decision will impact your image. When this happens, we grow too dependent on ourselves and less dependent on God. Consider John the Baptist rephrasing his statement, like this: “He must decrease, I must increase!”

But we must remember what the word of God says: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).

Pitfalls of “Personality” Leadership

We all have a distinct personality that has been given to us by God. It naturally flows out of us as we make decisions and meet people where we are. Our personality is not a bad thing. However, our personality can sometimes get in the way of leading from a healthy place. Leadership by personality alone is not sustainable. And while you may have a great personality that is approachable, lively, and full of charisma, people can often feel diminished by the strength of your disposition.

Unfortunately, this type of leadership is the main reason for pastoral burnout. When we fail to incorporate others in decision making and lead from a position of narcissism (“I can do it myself”), we think that the success of our church or organization is dependent on our identity and persona. This is an interesting thought process, and one that comes from the flesh. Leading solely from our personality is so clearly wrong that the results are painfully obvious. Crashing and burning is just around the corner. We know in scripture that we may water and plant seeds, but who is it that gives the growth? God alone, friends.

Here is a better alternative: we should humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift us up. Let the Spirit lead us, because the Spirit of God knows much more about how to honor God, than we do. The spirit is willing! The flesh is weak.

One of the books I continually refer to is called Replenish, by Lance Witt. In the book, Witt sums up my thoughts by saying this:

“We have neglected the fact that the pastor’s greatest leadership skill is a healthy soul. Our concentration on scale and technique and strategy has resulted in de-emphasizing the interior life. The outcome is an increasing number of men in women leading our churches who are emotionally empty and spiritually dry. It is the story of a neglected soul and mismanaged character. Of a slow drift into relational isolation. Of being seduced by ambition. These leaders didn’t intend for it to happen, but somewhere along the journey they stopped paying attention to what was going on inside of them. The shift was incremental and at times imperceptible.” (p. 19)

For God’s Glory Alone

You can use skills, abilities, and personality in your leadership position for God’s glory! But I think that doing this is easier said than done. It requires that we lay down our own ambition and pride, and we lead from a place of humility. Here is the biblical precedent for it: 1 Cor. 7:17, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” For what purpose? To what end? “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). If you want to lead from a place of humility, here are some practical ways we can do just that.

#1. Make much of Jesus in every leadership decision. Share about Him often, and make sure the mission or goal of your church reflects the mission of Jesus Christ. It’s about Him, not us! If we walk by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of our flesh.

#2. Remind yourself daily that the church is not “your” church and the ministry you serve is not “your ministry.” We are shepherds and stewards; Jesus is the owner.

#3. Work hard at praising others, not yourself. It’s better to be an encourager, not an overbearing manager.

#4. Be interested in others, and incorporate others into your decision making while taking a general care in their lives.

#5. Don’t isolate, stay in touch with the people who are surrounding you in this ministry. God has put them there for a reason.

#6. Have regular, open accountability with others about your personal pitfalls.

#7. Remind yourself daily of the gospel and its impact on your life.

Cautions…About You

Always be Self-Aware

Look at the people around you. If there aren’t many, look at your wife and your family. Then, ask the hard questions. What are some ways that I’ve been slacking lately? Do you see any selfish ambition or pride in me? Can you help me see things about myself that I cannot see?

Always be Socially-Aware

How do your decisions affect other people involved in your ministry? Could it be said that you do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, and count others more significant than yourself? This caution is meant to cause us to look outwards, towards those around us.

Know when to Self-Regulate

One of the greatest things you can do as a leader is understand how and when to pull back and let others take the lead.

To lead with humility, a good rule of thumb is to take Paul’s words on humility and put them in the context of leadership. I’ll paste the words here from Philippians 2:1-8

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

For more information on this topic, see the books I referenced: The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, Designed to Lead, and Replenish. See this week’s podcast episode here.

Respect in Leadership- Part Four of the Godly Leadership Series

Written on February 13, 2023.

R-e-s-p-e-c-t

This is part four of a series of five on the characteristics of Godly leaders. Part one, Humility, can be found here, Part two, Goodwill, can be found here, and Part Three, Empathy, can be found here.

My husband started his ministry as a Youth Pastor. We loved working with youth. We found them to be hungry for the Gospel and for truth, and we genuinely enjoyed their goofy immaturity, especially as they tried so hard to be “adults.” We learned so much from the youth we served, but one lesson specifically sticks with us: the difference between positional authority and relational authority.

In positional authority, you have a person’s respect because of your position in their life. As adults, we are used to this authority because most of us have employers who are in the position to speak authoritatively in our lives. Many of us were also raised by parents who expected this type of respect. But in this generation, there is more value placed on relational authority, where a person’s respect is based on your relationship to them. You can’t speak authoritatively in their life unless they value your relationship with them.

We had many adults who volunteered in youth ministry who felt that the youth would respect them because they were parents or teachers, or simply because they were older– positional authority. But what we found is that teenagers responded much better to relational authority. We could earn their respect and the ability to speak truth in love to them when we had a relationship with them. Without it, we were just another adult annoying them with rules and expectations.

Watching this generational switch showed us something: leaders have to show respect to others before they can ever earn the respect of others.

Find Out What it Means to Me

Thankfully, God is not silent on the issue of respecting others. In Romans 12:10, Paul tells us that not only are we to love one another, we should “outdo one another in showing honor.” (ESV, italics mine) We are to respect each other more and more, almost as though respecting each other is a competition we are seeking to win. In 1 Peter, Peter tells us we must respect not only the good and gentle, but also the unjust (1 Peter 2:16-18). And in Matthew 22, Jesus himself instructs us that the greatest commandment is to love God, but the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.

Mankind is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), so when we are respecting others and honoring them, we are respecting Him. Thus the inverse is true– when we disrespect others, we have disrespected the image of God in them. This goes not only for how we treat people with our actions, but especially how we treat people with our words. Ephesians 4 reminds us that we are called to “bear with one another” in an effort to always strive toward unity. When we disrespect others through gossip or slander, we have failed to speak only what is “good for building up” and what gives grace to those who hear us. We must remember that respecting someone isn’t just about our treatment of them when they are around us, it’s also how we speak about them when they aren’t present.

