HOME | CONTRIBUTE A STORY! | ABOUT MMI | CATEGORIES OF INTEREST | CONTACT ME

image

Ten Observations from Churches Who “Get It”

Orginally published on Monday, April 02, 2007 at 6:04 AM
by Todd Rhoades

It has been my extreme privilege during the past month or so to visit some great churches… some churches that are really firing on all cylinders. I was thinking about my visits the past few days and decided that there were some similarities in these churches that I really should write down. At least six of these churches have reported over 250 decisions for Christ over the past year. In my opinion, with that many conversions per year, that should place these churches in at least the top 5% of churches who are making a real Kingdom impact in the country today. Here are some serious (and not so serious) observations about these churches:

1.  Each church has a pastor with a vision.  And it’s not just that these pastors have a vision… it’s that they have a gift for communicating that vision to their staff and their entire church.  While it might not be a surprise to anyone that churches that ‘get it’ have pastors who ‘get it’, it is a glaring similarity among these churches:  their pastors are great leaders with a great vision.

2.  Each church hires almost exclusively from within. Most every staff member of these churches was hired from within.  When asked if this was intentional, most said that it was.  Here’s the deal:  most of these churches do a tremendous job of training leaders and empowering people in ministry.  When that happens, the cream rises to the top, and that’s how they find their best staff people.  Most do not have church staff experience, but rather bring their expertise from another area of business or commerce.  And, I have to say, these are some sharp people.

3.  Speaking of staff, the staff of these churches ‘get it’ too.  The staff in these churches are very loyal to their church and to their leadership.  These are people that have a long history with the church; and they are totally sold on the mission, vision and values of their church.  They also view their job not only as to serve God, and the church; but also to come along side and support the vision and leadership of the senior pastor.  These churches have very loyal staff.

4.  A larger percentage of their staff (or staff wives) are pregnant. Just an observation here… but there are a lot of staff pregnancies at these churches.  I’ve done no official polling or investigation here… it’s just a trend I’m seeing in these churches that ‘get it’.

5.  These churches and pastors don’t have a clue what they’re doing. No really… more than one of the senior pastors told me something to the effect of “I really have no idea what I’m doing.” But, they’re having a great time doing it!  Most of these leaders have never led a church larger than what they’re currently pastoring.  One pastor said, “I’ve never even attended a church like this one.” They expressed the amount of faith they need to place in God just to lead where they are.  In other words, they don’t have it all figured out!

6.  Since they don’t have it all figured out, these pastors all shared with me their desire to connect with other leaders who can help mentor them. Each and every leader I’ve spoken to has asked in one way or another, “Who are some people that you think I should talk with?” In other words… who are the people out there that can help mentor me?  Another encouraging thing is that these pastors are also excited about mentoring others.

7.  These churches are not shy about sharing resources. Each one of these churches that I visited share their stuff with others freely.  These aren’t a group of stingy churches… they are sold on their mission; and at the same time want to help other churches and their leaders however they can.  Some are becoming ‘teaching churches’ who actively put the ‘helping other churches’ right in their DNA as a part of their identity and mission.

8.  Most all of these pastors are bloggers. Not sure what the correlation is here; but four out of the six senior pastors are active bloggers.  Some blog more to their church audience; others blog for other church leaders.  Many of these churches have multiple church staff blogs. And the influence of their blogs and voice is expanding.

9.  These churches are not afraid to make tough calls. If they see a ministry that needs cut, they’ll cut it.  A staff member that’s not pulling his/her weight?  They’ll reassign them or help ‘free their future’.  They are not afraid to make gutsy and/or controversial calls.  And best of all, it is their vision and mission that make these decisions, according to them, much easier.

10.  Numbers are important to them.  Each and every one of them.  Because each person represents someone that Jesus died for, they make an effort to count that person because that person matters.  While numbers is not the end-all measurement; it does provide insight into the amount of ministry and serves as one stat to how well you are achieving your ministry goals.  As I said, each of these churches have counted at least 250 conversions in the past year.  That’s something to count and get excited about.

Am I saying that these churches are flawless?  Not by any means.  And their pastors would tell you the same thing.  I am saying that after visiting these churches fairly closely together that these are some of the common threads that I see.  Take them for what they are worth, and see how many of these things these churches have in common with your church.  It could be an interesting exercise!

