A comment on the 150 mark

This was a comment written in response to the "Beyond 150" series. I thought is was very insightful and is worthy a blog of its own. This is written by a dear friend, who can speak with a very proven track record behind him. Enjoy.

"Anonymous said...

Hi C.

Sitting in Singapore reading your blogs. After being in ministry for the last gzillion years & more and in particular having been on the "road" for the last 12 months; this journey that has afforded me the priviledge of "living" in many churches both large & small, I have come to a few conclusions that would influence me very strategically if I were ever to plant or lead a church again.

One, leadership development is not a culture in most churches-small or big. I see churches where the days are so very full of activities, which look so good but are not intentionally building any specific cultures. Rather there is a feeling of "I'm at the movies with much to choose from" that goes around. The leaders that are there, are always tired, unmotivated and duty bound! I would plant a church and create cultures by hitting 4 or 5 bulding blocks in different ways all the time. For eg - Marriage, Children, Doctrine, Leadership, Men & maybe one or two more. A once a year marriage seminar does not create a culture....

Secondly, I'm not convinced a church that is "missional" will grow through the 150 mark. I have not seen this to be proved in practice. The key that either locks the church into the 150 mark or unlocks it beyond, is the leadership taint or leaning. To use three words that I think will become more prevelant in the days ahead - Prophet, Priest, King is part of the solution. In travelling, where the church is led by very priestly type men, there is little evidence of the church going beyond the 150 mark. I heard details of a survey/study that the University of Natal did on pastoral (you know, growing sheep etc) groups around the world. Their conclusion was those groups grew to around the 149.8 mark then had to split, plant etc.

Thirdly, my observation reveals that churches that do not put in systems that undergird what they are about, [will not grow]. [Those who do not] give the other leaders some teeth, will not flourish,... [if they do not offer folks a mountain to die on] they are actually in maintenance mode. To be honest, this does not have much to do with the 150 mark but is actually more about going beyond the hundreds into thousands. Even very large churches that look incredibly successful are not really. It is just the numbers that make it look that way. If those churches restructure and got some new mountains to run at, they would be amazing. So, a comment has turned into a mini-essay. I felt good writing it and hope some are helped through reading it.

Blog on friend! Tom T."

Beyond 150 - Rookie

I have loved being a father. In fact, I probably would have loved some more kids. However our relocation to the USA, with all that that demanded, let a few years slip us by before we made the call to have T. I love the uniqueness of each personality. Exploring each child's dream expanding their horizons, investing in each with "dates with Dad" . The wonder of dining room table conversations did much to fashion each child theologically, philosophically, relationally, morally. And I can never overstate the weighty, strategic role that M played in our kids lives. Her prophetic accuracy matched with her maternal intuition have been an extraordinary combination with much impact. Then of course, it is impossible to reflect on these things this early in the morning, without musing over the discipline differences each child responded to. For N a firm voice melted her. For D it required a firm hand of instruction on the seat of learning, for T it was a combination of the two. We can certainly not treat each child the same.

At the end of my last blog, I asked the question - 'What kind of leaders do we want to develop?' Here is the first blog in responding to that question.

When I visit the churches around the world, generally I see such a poor administration of leadership development. Rarely is it seen as a family raising kids. More frequently it is absent, or it is seen as a program / activity that the church is expected to have. For some it is a mish mash of bits and pieces whilst for others who have built highly relationally, leadership is a group of mates doing life together. But are they the right folks in the room to bring about change?

I am convinced. The greatest weakness in most churches is systematic, intentional leadership development. There are several reasons that are clearly observable. Here are a few:

1. Most churches do not have a theology for this evolution. It is therefore not a priority,

2. The pressure to pursue education has made that the highest virtue for many when seeking to expand the team,

3. Culturally, the hire - fire approach to leadership selection is so deeply flawed for many reasons but primarily it does not empower the sons in the house to "Eagerly desire the greater gifts"

4. Leadership development is handed from the lead guy to another pastor as a program in the calender.

5. We drift too easily from the biblical ingredients of leadership positions and qualifications to appointing leaders based on criteria that have no biblical requirements,

6. In smaller churches, many leaders are appointed for reasons of faithfulness, loyalty, sentiment or simply because they are mates. They may satisfy a short term desire not to be alone, however they may not be the key folks in the room to have the entrepreneurial conversations for growth,

May I suggest a better way? Leadership development is not a program but a lifestyle. It is not an activity as much as a conviction. It is not to be given away as much as it is to be imparted. It seems like we have to go back, with humility, to the text and rediscover the privilege of this lost art. Whether we look at Jesus or Paul, there are certain realities that are clearly evident that both apply with extraordinary effectiveness. I am persuaded that it is one of the primary weakness that need to be addressed if churches want to go beyond the 150 ceiling.

