Humility in an Age of Celebrity Leaders

ISSUE 26 / NOV_ DEC 2019

R O B E R T C R O S B Y / D AV I D K I N N A M A N / E L LY C . M A R R O Q U I N

HUMILITY IN AN AGE OF CELEBRITY LEADERS

Four Trends That Will Impact the Church in 2020 The Moment and the Message

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NOAH’S ARK AND PORN By: Jeremy Wiles

I had spent 8 years traveling the world filming Ark Hunter, a documentary on my search for Noah’s Ark, when I decided to put it on the shelf and shift my attention to porn. Yes, porn.

I was at church one Sunday morning when my pastor quoted a study that nearly 70% of Christian men are hooked on porn. I leaned over to my wife and said, “This is serious! We’ve got to do something about this.”

Over the next two years, my wife, Tiana, and I worked tirelessly on creating the Conquer Series - a cinematic small group study that we hoped would help men find freedom from pornography.

As I was filming the Conquer Series, I didn’t think men would watch it. Why would guys join a group in their church to talk about their porn problem?

I was wrong.

Today, the Conquer Series is helping more than one million men in over 80 countries find freedom from pornography.

I recently met one of these men, Bryan, at a conference for Conquer Series Leaders. Less than two years ago his story was bleak. His struggle with pornography was about to end his marriage. Bryan explains, “I tell people that when I was in my addiction, it was like I was drowning in a pool surrounded by my friends and no one even knew. I was helpless and hopeless.”

Bryan handed me this card his wife, Celia, had given him as he left for the conference. I took a photo of it while standing in the lobby.

Bryan’s testimony is why my team and I come to work every day. We want to see that transformation throughout the Church! The exciting thing is, that once these men find freedom, they don’t stop there.

Bryan now leads 15+ men through the Conquer Series every Thursday evening.

He explains, “Some of these guys are fresh out of prison, some are in different levels of leadership, and both groups are really authentic and transparent. It is amazing!”

Thankfully God intervened, “But God, in His mercy, let everything come to the surface so we could see how He could work a series of miracles.”

Bryan told me the transformation that they had seen in their marriage, “I am now over 20 months 100% clean of porn, sexual addiction and lust in general. God rescued and redeemed me in November of 2017 but not until I had utterly destroyed my wife and our life. He miraculously turned me around and she saw what He has genuinely done and then He turned her heart.”

If you’re currently in the fight for your relationship, know that God wants to do something amazing in your marriage, like he has done for Bryan and Celia: “We now live the BEST LIFE we have had in ALL my life and the 19 years we've been married. God is SOOO gracious and it's time I turn this back on the devil in a BIG WAY.” While I was traveling the world in search of a big wooden boat, God had other plans. He wanted me to go on a quest deep inside the human soul, starting in my very own heart.

“For it is God’s will that you should be sanctified.” - 1 Thessalonians 4:3 If you long for healing in your relationship or want to help couples struggling with pornography then I hope you’ll get the Conquer Series.

Use it in your men’s group. If you decide not to use it, return the DVDs within 14 days and you’ll get your money back. There’s no risk. Doing nothing is a far greater risk.

Jeremy Wiles is the CEO of KingdomWorks Studios and the Director of Conquer Series

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NOV-DEC

Influence | 1

MAGAZINE

THE SHAPE OF LEADERSHIP INFLUENCE MAGAZINE

S U B S C R I P T I O N S

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Copyright © 2019 by The General Council of the Assemblies of God, 1445 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 658021894. Permission required for reprints. All rights reserved.

All materials published herein including, but not limited to articles, photographs, images, and illustrations are protected by copyright and owned or controlled by Influence magazine of The General Council of the Assemblies of God.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan (www.zondervan.com). All rights reserved worldwide. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ Influence magazine (ISSN: 2470-6795) is published six times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November by Influence Resources (1445 N. Boonville Avenue, Springfield, MO 65802-1894). Periodicals postage paid at Springfield, Missouri, and at other mailing offices.

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CONTENTS 8 If You Ask Me REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP

Certain Truth for Uncertain Times

10 Get Set L E A D E R S I M PA C T I N G T H E C H U R C H A N D C U LT U R E

Soul Care for Servant Leaders A Q&A With Robert Crosby

p28 14 Like a Leader TOOLS FOR PERSONAL AND CONGREGATIONAL GROWTH

• Live: Health for the Holidays ... and Beyond • Think: A Time to Speak?

• Learn: Recommended Reading for Pastors Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America and selected book reviews

24 Playbook S T R AT E G I E S F O R E F F E C T I V E M I N I S T R Y

• Build: The Disciple-Making Church • Know: Growing in Gratitude • Invest: The Adventure of Giving • Ethics: Power Failure

34 HUMILITY IN AN AGE OF CELEBRITY LEADERS Servant leadership begins with transforming three areas of our lives.

JUSTIN A. IRVING and MARK L. STRAUSS

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ISSUE_26/NOV_DEC 2019

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44 FOUR TRENDS THAT WILL IMPACT THE CHURCH IN 2020 Responding with realism and resilient hope.

DAVID KINNAMAN with ALY HAWKINS

52 THE MOMENT AND THE MESSAGE Creating memorable and meaningful worship services, especially during the holidays.

CHRIS COLVIN

60 Multipliers LEADERS LEVERAGING THEIR GIFTS FOR GOD’S KINGDOM

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Breaking Through the Digital Divide • Gary Garcia: A Heart for Youth • Terry Parkman: Reaching a ‘Publishing’ Generation • Kathryn Breker: The Measure of Discipleship • Peter Reeves: Pushing the Boundaries of What’s Possible

70 Make It Count AN EIGHT-WEEK STUDY FOR LEADERSHIP TEAMS

The Leader God Blesses: 8 Qualities That Attract God’s Favor

80 The Final Note FOMO

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IF YOU ASK ME

Reflections on leadership

Certain Truth for Uncertain Times CHRIS RAILEY s leaders, we’re supposed to know where to go and what to do. If you’re like me, you feel the weight and pressure of clearly communicating vision and strategy to lead effectively into the future.

With one year drawing to a close and a new year on the horizon, people want to know what’s ahead: What is the fresh word from God? Where are we going this year? How will we get there?

So we read books and go to conferences, looking for new ideas and any advantage we can find to help us lead well into the future.

The pressure for fresh vision and direction, especially as we lead in uncertain and complex times, can seem relentless and overwhelming.

In a recent blog post, Seth Godin asked, “How do I know what to do when I’ve never done this before?” How do we lead in a direction we’ve never gone? This kind of leadership seems rare, more difficult, and more valuable in the rapidly changing culture in which we live.

The challenges ahead will require bold moves, paradigm shifts and courageous leaders who are willing to risk failure for the glory of God. Like Joshua and the people of Israel as they prepared to step out of their past and into their future, our job is to follow where God leads.

When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before” (Joshua 3:3–4, emphasis added).