About the Author: Todd Rhoades is the Managing Editor and Publisher of MondayMorningInsight.com (MMI as most of us know it). Besides spending a good amount of time maintaining this website, Todd is on the staff of Leadership Network, helping large churches to better connect, innovate, and multiply what they do best. Todd was also the founder of ChurchStaffing.com, until he sold the site in 2005. Todd lives with his wife, Dawn, and four children in Bryan, OH. He can be reached at .


This post has been viewed 7757 times so far.


  There are 60 Comments:

  • Posted by

    Ummm Christopher . . . did you read Todd’s opening paragraph?  A church that “gets it” is reaching people with the gospel.  Six had at least 250 who’d made a decision to follow Jesus, all had significant conversion growth.  The observations were intended to provide us with some information about some commonalities among churches that ARE reaching people with the gospel. 

    And there is hardly enough information to cause someone (you) to question whether these pastors are “REAL Christians” or whether their churches are full of any “REAL Christians.”

    Perhaps the church in America will experience some persecution, but based in the data provided to us by Todd about these particular churches . . . if persecution comes these will probably be exempted from it.

    Wendi

  • Posted by

    Christopher,

    I am part of a church that I think “gets it”. We have great sound and lights, we have a great presentation, we keep very busy doing our great presentations…

    ...and people come in the doors and lives are changed and souls are reached by Jesus…

    ...and those people go out the doors into the community and lives are changed and souls are reached by Jesus…

    And by the way… I think there are plenty of people that come every week who aren’t “real Christians”. I hope they keep coming back… until they are…

  • Posted by Gary Sweeten

    We always wanted to have at least 1/3 of our Sunday morning attendance as “Visitors” to whom we could share the gospel or get into a discipleship/growth process.  We also did many things to reach out to the unchurched, about 50% of whom are not believers and the other half have been hurt or bored by churches. Either way, God’s good news was preached and people were touched.

  • Posted by Leonard

    I have a couple thoughts.  First, these churches most likely have a commitment to a small set of unmovable core values.  They basically stay focused on the key values they possess without getting distracted.  These churches also have a radical commitment to expansion.  They are committed to getting the word out because they believe what they are saying is necessary for changing lives. Sort of a god to great principle. 

    My second thought is that to many Christians with a poor understand of church history have a sort of romantic perversion with persecution.  While persecution can and does bring about many good things in the church it also causes great harm.  Many times the influence of Christianity has been stomped out of a culture by persecution.  Often persecution has not come because of complacency but because of a radical commitment to Christ.  So when some Christian calls for persecution as an answer to a problem the church faces I get frustrated.  I for one do not want to watch my family die, be raped, tortured and harmed because someone hates Jesus. 

    SO Christopher I not only think your statement “Christianity in America needs to fall under some extreme persecution” is wrong but not even close to the heart of God.

  • Posted by

    “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” II Timothy 3:12

  • Posted by Todd Rhoades

    Ever think that you might be part of our persecution, Will?

    II Timothy 3:12

    Todd

    smile

  • Posted by Leonard

    Okay, I’ll bite since I don’t really have anything else to do.  Not like this weekend is HUGE for churches.

    Will, the use of the word “all” there in the Greek language can and often does mean “all types of people” not all as in each and every one.  So, while it is true, (from my earlier post “While persecution can and does bring about many good things in the church it also causes great harm.”) Not every person who becomes a Christian will and should suffer.  So I personally want to thank you for not reading my post but choosing to quote scripture.  That is how many people do evangelism today too.

  • Posted by

    Gary writes “We always wanted to have at least 1/3 of our Sunday morning attendance as “Visitors” to whom we could share the gospel or get into a discipleship/growth process.”

    We have the same goal. It’s kinda like the Ed Young explanation of what a healthy church looks like. Not all mature believers, but rather 1/3 mature believers, 1/3 folks who are figuring the whole Christianity thing out, and 1/3 people who are still waiting to make a decision. Obviously, as a church grows numerically and spiritually, some of those people transition into the “next category”, and unfortunately some don’t.

