How to bring new people into your church

Research shows that starting a new group connects an average of 10 new people to your church. So how do you get started?

Here's a useful checklist that can help lead you through the process. It includes many details that are often forgotten or overlooked.

Perhaps the most important decision is choosing a Bible study. Here are four reasons why Bible Studies for Life is ideal for starting a new group:

• Easy to lead – clear directives and simple instructions are provided to help the leader guide a discussion based on Scripture.
• Focused – each session stresses one main point that connects the Bible to life.
• Educational – included commentary gives the leader a deeper understanding of the people, places, and Bible customs mentioned in the passage.
• Inspiring – each session ends with a "Live It Out" section that challenges the group to bring the study's main point to life.

Learn more

Teachability: The Making or Breaking of a Church Planter

One of the key characteristics most church planting assessors look for in potential church planters is teachability. Over the last three-and-a-half decades of starting churches and supporting church planters, three aspects of this trait stand out to me the most: knowing one’s self, practicing humility, and seeking wisdom.

Knowing One’s Self

A few years ago, I coauthored a book based on the belief that almost anyone who knows and loves God, others, and the holy self can plant some kind of church. Although Shakespeare’s words in Hamlet aren’t Scripture, they still remind us of an important actuality:
to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Teachable church planters are willing to hear from God, and also from those who know them well, about their strengths, weaknesses, experiences, and capacities, and about how these can affect their church planting strategies, models, methodologies, and more.
Recently, a church planter told me he wanted to plant a multiethnic church. This gifted, educated, relationally savvy individual had a thick accent, and I was afraid that if he used a one-time, big-bang approach to marketing, first-time guests to the services would choose not to wade through his accent to hear what he was teaching. To my relief, he listened. He knew himself well and opted for a more relational methodology.

Practicing Humility

Andy Wood planted South Bay Church in San Jose, California, eight years ago. It now has an average attendance of 2,000, spans three campuses, and has baptized hundreds of people. Yet, every time I attend one of Andy’s services, he has new questions aimed to help himself grow as a planter, pastor, and missiologist. His posture of humility has always struck me as a primary reason his church has thrived in a spiritually challenging climate: Silicon Valley. Sadly, many planters never ask questions, and some don’t want to hear another person’s advice.
God chose Moses to lead the Israelite people: “Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). In Philippians 2, the apostle Paul writes, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” How I wish all church planters would listen closely, believing that God may speak to them through others!

How much do you rely on God…to speak through others?

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Seeking Wisdom

I am regularly astonished by church planters who make huge decisions without seeking the advice of others who have gone before them. I watch them blow their budgets out of “faith” that money will pour in. I see them start weekly worship services before they have a true core team. I observe them select leadership-team members with whom they fundamentally differ theologically. I see them neglect checking the community calendar before they schedule major outreaches, move services into facilities that are not conducive to growing a church, recruit children’s workers without performing background checks, and, regrettably, the list goes on.
Scripture tells us, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). Church planters, we must pay attention–“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel” (Proverbs 12:15).
Enough preaching; teachability is a high and holy calling.

Teachability is a high and holy calling. @sfwoman

How to Break the 100 Barrier

How to Break the 100 Barrier

By Brian Jones If your church has been stuck at 25, 45 or 75 for more than three years and God has laid it on your heart to reach lost people in your community, you have two choices that lay before you: take massive action or find another job.
There is no third option.
Trying to break the 100 barrier is more akin to making it through Navy Seals basic training than any other ministry assignment there is. The odds are stacked against you that you will make it to the end, but for those who do, there’s unparalleled satisfaction and kingdom impact that awaits.
You must take massive action. You must push all your chips to the center of the table and gamble your ministry, your ego, your reputation and the entire future of the church you serve on the seemingly insane plan that I’m going to share with you.
The thing is—this plan works. But in my coaching experience, few have been willing to try it. The price was too high. Unfortunately, what many senior pastors of churches under 100 don’t realize, until it’s too late, is that the price of non-growth is even higher.
Here’s a little secret about the 100 barrier: It is entirely up to you.
Nobody is going to do the work for you.
Nobody is going to come up with a better plan.
Nobody is going to come alongside you and make it easier for you.
You are going to war, with yourself.
And you can win.

Here’s Your Battle Plan for Breaking the 100 Barrier:

1. Commit to Staying at That Church Five More Years
Most senior pastors stop reading right here, at least the ones who are on the “stepping stone to somewhere bigger and better” ministry plan. Listen, you can’t even begin to think about turning that church around without a long-term commitment. Ten years is more realistic, especially if you want to take it beyond 100 to break 200 and possibly 400.
2. Commit to Working 50 Hours a Week
Chances are that in the absence of a staff team and a healthy governing board of leaders, you’ve grown slack. This was always a serious temptation for me at this size, all three times I faced it. Make the commitment. Do the work.
3. Shut Down All Small Groups and Mid-Week Activities
Read my article on The Three Buckets as to why you need to focus on your Sunday services right now only. You need every single person united in making your Sunday worship service and its associated ministries amazing. Not adequate. Amazing. There will come a time when you’ll start groups. Now is not that time. Kill EVERYTHING that happens at your church mid-week.
4. Stop All Missions Giving Immediately
God has given you that money to fund your church’s evangelistic efforts. You are the mission. Feeling compelled to give away money to “missions” is like someone telling you that you should encourage your 12-year-old daughter to get pregnant simply because she has the reproductive capability to do so. Like Dave Ramsey’s advice to stop saving for retirement until your debt is paid off, this is a radical, short-term solution to a drastic problem. Soon you will restart again, and when you do you’ll give 20-100 x what you gave before. In the first six years of our church we gave away $0 to missions. I was criticized. Over a 10-year period of time now we will have given away $2,000,000+ to international missions. Nobody is criticizing me now, especially the pastors whose churches haven’t grown and are still giving away peanuts to expand the kingdom internationally. Make the call and temporarily cut missions this week.
5. Take the Excess Missions Money You Save and Hire a Part-Time Worship Pastor
Never underestimate the power of $50. Get a college kid. Hire four different people to come in one time a month if you must. Get creative. People will not perform consistently until they have a paycheck in their box every week. Once it’s a job, you can pull out superior performance from them. Worship must be your first hire.
6. Place Your Top Five Gifted Leaders Over Kids, Students, Adults, Worship and Finance
This is your staff. You will meet with them once a week. You hire them first with a title, then $50 a week, then gradually moving them toward full-time pay as the church grows. The order in which you pay them is simple: worship, then children, then finance, then youth, then adults.
7. Schedule 10 meetings a Week With the 100+ Most Influential People in Your Community
Your job, besides preaching, will be to network, lead to Christ and then deploy the most influential leaders in your community. When I was at this size I had five breakfasts and five lunches a week, every week, without fail, until we grew to 600. Gut it out and make it happen.
8. Relocate to a High School or Movie Theater
For 99.9 percent of the leaders reading this article, be completely honest with yourself, your building is terrible. You think it’s OK, but it’s not. Read these words out loud to yourself, “OUR BUILDING IS LAME. PEOPLE DON’T VISIT BECAUSE THEY CAN’T FIND US, IT IS TOO SMALL AND IT IS UGLY.” Make plans now to relocate your church to your area high school or movie theater. Yes, people won’t want to do it. Yes, this will suck. Yes, this will be painful. But you will not grow where you are. Churched people always want to stay in Egypt. God called you to get them to the Promised Land. Will there be desert times in between? Of course.
Make a list of the 10 best facilities for rent in your area, then pick the one that you wouldn’t need to give people directions to because everyone knows where it is. Some will object, “But we just renovated our building.” Sorry. Still ugly. Google “sunk cost theory” and read the first five articles, then go make plans to move asap.
9. Preach Amazing, 25-minute Sermons. Every. Single. Sunday.
The first time I faced the 100 barrier, my preaching was so bad that people didn’t know what was worse—our building or my preaching. The thing is nobody cared enough to tell me. Listen, you are nowhere as good as you think you are. No one is at your stage of the game. You need to improve, fast.
The best way to improve is to preach no more than 25 minutes each Sunday. Then get coaching. Then make an appointment with yourself to watch yourself on video every single week. Prop up your iPhone and hit record before you preach. No excuses. Also, read Andy Stanley’s Communicating for Change. My article titled 5 Steps to Writing Excellent Sermons in 8 Hours or Less will help too. Make it your goal to become the best preacher you can possibly be. As Bob Russell, former senior pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville used to say, “Great preaching covers a multitude of sins.”
10. Get Into the Best Shape of Your Life
I’ve met more depressed senior pastors at this stage of growth than all other stages of growth combined. You owe it to yourself to invest in yourself. You need the energy and stamina to work long, hard, thankless hours to lead this church past 100. As your health goes, so goes the rest of the church. So hire a trainer. Go see a licensed dietician. Overhaul your eating. Carve out the best possible times of the day to invest in yourself. No one else is going to make you do it. Trust me.
11. Share a Life-Change Story Every Sunday and Give New People Invite Cards to Share With Friends
As I’ve shared elsewhere, if you want to grow by 100 people, you need to get how many people to visit your church over the next year? 1,000 new people! To make that happen you must focus on sharing stories in your preaching about life-change, especially how God is using your services to facilitate it. But that’s not enough. You must ask your new people to bring new people EVERY WEEK and make it as easy as possible to help them do that. Give them Invite Cards for each new series. Create “special days” on Sunday that will intrigue new people and cause them to bring their friends. Non-churched new visitors will bring their friends at 10 x the rate that your existing people will, so leverage their influence.
Well that’s the plan.
It’s radical.
But it is doable.
And it works.
If you are interested in learning more about the types of coaching I offer, you can do that here. 

Brian Jones loves helping Christians live thoughtful, courageous lives. Brian is founding Senior Pastor of Christ’s Church of the Valley, a church of 2,000+ amazing people in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and Cincinnati Christian University (B.A.). He blogs at www.brianjones.com, but if you’re a Senior Pastor you might want to check out his website, Senior Pastor Central.
Learn more » Browse all articles by Brian Jones

[Video 2] 3 Barriers to Effective Disciplemaking (and how to overcome them)

As promised, here is the second video in the 3-part Disciplemaking Blueprint Mini-Course:

In the first video we identified the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Disciplemakers so you could start to build a foundation of effective disciplemaking.

In this video, I'm going to show you the 3 main barriers to effective disciplemaking and how to overcome them.

There's not much more to say about it... let's go DO IT!

Click here to watch it now:
http://www.vergenetwork.org/barriers/

Until Part 3,

Stew
Founding Director: Verge Network Conferences

P.S. You'll get another email from me in a couple of days with a link to video 3, so watch this second video now so you don't fall behind in this training...

Free Sermon Series Package: “Bad Advice”

Help your attenders untangle their lives by learning how to avoid Bad Advice.

Free Sermon Series Package

Download and share this 4-week series with your church.
From Open.Church, ““How did I end up here?” Behind every mess of harmful habits and rough relationships, we can look back and see where we got on the wrong track. Help your attenders untangle their lives by learning how to avoid Bad Advice. Topics covered include drifting from God, addiction, adultery, and dissatisfaction.”
This sermon package includes:

• Series artwork
• Countdown video
• Promo videos
• Message videos
• Talk It Over questions
• Preaching outlines

Get Download Now

Resource provided by Open.Church

3 Steps to Stop Wasting Your Life

By John Piper

Provided by

“If you trust God, renounce self-reliance, and bring him into every life situation, he is going to make your paths straight.”

A few years back, John Piper recorded a series of video devotionals for the YouVersion Bible app. One of those devotions that came out of the recording was on Proverbs 3, verses five and six. What Pastor John delivered is what we are calling: Three Steps to Stop Wasting Your Life. Here’s what he said.
Proverbs 3:5–6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” That verse probably is the one that my mother quoted most often in writing me when I was in college and graduate school. Without even writing it out, she would include Proverbs 3:5–6. And I think it is because the main aim of the verse is to walk in a straight path.
That means, she didn’t want me and I don’t want you and God doesn’t want us to veer off the path into disobedience or into a wasted life or into anything that would dishonor him. That is the goal. He will make your paths straight: straight to obedience, straight to everlasting joy, straight to a God-honoring life. And he says there are three steps to get there, right?
1) First, trust in the Lord with all your heart. So, bank on the promises of God step by step in your life. Make your life a moment-by-moment trusting in a good, holy, kind, loving, all-providing, all-satisfying God.
2) And then, step two, he says: Don’t rely on your own understanding, which I think means a conscious choice not to be self-reliant. Just say to yourself: Self, you are inadequate. Brain, you can’t come up with enough wisdom on your own. You have to turn away from self-reliance. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you don’t think and you don’t plan. It just means that you don’t bank on it. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). So, even in the midst of our planning and thinking and using our minds, we are leaning on something else. We are not leaning on our own resources.
3) And then the third one is: In all your ways acknowledge him—the Hebrew says, in all your ways know him. So, at every turn, every new choice you have to make, every new conversation you are in, you are sending up a message: God, I acknowledge you here. I know you here. I am drawing you in here. You are decisive here. I need you here. And if we follow those: trust him, renounce self-reliance, bring him into every situation, he is going to make our paths straight. He is going to keep us from wasting our lives or destroying ourselves and others in the path of sin and bringing us to everlasting joy.