Twenty-first century leadership requires us to lead through many “I’ve never done this or been this way before” moments. Effective

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Chris Railey, D.Min., is executive director of Influence Resources and senior director of leadership and church development ministries for The General Council of the Assemblies of God, U.S.A.

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leadership will require greater flexibility, adaptability and inquisitiveness.

Good leaders know that asking better questions can get them closer to the desired outcome. They’re humble and able to learn, unlearn and relearn. And they hustle. Effective leadership in uncertain times requires an incredible amount of hustle. However, the greatest quality for leading into the unknown is a willingness to fix our eyes on God, following His presence — whichever direction He takes us. After all, He has been this way before.

As we plan and strategize where to go and what to do next, let’s make sure our level of prayer, fasting and seeking God matches the level of the complexities we face. Let’s make sure our eyes are focused on, and our hearts are in tune with, the leading and direction of the Lord. Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

The stakes are high, but the promise is still before us, and God will show us exactly where to go and what to do. In this issue of Influence, you’ll find articles that will challenge and inspire you as you blaze new trails and trust God for the future.

The cover feature by Justin A. Irving and Mark L. Strauss calls for cultivating humility in an age of celebrity leaders.

Barna Group President David Kinnaman unpacks four trends that will impact the Church in 2020.

And Chris Colvin explains how harnessing the power of moments this holiday season and beyond can make an eternal difference.

Wherever God is leading you and your church, may this issue of Influence encourage you to follow — with boldness, confidence and assurance.

GET SET

Leaders Impacting the Church and Culture

Soul Care for Servant Leaders A Q&A WITH ROBERT CROSBY Robert Crosby is the new president/CEO of Emerge Counseling Ministries in Akron, Ohio.

For over four decades, Emerge has been a go-to source of counseling and soul support to AG ministers and their families. In 1996, the Assemblies of God contracted with Emerge to staff an AG HelpLine with professionally licensed clinicians to provide anonymous counseling support to AG ministers. Crosby and Emerge are involved with the AG mental health committee assembled by General Secretary Donna Barrett.

Crosby has pastored churches in New York and Boston, served as vice president and professor of practical theology at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, and written several books, including The Teaming Church: Ministry in the Age of Collaboration and The One Jesus Loves.

“Secular counseling is primarily concerned with connecting people more completely to themselves and possibly to others. Christian counseling’s goal, however, is connecting people more completely to God, themselves and others.”

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INFLUENCE: How can church leaders erase the stigma surrounding their personal use of counseling?

CROSBY: For one, by normalizing the word “counseling,” and the work of it. At its core, counseling is assistance and guidance in resolving personal, social, spiritual or psychological challenges, especially by a professional. Thankfully, the view of counseling in society is changing.

Yet while pastors offer counseling to parishioners, they often fail to seek it themselves for fear of people’s view of them as leaders diminishing. In many cases, a pastor’s personal use of counseling can serve as a liberating example.

Ultimately, when you get help for yourself as a pastor, you help your congregation.

Pastors and their spouses need reassurance that going to counseling is not a disqualifying action or a risk to their credentials.

Counseling is not some option for the weak, but a strong resource for the wise.

What is the goal of Christian counseling?

In a word, wholeness. This is what sets Christian counseling apart from all other forms of it. Christian counseling is all about becoming more whole, full and free in your

heart, mind and soul, after the manner of Jesus and His example. He came not just to bring us life, but life “to the full” (John 10:10), and not just to set us free, but that we might be “free indeed” (John 8:36). Wholeness is a

word that should fill our sermons, teachings, small groups and conversations. In fact, I believe wholeness is the true essence of holiness. Holiness is not simply about walking a straight line morally, but about living with

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“If you find yourself dealing with a recurring emotional, mental or soul struggle, give yourself permission to find a wise counselor to listen and offer you support — today.

Don’t put it off.

Avoid the ministerial temptation of merely self-evaluating or self-treating.”

Christ’s joy, freedom, peace and love. It is about wholeness and fullness.

Both secular and Christian counseling may claim to be concerned with bringing wholeness, but the definitions of what wholeness means differ. Secular psychology may call this experience self-actualization. Christian counseling may call it sanctification. In the process of bringing wholeness, secular counseling is primarily concerned with connecting people more completely to themselves and possibly to others. Christian counseling’s goal, however, is connecting people more completely to God, themselves and others.

Which behavioral pattern among church leaders most concerns you?

While leading others pastorally, it is easy to become isolated and even insulated yourself. While this pattern of living may at first seem simply safe or careful, it actually feeds a sense of insecurity, uncertainty, loneliness and even depression. Pastors don’t just lead people; pastors need people. We are all created for community, and it takes intentional effort to experience it.

What are some essential healthy soul practices for ministers?

Five vital disciplines come to mind: intimacy with God; intentional community; emotional honesty; financial planning; and expectation adjustment. Neglect of any one of these can contribute to a failure or crisis.

I will focus here on expectation adjustment.

The current image-saturated environment of picture-perfect churches, pastors, celebrities and products creates a vast gap between our expectations and realities. The gap is a sure measure of much of our stress.

Expectation awareness is required to guard your heart as a minister. The monitoring and adjustment of expectations represents an essential soul skill for life in today’s world of ministry. This is often especially true for pastors’ spouses, who are immediately connected to the expectations, but often a step or two away from the power to change them.

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Is there a correlation between physical health and mental health?

Yes. Poor mental health increases the risk for chronic physical issues. Conversely, people with chronic physical issues are at a greater risk of developing poor mental health.

Healthy pastors need to pray, but they also need to play — to exercise and engage life physically. When you do, your body and brain will reward you with God-designed neurological lifts of serotonin, endorphins and dopamine. Physical exercise provides a soul boost that is spiritual and physiological.

What is the AG Mental Health Committee hoping to accomplish?

To provide better support, helps and resources to pastors as needed in order to help heal the healers and strengthen the souls of our pastors. I’m convinced the best way to ensure healthier churches is by developing healthier pastors. This committee is doing an important and much-needed work.

What advice can you offer church leaders considering counseling?

If you find yourself dealing with a recurring emotional, mental or soul struggle, give yourself permission to find a wise counselor to listen and offer you support — today. Don’t put it off. Avoid the ministerial temptation of merely self-evaluating or self-treating.

More and more churches and church boards are providing a periodic regimen of counseling sessions for their pastors.

At Emerge, we offer what we call marriage check-ups and soul check-ups. In light of the stresses on church leaders, I believe pastors and boards are wise to provide this kind of regular spiritual, emotional and mental support to the people who watch over their souls.

Remember, the toughest thing about blind spots in our lives is that we are the last ones to see them. Soul care for servant leaders is vital.

That’s why Emerge exists.

The AG Helpline, 1-800-867-4011, is listed on the back of every AG credential holder’s identification card. We are here to help.

LIVE LIKE A LEADER

Health for the Holidays … and Beyond BRANDON SHRINER

Six habits for a fitter you.