    But we’re not heavily persecuted in our community, so I guess we must not be doing it right… wink

  • Posted by

    Wendi,

    The word “decision” is and interesting one since the Bible tells us there is none who seek after God.  Is that “decision” made after “...every eye is closed and every head is bowed..” or was the invitation prefaced with “You have a God shaped hole in your heart that only Jesus can fill...”? It isn’t a “decision” that God wants from any of us...it is total surrender and that comes after an intimate understanding that we have sinned against God.  I would ask you to listen over the next month and notice how many time your pastor preaches on sin, righteousness, holiness and judgment to come.  I hope for the sake of your church family that it is often but the embracing of the modern church methods of preaching will be similar to Joel Osteens “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” style.

    Peter,

    Honestly assess the number of times you were approached in the last 5 years by a stranger who attempted to walk you through the Gospel plan of salvaton.  I have been a Christian since April of ‘01 and have only been approached by JW’s, mormons and moonies.  I live in a town of over 500,000 people and closer to 750,000 if you count the suburbs and have yet to be witnessed to by a Christian.  Call 5 Christian churches in you city and ask them about their street ministry program and see if they have one.  Don’t be surprised by your discovery.

    Gary,

    The church is not to be a source of entertainment.  If they are bored then they are not there to praise the God who saved them.

    Leonard,

    The point I tried to make concerning persecution was to weed out those who are not truly committed to Christianity.  But you make an interesting point of not wanting to see your family or loved ones suffer.  Question is: “If God chooses for them to do so, will you still worship Him?”

    By the way, the Bible tells us that God uses persecution to advance the Gospel not stifle it. If you are truly following the Biblical example of sharing the Gospel with all creation, what makes you think that your results will be any different than John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, Peter, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the rest of those martyred for there passion for the salvation of souls?

  • Posted by

    Leonard,

    Thanks for the lesson in Greek, do your magic with this verse please.

    All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

    Same Greek word. 

    The very “bitter” Will.

  • Posted by

    Yo, Christopher,

    It may be time to cut back on the caffeine.  You seem wound pretty tight.  Are you feeling persecuted?

    Maybe a mission trip to someplace where Christians still experience real persecution would give you some perspective on “persecution”.  Or do you do mission trips?  And, yes, there are places in the world where just being a Christian is still dangerous, my brother has served as a missionary in several of them and he says it does put a lot of things in perspective.

  • Posted by Phil DiLernia

    Sometimes, not all, persecution comes from within the church as we can see here.  Most pastors in churches that are attempting to transition have experienced this I assume.  In fact, many church leaders who have tried to remove obstacles to faith have been persecuted.  Jesus was a prime example here.  Remember, Jesus would not have died on the cross if it wasn’t for His people choosing the thief over Him. 

    When Paul is persecuted from the world it doesn’t seem to faze him.  However, when he faces persecution from those in the family of God he truly gets emotionally distraught and downright defensive.  It hurts.

    What’s going on in some of the hearts and attitudes on this post is hurting the body, is not glorifying or edifying God, and is really shameful.

    JMO.

  • Posted by

    DanielR,

    I have never been on an overseas missionary trip.  I am aware of the level of persecution of Christians who put their very lives on the line everyday as they do their part in the Great Commission.  Jesus gave His disciples (us included) the regions we were to evangelize. Jerusalem was their local area...their people. Judea was their region and Samaria was the place they didn’t like to go and then finally to the ends of the earth.  He mentions our local area first.  So I ask you, “Are you doing your part to fulfill the commission given to you by your Savior?”

    There are plenty of lost souls around you that you could easily witness to 5 people a day.  Hand them a tract or spend 15-20 minutes explaining sin, righteousness, judgment to come and the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Don’t just give them the nice things...tell them the whole counsel of God and you will get some taste of persecution...He guarantees it!

  • Posted by Leonard

    Will,
    You flatter me, I really cannot work magic with verses.  I just try to think of them in context.  Try it.
    A very (Non bitter) Leonard

    Christopher,
    A couple thoughts.  first, not all the people you mentioned were marytyef for their passion for lost souls.  John the baptist, Isaiah, Jeremiah and ezekiel to name a few.  Lost sould was more than likely not a concept these guys had at the time of their deaths. 