This blog cannot possibly cover all bases. However it can begin the process of change in your community. For the sake of simplicity allow me to present these thoughts in point form:

• Jesus chose 12 men to do life with. Paul chose several including Timothy to be as a son to him["To Timothy, my true son in the faith" 1 Tim 1:2] We cannot neglect nor diminish the desire for and the power of investing into "sons", one on one, face to face, bringing them in to our world, discipling them into leadership hereby multiplying ourselves,
• There is certainly place for group instruction [ "When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority...." Luke 9:1]. There is power in group training, discussion and doctrinal development. Leadership training 101 is absolutely essential. These times should be held regularly in our communities. Teaching through the three great Leadership Development books [poorly called the Pastoral Epistles - 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus], is a very powerful way to keep leadership fashioned around the gospel,
• May I strongly suggest all churches have a monthly Leaders meeting. A little teaching may be helpful here, but it is a very strategic gathering to process what God is saying and doing in the community and what the response must be. [Acts 13:1 - 3 "In the church at Antioch, there were prophets and teachers:... while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said...]
• Over the years I have loved an "All Leaders Gathering". I am persuaded that "all believers are called to be leaders!" From the garden when man and woman were given a clear leadership mandate, to becoming more like Christ who is leadership, we have sought to get all leaders past, present and future into the room. During these gatherings, we endeavor to ensure that there is a weighty theological content, a strong visionary quotient to keep everyone on the same page and good God stories - accounts of what God is doing in the community- splashed with prayer. This is not preparing leadership for the church only but empowering all our folks to be leaders wherever they may be in the marketplace. I remember one of the men who use to attend these gatherings was CEO of his company. He would take notes at these times and present them to his board the next day - loaded with content but without too many texts - they were amazed at his presentations and this fashioned the soul of the company. [Acts 15 is a great example of this kind of gathering.]
• Lastly, the role of the Ephesians 4 giftings in developing the leaders in our communities cannot be overstated. From the reason for these gifts as stated in Ephesians 4, to the model we see in the book of Acts, what is clear that apostles particularly are there to train the leaders [Acts 20:17 - 38] help equip, select, appoint leaders [Acts 14:21 - 28; Titus 1:5]. Apostles are not the CEO of the church world. They are not "over all" but "first of all" - by example they lead the way in humble service, love and sacrifice. Their role we will discuss later.

I cannot stress the role of Leadership Development enough - especially if you want to go through the 150 mark. Creating a leadership culture inspires the community to be entrepreneurial, believing God for the new and unexpected, it empowers folks to be creative, bold, expansive and not simply repeat yesterday, tomorrow - which is 'death by management'. When we create that leadership culture, people take ownership of the future and buy into a dream worth investing our lives into.

Beyond 150 - Albums

I love the early mornings. The quiet as the city awakens, initially sounds like the gentle waves lapping the sea shore, then gradually intensifies to the roar of the LA reality. The city stirs from her blanketed rest to the demanding challenges of another raging day in paradise.

I do love each church as you wrestle your way through the dynamics of breaking ceilings. Being fully persuaded that ceilings are there to be broken, our prayers do seek to empower you in all wisdom, courage and boldness to take on these challenges. There is such pressure to conform to the image of those in our communities. They are often nice enough folks who are seeking to be pleasant Christians. However, they are driven by the delights of their own conveniences and comforts more than the priorities of the kingdom. Rick Warren did some research and found the combat zone where two sets of expectations meet. If I remember it correctly, some 90% of pastors believe that the church exists for reasons beyond itself- for the reason of the gospel. Whereas some 89% of the congregants believe that the church is there to "meet me and my families needs". Oh dear, we are on a path of conflict.

There are many ways to address this major conversation but may I add two questions into the mix:

1. What kind of believers do we want to produce?

If the church is to be a family, then we need to ask this key question. In the same way, we sit and discuss intentionally what kind of children we want to raise, this then fashions what our parenting will look like. The church planter and replanter, is often stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is such pressure to keep the few folks that we have gathered that we are not clear about the kind of believer we want to see emerge from the seed bed of our community. Survival and the lobby of the few, pretty soon becomes the loudest voice that demands our attention. This is exasperated when you are in a church model where annual assessments by very unspiritual secular mindset folks, drives the pastor to desperation. This is so ungodly and so destructive.