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t may be the most wonderful time of the year, but the holiday season can also be a stressful time — and a time when our health takes a back seat.

We joke about holiday weight gain and tell ourselves we’ll start the year off right in January. But will we? In many cases, the cycle goes like this: January through spring, we try

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to make changes to get “in shape” for summer. Then summer arrives with vacations and barbecues and another season of reasons to allow unhealthy eating and behaviors to take over again. As summer turns to fall, we may try to reignite a focus on health, hoping to shed the summer pounds in preparation for the holidays that are now just around the corner.

So many of us live this cycle year after year.

Is there a better way? Yes! You can take proactive steps now to establish a healthier lifestyle that doesn’t depend on the calendar. To be your best in ministry, you need to steward your health. So rather than using the holidays as an excuse to indulge bad habits, why not break the cycle and establish better habits you can carry into the new year?

Keep Moving

It’s not just what you eat. Even when you’re busy with holiday events or travel, you can maintain a simple daily exercise routine to stay in good physical condition. Regular exercise has the added benefit of improving mental health by boosting endorphins that help you manage stress. You don’t have to put in long hours at the gym. Counterintuitive as it may seem, you may want to keep your workouts short but tough — a technique called high intensity training. This type of exercise can burn fat while also lowering blood sugar levels. It’s always a good idea to talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise regimen, especially if you have a chronic health condition.

Plan Ahead

Keep healthy snacks on hand. Plan out meals for the week, and do food prep in advance to avoid making poor choices when stressed and hungry. Eat a healthy snack or small meal before you go to an event where you might feel tempted to overindulge and make poor choices. Also, you might try intermittent fasting, which can help curb hunger cravings and burn excess fat throughout the day. Intermittent fasting is easy and cost effective when looking to make the switch to healthier eating. Start by limiting eating to an eight-hour window of time and then fasting for 16 hours.

For example, I start eating around noon, and my last meal is at about 8 in the evening.

Again, talk to your doctor about whether this approach may be right for you.

Start Right

If you win the morning, you win the day!

What does a healthy morning routine look like? Start your day with God’s Word and perhaps gratitude journaling or a devotional book. I personally enjoy the Five-Minute Journal, followed by a devotional or recap from this past week’s church message. After a cup of tea or coffee, spend 20 minutes exercising. Then enjoy a healthy, proteinrich breakfast.

Stay Mindful

Don’t overeat, but don’t restrict yourself so much you struggle to maintain good habits.

Develop a healthy respect for food. Understand that while it is fun to indulge, the main purpose of eating is to fuel the body. With creativity and a positive attitude, you can learn to eat well and have fun, rather than feeling like you’re missing out.

Be Accountable

Ask a close friend or family member to hold you accountable in your goal of sticking with healthy habits throughout the holidays and beyond. Perhaps your whole family will even be willing to make a commitment to enjoy the holiday season in a healthier way. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” So find some iron this holiday season — someone who will not only push you mentally and physically, but who can be an accountability partner.

Revamp Your Recipes

Many holiday foods and desserts are high in sugar and low in nutrients, but it doesn’t have to be that way. It has never been easier to find healthy alternatives for your favorite foods, as well as holiday and dessert recipes for every kind of diet. Try some recipes ahead of time, and find a few you and your family enjoy. You might even start a new tradition with your healthy and delicious cauliflower casserole or fruit tart. Offer to bring a couple of dishes when you go to parties and family gatherings.

That way, you’ll have an alternative available when everyone else is diving in to the stuffing and pecan pie.

Dr. Brandon Shriner, D.C., is CEO of Revive Chiropractic and a health and fitness expert. He lives in New Albany, Ohio.

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THINK LIKE A LEADER

A Time to Speak?

ROD LOY

Guidelines for addressing hot-button issues.

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astoring today can feel like walking across a minefield. One false move, and something blows up. Many of the issues people are talking about today are complex, challenging and even volatile. Leaders who say the wrong thing, or stay silent when they should speak, run the risk of alienating people both inside and outside the church. A wrong move can create dissension, distractions and disruptions.

When should the Church speak? When should it be silent? How do we know what to say and when to say it? How do we stand for righteousness while also communicating love and grace? How do we speak with authority without creating a firestorm?

Recently, at First Assembly in North

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Little Rock, Arkansas, we assembled a working group to answer those questions. We included pastors, campus staff, support staff, students and senior adults.

The process led to healthy discussion among people of different ages, races, backgrounds and social positions. Together, we developed guidelines for navigating social and ethical issues wisely. We agreed that each situation calls for at least one of five responses: silence, prayer point, statement, conversation and action.

These seven questions help frame our discussion: 1. What is the severity and longevity?

2. Does it affect our people?

3. Does it violate Scripture?

4. What is our moral and ethical responsibility?

5. Does our action or inaction affect our Christian witness?

6. Is there a need?

7. Do we have a word from God? We then work through our guidelines to identify the most appropriate response.

Silence

We remain silent when one or more of the following is true: • The issue is only political.

• An attack or issue is purely personal.

• It is a matter of personal preference or opinion.

• It is not scriptural or eternal.

• Speaking for/against it violates Scripture.

• It’s not the right time to speak or act.

• We are reacting emotionally rather than responding scripturally.

• We don’t have enough information.

• Speaking does more harm than good.

• Making a statement is hypocritical.

Regarding government involvement in health care, for instance, we have chosen silence. There are people in our church on both sides of the issue who appreciate the fact that we have not taken a public position on an issue that is largely political and extremely volatile. In the same way, we do not publicly endorse political candidates.

Prayer Point

We pray about it corporately when one or more of the following is true: • It involves death and/or suffering.

• Death, suffering and tragedy in the world at large have a deep emotional impact in our community.

• Public prayer will bring healing and hope to those the situation affects.

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Sometimes, prayer is our only response, but prayer always accompanies our statements, conversations and actions.

• We need to say something without making a positional statement.

• It moves the congregation forward.

• We are reframing the issue.

• There is not an immediate or clear course of action.

Sometimes, prayer is our only response, but prayer always accompanies our statements, conversations and actions. Regardless of personal opinions, public prayer for those hurting and in need is always appropriate.

We have learned that most issues should be a prayer point in our church.

Statement

We may make a statement when one or more of the following is true: • The issue is clearly against Scripture.

• The congregation needs direction.

• We are setting policy or establishing appropriate behavior for our congregation.

• The people affected are asking us to make a statement.

• People need to know where the church stands.

• We need to prepare people for action.

• Silence will send the wrong message.

• We can’t attend but want to demonstrate support.

• People are making statements on our behalf that don’t accurately reflect us.

• We are already winning on the issue.

With the #MeToo movement came a lot of questions about empowering women, and about women serving in positions of ministry leadership. We chose to make a strong statement, because the Assemblies of God strongly supports women in ministry.

It was time to speak. Our actions supported our statement.

Conversation Rod Loy is senior pastor of First Assembly of God in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

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We initiate conversation when one or more of the following is true: • Clarity and unity are needed.