Take Care (TCB)

In case you can’t tell, I haven’t been able to write this blog post without Aretha Franklin demanding respect in my head. I have always wondered what “TCB” meant, and after doing some research I found out it was her shorthand for “take care of business.” So here’s where we as leaders take care of the business of respecting others. There are five imperatives that we must follow if we are going to show the respect to others that we must as Godly leaders.

Honor Others– When someone leaves a conversation with you, do you think they felt honored? Did you respect them as a fellow Christ bearer? Did you treat them with kindness or did you dismiss them with arrogance? A leader who shows respect to others will seek to serve others. How are you serving your team?
Open Communication– Be intentional about how you speak to others. Your words have power, so what are they saying? Are you respectful in how you speak to people? In a recent podcast, Bob pointed out that honoring someone can even mean speaking in a way that honors their expectations toward change. While a visionary leader may want to say, “Let’s do XYZ,” someone who respects others will say, “What do you think about XYZ?” Communicating in a way that honors the opinions of those around you is a way to show that you respect their ideas.
Disagree Productively– While you will certainly have times that you disagree with people, respecting them means that you remember the end goal is always unity. Romans 14 and 15 give us Godly ways to disagree with someone without disrespecting them. Instead of responding to disagreements with personal attacks, we need to ask questions and seek to understand why the other person sees it differently.
Help Others Win– When we respect others, we value what they value. We don’t merely cheer them on, we actively encourage them, assisting in their ideas and goals where we can. We get excited when they win, not jealous or bitter. We respect their passions and hobbies. We show up for them.
Express Gratitude– The people you serve in your congregation aren’t there because they have to be. While you do have positional authority as the Pastor, you must also cultivate relational authority by remembering that they have chosen to be a part of the church family that God is creating. You respect that choice by being grateful for them and for their contributions. Express that gratitude in various ways– not just verbally, but in writing or in small tokens of appreciation.

Respect- Just a Little Bit

George Foreman once wrote, “Without appreciation and respect for other people, true leadership becomes ineffective, if not impossible.” It’s not enough to merely have positional authority as Godly leaders. We must build relationships on mutual respect to be able to be effective leaders who can speak the truth (in love) to our congregations. We must learn to treat others the way we want to be treated, giving them grace and honoring their story.

Leaders who lead from a place of authority lead people to fear them more than respect them. True respect comes when a team can come together as a family and can acknowledge each person’s value within it, even when they disagree.

For further reading on Respect as a Godly Leader, see Designed to Lead by Erik Geiger, this episode of the Replant Bootcamp podcast, and this article on the need for Pastors to respect their congregations.

Empathy in Leadership- Part Three of the Godly Leadership Series

Written on February 6, 2023.

Empathy

This is part two of a series of five on the characteristics of Godly leaders. Part one, Humility, can be found here, and Part two, Goodwill, can be found here.

Have you ever taken a spiritual gifts test? I took one early in my spiritual journey. While I was excited that I scored well for the gifts of exhortation and teaching, I was shocked to realize I scored very low in mercy and empathy. Out of a possible 100 points, I scored a FOUR in the gift of mercy. A FOUR. It doesn’t take a math wiz to realize that a 4 out of 100 would be a failing score on any test.

I asked a mentor if she could help me understand how I could be gifted at exhortation (insinuating that I am an encourager by nature) but score so low in mercy and empathy and she put it this way:

Two people are walking one day and see a third person stuck in a deep pit. The person gifted in exhortation calls down and says, “Hey! How’d you get stuck in this pit?” The person answers, “I’m not sure. I’m just here and can’t get out!” The Encourager says, “Hang on! I can help! I’m going to go get a ladder so we can get you out!” When she comes back with the ladder, two people are in the pit. She calls down, “Hey! Why did you get in the pit with them?” And the other person says, “Well, I saw they were alone and I knew I could help by sitting with them in the dark.”

My mentor said, “You are the person getting the ladder. You have sympathy and want to fix the problem. But the person who crawls into the pit with them? That person has empathy.”

I knew I needed to develop better empathy skills if I wanted to lead like Jesus. In a recent Replant Bootcamp podcast episode, JimBob discussed this invaluable characteristic of a Godly leader and the difference it can make in the life of a replant pastor.

The Definition of Empathy

There is pushback in some circles toward the idea of “empathy” toward others in a pastoral context. We seem to sometimes equate it with “acceptance” of a person’s actions. Unfortunately, this not only mis-defines empathy, it misses an important aspect of mercy in our ministry to others. Empathy, by definition, is not ignoring the actions that brought someone to where they are– it is putting yourself in their shoes and feeling their pain as though it were your own.

Some of us have also equated empathy with sympathy. But, again, we miss the definition of both when we conflate the two. Sympathy says, “I’m sorry this is happening to you.” Empathy says, “I am with you in this pain and this is happening to us.” Sympathy allows you a lesser sense of involvement because it allows you to stay removed from the pain of another person.

A third definition is helpful here, too, when we look at empathy. Compassion is empathy in action. You are so motivated by the pain of someone else that it moves you toward action. This response can be difficult for those of us who were never shown compassion from our parents. If the reply to your pain was an exasperated parent saying, “Well if you hadn’t done XYZ, then this wouldn’t have happened.“ Or “get over it. You’re fine,” you are going to find it very difficult to come to a place of empathy with others. Likewise, if you had a very emotional parent who made your pain more about them than about you, you will likely have a hard time dealing with being empathetic toward someone else’s emotional pain. You have not had empathy modeled for you, so it will be hard to understand why you need to give it to others.

The Demand for Empathy

While all pastors should practice empathy as they counsel and work with the people their team, replant pastors have a unique role to play as they serve. In a replant, there are likely to be two issues that demand we respond with empathy. The first is the propensity toward change in a replant. In a separate blog and podcast, the Replant Bootcamp team discussed the emotional cycle of change. As you guide your church through transformation, empathy helps you seek to not only understand negative pushback toward change, but also to navigate through someone’s emotional response to it. The second issue a replant pastor faces is the need to reach the community around them. The experiences in the surrounding community may be very different from your own. Your response to their pain must be from a place of understanding and empathy. People who are hurting need to hear and know that you care and have compassion for them so that they can hear the hope of the Gospel.