5 Ways to Wake Up Without a Ministry

By Eric Geiger

“We should grieve, pray and love, but we shouldn’t think ourselves better.”

It is deeply tragic when ministry leaders lose their ministry, when sin sidelines them for a season. Not only is it painful for the leader, but also it is painful for the people who have been impacted and influenced through their leadership. Because sin is always crouching at the door and because Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking to devour, we shouldn’t be surprised when great leaders implode. We should grieve, pray and love, but we shouldn’t think ourselves better. In fact, here are five ways to lose our own ministries:

1. Believe in yourself.

If you want to lose your ministry, believe in yourself. When someone stumbles, struggles or falls and you think, “That will never happen to me,” you are placing your confidence in the wrong place. If you believe in your ability to stand strong, you are standing on shaky ground. Believing in yourself is a clear indication of pride that leads to destruction. If David, who penned many of the psalms, could crumble—any of us can. If Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, could end his ministry importing idols, surely we are susceptible to idolatry in our lives. If Peter, whom God used to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, could foolishly reject Gentile believers, then surely our lives can drift from our doctrine.

2. Isolate yourself.

If you want to lose your ministry, isolate yourself. After all, “no one understands you or knows the pressure you face.” We should remember that before King David committed adultery and murder, he isolated himself. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Sin demands to have a man by himself,” and a leader can be alone in the midst of others if the leader is not seeking or receiving counsel and correction from wise leaders. If you only surround yourself with people who validate everything you think, you’re actually isolated with merely the impression of community.

3. Place “the ministry” above your family.

If you want to lose your ministry, neglect your family. The most important gathering is the one that meets at your house. The most important group in your ministry is the one under your own roof. If you place “the ministry” above your family, your family will be hardened to the ministry and you won’t set a good and godly example. According to Jonathan Edwards, “Every Christian family ought to be a little church.” He stated:
Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by his rules. And family education and order are some of the chief means of grace. If these fail, all other means are likely to prove ineffectual. If these are duly maintained, all the means of grace will be likely to prosper and be successful.
Every family should be a little church, and your little church should not be squandered for pursuits of “ministry success.”

4. Preach repentance for everyone else.

If you want to lose your ministry, stop repenting. If you want to lose your ministry, believe that the messages you herald are for everyone else and not for yourself.

5. Use people to build ministry.

If you want to lose your ministry, use people to build your own kingdom and agenda. Leadership that is Christian in nature is the exact opposite. Godly leaders use ministry to build people, not people to build agendas. They believe and behave on the basis that people are image-bearers of God, sons and daughters of the King, and holy priests gifted by God.
There is a better way. Instead of believing in yourself, understand your weakness and rejoice in the grace God gives. Instead of isolating yourself, throw yourself fully into the messiness and beauty of Christian community. Instead of placing “the ministry” above your family, minister to your family. Instead of preaching repentance for everyone else, first preach repentance to yourself. And instead of using people to build a ministry, use ministry to build and serve people.

How to Not Grow Weary in Doing Good

By Mark Altrogge

We WILL reap a harvest in God’s perfect timing, in his “due season.”

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. GA 6.9

You would not think that we who believe in Jesus would grow weary of doing good. He’s been so good to us. When we do good it brings him joy and he rewards us. Yet Paul warned the Galatians not to grow weary in well-doing. Why?
It often feels like nothing happens when we do good.
We usually don’t reap immediately. We can be tempted to ask, Why am I denying myself and doing all this work? We keep giving to the church, yet we’re constantly financially tight. We keep asking God to save our teen, yet he shows little interest in God. We can think, I’ve served in Children’s ministry 15 years and no one has thanked me once. Or, I constantly try to bless my husband, yet he never appreciates me.
Sometimes when we do good things get worse.
Jesus healed and taught and his reward was torture and death on a cross. Joseph faithfully served his Egyptian master who tossed him unjustly into prison. It seems the more Moses obeyed God the worse he was treated. His own people said this to him:
“The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” EX 5.21
After God used Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt, they turned on him again:
They said to Moses, “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?” EX 14.11
Moses’ reward for helping his people was their constant grumbling:
And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” EX 16.2-3
Talk about doing good and things getting worse and worse—the more Moses served God, the more Israel grumbled against him. He must have felt like quitting so many times.
We can be tempted to grow weary of doing good because our seeds seem small and powerless.
We can think, what good will it do to give $5.00 to missions? We pray, then think, what good did that do? I have prayed for suffering people and felt like my prayer went up in the air about two feet then fell to the floor.
God assures us our prayers are powerful even though they don’t feel like it.
The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. JA 5.16-18
Our prayers may not feel like they have great power, but God assures us they do. Then God mentions Elijah the prophet, who prayed it might not rain for 3 ½ years and boom—no rain. He prayed again and it rained and the earth was fruitful. Talk about power. Elijah is a super hero. But here’s the point: Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. He was no different than us, a mere human. But he prayed fervently and God answered because the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
The good news is we don’t have to do monumental works. We just need to plant seeds—a simple prayer, a word of encouragement, work on memorizing one scripture. A small gift to missions. Our faith is not in our power or the size of our seeds but in God’s character:
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? NU 23.19
We must leave the timing to him—in “due season” we shall reap. It is often in this life, but often in the next.
Those who sow in tears
SHALL reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
SHALL come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him. PS 126.5-6
So don’t grow weary in doing good. Remember, the seeds we sow are powerful. Something good really is happening even if we suffer initially. Our seeds will bear fruit in God’s timing. We WILL reap a harvest in God’s perfect timing, in his “due season.”

10 Signs You’re Just a Jerk…Not a Leader

By Carey Nieuwhof

“Leaders who become jerks not only destroy others, they ultimately destroy themselves.”

So you lead. You’re in charge…at least you’re in charge of something or hope to be one day.
But how do you know you’re leading effectively…and that you’re not, well, a jerk?
I mean we’ve all been around leaders who are extremely difficult to be around.
Think about how badly leaders are often viewed.
Over the years, boss has even become a bad word. If you’re a pushy kid, you get labeled as bossy and people stay away. Hollywood simply needs to put the word “horrible” in front of the word “bosses” in a movie title and everyone smiles because they can relate. Who hasn’t had a horrible boss?
And yet, sometimes there’s a fine line between being an effective leader and being a jerk. The strength required to be a leader can sometimes push you up against the hard edges of your personality.
When you reach that point, you fail. You not only destroy others, you ultimately destroy yourself.
Here are 10 signs you’re actually being a jerk, not a leader.

1. You’ve made the organization all about you

Hey, there’s no doubt your leadership gift probably brings something to the organization or church in which you serve—maybe even a lot.
Leaders, after all, make things happen.
If you want to be a jerk, make the organization about you.
Make sure you’re front and center all the time. Think about how grateful people should be to have you.
Be incredulous at why more people don’t thank you for your leadership. Imagine that you should be paid more.
Just think of yourself as undervalued and indispensable. Jerks, after all, think it’s all about them.

2. You think that people work for  you

If you’re a jerk and not a true leader, you’ll believe people work for you. 
Contrast that with what the best bosses do. The best bosses think of themselves as working for the people around them.
They prefer to serve rather than be served.
If you keep thinking people work for you, few people will want to work for you.

3. You never say thank you

Jerk leaders rarely say thank you. After all, why would you say thank you when people are just doing their jobs?
Jerk leaders rarely take the time to tap someone on the shoulder and tell them they noticed the difference that team member made today.
And why thank the employee who worked late to get the project done? After all, shouldn’t they just be grateful to get a paycheck?
Great bosses often take the time to hand-write a thank you note.
They high-five people.
They look team members in the eye and tell them how much they appreciate them.
They put their arm around people and say thanks.
Great leaders realize nobody has to work for them. Which is why people do.

4. You’re demanding

One sure way to be a jerk is to demand things of people.
It’s one thing to have high standards (great leaders have high standards), but to remain a jerk, make sure you always communicate those standards in a way that demeans people.
Always focus on what you want from people. Never think about what you want for people.

5. You keep the perks of leadership to yourself

Leadership does have perks. Maybe you know some people other folks would love to connect with.
Maybe you get the nicer office or have a slightly bigger budget than others. Or people send you gift cards once in a while because you’re the boss man. Or you have a nice parking space (which you shouldn’t by the way…here’s why).
To stay a jerk, just make sure you never share anything with anyone. Keep it all to yourself. Whatever you do, don’t be generous.

6. You keep yourself front and center

If you’re a jerk leader, you think you’re so valuable to the organization (see point 1) that you do whatever it takes to be at the center of everything at all times.
You don’t develop young talent. You’re too insecure to share your platform with others. You never push other people into the spotlight. (Insecurity causes a lot of leadership problems by the way. Here are 5.)
You’re never going to retire anyway, or even if you do, it doesn’t really matter if the organization crumbles when you go, does it?
Besides, no one else on your team has dreams, gifts or hopes. Why would you pay attention to that?
Think about it: Great leaders don’t build platforms; they build people.

7. You take the credit and assign the blame

If you’re a jerk leader, there are two surefire ways to anger your team.
First, take all of the credit for anything good that happens in your organization.
Make sure you mention how it was your idea, and whatever you do, don’t mention your team or how hard they worked on the project.
Second, when things go off the rails, wash your hands of it. Look surprised and then appear concerned.
Blame something else.
Blame someone else.
Blame anything else.
You weren’t responsible anyway. Except for all of the good things, of course.

8. You never have your team’s back

Is there really any value in public loyalty? Didn’t think so.
If you want to alienate your team, speak poorly of them when they’re not in the room.
For example, when you disagree with a decision a team member made, make sure you tell anyone who will listen how much you disagreed with it.
And when someone complains to you about what a team member did, make sure you pull them aside and in hushed tones tell them how disappointed you were with their decision too, and that you don’t understand why they would do that.
For bonus points, never privately speak to the person with whom you disagree. Just smile when you see them.
Great leaders don’t always agree, but they always disagree privately behind closed doors and they support you publicly, no matter what. That builds a team.
As Andy Stanley says, great leaders realize that public loyalty buys you private leverage.

9. You make all the decisions

One sure sign of a jerk leader is that you infuriate other leaders on your team by personally making as many decisions as possible.
You never let them exercise their leadership gifts or become thinkers in their own right.
And when they do make decisions on their own, you meddle frequently.
You even pull out your pocket veto regularly. Especially if you’re acting on partial information and don’t have the whole story.

10. You act like a martyr

When your team is angry with you (as they should be), one sure sign you’ve moved to the jerk column is that you pull out the martyr card.
Nobody has it as hard as you do. True?
Nobody is as misunderstood.
I mean, who puts in as many hours for a thankless job? And who really understands you?
Nobody. Of course.
To keep jerk status, make sure you tell everyone how hard you work, how lonely leadership is and how you haven’t taken a vacation in X years.
Great leaders realize leadership has a cost, but they don’t expect others to share it. This is exactly why many people are willing to share the cost with a great leader.

The Jerk Inside Me

How do I know jerk leadership so well?
Because I have a jerk inside of me I need to suppress every day. My guess is you might too.
Fortunately, Jesus introduces a completely different paradigm for leadership.
If you want to be a Christ-like leader, just do the opposite of these 10 things. You’ll be well on your way.
And Christ promises to help you.
If you’re like me, it takes supernatural strength to lead in a Christ-like manner. But there’s no better way to lead a team (or your family).

Include Your Team on Decision Making

If you want to include your team on decision making and help them own the challenges before you, my last book (Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow) is 100 percent designed to facilitate team discussion and problem-solving on the biggest issues facing church leaders today.
Plus there’s even a full chapter on creating a healthy team.
You can buy the book and/or the team edition video series (for team discussion) here.
Want to see a sample? Download a free chapter here.

What Do You Think?

What other characteristics of jerk leaders have you seen?
How is this battle at work in your life?

Plan Now to Die Well

By John Piper

Provided by

“If you don’t have a better plan for how you are going to die, someone will probably just turn on the television.”

If you don’t have a better plan for how you are going to die, someone will probably just turn on the television.
As a minister of the word of God, I have always thought that part of my calling is to help people die well. That would include Paul’s aim that Christ be magnified in his body by death (Philippians 1:20). I thought of every Sunday’s sermon as part of this preparation for death. And I hoped every visit to the bedside of the dying would be faith-strengthening, hope-giving, Bible-saturated, gospel-centered and Christ-exalting.
Which is why I groaned at the hospital to find the television glittering in the darkness of the approach of death. This felt utterly incongruous. Bizarre.
One of the most godly women I have ever known was dying. She was full of the Spirit and prayer. On one of my visits to the hospital in her last days, she pleaded with me to pray for her quick death, and shared with me the nightmares she was having of “half-naked women dancing around my bed.” I wondered if there was a connection with the television that the staff turned on.
Perhaps not. But surely we can all agree, there is a better way to prepare our souls to “face our Judge and Maker unafraid.” Part of the plan for dying well is to have friends who share your vision of how to live and die for the glory of Christ. Most of us, in the last days and hours of our death, will be mentally and physically too week to set the agenda. Better set it now.
Old or young, directly or indirectly, let it be known that you want—and need—a Bible-saturated, gospel-centered death. I’m thinking of the kind of death that John Knox chose.

Knox’s “First Anchor”

It was November 24, 1572. Knox was 57 or 58 years old. (The year of his birth is uncertain.) He was dying of bronchial pneumonia. Jane Dawson’s new biography describes his final days.
His wife, Margaret was ever nearby, when not caring for their three daughters and two sons. Richard Bannatyne, Knox’s faithful secretary and friend, was never far from the bedside.
Around five o’clock in the evening, he called for his wife. Earlier he had asked for the reading of Isaiah 53 with the sweetest gospel words:
He was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5–6)
He also had asked for 1 Corinthians 15 to be read with its detailed description of the relationship between Christ’s resurrection and his own.
But finally, he asked his wife to read his beloved “first anchor”: John 17. Thirty years earlier, when Knox was coming to the Reformed faith out of Roman Catholicism, this was the chapter that brought him peace. He said, this is where “I cast my first anchor.” Here he saw the roots of election and Christ’s commitment to keep those whom the Father had given him.
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word… I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours… Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me… I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one… Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:6, 9, 11, 15, 17)
Margaret read his anchor chapter. Knox said, “Is not that a comfortable chapter?” Death came about six hours later.
Thinking he was still sleeping, his family and friends conducted their usual evening prayers after 10 p.m. When asked by Dr. Preston if he had heard the psalm-singing and prayers, Knox replied, “I wald to God that ye and all men hard thame as I have hard thame [I would to God that you and all men heard them as I have heard them]; and I praise God of that heavenlie sound.” About 11 p.m., Robert Campbell sitting on a stool by the bed, heard Knox give a long sigh and sob and say, “Now it is done.” When asked by Bannatyne to give the signal to show that he remembered Christ’s promises, Knox raised his hand for the last time and “sleipit away without any pain.” Knox’s battle had ended. (Knox, 310)
Yes, and the war had been waged to the end with the word of God. It was a Bible-saturated death. This is what he asked for, and this is what his wife and friends gave him.

Ready for Heaven

Singing and speaking the word of God—this is what I hope to hear if my death comes slowly. If you have never loved the reading of the word of God and the singing of gospel truth, ponder deeply Knox’s words, “I praise God of that heavenlie sound.”
Nothing will be more discordant in that final hour than the television. And nothing sweeter than the “heavenlie sound” of friends singing and reading the word of God. Full of the gospel, full of Christ, full of hope. Plan for this.

What the Real Enemy of “Awesome” Is

By Brian Berry

God might be calling you to something that just isn’t average.

While preparing for a weekend of talks to junior high students at Forest Home, I found myself wrestling with two truths I was trying to teach.
The theme set by the camp was “everything.” Not like, “teach whatever I wanted” everything. They were basing this on the “shema” in Deuteronomy 6 that Jesus quotes in response to the question, “What is the greatest commandment?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”
In other words, God wants our everything. As I read this over and over again for like the five thousandth time, I was reminded of two truths I needed to live out and communicate.
“EVERYTHING CAN’T BE EVERYTHING.”

First, if I give my all to something, then I can’t give my all to anything else. I think in a multi-tasking society, where we believe we can do 50 things at once, this is a profound reminder. I can give parts of me to lots of stuff, but if I want to give my all to God, then I can’t do that and give my all to anything else. Only one thing can be my everything.
When I let the opinions of people, the acquiring of stuff and the achievement pile become my top priority for a season, then it by default moves God out of first place. I can’t do that and say “yes” to this call in the Greatest commandment.
“AVERAGE IS THE ENEMY OF AWESOME.”

Second, I found myself wrestling with why it is that I find myself settling for less than “all of God in all of me in all areas of my life.” To that end, this observation proved profound for me spiritually this weekend as I taught it and personally processed it.
When I accept an average amount of God in my life, I miss out on the awesome that God has in store. In a world of comparison games, immediately we go to some sort of competition with that phrase. As in: Who can you be more awesome than? But the truth is, this call of God has NOTHING to do with comparison. Awesome is not defined as “better than,” it is defined as ALL of God in ALL of me! That is awesome.
It’s deciding that the phrase “it is what it is” in this context is flat out a cop-out. No, my spiritual life is not an “is what it is” reality. Our spiritual connection with God is never all it is or could be. There’s so much more. And to that end, Satan doesn’t need me to reject God to win; all he needs is for me to accept a moderate amount of God.
Bottom line, when I settle, it’s a victory for the enemy.
So this week, I’m wresting with these two questions as I search my soul:
1. Is my top priority in my schedule this week something God can be and is fully present in?
2. Where have I settled for average when God had a plan for awesome?

5 Mature Ways for a Leader to Respond Under Stress

By Ron Edmondson

“Leader, have you ever had to lead during especially stressful times?”

Every organization and team has times where everyone is stretched, stress abounds and even times where it seems things are going backward for a while. It could be a crisis or an exceptionally busy season. It could be internal or external issues causing the stressful times. During these seasons, good leadership is more critical than ever.

Mature leaders know the way they respond in stress will directly impact the organization and everyone attempting to follow them.
Here are five mature ways for a leader to respond during stressful times:
A level head
A leader must display a calmness in the midst of crisis. If the leader panics, everyone panics. Trying times test a team, and the leader needs to add a calmness to the situation, helping assure people everything will be OK. This does not mean giving a false hope. People should understand reality, but it does mean helping people find their sense of balance in the midst of what may seem hopeless in their minds.
Steadfastness
There will always be temptations to give up under stress. A leader walks by faith and keeps the team moving forward. You can read the hard lesson I learned about this issue in my post of advice to the leader when things are going wrong. Through good times and the bad times the leader must stand firm.
Integrity
Character is tested during stressful times. A leader must remain unquestioned in his or her integrity for the health of the team and organization. People will watch to see how a leader responds. What a leader says or does will be taken seriously and subject to people’s own interpretations. This is why we must strive to be above reproach.
Strategic-thinking
Decisions are harder to make but more important during stressful times. The leader must think strategically for the organization—helping to steer toward clarity and progress. (Read a post about thinking strategically in the moment HERE.)
Personal well-being
Leaders must remain healthy personally in order to continue to lead the organization. There will be a tendency to never leave the office, but during times of stress, the leader must continue to exercise, eat well and be disciplined in rest. The leader must guard his or hear heart spiritually, knowing temptation is especially powerful under duress. The health of the leader directly impacts the health of the team.
Leader, have you ever had to lead during especially stressful times? Are you there now?
What would you add to my list?

Organize Your Church on Purpose, Around Giftedness

By Pastor Rick Warren

Structure doesn’t cause growth; the structure of your church determines how fast you’ll grow and the size to which you’ll grow. There is no clear organizational structure in the New Testament, and I think God did that intentionally so the Church can adapt to different stages, ages, and cultures. God gives us broad principles and not narrow rules. There is no perfect structure.
As we study Scripture, we learn two general principles about organizing and structuring for growth. First, God wants us to organize around the purposes for which he created the Church. And, second, God wants us to organize around the gifts of our members. Purpose and giftedness determine how you should organize your church.
Here are some advantages to a simple, gift-based structure:
It focuses the church on ministry, not maintenance. When organization is overemphasized, a church can lose its focus on ministry. I heard about a grease factory that, as it became more and more successful, had to build more machinery to produce the grease. But, they also had to use more of the grease on the machinery they were adding. Pretty soon, they closed the marketing department because all the grease was being used on their own machinery.
If you streamline your structure, then you can maximize ministry and minimize maintenance. If you cut out about half of your meetings, your church would be more effective. I noticed the other day that my peach tree is covered in peaches; in fact, there might be 50 small peaches blooming on one branch. This week, I’m going to have to go out and remove about half of them. If you want big fruit, you have to get rid of about half of what you already have. That’s true in ministry, too: You have to focus if you want big results.
It makes better use of talent. I remember many years ago when we were looking for land for Saddleback Church, I asked people who had a background in real estate or development to show up at my office the next night. There were 14 guys who showed up, and I didn’t know half of them. They went around the room, introduced themselves, and said why they should be on the task force.
The first guy said, “My name’s Tom, and I buy all the sites for Kmart.” You’re in, Tom.
The next guy says, “Last year I did $91 million in land acquisition.” You’re in.
Next guy: “I’m vice president of First Interstate Bank.” You’re in.
All the guys were highly qualified – far more than I was. I said, “I believe God wants us to have 50 acres of land for our church; your task is to go find it. God bless you. Meeting dismissed.” That’s what you call liberating the members for ministry. I’ve had this philosophy for more than 30 years, and Saddleback has gone far beyond what I could do because I released people to do what they are good at doing.
The more successful a person becomes, the more impatient they will become with meaningless meetings. The last thing you want to do is put a go-getter on the flower committee. Committees discuss what they want other people to do; ministries just do it.
It builds morale. Why? Because ministry is more fulfilling than maintenance.
It allows spontaneous growth. If someone has a burden for ministry, then they can start it. We call this the “You’re It” principle. I can’t tell you how many people come to me and say, “Pastor, what the church needs is …” My job is to release and equip the saints for ministry. When people see something missing in your church, they’re often revealing their giftedness. Don’t treat it as a criticism; realize that they are revealing their passion.
In 1992, a young guy named Shane came to me and said, “This Internet thing is really going to take off, and the Church isn’t doing anything about it.” He wrote a three-page, critical letter about how we weren’t getting anything done. So, I hired him. As a result, Saddleback was the first church in the world on the Internet. Instead of getting defensive, I said, “Take it. Run with it.”
Don’t go around popping bubbles all the time. I’d rather someone try and then learn that it can’t be done than for me to tell them that it can’t be done. And, it may be that they are finally the right person for the ministry that has failed in the past.
Sometimes we start ministries from sermons. One time I did a message on how we need to care for one another. I thought, “We should start calling people just to see how they’re doing.” And I said, “I’m going to start a ministry right now called ‘Care Callers.’ If you like to talk on the phone and want to go through the directory and call people up and ask for prayer requests on my behalf, then please sign up on a card.” We didn’t do any long-range planning, but we started a valuable ministry.
It promotes growth. Structure will be as creative as you allow it to be. If you allow people to expand and stretch, then you’re going to have a creative church. But if you have bureaucracy – “We’ve always done it this way” – then creative people are going to leave your church. They’ll go find a place where they’re allowed to blossom.
It allows more efficient decision-making. Have you ever seen a church waste time on a trivial decision? Often, the more trivial the decision, the more time it takes to resolve the issue. In congregational meetings in small churches, decisions are often based on the popularity of the speaker. Also, the smaller the church, the more power the most negative person has. Many churches operate by management objection. The most negative person in the church is allowed to kill an idea.
A simple structure is more stable. The more complicated a structure is, the easier it is to break. How do you simplify your structure?