• No one else is having a healthy conversation.

• Talking will heal a wound.

• A conversation sends a message to the disenfranchised.

• The conversation is already happening without our voice.

• Education/scriptural teaching is needed.

• Both sides have a valid point.

• The issue is not an emergency, but an ongoing, long-term issue.

• Options are available, but direction is not clear.

• Conversation gives a voice and perspective.

• The issue is negatively affecting the health of the church.

Our church is diverse. Blacks, whites, Asians and Hispanics worship together. With the increase of racial tension in our country, we felt it was important to have an open conversation about race and prejudice. It was a powerful evening of listening to each other that underlined our core value: Every soul matters to God.

Action

We take action when one or more of the following is true: • We know if we don’t take action, no one else will.

• Scripture mandates action.

• Not taking action is sin.

• Action alleviates suffering.

• Negative consequences are imminent.

• Action aligns with our heart and ability.

It’s our assignment.

• Action will affect the community around us in a positive way.

• Inaction hurts.

• Action will lead people to Christ.

On the issue of immigration, our questions and guidelines led us to action. We have opened a center to help immigrants deal with legal issues and obtain legal residency in the United States.

Our goal is to speak and act in a way that honors God, advances the Kingdom, and brings healing and hope to our community and world.

LEARN LIKE A LEADER Selected Book Reviews

THREE QUESTIONS ABOUT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM What it is, why it’s threatened, and how to respond Christianly.

Books reviewed by

George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine.

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eligious freedom is one of America’s most cherished values. It is enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and protected by a thick web of statutory laws and judicial decisions. The same holds true at the state level.

Yet religious freedom is also one of our nation’s most contested values. Many American Christians believe religious freedom is under attack. According to Luke Goodrich, they’re not entirely wrong.

“We’ve long lived in a country where religious freedom was secure, and we didn’t need to give it much thought,” Goodrich writes in the Introduction to Free to Believe.

“Now we’re realizing the country is changing and we might not enjoy the same degree of religious freedom forever. If we don’t start thinking about it now, we’ll be unprepared.”

Goodrich knows whereof he speaks. He is a lawyer with Becket Law, a leading nonprofit, public interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths — “from Anglicans to Zoroastrians,” as Becket lawyers like to say.

Goodrich was part of the legal team who won four major Supreme Court cases in as many years: Little Sisters of the Poor v. Azar, Holt v. Hobbs, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, and Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC. He also is an evangelical Christian, and in Free to Believe, Goodrich aims to prepare Christian readers for “the battle over religious liberty in America,” in the words of the book’s subtitle. He does this by answering three questions: 1. What is religious freedom?

2. What are the most serious threats?

3. What can be done?

In Goodrich’s definition, “religious freedom means the government, within reasonable limits, leaves religion alone as much as possible.” It is, in other words, an expansive

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but not absolute right. As a general rule, government must leave religion alone; it should step in only “to protect other rights.” Just as the right to free speech does not entail the

right to libel and defame others, for example, so the right to exercise religion does not license child sacrifice. Government must “balance many competing rights.”

Religious freedom is worth protecting, Goodrich argues, because it is a secular good.

It “benefits society” through the promotion of good works, the protection of dissenting opinions, and the reduction of social tensions. It “protects our other rights” by limiting the scope of governmental action. And because it is “rooted in human nature,” it is a “fundamental human right,” intrinsically worth protecting.

But religious freedom is not merely a secular good. It is a spiritual good, too. Goodrich

argues that religious freedom is “rooted in God’s original design for humanity — in the way God created us (for relationship with Him) and in the way God relates to us (giving us freedom to embrace or reject Him).” A genuinely loving relationship is noncoercive.

Because even God does not coerce religious belief or practice, neither should government.

Consequently, “religious freedom is a basic issue of biblical justice, rooted in the nature of God and the nature of man.”

Having defined what religious freedom is, Goodrich turns to the five most serious threats to it: religious discrimination, abortion rights, gay rights, Islam, and the naked public square. My guess is that you are probably acquainted with some of the current clashes revolving around these threats.

These clashes center around questions such as: • Can a religious organization use religious criteria for hiring and firing employees?

• If a law requires businesses to provide contraceptive coverage to employees, but religious business owners believe some of those contraceptives actually induce abortion, can they refuse to provide them?

• Can religious florists, bakers or photographers refuse to provide goods or services to an LGBT couple getting married?

• Should the law accommodate Muslim religious practices, and if so, to what degree?

• Are religious symbols permissible on public monuments or public property?

Goodrich argues that the answer to each question is, or should be, yes. He has litigated several cases before the Supreme Court that arrived at affirmative answers. But neither the Constitution nor federal and state laws guarantee that the religious freedom side will win every legal contest. Remember, religious freedom, while expansive, is not absolute, and U.S. courts must take up cases that involve balancing the rights of the

religious with others who claim a contrary legal right.

The section on threats to religious freedom is the longest part of the book. I won’t further describe those threats here because you’re probably already acquainted with them. What these chapters will do is deepen and complexify your understanding of the relevant legal issues, even as they clarify the case for religious freedom in each instance.

This is essential reading for any Christian who is concerned with the state of religious freedom in America today. Indeed, I believe Free to Believe is the best Christian primer on American religious freedom currently available.

Knowing what religious freedom is and what threatens it, Goodrich concludes Free to Believe with suggestions about how best to advance its cause. He is a lawyer, so litigation is obviously on the table. But Goodrich is also an evangelical Christian, and it is as one Christian to others that he offers this important word of wisdom: “before we address what we’re going to do about religious freedom, we need to reconsider what type of people we’re called to be in the midst of religious freedom conflicts. Only if we become those people can we ‘win’ religious freedom fights in any meaningful sense.” In other words, “We’re called not to win but to be like Jesus.” Win or lose, we must imitate our Lord.

Goodrich goes on to outline seven biblical principles that American Christians find difficult to live out, even though our brothers and sisters around the world do so in environments with far less religious freedom: 1. Expect suffering (Matthew 10:16–25).

2. Rejoice when it comes (Matthew 5:11–12).

3. Fear God, not men (1 Peter 3:14–15).

4. Strive for peace (Romans 12:18).

5. Continue doing good (1 Peter 4:19).

6. Love our enemies (Luke 6:27–28).

7. Care for one another (Hebrews 13:3).

“We need to reconsider what type of people we’re called to be in the midst of religious freedom conflicts. Only if we become those people can we ‘win’ religious freedom fights in any meaningful sense.”

— Luke Goodrich

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As someone who is deeply committed to religious freedom, I believe we should be vigilant about threats to it in America and abroad. And to be honest, those threats often feel like they’re growing. Even so, I believe Goodrich is right. The ultimate question is not how much religious freedom we have, but how well we freely use the religion we have.

As the apostle Paul enjoined Christians at an earlier time and in another place, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.