This isn’t a new idea. This characteristic of compassion and empathy is modeled in the way Jesus saw and ministered to people. Jesus repeatedly felt compassion toward people and moved to action by his care for them.

In Mark 1:41, the Bible tells us Jesus was “moved with pity” as he healed a leper. In Mark 6:34, he “had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things.” In Mark 8:2, Jesus states that he “had compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.” He then directs his disciples to feed the crowd. In Luke 7:13, Jesus heals the widow’s son after having compassion on her and saying, “do not weep.” And in both the parable of the good Samaritan and the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus states that the character’s actions came from a place of compassion and empathy for the person in need.

Jesus consistently treated people with empathy, and his compassion moved him toward action. He didn’t condone their sin or become frustrated with it. He simply cared about them enough to show them grace and mercy so that they could hear and receive the ultimate answer to their needs– the Gospel.

The Development of Empathy

Fortunately for me, failing in the area of mercy and empathy doesn’t have to be a permanent position. Empathy is a skill any leader can develop with time. There are 5 ways that you can become more empathetic toward the people you serve:

1. Be fully present. The people you serve need to know that they are important to you. Give them your full attention.
2. Be an active listener. Engage people and actively listen to their stories. You may want to put your phone down and exercise curiosity. Ask about their perspective and their background. What led them to this moment? What experiences have they had?
3. Suspend judgment. Seek to understand where someone is coming from before you make judgments about them. Remember their experiences have informed their emotions and actions, and their experience may be different than yours.
4. Create compassionate understanding. Before you attempt to “solve” an issue, try to understand the other person’s perspective on it. Be compassionate as you try to help them move toward resolution.
5. Practice proactive caring. Meet the person’s needs as you’re able to, whether that’s being actively involved in meeting physical needs, or simply sitting with them as they need you.

When we practice Godly empathy, we are modeling Christ’s compassion for others. To truly be a godly leader, one must be willing to sit with someone else’s pain the way He did. Jesus allowed himself to be moved into someone else’s pain, even to the point of weeping with them or over them.

Sit in the pit with the person, and then crawl out together. You’ll both be grateful you did.

Some resources on Empathy are this article by Daniel Harrison and this blog post by Scot McKnight.

Relational, Intentional Evangelism

Written on February 3, 2023.

Every Member on Mission

How active is your church in the work of Evangelism? In the work of Replanting and Revitalization, it can become quickly clear how active the church is in these areas. And, if you are working with a dying or declining church, odds are that they are not actively sharing the gospel with unbelievers, seeing baptisms, and discipling new believers. When bringing up those topics, some may say, “Well, maybe we need to bring back the ole’ Tuesday night visitations again.”

I recently heard a lecture from Mike Kahn, Associational Mission Strategist for the Tampa Bay Baptist Association. In a new Bible Study on Evangelism, Mike explains that the gospel never changes, but sometimes our delivery methods need to. In What If? Mike asks the simple question, “What If all Churches and all believers practiced relational evangelism?”

In the past, a church’s evangelism strategy might have centered on putting together a large event or hosting a tent revival meeting. Some might have an organized crusade event where large gatherings of people would come and hear the gospel. In the past 30 years, there has been a heavy emphasis on church evangelism programs. Normally, they take place on a specific night of the week where church members go out into the community and knock on doors, sharing the gospel using a number of tools.

I grew up learning the F.A.I.T.H. evangelism strategy and knew it like the back of my hand. I went out on Tuesday nights with my church family in groups of three and practiced sharing the gospel with people in their homes. There is certainly nothing wrong with any of these past evangelism practices. By all means, churches should engage with evangelism in a number of ways, including these outreach nights!

But we currently live in a different culture: a culture that is more antagonistic toward the gospel. People are more prone to shut the door, and reject the message you seek to convey. We live in a very consumerist society, and if what you’re offering doesn’t match the criteria for someone’s personal preference, they are less likely to give you the time to share. However, our culture still craves authentic relationships, and is still in desperate need of the gospel!

Personally, I can give you examples of people I have tried to share the gospel with in our community. Most people I have talked to seemed so surprised to engage in a spiritual conversation, much less talk about the central message of Christianity: the gospel. But the more we understand our culture, the more we must reevaluate the way we engage with the work of evangelism. What is the best and most effective way to share the gospel with people outside the faith?

Recapturing a Not-So-New Approach

In the recent podcast, Matt Queen shared that people are much more willing to hear the gospel than we are willing to share it. I completely agree with that statement, and can see it true in my own life. I have never had one person turn down the openness to hear the gospel. I’m not saying that they don’t exist, but I believe people are more respectful than we think.

The type of evangelism that our churches need to recapture is not an old program that needs to be resurfaced. It was the method of evangelism that Jesus used: daily, relational evangelism for every believer, every follower. The way that Jesus encouraged his followers in evangelistic engagement was part of what it meant to be a follower of Christ.

Jesus’ approach to evangelism was intentional, but at the same time realistic. It happened in the normal, every-day aspects of life. I think we can learn much by studying this in passages like John chapter 4, where Jesus has a casual conversation with the Samaritan woman that leads to the “living water.” We see Jesus regularly take authentic, contextual situations and turn them into gospel-sharing opportunities. In Luke 7, Jesus is blessed by a sinful woman that comes in the Pharisees’ home and asks for forgiveness. He uses a situation like this to explain the Kingdom to the Pharisee, while telling the sinful woman, “your sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:47-48).

We also see this intentionality in passages like Luke 10, where Jesus sends out people into towns and villages to prepare the way for the coming kingdom. When we read through the book of Acts, we see the same methodology used by the apostles and followers. They are both intentional and authentic in their approach, and they are always looking for opportunities to share the gospel with others. They are clearly led by the Spirit.

Passages like Acts chapter 8 are so incredible to see these followers intentionally going out, led by the Spirit, and having real conversations with people that lead them to Christ. What can we learn about this strategy? Preparing the way for the kingdom by sharing the gospel with others is something that takes every member on mission, working together.

