It is my privilege and joy to be a servant of Christ. I have found such great love and witnessed a great fortitude among many within the church that I pastor. Recently, I shared with them the three vital keys to our growth. When I arrived at the church, three years ago, there was approximately twenty active members; today, we are in the midst of an authentic move of God; true conversion growth, with new members coming forward. So, some might think this makes me more of an expert—hardly!
But, being a past church planter, an evangelism pastor, and now a church revitalizer, I do have a sense for finding a the missional DNA (mDNA) of a church. So, what’s the formula? What’s the new program? Honestly, you’ll never hear or read that from me—as I believe that God innovatively and authentically works within each body of Christ to reach each community. However, when the church’s mDNA meets the community’s DNA, a double helix is formed for interlocking growth–but, that’s my next book. Suffice it for now, that I provide the three key areas that we have focused on and continue to focus on.
Before, I divulge those; let me just say that the vision that God gave to me three years ago is terrifyingly precise. I say terrifyingly because there is a love that Christ has for His church—make no mistake that it is His—in that, He is unyielding with fervor, passion, protection, and strength for her. As the pastor, I passionately pray for the church universal and the one I serve, especially, as we engage our faith on either the frontlines of casual Christianity or brutal martyrdom. I pray for wisdom repeatedly—to lead with integrity and resolve and to lead by example. Everything we do is prayerfully conceived, thought out, and done with the aspiration of serving our King—everything that we do has purpose—from the way we worship, the style of worship, to the liturgical way our service is conducted and scheduled—these are all sought to honor God, exalt Christ, in the power of the Spirit, to edify the body. There is a vision and there is a mission. With that all being said, I’ll now address the three things, which have propelled us to move forward.
1. The Gospel
This is my first love. When I was baptized years ago, the verse which I declared was Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation.” As well, I relate to the Apostle Paul’s words, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel…” (1 Cor 9:16). As the pastor, I am fully dedicated to the gospel—I will not waiver, I will not compromise, I will not sell out to worldly goods, satanic attacks, fleshly pride, prosperity, or coercion.
One of my favorite pastors is now the president of the International Mission Board, David Platt; when he gave his last message before the church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, he said, “We don’t have time to waste on games in the church… resist comfortable, casual, cultural Christianity, because that’s not Christianity.” If our focus is on anything more than the gospel transformation through Christ—we’ve missed God’s will for our lives & our mission. Every week, the one constant that comes from the pulpit and taught, is the gospel.
As well, the gospel must be sent. Those with the gift of apostleship are cultural architects. We are to engage our modern culture, read it and understand it. The gospel is the driving force of our lives. As we endeavor to show grace to those who may not know Christ, we recognize God’s great love and mercy that was given to us. The gospel reminds us that Christ came and humbly served man–we are directed to do the same within community.
2. Unity in Love
When I arrived at the church, God gave me a mandate—that mandate was to love a people, but not just any love, a missional and Christ-centered love—to reach the hearts of the congregation and the hearts of the community. And so, I stress, WE MUST BE OF ONE ACCORD (Phil. 2:2)—inseparable—the time has come for the church to engage the faith in truth—we are THAT generation.
Our forefathers faced hard times, and our fathers faced difficult times—it is now our time to face up to the challenge and do it in unison. Yet, one thing I know and have experienced, you may agree, churches never grow when there is division more than unity, tradition more than innovation, complacency more than passion, and love of self more than others.
And so again, I as a pastoral elder, I have promised to defend them unabashedly, for the unity of love in the church, and if I ever see division or a cause for division, by the power of Christ and the authority of the church, which was given to me, the church can rest assured that their under-shepherd will protect them. I love them each very deeply and uniquely.
3. Worship in Heart
Worship is more than music; it is our walk, our talk…our thoughts. The word worship comes from worthiness, or honor—God is rightfully due honor. But we also honor God with our music. One of the saddest things I have witnessed in churches and assuredly the Lord has seen, is discord within His church due to worship styles—to me, it is an aberration of godliness…it is unacceptable. We have more important issues at hand—namely, the gospel.