We must be bold and courageous if we want to breakthrough this 150 ceiling. We cannot be fashioned by the 'smallness theology of the few' . We cannot be intimidated by these voices lest they manipulate us with the threat of leaving. Rather we must take the scriptures and clearly teach with faith and patience what kind of believers we are going to see emerge from this community. Here are a few ideas of these kind of believers that we can put into our photo albums.

Folks who...

• Love Jesus before all else - in mind, heart, strength, relationships,
• Believe in the scriptures as the highest measure for life's decisions,
• Are continuously getting soaked in grace, faith and love,
• Give themselves to passionate pursuance of prayer, praise and piety,
• Love the brotherhood, doing everything to sustain divine unity of the Spirit,
• Make community gatherings a priority with faithful discipline,
• Dwell with expectation for miracles, signs and wonders,
• Are generous-in time, abilities, finances believing in a massive God whom you simply cannot out give,
• See themselves as 'missionaries in their shadowlands' taking the gospel wherever they go,
• Enjoy marriage and family but never as idols, only as gifts...
• Have a heart to see this gospel go to all nations, desiring to be part of that big story,
• Lastly, let me let it all hang out. I suspect the world is desperate for this kind of believer who is real, radical, relevant and relational. Who delights in Jesus and is totally committed to instant obedience when Jesus speaks. Who honors the scriptures and will not manipulate it to satisfy their own selfish needs, who believes that the weekly gathering of believers is of the highest priority and not an optional extra, who wants to see folks come to Jesus with repentance and a transformed life and sees it as a privilege to share in this, who believe you cannot out-give God - who give beyond their 10% with faith and joy, who walk with love, humility and sacrifice desiring the best for others before ourselves, who praise passionately, pray relentlessly, and who by service and story are a Jesus presence in their world, lastly who want to see everyone have the opportunity to hear the gospel, and then the end will come... [now I feel a lot better]

Well the list can go on. However, we need to settle this question, then pour our lives out to bring this to fruition.

2. What kind of leaders do we want to produce? We will look at this next time...

Beyond 150 - Covert Operations

Buzz words. We all have them. We all like them. In the 27 years that I have been a leader in the Jesus journey, they have come and gone. I am sure they are not bad. They are simply God's way to capture our attention with truths that He is restoring to the church. The success of these words are not if we know them and can speak them. Rather, can we mine them for their theological content, embrace them for their missiological value, then apply them with due ecclesiological wisdom?

So here they are:

Incarnational, Missional Communities.

Lets explore them somewhat for their true value. I suspect many of the pastors who fit into the "I want to be hip, read the latest books, go to the coolest conferences, be connected to the grooviest speakers", are trying to make sense of these words. They are vulnerable to try the latest programs in order to be current and see how all of this can help them grow in numbers and influence. I sat with a "missional communities pastor" of a mega church recently. When he had given us his missional speech I asked him what his theological matrix was for this conversation. He sat and looked at me with big eyes somewhat bewildered, then acknowledged that they had not really processed that.

Incarnational:

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full grace and truth." John 1:14. At its most essential basis, being incarnational means that we 'embed our selves in the community / city'. Jesus left the safety and sanctity of His holy abode with His heavenly Father, and robed Himself with our humanity. "And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him" Luke 2:40. These are the 'hard yard' times. Believing that the Father "determines the times set before them and the exact places where they should live" Acts 17:26 we engage our world with the courage, beauty, love, service, kindness, grace, that Jesus had in those years. It is an honor to be chosen by the Father to work where we work, to live where we live, to serve where we serve so we empower our message with lives that match this great gospel. We intentionally enter the shadowlands of our world to bring the beauty, wonder, mystery of our gospel to a world who despair of life. An examination of the life of Christ will bring this story to us readily - meals with tax collectors and prostitutes, fishermen and women alone at the well. It is a glorious honor to walk alongside the limping and love the fragile, to influence the politicians and give a voice for the disenfranchised.

However, it is not sufficient to be there for them. The gospel does not afford us the luxury of only being "nice people". That does not drag the doubter to heaven. It is fun and it does have a high feel good factor, but it does not 'get the job done'.

Missional.

"For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost." Luke 19:10. We cannot afford to mix these two essential Jesus ingredients up. Nor can we choose which we are to be. To be one Biblically, is to be the other also. Being missional is basically to be a 'missionary in our world.' Actually to say it more biblically, is to see ourselves as gospel bearers in our world. We are the ambassadors of the King, heralds of this great truth - each one of us strategically placed to speak this glorious gospel in our world.

"Those who were scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip [deacon, businessman according to church history] went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there." Acts 8:4 - 5. May I suggest, we cannot talk about being missional if the preaching of the Gospel does not take place - being incarnational is to serve our world. Being missional means that we know our core calling is to tell the Jesus story wherever we go, to bring folks to a conviction of sin, repentance and a new creation journey of faith.

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus,[incarnational] called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God [missional]" Rom 1:1 This wondrous tension is seen in the understanding of Paul's journey. As a tent maker business man, he was both incarnational as well as missional. He embedded himself in new cities around the marketplace. However, it was not only to live a Jesus life among the Gentiles. It was also matched by a serious sense of divine intentionality, to preach the Christ salvation on every occasion even if it was in direct conflict with the idols and worldview of the day. I suspect many a believer has been intimidated into silence for fear of losing street cred. Actually they may hate us but the non-believer does not want us to be spineless nice people who offer a pleasant life without a clear voice of challenge.

Community:

"By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love another." John 13:35. We will consider this conversation more in a future blog. However, may I suggest, we can become such lovers of ourselves and of each other that we do not engage in the joy of telling our salvation story to others. Acts 2 is a chapter one can read and study over and over. From this convo, what is most glaring is that everything points to the gospel - from the speaking in tongues, which was really a gospel proclaiming moment for everyone to hear it in their own language. From Peter standing up with the 11 to tell the redemptive narrative. From the new community, who are so convincing in their faith oneness, that people were added to their "number daily".

I am persuaded if we are truly incarnational missional communities, the gospel will be central and salvations will follow continuously. "Every believer is a missionary in their shadowlands" is a battle cry we all need to heed. It is not a program we can import, nor is it a vocabulary that we can all learn. It is a revelation we all need to embrace. Programs come and go, vocabulary changes as do the tides, but true bible revelation will transform us fully. The net result will be that our 150 somethings will be captivated by the notion of "I live for the benefit of others, by serving them with my love and gifts; I share with them the wonder of my Jesus and the weight of my own story; then I draw them into the joy of our Jesus loving community". That is what the scripture has in mind.

Letters from a Father - Self Doubt 10 / 25

I do remember the day so well. It had been a very busy time for me. The church was gaining serious traction. The hours were longer, the issues more pressing and the travel more extensive.

I arrived home with an excitement as you were going to sing in your first stage event. You were 6 years old, gorgeous with a most engaging voice. The beauty of your voice clear to all. However it was also intoxicating with the perfume of you naivette. At 6 years old, your blonde hair and big brown eyes, matched with this humble beauty, made you the affection of many an adult and the interest of many a little boy.

Your little eyes were awash with tears as I walked through the door. M heard me arrive home and immediately came over. After the greeting kiss the story came out. You did not want to sing that evening. The school concert in which you were to headline, was a moment too big for you. In your young childlike description, you spoke with such tenderness of the rumblings in your tummy as fear began to grip your young soul.

"I can't Dad" you said. "My tummy is all funny and my hands are all sweaty. Please call my teacher and tell her I can't do this". Both Mom and daughter looked at me with eager eyes. I'm sure they 'knew' I would understand such trauma and would immediately agree that this moment was far too traumatic for a 6 year old.

All Dads know those moments when a cry to heaven is load, desperate and urgent. I heard my mouth say: "Baby, this is not about tonight. This is about your life. If Dad says 'Sure. that is not a problem. I can see this is too tough for you. I will call the teacher and pull you from the production'. However that will not empower you for life. It would mean that every time life's challenge traumatizes you I would have taught you to run. When life gets to tough - run. When things come your way that you don't like - run. No my baby. This is not about a song on a stage but a decision that will fashion all others for the rest of your life. Tonight you will sing. That is Dad's gift to you."

She sang beautifully. In her little outfit with long blonde hair neatly curled - you held your little head high. A few fear tears did slip down your cheeks. But you sang. You sang beautifully.

In August I watched you lead worship in Perth. Now a grown woman, mum of two and an extraordinary pastor's wife. I still see that little face, with that beautiful voice and that gentle tear but now I know why. You have never run from potential trauma or challenge. I guess it started on a stage 18 years ago. I am so proud of you.

Road trip reading-Texas Oct 2011

I have been reading 4 books this road trip:

Fred Sanders: The Deep things of God - How the Trinity changes everything

I am enjoying Sander's approach - rich in content yet readable in its narrative.