Gospel Fluency

I haven’t had a chance to read Matt Queen’s book on Recapturing Evangelism but I can’t wait to check it out. Currently, my favorite book on this topic is by Jeff Vanderstelt, called Gospel Fluency. In the book, Vanderstelt makes the following statement:

“We need the gospel and we need to become gospel-fluent people. We need to know how to believe and speak the truth of the gospel –good news of God –in and into that everyday stuff of life. In other words, we need to know how to address the struggles of life in the everyday activities we engage in with what is true of Jesus: the truth of what he accomplished through his life death and resurrection, and as a result, what is true to us as we put our faith in him. The gospel has the power to affect everything in our lives.”

Vanderstelt is arguing one of the greatest motivations for evangelism. If we know and understand the gospel, it should motivate us to help others know and understand the gospel. That is, if the gospel has changed us, our desire is that it will change others. We are the vehicle God uses to accomplish his great kingdom work on earth. Therefore, we should seek with all vigor to make the gospel fluent in all our speech, so that it naturally flows out of us.

The best way for us to regularly share the gospel with others is by knowing the gospel fully and understanding it in our heart, and seeking out opportunities to make every day connections with those around us in our daily spheres of life.

Who are the Ministers?

When I do any evangelism training, I always like to start with a question: who are the ministers of this church? Most people point to their pastor or leaders, and very few church members point to themselves. I wonder why this is? Paul calls all followers of Jesus Christ “ministers of reconciliation.” In Ephesians 4:11-12, he says that God gave us leaders to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Every believer is called to be a “minister of reconciliation,” delivering the truth of the gospel everywhere we go.

Relational evangelism does not mean that gospel conversations cannot take place outside of a deep relationship with someone else. Evangelism can definitely happen in cold-turkey moments. It means that we are building gospel connections while we build relationships with others. While there are many “evangelism” passages, my personal favorite is In 2 Corinthians 5, where Paul shares about this “message of reconciliation” we have received and been entrusted with. This message is the gospel, and we will never share that which we do not know. Here are a few things that Paul teaches us about the gospel.

The Gospel changes the way we see people (2 Corinthians 5:16)

We tend to think of evangelism in terms of strategy and programs, but I honestly believe that Evangelistic living is a way of life. It has to do with the way we see people. In 2 Corinthians 5:16, Paul says, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.” Paul was saying that they didn’t see people around them as flesh and bones! They saw them as people in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In his third missionary journey, when Paul wrote this letter, he was looking back on many years of serving the Lord and sharing the gospel with others. As he looks back, he says that there is not anyone that comes into their path that they saw as just a person. How do we see people? Do we see them as flesh and bones, or do we recognize that God has people in our lives for a reason? I wonder if our heart for evangelism would change if our view of people changed.

We tend to gravitate toward people who are similar to us, but the gospel places us all at level ground at the foot of the cross. God places people in our lives for a reason. And the beauty of the gospel is that it isn’t just for us, it’s for the world. This is the starting point for understanding evangelism. If we don’t see people as more than flesh and bones we will never share the gospel with them.

The Gospel transforms us (2 Corinthians 5:17-18a)

Paul helps us understand what the gospel does to our life. It makes us into new creations. God makes us into new creations through the transformation that the gospel brings. Verse 18 continues by saying that all this is from God. If you want to renew your heart and be transformed, you can’t do it by yourself. The gospel is initiated and carried out by God in the peoples’ lives. All this is from God – the one who saved us will continue to renew us by his grace each day.

This alleviates the stress of the evangelism response. When it comes to evangelism, I rest in the fact that whether or not a person responds positively is not on me. Their response is a work of the Spirit. Success is measured by whether or not we shared the gospel, not whether or not someone received it. Praise God, it is not dependent on us! When someone understands the gospel, the veil is removed. Who removed the veil? The Spirit of God (2 Cor. 3:18).

The Gospel is meant to be extended (2 Corinthians 5:18b-21).

Paul tells us here that God has committed to us the Word of reconciliation. That means that he has entrusted us with the gospel. The word in Greek is Themenos. God has appointed or assigned this gospel to us. He has placed it in our hands, so that we might serve it to others.

God has not only saved us so that we would be secure in Christ, he has saved us so that we might be sent into the world carrying the gospel of Jesus with us. Therefore, he calls us ambassadors. An ambassador is more than a representative. We carry a message with us on behalf of our great King.

The Gospel is urgent (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)

In these two verses, Paul continues the same line of thought. He tells the reader that today is the day of salvation. Paul wants his audience to know that they should not wait to commit their lives to Jesus Christ. Chapter 6 also warns us that we must not take the grace of God in vain. The grace of God was meant to be shared with others because grace received is always grace extended. He calls us a “fellow worker with God,” and we are. Working alongside him and seeking to accomplish the purpose bringing the message of salvation. We cannot wait for an acceptable time and wait for the right day, because none of us are promised tomorrow.

Our world is becoming increasingly darker, and the hope of the gospel is needed now more than ever. It really will take every member on mission working together to be a witness for Christ in every area of life.

While the list of resources on Evangelism are exhaustive, here are a few of my personal favorite. Gospel Fluency, Before You Share your Faith, Evangelism as Exiles, Evangelistic Living, and Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations, and Life on Mission. Make sure to check out NAMB’s list of resources here to help you in this endeavor. If you’re interested in Matt Queen’s new book, check it out here. Lastly, I referenced Mike Kahn’s resource called What If?

Goodwill in Leadership– Part Two of the Godly Leadership Series

Written on January 30, 2023.

Goodwill

This is part two of a series of five on the characteristics of Godly leaders. Part one, Humility, can be found here.

A Tale of Two Bosses

Today, I am a veterinary technician (aka an animal nurse). But my first career was in finance. Over the course of fifteen years, I was a teller, Customer Service Representative, Loan Officer, and at my last position, a Branch Manager. I had many bosses in that time, but my favorite was Susan, the Lead Teller at my first job. Susan was incredible. She was the type of person that made you feel like you were capable of anything. She listened if we voiced concerns over a new policy or if we were confused about a new product. She knew all the answers, but never made us feel ignorant for asking questions. Susan was genuinely interested in our lives outside of work, and always made it a point to remember our family events like birthdays and anniversaries. She celebrated us as a team and never took credit for our achievements, even though many times it was her sales that made the difference in us winning or losing. In my head, every leader I meet gets compared to Susan.