When I arrived at the church, four summers ago, the music director and I sought the best possible way to incorporate the old hymns and the new music, for the sole purpose of the gospel, reaching across cultural, generational, and age lines—it was/is not an easy task. The current vision of the church stresses that we humble our hearts and raise our hands to God—for He has put a new song in our heart. We put aside our “comfort zone” with the understanding that church is not about me—it’s about the gospel—it’s about seeing true conversion growth. Our worship must come from the heart—whether from a screen, a hymn book, or something else—if it is not from the heart then it is all lip service—God will not reward lip service. Worship from the heart.
And so, I encourage you now, to love one another, serve one another, reach out to one another, and allow the gospel of Christ to transform you. Seek how your church can find the missional pulse of its church and community, fulfilling the Great Commission (Matt 28:19), and doing so with one accord.
Let’s also make this declaimer: While these three areas have proven results for the church I serve, it is not a cookie cutter blueprint. There is no silver bullet. Unity and the gospel; however, I would stress are non-negotiables, but love can be expressed in differing ways. With wisdom, seek how the Lord can be moving the body of believers that you’re connected to. If you have any questions, feel free to email me pastor@oakhallbc.org
Ok, I’m going to do it, (cue the music) I’m dropping the old school beat from L.L. Cool J, “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years…” We all love a great comeback story. Rocky, Rocky II, and well, then it just gets ridiculous, but all of our movies are based on comebacks. Whether love stories, or actions type thrillers, we love them—some more than others. For instance, in Star Wars (known as episode IV) the squadron of “good guys” goes up against the dark side to try and hit the two-meter opening of the exhaust port of the Galactic Empire’s evil weapon of doom, the Death Star (cue James Earl Jones’ deep breathing). Luke is optimistic, “But it’s not impossible. I used to bull’s-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home, and they’re not much bigger than two meters!” Luke turns off his targeting gear, uses his experience and relies on “the force,” sending the perfect strike to annihilate the enemy’s weapon. The comeback worked!
Comebacks Are Not Failing
Ah, but as church planters, we have more than the “force;” we have the Holy Spirit. But much like young Luke, we also have innate skills, or gifts of apostleship, that we rely on—yet sometimes, it seems like in all of our heard work, we fail—and from the smaller picture, it might seem so. When Paul went to Lystra to preach the Gospel, he was relying on his gifts, experience, and the power of the Spirit (Acts 14).
There, a man was crippled, and you know the story, the man was healed, the people declared Paul to be a god, he refused, then Jews come in and eventually stir things up so much, they bounce rocks off of Paul’s head, nearly stoning him to death. Then the story continues that the elders lay hands on Paul, he admits defeat, hangs his head low, and goes on to another town. No, wait—that’s not how the story goes at all. Paul walks right back into Lystra (Acts 14:21). Luke records, “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22 ESV).
Paul knew what he was called to do, and it seems there were many more converts in Lystra than we know about. From the text it appears like the apostles were there for one or two days, but when further study, we realize that Paul was church planting and placing elders in leadership, “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed” (Acts 14:23 ESV). Paul did not fail.
Times of Regrouping
Assuredly, Paul needed healing, it was obviously a super natural healing, but he regrouped and then went back to encourage those that he had worked so hard to bring into the Kingdom. Failure is not failing when you don’t give up. Failure is not trying. Regrouping is not failure.
Perhaps you started a church plant and after you launched, you realized that you went about it all wrong—wrong parachute, wrong timing, wrong attitude. I did that. We had a group that met in my home, and we just knew that God had called us into it. We thrived, sang, shared in fellowship, and grew.
But we did it all wrong—everything—it was horrible (or so it seemed). For whatever the reason, there are times when we may need to take a step back and let God do His work. Whether you return to your Lystra, or not, is God’s will—only time will tell if He opens the right doors. However, there may indeed be a bigger picture that is taking place during the regrouping phase of your life.
Overcoming Fear
Failure is not failing when you overcome a fear. I can’t speak for my wife, but I do know that the day that we finally caved in and knelt together by the sofa in tears to pray, I was terrified. I knew God had called me into church planting—but I was impatient, and to be honest, I was very fearful. I was fearful for several reasons: I had many life “events:” my father had recently passed away, I just graduated seminary, we had a newborn girl, I knew there wouldn’t be any salary, unlike the associate pastor salary I was receiving, and the unknown, plus my own pride.