    China in the 8th centruy I believe extinguished Christianity through persecution, North Africa had christianity extinguished by Islam, Japan had it extinguished by Samuari and shoguns warriors .  Not until missionaries carying the Gospel of Christ returned to these lands did they recieve hope again. 

    I would ask you where the bible tells us God uses persecution to advance the gospel not stifle it.  I see the impact of persecution caused the church to spead out but it was Love that caoused it to advance.  The point of persecuiton is the value of christ in our lives not weeding out people. 

    As for my familiy, I actually work hard to prepare my family not for perscution but for faithfulness to Christ no matter what the cost.  I do not want them crushed by persecution nor do I want them seduced by materialism.  I want them to know how awesome God is.  Our phrase is that he is worth dying for and even more worth living for.  Your question if asked to question my faithfulness then it is out of line and drips with pride.  If it is asked with humility and is seeking to know how I prepare my family, thanks.  I cannot tell with written word the tone of the word.

  • Posted by

    Phil,

    The conscience is pricked and we feel it.  It is my intention to hopefully expose our apathy towards the lost and motivate Christians to step out of their comfort zones and do what Jesus told us to do.  Is it easy?...ABSOLUTELY NOT!!  Is it necessary?...ABSOLUTELY!!  Why should jw’s and mormons and moonies be better at lying than Christians are at sharing the truth?

    We are involved in all kinds of “Christian” activities and souls are dying.  If you could go back in time to September 10, 2001 and stand in front of the Twin Towers, how much passion would you exert in preaching the salvation message to those who entered the buildings knowing what would happen tomorrow?  Death can swallow us up at any time.  The person in the office next to you might not make it home tonight.  If you knew that for a fact, would you share the Gospel with them? Would you risk them spitting in your face?  Would you risk the ridicule for what you believe?  Would you risk the rejection?  Christ suffered in your place...isn’t He worth it?  Show Him how much you love Him and give Him away.

  • Posted by

    Christopher, you rightly point out that some Christians are apathetic about sharing the Good News with others.  However, you wrongly assume that the posters on this site belong to this group.  To me, this communicates a certain amount of arrogance on your part, which you may not be intending to communicate.

    As far as the persecution that you seem to desire, I think you need to realize that when you pray for persecution, you are really praying for people to do evil things to others.  Does God ever ask us to pray for an increase in evil?

  • Posted by Brian

    Christopher,

    I am a pastor, and I am preaching through the gospel of Matthew right now.

    When Jesus talks about “sin, righteousness, holiness and judgment to come,” I preach about it.  But do you realize that those aren’t the only things Jesus and the rest of Scripture talk about?

    Brian

  • Posted by

    One final comment and I’m going to prepare my heart for an awesome weekend,

    To suggest that I’m taking scripture out of context with respect to persecution is absurd.  The theme of scripture is clear, the evidence in church history is overwhelming, those who obey Christ will be persecuted. How that persecution manifests itself varies.  Some may lose jobs, be betrayed by family, or face physical harm etc.  To teach that one should not expect persecution for following Christ is irresponsible.  In light of today, Good Friday , it’s even more troubling.

    God Bless I’m done, Will

  • Posted by

    Brian,

    You are correct.  Jesus taught us how to live the Christian life and how to treat others.  My concern...and it is a legitimate one...is that the only thing being taught in our churches are the “nice” things Jesus said.  I do not want it to come across as bragging because it is not, but I witness to a lot of people and come across many who consider themselves Christians and they do not believe that God would send anyone to hell.  The reason, I believe, is they have never been taught that God is Holy, Righteous and Just as well as Love.  I used Joel Osteen as an example because he never preaches about sin.  There are 30,000 people in that church and the all probably believe they are going to heaven.  Because they have never been confronted with the truth of sin and how God sees it, I fearfully believe they are deceived.  When Nathan confronted David with his sin, he did so first by using the Law.  David knew the Law and was quick to refer to it when it came to the judgment that should be brought upon the sin of the parable.  It was that Law that brought David to his knees in exclaimation that he had sinned against God.  If all we ever tell others is how God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives then how will they ever come to a place of true repentence?