RECOMMENDED READING FOR PASTORS

John P. Burgess, Jerry Andrews and Joseph D. Small (IVP Academic) “[N]othing today is more important for strengthening pastoral leadership than grounding it again in what Christians have regarded as the central spiritual practices of the faith,” write the authors of A Pastoral Rule for Today, an insightful little book. To help pastors develop a personal “rule” that “delineates basic rhythms and practices that define the life of a pastor,” they examine how leading pastors from the Christian past — such as Augustine, Wesley and Bonhoeffer — thought about key topics germane to ministry. They conclude with a suggested pastoral rule organized around “personal disciplines, conduct in ministry, and structures of mutual accountability.”

PASTOR PAUL Scot McKnight (Brazos Press) What do pastors do? Many things — perhaps too many. But what do pastors do them for? Because of busyness, pastors can lose sight of the end for which their activities are but means. Pastor Paul is a thoughtprovoking study that mines the life and thought of

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BOOK REVIEWED Luke Goodrich, Free to Believe: The Battle over Religious Liberty in America (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2019).

By Influence Magazine

A PASTORAL RULE FOR TODAY

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But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13).

If you’re looking for a long-term solution to America’s contests over religious freedom, I’d suggest that loving, humble service of others is the best place to start.

the apostle to identify pastors’ fundamental purpose: “to nurture a culture of Christoformity” (see Romans 8:29; Galatians 4:19). Chapter 1 sketches “elements of a Christoform culture.” Chapters 2–8 describe what such a culture looks like in terms of relationships, economic stewardship, Scripture interpretation, evangelistic witness, subversion of worldliness, and practical wisdom.

SHEPHERDING GOD’S PEOPLE Siang-Yang Tan (Baker Academic) Shepherding God’s People examines the “biblical and theological foundations for pastoral ministry” and “areas of pastoral ministry” (Part 2) such as preaching, worship and counseling. It emphasizes “faithfulness and fruitfulness in Christ (John 15:5), through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; Ephesians 5:18, 6:10–18), made perfect in weakness, brokenness and humility (2 Corinthians 12:9–10) rather than in success or excellence of the wrong kind.” Designed as an introductory survey for seminarians, this book doubles as a refresher course for seasoned ministers. Each chapter concludes with a list of recommending readings, should a specific topic interest you.

PLAYBOOK BUILD

The DiscipleMaking Church E L LY C . M A R R O Q U I N

Helping new believers grow in faith.

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n my days as an ESL (English as a second language) instructor, I discovered that teaching immigrants is about much more than just giving them a new set of words. I provided continuous linguistic development, guided students in the assimilation process, and nurtured their growth as they learned to navigate a new land.

Discipling new believers has some parallels. They have become part of a new family

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with a distinct culture, language and purpose.

Each individual has a unique background, perspective, and rate of growth. But they all need people who are committed to their immediate and long-term success.

The ESL program ensured every student had a network to support them in their assimilation. Similarly, disciple-making churches have a disciple-making culture. I believe God plants the seeds of the gospel in hearts long before people come to our churches. But growth happens in the context of relationships, and through intentional investments of time and care.

Discipleship is not a cookie-cutter process.

Yet when people take that step of faith in following Christ, we do need systems in place to help them find their next steps, from baptism

in water to the lifelong journey of Bible learning. We need mentors and small group leaders who will walk alongside them — not just teaching them how to live out this new life, but modeling it.

New Christians will naturally have questions: How do I read the Bible? What is prayer?

How do I pray? A new believers class can be a nurturing environment for exploring these issues. It also provides opportunity for teaching foundational truths, such as salvation, the supremacy of Christ, the Bible as the Word of God, the Trinity, and reasons to seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit, just to name a few. As people complete the class, they can transition to small groups that offer systematic Bible instruction.

Of course, no one learns to speak a new language simply by listening to lectures.

Practice is vital. The same is true of spiritual disciplines, such as prayer and fasting. Reading books on prayer and talking about prayer won’t develop our prayer lives; we have to practice prayer.

Likewise, hearing from the Bible on Sunday isn’t enough. New believers should learn to engage Scripture throughout the week.

This means setting aside time to practice private devotions, using a Bible reading plan, and discovering how to apply the text in everyday situations.

Many new believers want to practice sharing their faith, which is great! The excitement of someone who has just discovered the transforming grace of Christ and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit can be palpable.

It’s not uncommon for unbelieving friends and family members to ask, “What happened to you?”

As a result, new Christians often have opportunities to talk about Christ with people who are otherwise resistant to spiritual conversations. Offer them some basic guidelines for sharing faith with family members, friends and co-workers, and back them with prayer.

Even if they don’t have a lot of theological knowledge, don’t discount their potential as

evangelists. The zeal in their testimony, the sparkle in their eyes, and the clear evidence of a life transformed powerfully affirm the truth of the gospel. The woman at the well didn’t graduate from seminary before saying to her neighbors, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:29). Her testimony led people to encounter Jesus for themselves, and many became believers (verses 39–42).

Discipleship is about replication — making disciples who make disciples. I am a disciple maker today because of the people who invested in me. Of course, discipleship also requires patience. Growth takes time, and maturity can be a moving target.

As pastors, my husband and I noticed each person’s spiritual growth chart was different. We realized we can’t rush God’s work in a person’s heart or compare one person’s experience with that of another. I never expected ESL students to become fluent overnight. I also understood the factors affecting their progress were as varied as their individual stories. Allow people to grow at their own rate in their newfound relationship with Christ.

An important part of the growth process is learning to serve. Talk about spiritual gifts, and help people explore and identify the gifts God has given them. Help them find places to practice using their gifts, providing plenty of encouragement and an appropriate level of guidance and oversight along the way. In time, many of them will likely be ministry leaders and mentors for others.

While an ESL teacher, it was exciting to help students gain the confidence and competence to succeed in the English-speaking world. But nothing compares with the joy of seeing new believers grow and flourish in this exciting life of following Jesus.

My prayer is that every congregation will seek to build a disciple-making culture — and that every person who walks the aisle to accept Jesus will also learn to “walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith” (Colossians 2:6–7, ESV).

Growth happens in the context of relationships, and through intentional investments of time and care.

Elly C. Marroquin is national director of Christian Education and Discipleship for the General Council of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri.

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PLAYBOOK KNOW

Growing in Gratitude SAEHEE DURAN

Mirroring the Early Church’s model of service and sharing.

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n a soft yet firm voice, a congregant shared his testimony with the church: “I thank God for my family, our health and our life. God is good!”

These simple words of gratitude, which had been translated from French to English, were deeply moving because we knew his story.

As a recently resettled Congolese refugee, Sawa (name changed) came to America with a handful of family members. Just prior to

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his arrival, he lost most of his loved ones due to the war. He nearly lost his own life when a militant choked him, causing permanent vocal cord damage. But Sawa never stopped praising the Lord.

So, when Sawa shared how thankful he was for his family, his health and his life, we knew he meant every word. Afterward, there was a moment of reflective silence followed by applause.

If this man can give thanks to God after all he has endured, it seems I ought to be grateful in every season (Philippians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:18). Yet I grumble … too often.

This has led me to wonder, How can we increase gratitude in our lives — and in our

churches? As I examine the Book of Acts, two verbs come to mind: serve and share.

Serve

After the Day of Pentecost, the Early Church became a flourishing community of people who encouraged, cared for, and served one another (Acts 2:42–47). They did all this with “glad and sincere hearts,” praising God, who “added to their number daily those who were being saved.” I believe today’s churches can grow in gratitude by mirroring the first-century model of service.

A 2016 study from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, Los Angeles, concluded that serving others brings neurological benefits, such as decreased stress, that contribute to well-being. In fact, researchers discovered the rewards were greater for those serving than for those receiving service.

This is consistent with Paul’s teaching. In Acts 20:35, he reminded the Ephesian church of his example of service and urged them to remember the words of Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” People who participate in global missions often have a greater appreciation for the blessings in their lives because they have witnessed the struggles of those in other parts of the world.

Of course, suffering and brokenness exist in every nation — and every neighborhood.

Engaging the local church in community missions will help increase gratitude as members live out God’s compassion daily.

One way to do this is by working with schools, law enforcement, hospitals or social service agencies. Such strategic partnerships exponentially increase the capacity to serve the targeted demographics.

Sawa’s family relied heavily on community support for the first year after arriving in the U.S. Now they help other refugees learn their new normal. Sawa has always been a grateful man. But his gratitude increased when he was able to serve others as the Lord enabled him.

Share

The Early Church faced opposition and

persecution. The Church could easily have dissolved after witnessing the death of Stephen for his faith in Christ (Acts 7). Instead, they continued growing, and even multiplying — carrying the gospel beyond Jerusalem, as recorded in the rest of the Book of Acts. God was with them everywhere they went, helping them, empowering them, and confirming the message through signs and wonders.

Sharing the good news also means sharing our own miracle stories, as Peter did in Acts 12:17. In fact, the testimonies of Christians provide some of the most convincing evidence of God’s divine power, sustaining grace and steadfast love. Our stories can edify the body of Christ, expand God’s kingdom, and increase faith and gratitude. How does your church steward those valuable testimonies?

Incorporating testimonies into services is one way to highlight God’s work in the church. In every congregation, there are broken people who need divine intervention in their situations. Telling the stories of what God has done for others increases their faith as they anticipate miracles in their own lives.

Sharing impromptu testimonies during a main service may be challenging for larger churches. However, a pastor can still increase gratitude in the church’s DNA by publicly celebrating answered prayers or creatively communicating the congregation’s testimonies via social media platforms. The point is, if people do not hear about God’s wondrous works, they can never anticipate them, let alone be grateful for them.

In All Circumstances

As you guide your church to have an increasingly grateful heart, remember that Jesus gave thanks to His Father during the Last Supper, knowing He would soon endure the agony of the Cross.

Model gratitude at all times — especially in the face of trials — and your congregation will learn to do the same.

Engaging the local church in community missions will help increase gratitude as members live out God’s compassion daily.

Saehee Duran pastors an intercultural dinner church in Springfield, Missouri, while teaching at Evangel University and serving on the AG U.S. Missions board, Network of Women Ministers, and Korean-English Fellowship.

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PLAYBOOK INVEST

Young people are drawn to challenge-based fundraising events, such as 5K runs to fight human trafficking.

The Adventure of Giving PAUL HURCKMAN

Four keys to harnessing the energy and enthusiasm of Gen Z.

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n 2002, three college buddies from North Central University in Minneapolis biked across the country to raise money for Speed the Light, a youth missions ministry of the Assemblies of God. Out of that trip, Venture was established to help churches use creative means — from trail runs, to bike trips, to Everest basecamp treks — to raise money for missions.

We’ve challenged people to see the lost and broken in the world, read Scripture, and do what Jesus calls us to do. In response,

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those people have raised more than $20 million for the lost, the poor and the oppressed of the world.

Some church leaders worry about the future of giving. A recent report from Barna Group found that the likelihood of expressing generosity primarily through monetary support declines with each generation. Yet the youngest generation, Generation Z, is more likely than any other to give generously through volunteering and service.

The good news is young people want to get involved, and we can harness their energy and enthusiasm for the Kingdom.

PLAYBOOK INVEST The emerging generation wants to take part in something bigger than themselves.

Through our experience and research at Venture, we have identified four keys to engaging the next generation in missions giving:

Make It a Challenge

Invite young people to do something beyond just giving. Culturally, there is a shift in the way people give. Rather than just donating money to a cause, students and young adults want to do something more significant.

In recent years, activity-based fundraising movements like the Ice Bucket Challenge have demonstrated the potential of creativity and social media to inspire giving.

Isaiah 58:10 captures the ethos of the younger generation’s passion: “Spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed.” This generation wants to do more than write a check. They want to engage in the mission.

Participants see themselves as catalysts for inspiring others to get involved. Young people are far more likely to share their faith within this context, because they are proud of the work they are doing.

Over the past several years, we have seen incredible growth in challenge-based fundraising through events like 30forFreedom, which has raised more than $600,000 for Speed the Light anti-trafficking projects by inviting students to run various distances from 5K to 30 miles.

Make It Tangible

Paul Hurckman is executive director of Venture, a grassroots community bringing “justice to the unreached.”

For more information, visit venture.org and venturemiles.org.

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Help individuals understand the power of their giving by connecting specific amounts of money to specific outcomes, like providing a meal for a child, purchasing a Bible for someone who does not have one, planting a church where there is no knowledge of Jesus, or rescuing a girl from trafficking. This inspires both the participant and donor, and creates a way to talk about the immediate and eternal impact of missions.

For example, Venture uses the impact unit $1 = 10 delivered meals. So instead of setting a goal to raise $500, the goal is to feed 5,000 people.

Make It Just

The greatest injustice is for someone to have no opportunity to hear the gospel. The emerging generation is very aware of the justice conversation. This is an opportunity to teach about biblical justice, which invites us to care for the widow, the orphan, the refugee and the poor, while emphasizing the destitute nature of all who are spiritually lost apart from Christ. We can use the justice conversation to point this generation back to Scripture and back to a burden for the lost and broken.

We partnered with one youth group who held a local 5K to raise funds to fight human trafficking. The students used the common agreement that little girls shouldn’t be trafficked to serve as a bridge for starting conversations with their unsaved friends. The fundraiser became the platform to witness to the world about the sacrificial compassion of the Church.

Make It Social and Digital

The emerging generation wants to take part in something bigger than themselves.

They are looking for an experience to share with others — both in person and across their social media platforms. If young people can access tools to create usergenerated content, like photos, videos, stats and impact, they are exponentially more likely to get involved, stay involved and involve others.