Bruce Ware: Father, Son & Holy Spirit

Very helpful for those who are newer to the Trinity story.

Ed Stetzer: Viral Churches

I enjoyed the book although I do wonder if they do not reach conclusions with some ministries to early and too definitively

Alister McGrath: Doubting

I do enjoy this author. He is educated, yet engages the reader with earthy reality - delighted we can wrestle our way through doubts without feeling we are somewhat B grade Jesus lovers

Beyond 150 - The Unit

There is something very combative about this spiritual journey. The text is laden with war stories that inspire, stir and deploy many a believer to various spiritual combat zones. Church planting is war! The planter and his crew are an intensely trained operations team being sent into the enemy's camp to redeem a world held hostage by demonic darkness. The church planter enters the shadowlands of society knowing that all his training for war is for such a time as this.

Much is written about exegeting culture, being contextually aware and relevant. Whilst these are true and valid conversations, the church planter must first remind himself that he has been called to war. Victory cannot be negotiated around being cool, hip and current. That may gather a crowd but will not truly, fully and weightedly defeat a highly intentioned foe. These pieces of the puzzle are essential and we will explore them later. However we must prepare for war.

The prophet Joel proclaims: "The Lord has spoken. 'Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let the fighting men draw near and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say: "I am strong"'... Bring down your warriors, O Lord.'

May I suggest that the planter, seeking to push through the limits of 150, needs to engage in the theology of God the Commander in Chief and we His army. Satan fought to gain dominion in the garden by taking man's authority from him. This defeat brought about a journey of combative redemption culminating at the cross and empty tomb. The wonder and genius of this ransom paid, paved the way for us to gain the victory that Christ made available to us. However, as with the closing months of World War 2, we are fighting pockets of resistance to prepare the way for the Lord's return.

When we planted Glenridge Church in the 80's, we found ourselves focussed to get the church rooted in the city. However, we were also fighting for our country as South Africa was slowly imploding with the apartheid years drawing to a most needed close. But Satan wanted chaos and blood shed. We prayed. We fasted. Every year. Often. Regularly. From daily fasting to many three day fasts, to a 10 day water only fast to a 3 week fast [of soup and fruit juice] meeting every night, to cry out to God for our breakthrough, we prayed and prayed and prayed. I am absolutely convinced it would not have been possible without a culture of prayer and fasting.

May I suggest strongly, planters must accept that going through this most challenging of ceilings, is an act of war. He and his community must be mobilized to fight the enemy and destroy the dominion of darkness. Glenridge grew from about 40 of us who started, to 120 where we got stuck. We had to fight our way through. We then grew to 500 which felt so good but seemed so incomplete. Prayer and fasting pushed us through this ceiling toward the 1000 mark when M and I handed over. Real, true authentic growth with a sense of compelling community fashioned by a raw fighting gutsiness, is part of the church planting story.

The ceiling is secondly shattered by the destroying the mindsets that fight this most necessary evolution. The scripture says that: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3 - 6. The very knowledge of God mobilizes us, that we are to "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth..." Gen 1:28. With many other texts, they tell us, that this is the Father's divine intention. When we have reasons that counter this clarion call, we are using arguments and pretensions that need to be broken and repented of, as they are fighting and resisting the very purposes of God.

Unfortunately these times of war, often lead to casualties that really hurt the growing church. The church plant is often built around a very high relational quotient. Declarations are made that these relationships are for life. However, these are both biblical and sentimental. The biblical part the Father with endorse. The sentimental, He will remove. Jesus would not let sentimentality get in the way of His obedience. Even Paul, when Agabus prophesied over him, refused to let sentimentality get in the way. They pleaded with him not to go. He however was "compelled by the Spirit" Acts 20:22.

Ephesians 6:10 - 19 is not to be a neglected text. The leader must be called to war. The people are to be called to war. However, it is a spiritual war. Do not find yourself in a combative engagement with folks in the church. Do not use the pulpit to bludgeon folks who do not want growth and who hijack every growth effort. Go to war — but in the heaven-lies. Be found in prayer dear leader. Be found in the text, on your knees, crying out for God's will to be done. Ask Him to let those who fight growth "repent or be removed," keeping the relationships healthy and current, but they cannot interfere with the call of God. That dear sir, is what we will ultimately be asked to give an account for. The fear of lost relationships is paralyzing for too many planters. Sentiment must surrender to obedience.

"Peter and the other apostles replied: 'We must obey God rather than men!'". Acts 5:29