    I pretty much can tell that someone is a true believer when I witness to them by the way they respond to the Gopel preached.  They usually allow us to finish the presentation and then thank us and promise they will pray for us.  Those who claim to be believers but are only practicing Christians usually have critical words for us.  That is the state of the church.  We are filling the pews but aren’t preaching the message.  We give them a place of comfort in the church building and never confront their sins knowing that if we do, most will probably not come back.
    John MacArthur says that when and unbeliever comes to his church for the first time, they will either get saved or they won’t come back.  The reason is because he preaches the Gospel message, unadulterated, day in and day out.  Either they will be so convicted that they run to the cross or they run out the door.  That is how it should be.  The Gospel is offensive.  They almost threw Jesus off a cliff for telling them about their sin.  I am not advocating intentionally being offensive but we must be faithful to preach ALL of it regardless of the response.  Making “visitors” feel comfortable is not our objective because “...friendship with the world is enmity with God.” (James 4:4) Some churches want to boast of huge memberships at the sacrifice of the Biblical message.  They distort it or leave out the judgment so that no one is offended so the keep coming back.  They hope that eventually they will get saved...by osmosis I guess.  This is blasphemy!  God is sovereign.  We spread the message and He does the saving.  Changing the message won’t change the heart...only God can do that.  We need to stay faithful to His Word and the results will be His as well as the glory.

  • Posted by

    Nora,

    I don’t assume that posters on this blog are apathetic and if it came across that way then I humbly apologize. 

    As far as the persecution, I know (and I know that I know) that persecution is the result of being a follower of Christ.  I don’t like it or desire it for me or anyone else.  My life is usually not in danger though we had a man try to strangle one of our group in Hollywood last year.  But if you take a stand for Jesus at work or in your neighborhood or in your immediate family, expect persecution in some form.  I was sat down and told not to witness to anyone at work or I would get fired.  I showed them documentation that defended my ability to speak to anyone at work about the Gospel as long as it did not interfere with my work or their’s.  I lost my job 6 months later and I would do nothing differently today.  We have had the police called on us, we had water bottles and candy bars we had given away thrown back at us in an effort to make us shut up.  Believe me when I say that I go out in a spirit of love, knowing the consequences of dying without Jesus.  We share with them the whole counsel of God and the truth brings out the worst in some.  We do not want to rile anyone but it isn’t the messenger they hate...it is the message but they take it out on us.  It is heartbreaking knowing they have rejected to only chance at the righteousness of God.  But God is sovereign and I know they He uses the foolishness of the message preached to save those who would believe.  We are either planting or watering and it is God who gives the increase.

  • Posted by

    Christopher and Will, please check your tone before typing.

    I don’t want to get drawn into answering you point for point, but just to say a couple things.

    Christopher, you say “I pretty much can tell that someone is a true believer when I witness to them by the way they respond to the Gopel preached.” With all due respect, No you can’t. By their fruits you shall know them, not by how they react to your particular presentation of the Gospel message, which I’m sorry to say, seems like it might actually be almost belligerent by the tone you’ve taken here.

    “The Gospel is offensive.” yes it is. This does not mean we are to try to be offensive on purpose. On the contrary, for your part you should do your part to be at peace with everyone! Paul did a GREAT job of preaching the Gospel in a way that his hearers understood, sometimes even quoting their pagan poets to make his point. Jesus told parables that would make perfect sense to his hearers. He delivered his message specifically to reach the people he wanted to reach. He did not purposefully offend people every time he spoke. he did not “set out” to do that.

    But it’s all rather moot isn’t it…

    This particular forum is not for discussing particular theological points such as these. We discuss innovative ways churches fulfill their mission in the world today and reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are other sites that would probably make you very happy out there with their discussion of why people who “do church” the way we do are apostate. Perhaps you should spend more time there rather than here.

    Peace,
    Out.

  • Posted by Leonard

    I am not so sure the Gospel is offensive in as much as it gives offense.  I know I was not offended by the Gospel, I was simply drawn to a Jesus who loved me enough to die for my sins. In my lostness I did not need to be offended, I just wanted Jesus the first time I understood he wanted me.  I think we mistakenly say the gospel is offensive. 