Meanwhile, my husband, who is a senior pastor now, worked in logistics at two national warehouses during his first career. He, too, had several bosses during that time, but their leadership style couldn’t have been more different than Susan’s. One in particular was an emotionally volatile man who would rage and scream at the employees, even going so far as to punch the wall beside your head if you were lucky enough to be standing near one. His name was Don. He was demeaning, often referring to his employees as “stupid…” or worse. He worked everyone so hard they didn’t have time to have a life outside of the warehouse, and Don wasn’t interested in it if they did. When they won an award for bringing their department up from last place in the nationwide company to third in the company, Don screamed at them for being the “least best in the top three.” In my husband’s head, every leader he meets gets compared to Don.

The difference between the two leaders? Goodwill.

Goodwill- The Intangible Asset

When we think of “goodwill,” we probably think of the discount thrift store that bears the name, and we wouldn’t necessarily be too far off in that thinking. Goodwill stores were built on the idea that people need a hand up, not a hand-out, and on providing training for those who need tangible workplace skills. When we think of a leader who has goodwill, we are looking at someone who encourages and equips others for the task at hand. The ideas are not dissimilar.

The Replant Bootcamp fellas discussed this idea of “goodwill” in a recent podcast. Jimbo defined goodwill in business as “an intangible, salable asset arising from the reputation of a business and its relations with its customers, distinct from the value of its stock and other tangible assets.” When we bring this definition into our role as Replant pastors and leaders, we have to look at our own measurement of “goodwill.” Simply put, it’s an intangible asset based on our reputation among our people and our relationships with others.

Goodwill and Godly Leadership

The Bible is clear on the qualifications of a pastor (Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3). While the word “goodwill” isn’t mentioned specifically, the idea is there. When we look at what it means to be a Godly leader, we have to look at our level of goodwill among our congregations and our community.

Every pastor is tasked with preaching the Word of God and with shepherding His people. They are all called to exegete scripture and to instruct and guide their people toward a growing relationship with Christ. But while some are gifted in that area, they lack the intangible asset of not being a genuinely nice person. In fact, some of them even come across as jerks.

I’m sure you’ve been around someone like that. He is a gifted and talented communicator, but man… He’s hard to be around. He pokes fun at others. He is rude to the waitstaff when you go to lunch with him. He’s emotionally unstable, and you’re never sure if he’s going to blow up over something. He’s arrogant about success and takes no accountability for failures.

Maybe you have a guy in mind right now.

Maybe someone has you in mind right now.

So how do we evaluate this “intangible” asset in ourselves and find out if we might be lacking in this characteristic of a Godly leader?

What’s Your Score?

There are five basic characteristics we can use to measure goodwill. Let’s break down each of them and see where we stand.

1. A generous spirit. Like Susan in the example above, leaders who have high levels of goodwill will be generous with praise and encouragement. They aren’t hoarding their knowledge to make others feel ignorant, they share it freely. They are always looking for ways to help other people experience “wins,” instead of wishing it was them. The people who serve with them genuinely enjoy their presence. If the audience loves you but the people who serve with you day to day are miserable around you, your lack of goodwill is showing.
2. A high level of Emotional Quotient (EQ). Unlike IQ, which measures your logic and skills, EQ measures your ability to “read the room.” Do you dominate conversations? Are you quick to speak and slow to hear? Are you constantly sharing your own stories instead of hearing someone else’s? Do you give advice before someone asks for it? Are you the first person to speak in meetings or the last? When the people around you are exhausted by being around you, you’ve misread the room.
3. Self-Regulation of your Emotions. I will put this as simply as I can. A pastor cannot be the guy who “blows up” all the time. Are there times you will be angry? Of course. But you can’t be so emotionally volatile that you ruin your goodwill among your congregation. Your family also suffers when you can’t regulate your emotions. If your spouse is scared to talk to you about difficult subjects, or your kids don’t trust you, you’ve lost your goodwill among them. I will also caution that this one, specifically, can ruin your goodwill in the community. I once had a pastor come into my job and yell at me, cursing and berating me the whole time. I will never forget that pastor. Every person in that office won’t, either. And none of my fellow employees will ever attend his church. His measure of “goodwill” in the community is ruined. Don’t be that guy.
4. Providing specific encouragement to others. This is not simply walking around and saying, “Great job, guys!” to everyone who serves with you. Be specific in your praise. A leader with high levels of goodwill won’t give general praise– they actively look for specific reasons to praise the work of God in other people. General praise tends to feel inauthentic after a while. Specific, targeted praise makes other people feel “seen,” and that’s a quality of a Godly leader.
5. Being quick to forgive. Ever known someone who blacklisted others after they hurt him? That guy is awful to be around. He’s held a grudge for so long, everyone else has forgotten what even happened. But a Godly leader knows how much he’s been forgiven by God, so he doesn’t withhold forgiveness from others. Will people let you down and hurt your feelings? Absolutely. But forgiving others depends more on you than on them.

If you’ve read over the last five characteristics of someone with high levels of goodwill and you’ve recognized some areas where you need improvement, take time today to ask God to guide you. If you read over this list and feel confident that you have all of those qualities, ask someone close to you, your spouse or a close friend, to read over it and to honestly let you know where you can improve– after all, that’s what a Godly leader with high goodwill would do.

10 Questions to Ask in your Church Interview

Written on January 27, 2023.

Setting Clear Expectations

If I could pull back the curtain between an associational leader and a pastor, there are many difficult conversations about the hardships of pastoral ministry. Some of you may have had these conversations yourselves. Many issues arise due to a lack of communication, disunity between church members, and others simply because of prideful behavior on all sides. But pastors who are struggling in their churches normally have one thing in common: there were unclear expectations of their ministry when they started. They just didn’t ask enough questions.

A friend of mine went into an interview to be a Worship Pastor at a local church. When he sat down, the search committee asked him some basic questions about his family. Then, one of the men said, “We just have one question for you. Are you a Calvinist?” The young man fumbled his way through a response and told them that his focus was simply engaging the church in worship. They hired him with no other questions. His tenure of ministry was one of tumult – they never told him their expectations, and it caused major issues.

Some search committees need training in asking the right questions. But most interviews conclude with, “Do you have any questions for us?” A mature pastor who is trying to seek out God’s will should definitely have some questions to ask to that search committee.

During the interview process of a church, everything is exciting. The idea of a fresh start and a new opportunity can sometimes cloud our clarity in seeking God’s will. During an interview, things are not always what they seem. As a result, some leaders have a shorter tenure at a church than they originally anticipated.

One of the ways that pastors and leaders can prevent making the wrong decision is by asking the right questions during a church interview. On a recent podcast episode of the Replant Bootcamp, Jimbo and Bob discussed 10 great questions to ask to the search committee. A church does not only need to find out if the pastor is a good fit for their church; a pastor needs to find out if a church is a good fit for their ministry style. These 10 questions will be helpful as you get ready to sit down in an interview with the church leadership.

1.What are your expectations for me and for my family?

Unexpressed expectations always lead to disappointment and conflict. If you are a few months into the job and are being compared to the former pastor, whether negative or positive, it is unfair to your ministry. Asking this question during the interview process will encourage the search committee to make sure they don’t compare you to a previous leader. You have your own gifts and personality that mesh with ministry. Asking this question can tell you a lot about a church, specifically if they have expectations that go beyond the scope of regular ministry work. Church committees should have a clear job description that goes over the daily expectations of their pastor. Also take time to discuss any “spoken,” but not “written” expectations.

2. What do you think are the marks of a healthy church?

A little bit of self-reflection goes a long way. This question is important to gauge how the church understands itself. It also communicates to the leadership team that you want to discover the positive and negative aspects of their church. While I wouldn’t expect to hear someone go over Mark Dever’s 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, it would still help to hear them explain from their perspective if their church is healthy or not. Some pastors want to focus mainly on helping churches pursue health in the form of revitalization, and if you’re a seasoned pastor who has experience, you will have an idea of where to start with them. A good follow-up to this question is “How does this church measure up to those goals?”

3. Why did the previous pastor leave?

What were the events that led up to your interview? While this may be an uncomfortable question to ask, their answers can tell you a lot about their current situation. Did the previous pastor leave out of a forced termination, or a different ministry opportunity? Did they retire from the ministry?

4. What is the community around the church like?

Like the church health question, this helps you understand how they see the surrounding community. If the church is totally different from the surrounding community, then there are some additional questions to ask: Is the church actively engaging the community? Have they been disconnected from the community? Do they think loving the community is insignificant? I would also encourage you to go to the Associational leader, or other members in the community and ask them, “What is the reputation of this church in the community?”

5. What are some of the greatest joys or frustrations that this church has gone through?

The history of the church is a significant factor of helping understand a church. Asking this question gives the leadership a chance to be honest with themselves. You need to know what situation you are walking into. Has the church had major splits in their history? Are they currently in turmoil? What joy and celebrations have they seen in the past? This question gives you the chance to begin your ministry by either building off a previous legacy, or changing the tides of the past.

6. How does the congregation view the role of the pastor’s wife?

This question is important to ask because it carries the language of expectation. Some churches have had very active pastor’s wives, who led women’s ministry opportunities or provided childcare every Sunday morning. However, if you have a wife who feels more inclined to serve in a worship ministry or different area, they could be in for a rude awakening when dealing with some church members. Wives of pastors should feel the freedom, as any other church member, to serve in whatever way they are gifted and called. A happy spouse serving freely in a church can make all the difference in the world in your ministry.

7. If I am being successful, what am I doing? How do you view success in your church?

Success, while related to expectations, helps a church think about their goals in a positive light. Every church will want their pastor to thrive and lead their church well, so leadership should be able to provide a good answer to this. What you will find is that in asking this question, they may bring up specific goals that were lacking or excelling in their previous leadership.

8. How much are you going to pay me? If there are going to be increases, how will those be handled?

While you may be afraid to ask this question, it is important to ask, nonetheless. I’ve heard people say, “If God called me here, I shouldn’t worry about the money.” But if you have a family, medical expenses, bills, vehicle payments, and student loan debt, you should seriously consider this question: would God call you into a situation where you couldn’t provide for your family? In seeking God’s will for your life, it’s important that we factor in our families and our life situation. As a pastor, your first priority is to your family, and then your church.

9. If you have concerns with me, how will you let me know?

Last week, the podcast dealt with forced termination. This sometimes takes place in the form of anonymous letters, a late night phone call or visit from church members, or cold-shouldering that keeps you questioning what happened. Asking this question to church leadership helps keep them accountable for how they will handle disagreement or conflict in the church when it comes to your leadership. This should be clearly written in the church’s constitution and by-laws.

10. If you have concerns with me, how will you let me know?

Plan on reaching out to former pastors and interviewing them. Ask them what their experience was like. As you do so, remember that there are two sides to every story, and recognize that not every person placed in a leadership position is the best fit for a local church. This can help with making sure there are no decision-ending topics that come up.

God is sovereign and he is in control of all things. He knew you’d be sitting in that interview chair. Ask the right questions and pray, seeking God’s peace that passes all understanding in your decision. Wait for God’s timing, and don’t rush the process.

The Emotional Cycle of Change

Written on January 16, 2023.

“A pastor goes into it thinking he’s going to change the world… He gets fired for changing the bulletin.” Yikes… That is one of those tough sayings that rings true for far too many pastors that I know. They had high hopes of replanting a struggling church but realized quickly that change is hard.

But here’s some good news: change follows a fairly predictable pattern. And if you can exercise tactical patience, you really CAN change the world– or, at least, your church.

Stage One: Uninformed Optimism

Oh man. This stage is absolutely great… while it lasts. Unfortunately, that’s not very long. At this stage, everyone is excited about the change. They’re “ready for change,” they’re “eager for a new direction” and “looking forward to some new ideas.” The optimism is contagious, and there’s a good wave of momentum. This is the stage when a pastor starts planning out some necessary changes and begins talking about them with key people who are mostly supportive.

On the Replant Bootcamp podcast, the guys compared this stage to the Israelites coming out of Egypt. There was joy as they celebrated the First Passover and began to follow God’s direction. They were led by God in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and they were ready to take hold of the Promised Land God had pledged to them (Exodus 13).

But just like Moses, pastors will discover that after the initial excitement wears off, the congregation will start into the negative Stage Two.