However, God provided a great job a hospice chaplain, so that I could be bi-vocational. And since I had taken the plunge I had a “peace that passed all understanding.” What I didn’t understand was the growth that we had in the house, would fail miserably when we launched too soon and for the wrong reasons. I ended up shaking my hands to heaven on an early morning run, yelling, “Seriously! What’s up with this, God!” But what happened in the long run was amazing.
I was directed to small dying church of 20, miles away, a 110-year-old church plant—they wanted a church planter and I regrouped in humility. I learned something valuable; that it was not the actual “plant” that God was directing me through, but through my fears. I often speak to guys and tell them, “If you’re called to ministry, you must be rid of fear first.”
You’ll have a hard time being sold out for Christ, when gripped with fear. Through all of the trials, I overcame my fears, realizing the big picture. And while I didn’t make a “comeback” plant into that area, I did regroup, and now the saga of this story has begun to spark something completely amazing—something I never would have imagined.
But the facts are, failure is not failing when God owns the story line. God is the director of your life. The overall picture is not about us anyway—is it? It’s about Him and Him glorified, as we reach others, bringing the good news and new life to organic community. So, seize failure, make a comeback, regroup, or overcome.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church, he boasts of a five-fold ministry consisting of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers—we’re going to call this, APEST (btw, I didn’t make that up and I know how some feel about it—if you’re not an APEST fan, go ahead and tune out, otherwise, read on.). The key to finding leaders who are just dying to utilize their giftings are in your core team or church, and are within the five-fold ministry.
First, let’s look at what Paul writes, “And [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV). This is our foundation. Granted, Paul is talking about “offices,” so let’s remember that we’re looking for leaders. Not everyone is an APEST. Some people are gifted according to 1 Cor. 12:4–11.
In this passage, the Apostle outlines how the “fullness of Christ” (4:13) is uniting the fellowship of the saints and their specific gifting to edify (build up) Christ’s church. Let me say this, you have some of these people sitting in your pews (if you still have pews) and they’re gifting is being squandered. Let me help you discern who has what gift and how you can tap into that gifting, creating a missional movement for the kingdom.
Apostles
Twenty-first century evangelicals have a hard time with this title. Mainly, we were taught in Sunday school about the 12 apostles. None of us should consider ourselves on of them. But the gift of apostleship still exists, in the essence of being hard-wired to edify the church. This one is so important. Church planters get this, as most of them (if not all) are apostolically gifted.
The gift of apostleship is a gifting that inspires people to be entrepreneurs, business owners, risk-takers, imaginative thinkers, and creators—people that are never afraid to step out of the box. In our church settings, it is really important to allow these people to be innovative. However, it is difficult for most pastors to allow those with the gift of apostleship to flourish because they are viewed as a threat. Why? Because they are driven by change and innovation. But, we must realize that God has placed them within our midst. If we can tap into a person with this gift, they can help birth an entire movement.
Those with the gift of apostleship may excel in art, music, sewing (we have those), woodworking, cooking, business administration, or any other creative industry. The idea here is that these folks will be the ones with the ideas for motivation, innovation, and expand structure—they’re inspired by the Lord to create and inspire others. Set these people free! But, keep them close to leaders because they see vision, understand it, and apply it.
Prophets
We’ve all heard of Elijah calling down fire to consume military opposition (1 King 1). When we think of the word prophet, we think of Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, but God has placed the prophets within the church to edify and build up the saints. The prophetic gifting is one in which encouragement with truthfulness flow. These are straight shooters, sometimes viewed as “hardliners,” and have a heart for the holiness of God. Pairing up a person with the gift of apostleship and prophet can be very effective, yet dangerous.
It can be effective because the prophetic gifted person is very instinctual, emotional, and finds things cut and dry (black and white). It can be dangerous because they can quell an imaginative thinker quickly. However, if they work as a team, using discernment and understanding their unique gifts, they ascertain why they think the way they do. Prophetically gifted people see danger before it happens, but sometimes lean on the more cautious side of everything, and can get depressed easily, especially if they feel their gifting is not utilized.