• Reduce the number of meetings you have in your church.
• Reduce the number of items you vote on.
• Release ministries to make their own decisions.
• Let your budget determine your priorities. The way you spend your time and your money determines what’s important in your church.

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Join us for Purpose Driven Essentials — foundational training for the Purpose Driven Church. The four-day event will focus on proven PD strategies including: defining your church’s purpose, reaching your community, and building a congregation. Get equipped with the Purpose Driven model based on God’s five purposes for the church.
Dates:
October 11–14, 2016
Location:
Saddleback Church
1 Saddleback Parkway, Lake Forest, CA 92630

Don’t Tell Me What You’re AGAINST—What Are Great Churches FOR?

Don’t Tell Me What You’re AGAINST—What Are Great Churches FOR?

By Brandon Cox Is it just me, or has the Internet and social media seemingly been flooded lately by a whole lot of vocal people expressing just how many things they’re against?
There’s a culture war going on, and it isn’t just the right versus the left. Society seems divided into all kinds of tribes and micro-communities, but issue after issue keeps dividing those micro-communities further. It’s very easy to join the fray—to get drafted into a war we don’t really feel is ours, but in which our emotions have become entangled, as if every major trending topic will most certainly determine our fate if we don’t speak up.
The church has often, intentionally or not, been branded as a community of people who are angry and therefore are against everything not church-y. This is especially true when we so vocally voice our protests and gang up to boycott every business that doesn’t look conservative-Christian-friendly enough.
I’ve listened to too much lately. From all sides. Some opinions I agree with and others I don’t, but what I’ve concluded is ultimately this: If I’m going to be known or listened to, I want it to be because of what I’m FOR, not what I’m against.
Please don’t misunderstand. There are lots of things that Christ-followers should be ardently against. We should be passionately against slavery and human trafficking, genocide, persecution, and oppression. We should be against doctrinal error within the church when it confuses or obscures the true message of the gospel. And we should even be against sin, especially in our own lives. After all, where sin thrives, humanity doesn’t.
My fear, though, is that the church is often branded, fairly or not, as the people who are against people. The church is against gay people, liberals, addicts and sinners of all kinds. We’re against Target or Starbucks or Hollywood. We’re against pregnant teenagers, rock bands and anyone who is inked or pierced. I realize I’m feeding into some of the stereotypes about the church that certainly don’t apply to even a majority of Christians. But some of this brand has been earned.
When it comes to my own ministry, and the way I lead the church I love, I want to major on the things that we’re for. I want to put down the weapons of the sarcastic juke and judgmental stab and instead take up the tools that are constructive. I would rather have a ministry of building people up with truth than tearing them down with it. For example…
• We’re for truth – absolute, eternal truth in a world of uncertainty.
• We’re for love – showing love in practical, tangible ways in a self-serving world.
• We’re for life – imparting life in a world dominated by death and tragedy.
• We’re for human dignity – every person is a precious soul, and every soul matters deeply to God.
• We’re for healing – offering physical, emotional and spiritual healing for the broken in a broken world.
• We’re for grace – the radical, Jesus-like kind that offends the religious and saves sinners.
• We’re for community – life-giving relationships between people who bear each other’s burdens.
• We’re for prayer – prayer that calls on an active and living God to move heaven and earth.
• We’re for faith – the kind that moves mountains, that expects God’s best.
• We’re for hope – that the King will return, rule and reign in peace forever!
We’re for YOU! We’re for you because God created you, loves you, lived for you, died for you, rose for you and draws you to himself in love no matter your background, no matter your sin and no matter what your story looks like.

5 Ways to Increase Generosity in Your Church

5 Ways to Increase Generosity in Your Church

By Rich Birch Church leaders worry about money. They worry about the church being able to pay its bills. They see the gap between the vision they believe God has given them and the reality of the contents of the offering plate. They’re nervous about what will happen if they can’t finish the year strong financially. Most pastors go into ministry because they want to care for people. Then they are rudely awakened to the reality that they are actually running a small business.
Years ago, I listened to an interview with Willow Creek’s Bill Hybels on tape…that tells you how long ago it was…and he said something that has stuck with me: “If the only thing that is holding back the vision of your church is money, you need to get out and raise it!” Not rocket science but it stayed with me. Part of our role as church leaders is raising the financial resources necessary to accomplish the vision God has given us. It’s not magical or mystical…it’s just work.
In the same vein, I’ve seen so many people get fired up in their own spiritual lives by increasing their generosity. Living a life that is about giving instead of acquiring is a core discipleship truth that people need to learn. People win when we help them grow in generosity. In a world obsessed with consumption, our pastoral responsibility is to show people a better way to a generous life. Some church leaders don’t want to “talk about money” because of the stigma associated with it. They are robbing people of a potential spiritual breakthrough!
Here are some resources to help you increase the culture of generosity in your church:

• Offering Talks // Taking a moment before you receive the offering to frame that experience is one of the ways you can encourage generosity without feeling like a used car salesman. As you thank people for being generous, they move toward being more generous. The resource below walks you through what makes a great offering talk. It even provides you with sample scripts to put into action right away.
  • 8 Elements of Effective Offering Talks (Plus 8 Example Scripts!)
• Year-End Campaigns // The last 45 days of the year are a critical time in nonprofit fundraising. Our culture is primed to give to “philanthropic causes” around the end of the year, but most churches ignore the opportunity to see a 10-15 percent bump in their annual revenue. Think through a strategic plan to cast vision for giving to your church like any other nonprofit that contacts donors during this time. It can help fund great ministry opportunities for the coming year. This resource walks through the essential steps for a successful campaign in the next Christmas season:
  • 8 Phases of Effective Christmas Giving Campaigns
• Major Campaign Initiatives // At some point in the histories of most churches, they need to cast a compelling “game-changing” vision and ask people to give far above and beyond what they normally give. Major giving campaigns that fund new campuses, new ministry initiatives or traditional bricks-and-mortar projects are still a mainstay. I’ve led two major multi-million dollar campaigns, and from experience I can say that doing it with a trusted advisor is preferred over “doing it alone!” Find out some of the things they won’t tell you:
  • 6 Things Consultants Won’t Tell You About Capital Campaigns
• Tithe Challenge // What would happen if you asked people to take Malachi 3:10 at face value for 90 days? “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’” Then if people don’t experience the transformation we believe they will through generous giving, you return their offering to them. Sounds crazy, right? After studying a few other churches that did this tithe challenge, we’ve done it for the last three years. It continues to be a fruitful tool and people say their perspectives on generosity were challenged and changed because of it. Here are some questions I would challenge you to ask before deciding to head into a 90-day tithe challenge campaign:
  • 6 Questions to Ask Before Your Church Does a 90-Day Tithe Challenge
• Be Seen to Be Generous // People need to be led and taught in lots of areas of their lives. They need to be shown what it looks like to have an authentic prayer life and they need to see healthy relationships modeled for them. The same is true for seeing what generosity looks like. Churches need to model generosity on a corporate level as a part of the journey toward people being generous with us. One of my core convictions as a leader is that people are drawn to generous organizations…if we’re stingy with our resources then they will be too. If we’re generously reaching out and helping others around us, then people will follow suit. Listen to this interview with a leader of a church that is doing an amazing job leveraging assets in a tangible way to be a blessing to their community:
  • Mike Linch on Mobilizing Your Church to Impact Your Community