Stage Two: Informed Pessimism

One of the most important things a pastor can do when implementing changes is to communicate. You can’t over-communicate when you are making changes. Your congregation needs to know the what, when, how, and especially why changes are being made. There is a temptation here for most pastors, because once change is communicated, then the protests start. “We’ve done it this way for years– why change now?” “That sounds expensive and like a lot of work. We don’t have the resources for that.” “We don’t want to do something new. We like it this way.”

In this stage, the benefits of change don’t feel immediate and sometimes the wait can make them seem unimportant. You might forget why you felt so strongly about the changes you were called to make. The cost associated with the change becomes apparent, and the grumbling starts to wear you down.

Again, we can look to the Israelites and see the parallel. In Exodus 14, as the Egyptians are racing toward them, the Israelites look at Moses and say, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:11) Funny isn’t it? The same Israelites who were just a chapter before praising God for His deliverance have abandoned the idea at the first sign of trouble! Suddenly they don’t remember the horror of Egypt, they would rather go backward than to face their fear, which leads directly to stage three.

Stage Three: The Valley of Despair

The costs have been counted, and the people are grumbling. Benefits for change seem far away and your people are struggling to support a change they don’t feel is necessary. You’ve tried to communicate the reasons why, and you’ve fought the good fight. But in stage three, even you will start to question your decisions for change. You will start wondering if this is even worth it.

At this stage, no one is happy. You aren’t happy, your congregation isn’t happy. Heck, even your dog is unhappy at this point. You will look for a way out of this hard struggle. And the easiest way to get out of it? Just go back to the way it was. After all, you rationalize, it wasn’t so bad before. It’s the same feeling the Israelites had when they told Moses, “Just take us back to Egypt!”

Many pastors quit at this point. And it’s definitely tempting to walk away. But beware– this is a watershed moment. If you can stand firm and exercise patience in this stage, you can make it to stage four!

Stage Four: Informed Optimism

Yay! We’re back to an optimistic point! Finally, you are seeing some fruits of your labor. The benefits you knew would come are tangible and people are feeling momentum. At this stage, there is support for the vision and excitement is building. Your congregation has not only embraced the change, they now see the tangible difference it made and are inspired by it!

For the Israelites, this looks like crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land (Joshua 3). They have wandered for 40 years as a punishment for their disobedience and their obstinance. But in crossing the Jordan, they are making a break with their old life and entering into their new life with God in the land promised to them. (We certainly hope you don’t have to wander for 40 years in the desert of indecision, but you should know that most of the time you won’t reach this stage until year 4 or 5 of a replant.) They are ready to take on the task of fulfilling God’s covenantal promise to them.

Stage Five: Success and Fulfillment

The final stage of the emotional cycle of change is success and fulfillment. You are not only seeing your changes and your goals come to fruition, you are creating a whole new culture. This is no longer about small changes, this is about the larger attitude of the church. The church is changing from a “me first” mindset to a church that makes disciples that makes disciples that make the community noticeably better– one with a healthy culture of disciple-making and missional involvement. It’s not change for the next year or two, or even for your time as a pastor there, it is a multi-generational change that lasts long past your tenure.

Looking at our parallel with the Israelites, this is the Battle of Jericho moment. This is complete trust in God and complete success in the mission of God.

How do we get there from here?

Many of you are stuck in those early stages. Can I take a moment to encourage you? Typically, it takes 4-5 years in a replant to see the latter stages of informed optimism and success and fulfillment. During that time, you will feel the temptation to give up. Many pastors give up around year three, when they feel stuck in that valley of despair. But we need you to stick it out, pastor. Your church needs you. Your family needs you. There are battles to be fought and hard times to go through, and we need you to know that there are better days ahead. God has not lost sight of you, and like the Israelites, you will soon see a victory. Keep at it, pastors. God has not abandoned your church– or you.

The Emergence of Revitalizing Ministry

Written on January 12, 2023.

Small Church vs. Mega Church

In a largely populated area only 5 miles across stands two churches. Church A sits just outside the city. Started in 1936, the church is worn and tattered, and has seen many pastors, leaders, and members come throughout the years. The church can hold up to 75, and there are stories of the past where the church could barely hold all of the people.

Some great heroes of the faith have gone through that church, and have been pillars in the community for years. If you were to ask anyone in the city, they have likely driven past the church a time or two.

But throughout the years, attendance has declined. The worship style was outdated, and the church did not grow with the community. However, out of a concern with attendance, the church began a revitalizing work using outside help. They have struggled to maintain attendance, but their church has had a different mindset on church health. Worship, fellowship, biblical preaching, prayer, and missions are current highlights of the church, and they are doing all they can to be faithful to the Lord. While they struggle in seeing numerical growth , the church is in a much better place spiritually, and they’re dedicated to continuing the effort.

Church B was planted 5 years ago in the city. A small group of people started meeting in the living room, and began casting a vision for a new church. It created some enthusiasm in the community and at their first launch date they had over 50 people. The past couple of years have shown a tremendous increase in growth, and their church is gaining national recognition. The speaker is popular, the worship band is modern, and the church began a discipleship program a few years ago that emphasizes small groups that meet outside of the church. Last year, they celebrated 40 baptisms and stood amazed at over 300 people on the first Sunday morning service of the new year.

One day, a member of Church A and a member of Church B were talking in a coffee shop. After asking why they chose to go to one church over another, one commented on a larger church preference because he wanted his kids to be very involved and enjoy fellowship with other kids their age. The other said that he enjoyed a smaller, traditional worship setting where the pastor knew him by name. So, he chose that church instead.

As we think about these two very different churches, you may likely think of some in your own community that are similar. Let’s ask a few probing questions based on these two churches.

Which church would be better to attend?

Which church seems to have a better future?

Which church would make you more spiritually healthy?

Correcting Old Methodology

If you’ve answered either one of the churches for the previous questions, your theology may be based off of your church methodology, and not vice versa. The truth is, depending on your family situation, your preferences, and your desires for ministry and spiritual growth, it could be equally advantageous to join either church. We may never know which church would have a better future. We also do not know which church would be a better setting for spiritual health.

Depending on your upbringing, you may have different biases about small churches, or large churches. But it’s time we face the music and deal with our old methodology, and possibly reassess how we think of the “church size” language.