Venture has developed an innovative fundraising platform and app, Venture Miles, that connects GPS tracking with crowd fundraising for real-time measurable impact reporting — showing how the miles and funds translate to life change. Best of all, it allows individuals and groups to create their own challenges based on what they are passionate about, and share these with their friends — all to raise funds for missions.

The future of missions is resting on the next generation. Engaging this generation has never been more important, but it’s also never been more exciting!

PLAYBOOK ETHICS

Power Failure JOHN DAVIDSON

Don’t let your position become your downfall.

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ou might think people who come to positions of power get there because they are the strongest, best at what they do, most charismatic and most determined to climb to the top of the heap. If you thought that, you’d be wrong.

When my first child was born, I was in awe of how helpless she was. She couldn’t make any decisions. Totally powerless. Until the first time she cried all night, keeping me from sleep. It was then I realized she wasn’t powerless. In fact, this helpless baby had considerable influence over my life.

The truth is every human has some measure of power. According to Dacher Keltner in his book The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence, power defines the waking life

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of every person. You have a certain amount of natural power to influence your own life and the lives of those around you.

As a minister, you have an added element of power over those you lead in your home, church and community. When channeled in ways that serve others and represent God’s kingdom well, our power is constructive and helpful, even God-honoring.

But like everything in our lives, our use of power has been corrupted by the Fall.

Which means, no matter how pure I think my motives are, there will always be a temptation for me to use power (even spiritual power) in destructive and sinful ways. The abuse of power in Christian ministries is more visible than ever before, though the abuses themselves aren’t necessarily new or more common than in the past.

The #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements have highlighted sexual harassment and sexual abuse, which are a misuse of

power. Racism is abuse of power. Manipulation of people for any reason is abuse of power. Mistreatment of a spouse, a child or a staff member is an abuse of power. Using your God-given spiritual leadership for self-promotion, wealth building and selfish ambition are all abuses of power.

Interestingly, research has a lot to tell us about how people come to power. Keltner’s studies show those who rise to power consistently have five characteristics he refers to as the Big Five: kindness, enthusiasm, focus, calmness, and openness. These five capture the ways an individual exhibits empathy and shows concern for the well-being of others.

Statistically, those are the traits that get people promoted to positions of power.

Unfortunately, the same research shows those traits are the first to disappear when someone gains power.

The more power I have, the more I start to focus on myself. And because focus is

a limited resource, increased focus on me means I focus less on you.

For an example, we need look no further than the life of King David, one of the most powerful men in Scripture. At the height of his power, David’s life took a tragic turn when he took advantage of Bathsheba, had Bathsheba’s husband killed, and experienced the loss of an infant son. When the prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin in 2 Samuel 12, he used a story about a man who abused his power.

Scripture and history have taught us that God allows individuals to come to power, He can give more power or take power away, and He will hold us accountable for what we do with power. God will not allow abuses of power to go unpunished, no matter the offender’s position, influence or level of power.

So how do we keep our power in check?

How do we use our power for good, not bad?

To lead well, without falling prey to the temptation to use power for your own benefit, keep these five practices central to your life and leadership: • Recognize your feelings of power. When you feel powerful, submit it to God and commit to using it for the benefit of others. Fight the desire to use power only for yourself.

• Practice humility. Invite feedback and critique. Be open to correction. Realize you don’t have all the answers. Don’t be overly impressed with yourself.

• Focus on others, and give power away.

Develop leaders around you by investing in them. Give them a chance to lead.

Take every opportunity to praise them and give them credit.

• Practice respect. Honor others, whether you think they deserve it or not. Engage them in discussion. Ask them questions.

Value their input.

• Make yourself accountable. Have at least one friend or mentor in your life who is not impressed with you and who will help you see how you may be misusing or abusing power.

Using your Godgiven spiritual leadership for self-promotion, wealth building and selfish ambition are all abuses of power.

John Davidson, Ph.D., is director of leadership development for the General Council of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri.

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H U M I L I T Y IN AN AGE OF CELEBRITY LEADERS Servant leadership begins with transforming three areas of our lives.

JUSTIN A. IRVING and MARK L. STRAUSS

P

roverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” We see this

play out in the Bible’s many cautionary tales: Nebuchadnezzar’s seven-year bout with insanity for claiming his own sovereignty (Daniel 4); Herod Agrippa’s gruesome death for accepting praise as a god (Acts 12:19–23); the judgment against Ananias and Sapphira for arrogantly lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1–11).

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Then there is the judgment oracle against the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14:13–15: You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

This passage, traditionally identified with the fall of Satan, is a classic ode to the destructive power of pride. Every Christian leader knows the caution: Pride destroys; power corrupts.

Despite the warnings in Scripture, time and time again we see pride’s consequences in ministry situations.

Christian leaders rise to positions of remarkable influence. Their churches flourish, their books appear on best-seller lists, and they build ministry empires. While most stay true to their calling, all too often a scandal erupts. The headlines splash across the tabloids, and ministries crumble.

Why are there so many similar stories? At the root, pride leads to the downfall. These leaders may be exceptional communicators who can win an audience over with wit and pathos. They are often people of personal charisma and charm who know how to make others feel good about themselves. They are visionaries who come up with innovative ways to do ministry.

But with success comes greater adulation and a ministry increasingly devoid of accountability. Leaders may begin thinking of themselves as irreplaceable and, therefore, above criticism. Well-meaning associates look the other way, or, in some cases, actively shield leaders from consequences — until things reach a breaking point.

Of course, pride doesn’t just afflict celebrity Christians.

All leaders struggle with issues of power and self-interest. Having worked with Christian leaders for decades, we have seen many churches in crisis. The situations often end badly, with departures, firings or church splits.

But we rarely see a church split or a pastor leave over a theological dispute. Never has a cult taken control of the church and overthrown its leadership. It’s usually the same basic issue: a struggle for power and control. This

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may involve the senior pastor, associate pastors, leadership boards, lay leaders or any combination of these.

How do we reverse this trend? How do we cultivate an environment of humility instead of pride? It begins with a biblical model of servant leadership that transforms three areas of our lives: beliefs, attitudes and actions.

Right Beliefs: Developing Humble Self-Efficacy

When it comes to leadership, theology matters. What we believe will find its way, for better or worse, into our leadership attitudes and actions. This includes our views of God, ourselves and how God works through His people. As leaders, we need to develop an attitude of humble self-efficacy.

Some think humility means having a low opinion of ourselves, including our strengths, gifts or abilities. On the contrary, humble self-efficacy means having a high view of ourselves and our abilities, while acknowledging that all we have and are is a gift from God. The apostle Paul refers to this right thinking about ourselves in his letter to the church at Rome: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you” (Romans 12:3).

Paul calls here for neither too high nor too low a view of self, but rather one based on “sober judgment.”

On the one hand, this means acknowledging our infinite value and worth as those created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Human beings are the pinnacle of God’s creation, “crowned … with glory and honor” and “rulers over the works of [God’s] hands”; God “put everything under their feet” (Psalm 8:5–6).