    I do believe the gospel gives offense to people whose hearts are not humble or receptive but it does not necessarily mean all who come to Christ must be offended before doing so.  Truth Hurts is not in the bible but Truth sets you free is.  I have shared Christ with many people who are disparate because life has offended, sin has afflicted and they respond because Jesus offers forgiveness, healing, freedom and hope. 

    We have many people who attend our church who do not as of yet believe in Christ nor have they surrendered their will to his.  The fact they return week after week, finally to give their life to Christ is what I hope for.  The message that does not offend is not necessarily watered down, it could just be spoken well.  Take a look at who was offended by truth in the New Testament and you will find it is almost always someone religious.  You will find it was someone who “told the truth like it should be” and study carefully what they were offended by and you will find it was often Jesus inclusion of sinners not his exclusion of sinners. 

    Will and Christopher, you came across this place and and preached your postings here as though we did not care about the lost, as though we water down the truth. This is a place where people discuss ideas without condemnation in order to learn from each other.  I am glad you guys are here and hope you can see from our overall tone we are striving to reach as many people for Christ as possible. 

    I know people suffer for Christ and I know living Godly lives can bring about that suffering but we too often use suffering as a litmus test of whether or not we really believe when sometimes suffering is nothing more than evidence we are rude or belligerent in the name of Christ.  I have had guns, knives and other weapons pulled on my many times, I have been threatened, had my life, my kids lives and my wife’s life threatened for the sake of the Gospel but the reality is that those situations are not the norm.  Over the years I ave been privileged to share Christ with countless numbers of people, most hear the GOOD NEWS and whether they choose to follow Christ or not do not hate nor do they become so deeply offended that the door closes.  The threats I face are not usually from the audience of listeners but from those whose drug money, gang life or other source of control or power is being threatened. 

    In college I used to share Christ in Westwood but never had people threaten me with the exception of someones pimp and that was because I was interfering with business.  Sinful people, broken people, lost people flocked to Jesus.  Prideful people, arrogant people, religious people, powerful people did not flock to Jesus.  If sinners are repelled by the message of hope, forgiveness and grace then I suggest you rethink your approach. 

    Finally I love Jesus not because he will wipe me out if I mess up but because he did not wipe me out when I was so messed up.  It was the kindness of God that drew my heart to repentance not the wrath and fury of God.

  • Posted by Misty Rhodes

    Leonard, you ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Posted by Gary Sweeten

    I grew up in what is often referred to as a culture of “Fighting Fundamentalists” who “Loved Jesus but fought with everybody else.” We often complained of persecution. 

    I suggest that Todd’s Ten Churches have actually discovered some things that Jesus taught and the Holy Spirit alone gives, the fruit of the Spirit as opposed to the fruit of the flesh we see outlined in Galatians 5.

    Actually Jesus told His disciples to reach out with the fruit of the Spirit. In the only place that Jesus actually set down a process for evangelising the emphasis was upon gentle caring through peace, love, listening and prayer for healing. In Luke 10 Jesus sent the people He had trained out into the villages and countryside as “Lambs among wolves” not as “wolf hunters”.

    The instructions of Jesus focused on blessing the lost with peace and eating with those who received the blessing but “shaking the dust off their shoes” when meeting unpeaceful folks.  The next steps include table fellowship, listening to the hosts’ troubles and praying for them. Only then are we to tell them about the “Kingdom of God”. The result? Satan is “pulled down from his perch like lighting”.  Those who are looking for persecution may be literally asking for it by acting in the flesh and engaging in human warfare rather than spiritual warfare.

  • Posted by

    You guys slay me.  Bickering amongst yourselves to see who has the biggest ego and biblical understanding.  I didn’t know this was a site for debate.  What a hoot.  The world going to hell in a hand basket, we’ve got the answer and ...........well.............just my input.  Too much over analysis guys. 

    It’s been a while since I’ve checked the posts, but regularly read Tood’s blog. 

    The post is good.  Gives thought provoking and challenging ideas from Todd’s perspective and experiences.  Read, pray, be challenged, take what works for you.........move on. 

    Blessings !

    WJM

  • Page 2 of 3 pages

     <  1 2 3 >
Post Your Comments:

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Live Comment Preview:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please enter the word you see in the image below: