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.