As a millennial, I have grown up in the “church growth movement.” Even at 28 years old, I have been able to recognize both the advantages and the pitfalls of having a large, growing church. Growing up in a small church, my heart leans towards serving in a church of similar size.

Our younger generation has been heavily influenced by technology. Every time I open up a social media app, I normally run across a sermon clip of a mega church speaker with skinny jeans and Nike Air Force ones, giving some catchy slogans about a scripture in the Bible. The catchphrases are not always bad, and are sometimes very powerful. But growing up observing that environment made me think that this type of ministry was the pinnacle of leadership.

I mean, if your church is large and growing, that must mean you’re doing something right? , But after reading about church health, I started getting in the “cage stage” of small church preference. I used to make statements like, “Real discipleship can only happen in a smaller setting.” Or, “Having a pastor that knows your name is not just practical, it’s biblical.” But are these statements true in and of themselves?

For the past two years, I’ve been attending (what I call) a large church. We have between 500-600 in worship attendance. No, we aren’t perfect. But my mind has really shifted. My pastor knows my name. In fact, we are very close. We have active Connect Groups where we introduce new members to the church and plug them in to small settings. I have a small Discipleship group of 6 people that I meet with once a week for a year. We are active in mission and ministry. Maybe I was wrong about large churches!

I get magazines and publications at my office all the time. One came in that said, “The Top 100 Churches in America,” and proceeded to list them all out by size, giving tidbits of information about each one. There were numerous articles about church growth, marketing strategies, and GQ model photographs of these pastors. After looking through the magazine, I promptly asked my secretary if she could unsubscribe from the magazine. Do mega churches have good advice to offer? Yes, sometimes…

But my issue is when we treat large churches as the end-all, be-all of a perfect church. Growth does not always correlate to health. A church can be growing numerically but be stagnant in spiritual vitality. It’s time to correct our old methodology of rubric churches and get back to biblical basis. The correct question we should be asking is: “How can we lead our church to be healthy?” rather than, “How do we make our church grow?”

The Emergence of Revitalizing Ministry

In the past few decades, there has been an emergence of revitalizing ministry, and rightfully so. In Ep. 173 of the podcast, Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock noted some notable changes. When I was in college, we didn’t have any classes on church revitalization, church growth, or church health. We had preaching classes, theology, worldview, missions, and a few other helpful subjects. Looking back, I wish I would have taken something additional, something more practical, in helping revitalize churches. What I wish I knew back then was that 80 to 90% of our churches have less than 200 people, and that most of the men I went to seminary with, will likely be serving in small churches, not mega churches.

Some of the best resources you can find on this topic are from Karl Vaters. He’s written much for small churches, including one familiar book called, The Grasshopper Myth. In this book, he helps us understand the danger of comparison, using the example of the spies who return back from Canaan and refer to themselves as “grasshoppers.”

More recently, Vaters published a book called, Small Church Essentials, in which he makes the following statement:

The typical church in North America is small. Half of this continent’s approximately 320,000 Protestant churches run about 80 in weekly attendance. In addition, George writes that at the 100 mark in attendance, a church has become larger than 60 percent of its peer churches – at 140, 75 percent and at 200, 85 percent. So why are we teaching ministry students big-church skills, almost exclusively, when most of those skills may never apply to the majority of their ministry? Instead we pump small churches up with big-church principles and expectations, most of which apply in only a small percentage of the churches in existence. Then we wonder why so many pastors leave ministry burned out and disillusioned, with damaged churches in their wake.”

When I started working at the association I knew I needed to understand revitalization better, due to ministering to some of the dying churches in our community. I was overwhelmed with how many resources have been put out in the past 15 years or so. This is to help address the very real issue that we see in churches all across America today. Hundreds of churches close their doors every year and we weren’t doing anything about it for a long time.

But in my generation, I’ve seen that there has been a shift in methodology. There has been an emergence of resources, speakers, and initiatives that have helped encourage young pastors to go to the church revitalization route of ministry. I’m incredibly thankful for this, because I now understand church health much better than before.

What’s Biblical?

It is not wrong to have a large church. It is not wrong to have a growing church. The problem is when we use big churches as an example for how every church ought to be. I always thought that it was impractical to see magazines about worship technology come to our small rural church in south Georgia. Our worship consisted of a bass and a piano, and occasionally an organ. The people in my church service sang with something real in their hearts, the same as I’ve heard at a large conference with a worship band.

On the flipside, it is not wrong to have a small church. Our communities are all different, and our people have different worship preferences. In the New Testament, believers did not have the privilege of choosing out of 20 churches to go to in their small towns. They normally had one church in those early days. So that’s where they gathered.

If we try to form our methodology based on some New Testament church growth strategies, I’m afraid we will come up empty-handed. However, what we do see in the New Testament is that Jesus cares deeply about the health of his local church, no matter the size. Paul would come along and encourage those churches, giving them encouragement and instruction about how their church ought to be modeled, as one that would be honoring the Lord in all things. Paul and Apollos even acknowledge that while they planted and watered, God was the one that gave the growth.

What we see in the New Testament is an emphasis on prayer, evangelism, missions, heartfelt worship, fellowship, and other characteristics of a healthy church. Sometimes, God gives growth as a result of our healthy efforts. Other times, there could be some practical things that hinder a churches’ growth, such as their location in the community. Are we to blame God, thinking that his favor should coincide with our church’s numerical growth? I think not.

I’m thankful that we now live in a day where more young pastors are being encouraged to do the hard work of revitalizing churches, when this has not always been the case. There are now seminary classes, cohorts, training, available, and other resources to help address the need that there are dying churches in all of our communities. What are we doing about this?

As encouraging as this emergence is, we truly need more. We need more pastors being called to small churches, we need to emphasize the importance of following God’s call faithfully, instead of encouraging the “greener grass syndrome.” Am I going to be used by God? I will if I pursue a holy life, and seek his will in all things. However, God’s favor is not always measured by our church growth, and we should remember that.

On topic of Church Growth critiques, see Evaluating the Church Growth Movement, Five Views. If you’re interested in taking some classes in Church Revitalization, my alma mater, SEBTS, has an excellent M.A. program. As always, please reach out to the Replant Team for any questions on these matters, we’re always here to encourage and help in any way we can.