Time To Share The Spotlight

Statistically the vast majority of pastors will lead "small" congregations. Not only will those congregations be small, most of them will also be very unhealthy. They will be in desperate need of revival & revitalization. Most studies put that number around 75% to 80% of churches that are stagnant or in decline. 

So it's pretty clear most ministry leaders will be serving & leading in small, potentially unhealthy, church environments, yet if you were to visit many universities & seminaries for chapel or to take a peek at ministry training, or if you were to pick up a book on church leadership, do you know who you would find as the model of church leadership & what ministry should look like? You guessed it, the mega-church pastor. The names Chandler, Stanley, Groeschel, Noble, Platt, & many others seem to be omnipresent, but is this really helpful for young ministry leaders who are preparing & training for their calling to the local church?

Now let's get one thing straight right off the bat: I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH MEGA-CHURCHES. Did you hear that? So don't assume I'm one of these guys who thinks the megas are bad. They're not. Sure, you can find some that are off base, but you can also find lots of mini-churches who are way out in left field too. So it's not the mega-church I have an issue with. It's the way that our American consumer, bigger is better, mindset has permeated not just ministry culture but also ministry training culture. If the only leaders who are given a platform to speak to other ministry leaders are the ones with the biggest churches, then don't be surprised if other ministry leaders either feel like failures when they don't have 5000 people in their church or if they turn their backs on opportunities to serve those "small" churches. After all, it's easier to give birth than it is to raise the dead right? The only problem with that is that the Savior we serve specializes in raising the dead.

What we need to begin to do is shine the spotlight on great ministry leaders, no matter the size of their church. If most of our future ministry leaders are going to serve churches in need of revitalization, shouldn't they be hearing from revitalization leaders at least as much as they're hearing from the mega-pastors? After all, there is a chance that the skill sets that make a leader great in a mega-church may work against the same leader in an environment in need of revitalization. What if a ministry leader as influential & as proven as Andy Stanley wouldn't be able to do the work of revitalizing a congregation that some guy you & I have never heard of has somewhere in Nebraska or in small town Tennessee? Tackling the work of revitalization or replanting a church comes with a set of challenges that are unique, & those who have faced it, navigated it, & survived can speak to it most effectively. 

"If The Majority Of Church Are In Need Of Revitalization, 

Shouldn't We Be Hearing More From Leaders 

Who Have Done The Work Of Revitalization?"

Don't get me wrong, I want to hear the insights of leaders like Andy Stanley, David Platt, & Craig Groeschel. They have incredible leadership principles to share, but I also want the world of Christian education, publishing, & conferences to open the doors to a group of leaders who may not have a massive platform but who have massive insights to share with other leaders doing the work of church revitalization & with those who are preparing for ministry in churches who need revitalization. We need to hear those voices on campus at our universities & seminaries. We need their stories to be published, & we need platforms like Catalyst, The Gospel Coalition, Orange, 9 Marks, & The North American Mission Board's Send North America Conference to give the stage to ministry leaders who are quietly doing the work of renewing & revitalizing local congregations but making a lot of noise in God's Kingdom as churches on the brink of death discover a renewed sense of mission to advance the Gospel & make disciples. It's time to share the spotlight so that we can learn from one another & have an even greater Gospel impact, regardless of a church's size.

The Gospel & Your Family

Family is a hot topic issue right now. What is a family? What constitutes a family? Who has the right to get married & start a family? All these questions are currently being debated, & many people are sounding the alarm that the "family is under attack." To me the alarm is a little late. Families have always been under pressure. Take a look at Genesis 3 & the account of how sin entered into the world. The enemy's very first tactic for leading humanity into temptation & sin involved a family. It was the classic divide & conquer approach, & once sin had entered the world, God reveals that a primary consequence was going to be strife & conflict in the family, between husband & wife. So the pressures on family aren't new. The current issues may be new, but the tactic is literally as old as dirt. 

The new wrinkle that many of us have to struggle with is that some people evidently have ideal, perfect families. After all, look at their Facebook or Instagram feed. They're always smiling. Their children are so talented, smart, & well behaved. It's as if everything in their world is just right. Here's the problem though: they're only showing you what they're OK with you seeing. The perfect family is a mirage, & social media has helped perpetuate it. So we go to the local book store or jump on Amazon & comb through the bottomless pile of self-help & how to books, both spiritual & secular, to help us figure out how to make our families stronger, yet we end up feeling frustrated. The problem isn't so much that we're looking for a solution, but that we're looking for a solution from the wrong source. You can't build a stronger marriage or family by mastering 12 steps or becoming a better you. You become a better spouse, parent, child, or sibling by going back to the transforming power of the Gospel.

"You Don't Build A Stronger Family By Being A Better Spouse Or Parent.

You Do It By Becoming More Like Jesus."

If you're working hard to become a better you, there's a pretty good chance you'll only make things worse because you're still about you. Thankfully, Jesus came to redeem you & transform you to become more like Him. The Gospel isn't just the means by which you & I are saved. The Gospel is the means by which are lives are transformed so that we experience life to the fullest, the way God desires us to. What do I mean by all this? It's simple: Husbands, you don't become a better husband by just unloading the dishwasher, doing laundry, not yelling so much, or bringing home a bigger paycheck. You become a better husband by becoming more like Christ as you sacrificially love your wife & children the way Christ sacrificially loved us. Wives, you don't become a better wife by always agreeing with your husband, doing all the housework, or any other stereotype that you can think of. You become a better wife by becoming more like Christ who was submitted to the will of His Father & to the desperate need of humanity for a Savior. Parents, you don't become better parents just by being super strict, & it definitely doesn't happen by being your child's BFF. You become better parents by becoming more like Christ who loves us, even in our sin, but who also comes alongside us & teaches us what obedience & faithfulness looks like. 

Ephesians 5 & 6 are loaded with incredible pictures of how the Gospel shapes & transforms us as families. Men, you can't love your wives as Christ loved the church in your own strength. Ladies, you cannot submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord in your own strength. Kids cannot obey their parents in their own strength. Parents in their own strength will not train their children up in the ways of the Lord. None of this happens in our own strength because our strength is tainted & twisted by sin. However, when we find new life in Christ that's not just about eternity. It's about right now too. When we keep our hearts & minds focused on & rooted in the Gospel, we'll be constantly reminded of the lavish grace & love poured out on us, & that can't help but move us toward real life transformation.

Stop trying to be a better you, & start pursuing Jesus. Root yourself in the Gospel. Live from the power of the Gospel, & as you become more like Christ, you'll see your family become healthier, stronger, & more glorifying to God.