The #1 Secret to Church Growth

The #1 Secret to Church Growth

By Brian Jones When I was pastoring a church that took off like a rocket from 150 to 150 in four years, I wrote every pastor of a growing vibrant congregation over 1,000 I could find.
I asked them for their best advice on how I could lead my congregation to become a healthy, growing, outreach-focused church like theirs.
I purposely sought out people who had led their church through my exact stage and beyond, instead of seeking out senior pastors whose tenures began at a much larger size.
Of all the advice I received back, none was more helpful than what I received from Pastor Rich Nathan of the Vineyard Community Church in Columbus, Ohio.
After sharing some very encouraging words about how difficult it is to be a pastor, regardless of the size of your congregation, Rich wrote the following,
“It appears you have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to implementing simple but effective systems for churches in the 300-1,000 range; things like mobilizing members for outreach, assimilating visitors, recruiting volunteers, etc.”
The only thing I really heard when I read that letter were the first nine words: “It appears you have no idea what you’re doing…”
Those words have always stayed with me.
They were as insightful as they were direct.

Wounds From a Friend

I’ve come to believe that admitting to yourself, to your team and to your congregation that you have no idea what you are doing is the secret all senior pastors of growing churches have in common.
Why?
Whether we’re pastoring churches of 25, 250 or 2,500, every church reaches a size and level of complexity that surpasses the senior pastor’s skill set and experience.
When one reaches that point the most honest and helpful thing a senior pastor can say is, “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Every staff member reaches this point.
Every person on your governing council reaches this point.
So why wouldn’t you expect to reach this point yourself?

A Difficult Admission

You’d be surprised how rare it is for me, as a coach of senior pastors, to hear the following words from a fellow leader in the trenches: “I have to be honest. I’ve never led past this size, or in a church with this amount of complexity.”
My conviction is that until you truly are able to articulate that, you’ll never seek help—from peers, from coaches, from former pastors, from anyone that can help you. Consequently, you will remain stuck, and your church will remain stuck. Churches never grow past the leadership level of the senior pastor, ever.
Desperation is a funny thing. It either humbles you, which in turn makes you hungry enough to go find the answers to your questions, or it demoralizes you and makes you depressed.
For three of the four years I served that church that had flatlined at 150, I became demoralized, depressed (clinically at one point) and wanted to quit.
If someone had simply told me that EVERY PASTOR GETS TO THIS POINT, and I mean every single one, I could have taken advantage of that season earlier. Instead, it took me getting to the point of absolute utter desperation to FINALLY muster the courage to admit to my team and my congregation what they already knew.

Are You Wasting This Season?

Maybe you’re there right now—doubting, frustrated and shaming yourself.
Please stop doing that.
Instead, use this God-given season of non-growth in your ministry as an opportunity to go out and learn from others:
• Go visit their churches.
• Watch their sermons and services online.
• Interview their leaders.
• Steal their ideas and make them your own.
Whatever you do, don’t waste this season of non-growth in your ministry.
It is a gift from God.
Trust me.

Plants Must Develop Reproducing Culture—but How?

Plants Must Develop Reproducing Culture—but How?

By Ron Edmondson

You can’t recruit leaders—at least not effectively—if you never develop a culture to do so.

Reproducing cultures reproduce leaders.
Finding new leaders is critical to the successful growth of any church or organization. Kingdom growth is greatly impacted by the numbers of leaders we can recruit.
Therefore, we must strive to recruit more leaders and we do so by having a culture of reproduction.
How do we develop that type of culture?

Here are 10 ways to have a reproducing culture:

Catch the vision of multiplication
It’s hard to convince people to buy into something you don’t believe in personally. As a leader, you must believe reproducing leaders is a valuable enough process to make it a priority.
Be intentional
Every leader in the organization must be willing to consciously replace themselves. Multiplication must be a part of the overall strategy. There must be a continual process of leadership recruitment.
Start early
Reproducing cultures replace leaders before they actually need them.
Invest in personal growth
You can’t take new leaders where the current leaders haven’t been or aren’t going.
Humble leaders
Leaders must not be afraid new leaders could lead better than them. When leaders allow people to shine under their leadership it advances their ability to lead. The good news is today’s generation likes honesty. They will follow a leader more if they trust their integrity.
Share responsibilities early 
The easiest way to learn something is to do it, and the more ownership given to people the more they will be motivated to participate.
Identify potential
I shared some ways I do this in a previous post. It’s important in a recruitment culture to always be looking for people who may someday be leadership superstars. Look for the good in people. What do they have that attracts people to them?
Create an environment conducive to leaders
Leaders don’t develop well under a dictatorship. If people are afraid to have an answer under the current leadership for fear of being wrong, they are less likely to try to have an answer. The real leaders will disappear quickly in a controlling environment—or where one or a few people get to actually introduce new ideas and make decisions.
Recruit
The “sign up” method seldom works well. The best quality people are almost always personally recruited. Jesus found people—with a personal ask—even at risk they would betray Him. The best recruitment in most organizations will be likewise.
Lead for life change
Some people will experience their greatest life change only when they are leading others or have some sort of responsibility of leadership. Nurture potential leaders knowing part of their spiritual maturity will be developed leading others.
Are you in a leadership reproducing culture? What makes it so?