But, prophets also are those who will be extremely loyal. Pastors love them and they seek out the pastor, often. As long as you are gospel-centered and driven, these gifted folks will be the encouragers to remind the flock that God is in control—nothing fears them. Use prophets in leadership as advisors—they have God’s best interests at heart—sometimes to a fault. Also, prophets are the ones who see giftings in others—usually immediately. These are the people who when they look at you, they’re “reading your mail.” You won’t fool a prophetically gifted person. It is highly likely that someone with the gift of evangelism has this gift, too.
Evangelists
Here is a gift that it seems no one wants. I don’t know why, it’s one of my favorite gifts. Perhaps the term scares people? I guess we perceive that the gift of evangelism is usually set apart for those who love Scripture and “witnessing” to people. While this is partly true, let’s remember that we want to cultivate and find these new leaders. So, do you have someone with the “gift of gab”? This person, if discipled, will make an excellent evangelist.
But speaking to people is not the only side to evangelism. This gifting includes the servant-heart—the Martha. You know, the people who love to set up chairs, cook meals, and talk with others. While some may say that’s the gift of hospitality, and it is, what we’re saying is that we need to cultivate this person—bring out that beautiful servant heart and release it into the community.
Servant-hood evangelism in one of the best models of Christ-like action. Some of you may have heard the term, incarnating into community, so think of it as “fleshing out,” or being Christ to a culture. An evangelistically gifted person can serve in leadership by locating others with this gift. These people tend to be magnetized to those who are like-minded—finding one person with the gift and putting them in leadership, has the potential for a team of an evangelistic movement in community. If you match up an apostolically gifted person and an evangelist…things get done!
Shepherds
So, recently I was working with a cohort of church planters for several hours. When I left, I had felt better than I did and more at rest than when I spent a week on vacation at the beach. Crazy, you say? No, this is one of my gifts. I realize that like a border collie set free to heard sheep, there is nothing like being in your realm! I’m a herding freak! But, don’t associate shepherding with meetings—blah—shepherds are extroverts.
Shepherds are vital to any church or church plant because these are the networkers. These are the men and women who know how to bring people together. They are by nature positive people—optimists. Shepherds not only know how to network and bring people together, but they also are people who have deep empathy, compassion, and a heart for those who they consider family (which in my case is everyone I meet!). Maybe you have healthcare workers, foremen, moms/dads with multiple kids, or managers, these are the people who know how to get things done, but in good ways.
The gift of shepherding is one, which thrives upon everyone getting along and coming together. They seem to get great satisfaction with seeing things “fire on all cylinders.” They’re shepherding gift kicks in without notice. You want these people in leadership; they can help your small group leaders, pastors, and teachers with bringing events and programs together. They can help with social media and will have fun doing it. One negative side note, shepherds tend to be a little OCD. Everything has a place, time, and purpose. Shepherds will inevitably burnout if you do not take care of them, but they thrive on being busy and sometimes stress.
Teachers
Teachers. What can we say? We have to love those who are patient, loving, and desire to see the skill sets of others come out. Those with this gift love being disciple-makers. They do not necessarily need to be the one that can cite every passage of Scripture and exegete the Bible flawlessly, leave that for the prophet (who by the way, may not be a good teacher—at all! Prophets tell it like it is). If you have a school-teacher in your midst, be careful not to burn them out. They know they have this gift and use it daily.
The best way to nourish a teaching gift is to cultivate it—water it. A person with a teaching gift will thrive and come to life, IF, they have encouragement. The reason is due to their gifting. They pour out so much from their heart and passion that they can easily get drained, but as those who invest in others, gratitude goes a long way. People who may have this gift could be any myriad of person, but look for the person who has great patience, an ability to clarify or portray things, they can contextualize things very well, are very practical and down to earth people, who enjoy staying in the shadows and seeing others blossom.
Utilize teachers for small groups, discipling, counseling, and developing activities. If asked, they may also be very effective at working with the evangelist in a community project—because they have great patience and can express ideas (and the gospel) in ways that others cannot.
Conclusion
Granted, this is not exhaustive, these are just some good observations to help you develop your church’s five-fold ministry in building up the church. If you have these people in leadership, surely a missional movement can ignite. Your job is to assess these giftings (maybe you have one), and then apply them by putting the right people into the right places.
If you have one these gifts and are not being utilized, maybe you need to share this with your pastor or leadership team?