We have great worth in His eyes. On the other hand, it means recognizing we are fallen and broken people, whose abilities come to us solely through the saving grace of God and the empowering gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Peter similarly challenged the Church scattered throughout Asia Minor: “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). It brings glory to God when we serve in His strength rather than our own. Christian leadership is about God-empowered service rather than self-sufficient achievement.

DO NOTHING OUT OF SELFISH AMBITION OR VAIN CONCEIT. RATHER, IN HUMILITY VALUE OTHERS ABOVE YOURSELVES, NOT LOOKING TO YOUR OWN INTERESTS BUT EACH OF YOU TO THE INTERESTS OF THE OTHERS. PHILIPPIANS 2:3–4.

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Right Attitudes: Teamwork and Accountability

Humble self-efficacy naturally results in a different attitude toward followers, one that views them not merely as assets or resources, but as fellow team members and accountability partners.

Humble leaders do not seek glory for themselves, but they recognize they are part of a larger team. They love seeing others, and the team as a whole, succeed. They value the role both they and others play in the ministries they serve. They are quick to think about others and celebrate how other team members are adding value to the organization.

They also consider themselves responsible to the team in terms of loyalty and accountability. Accountability is a two-way street. The leader holds team members accountable, providing timely feedback and training when necessary. This is a common theme in Jesus’ ministry. He sent His disciples out to preach, to heal and to cast out demons (Matthew 10:1–42; Mark 6:6–13; Luke 9:1–6; 10:1–23), then followed up with them as they reported on the results of their ministry (Mark 6:30; Luke 9:10).

Accountability also means the leader places himself or herself in a position of responsibility and accountability to others. Almost inevitably, when ministry leaders fail, there has been little oversight or accountability in their lives.

Author Jon Acuff put it this way: “Leaders who can’t be questioned end up doing questionable things.”

In the absence of humility, a lack of accountability festers and begins to characterize organizations with gifted leaders. These dysfunctions lead to walls of protection around leaders. These walls produce isolation, and this isolation results in unquestioned and unaccountable leaders.

No one is above the need for accountability. Healthy leaders recognize that both their future health and the future health of the organization are dependent on openness and mutuality in the realms of humility and accountability.

Right Actions: Humility Through Empowerment

A third principle for cultivating humility concerns the manner in which a leader should exercise that humility — not for achieving the leader’s goals, but for empowering and enabling others to fulfill their calling before God. We see a biblical example of this in Paul’s letter to the

Philippians. The church at Philippi was one of the most spiritually mature of the Christian communities Paul established, true partners in the spread of the gospel (Philippians 1:5,7).

On several occasions, the church sent financial support to Paul (Philippians 4:14–19). They even sent one of their own members, Epaphroditus, to assist Paul during his imprisonment (Philippians 2:25–30).

Compared to the immature and struggling church at Corinth, the church at Philippi had its act together.

Yet beside this apparent tranquility was a simmering problem that threatened the church: a growing conflict between two leaders, Euodia and Syntyche.

Paul appealed to his “true companion” to help the two resolve their differences (Philippians 4:2–3). While Paul addressed this issue explicitly only late in the letter, he started setting the stage for it much earlier.

In Chapter 2, he called the church to unity on the basis of the spiritual benefits they receive in Christ: Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind (verses 1–2).

The strong bonds of love, encouragement and compassion they shared as a Spirit-empowered community gave impetus to the hard work of maintaining unity.

Yet while this fellowship provides the motivation for unity, it does not provide the means. People may desire to live in peace with one another, but their immaturity, pride and self-interests continually sabotage that unity.

According to Paul, the means to unity involves the cultivation of an attitude of humility: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others (Philippians 2:3–4).

Notice Paul didn’t describe humility as a low self-image or a “worm” mentality. Humility is setting aside selfish ambition, valuing others and looking out for their needs first. This is the key to authentic servant leadership. The servant leader enables others to excel in the use of their spiritual gifts. The goal is not the exercise of power, but the empowerment of others.

Paul went on to cite the ultimate example of empowerment through humility — the incarnation of Jesus Christ: In your relationships with one another, have the

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same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5–8).

As the eternal Son of God, Jesus could have exercised His power in any way He wanted. Yet Jesus chose not to use His position for personal glory but instead used it for the benefit of others: “he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.”

Many English versions translate the last word here as “servant” (NIV, KJV, RSV, ESV, CSB) or “bondservant” (NASB, NKJV). But the Greek term is doulos, a word more often rendered “slave” (see NRSV, NET, NLT, HCSB, CEB, CEV). This is a shocking statement. We understand when Paul called himself a “slave” of Jesus Christ — one whose total loyalty and ownership lies with his Lord. Yet to say that the eternal Son became a “slave” seems to be going too far.

A slave in the Greco-Roman world was considered property, existing solely to serve and please the master. Paul cannot mean, of course, that Jesus’ status was that of a slave, that He became someone else’s property.

Paul must mean that Jesus functioned as a slave, acting wholly and completely for the benefit of others. This is apparent in verse 8: “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross.” By willingly going to the Cross, Jesus acted completely and wholly in the interest of others. Through this ultimate act of humility, Jesus empowered and lifted others up.

From Celebrity Status to Authentic Service

Jesus himself described His mission in these same terms of humility and service. When the disciples were vying for the best seats in the Kingdom, Jesus taught them about the true nature of Kingdom leadership. He began by defining the world’s leadership model: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them” (Mark 10:42).

The world’s model of leadership is about achieving the leader’s goals through the exercise of power

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or influence. Whether through motivation, encouragement, manipulation, coercion or compulsion, the leader seeks to get others to act on his or her behalf.

A ruthless dictator compels followers through threat of punishment. A business owner encourages productivity through good wages, benefits and incentive programs. A motivational speaker sways audience members by connecting with them through charm and humor. The means can differ, but the goal is the same: to utilize followers to achieve an end.

Jesus, however, radically redefined the nature and goal of leadership, speaking not of power and persuasion

gave His life, not for His own power and glory, but to free people from the power of Satan, sin, and death and to empower them to be all God has called them to be.

Jesus’ point is that the task of Christian leaders is not to glorify themselves, but to train, equip and empower others to be all God has called them to be. Of course, all analogies break down at some point, and this one is no exception. Unlike a servant or slave in the ancient world, the servant leader’s role is not simply to take orders from others. Jesus — the model servant and slave — did not follow the orders of His disciples! He empowered and enabled them through self-sacrificial service.

What we have described as servant leadership is really another way to speak of Christian discipleship.

The goal is to raise up the next generation of leaders, to call others to faith, and then to encourage and empower them to fulfill their calling before God.

Praxis: Cultivating Humility

but of service and sacrifice: Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:43–45).

Servants do not seek their own interests and goals.

Rather, they provide the help and resources to empower others. Slaves do not motivate or manipulate others.

They do whatever is in the best interest of the master.

Jesus is the ultimate example of this self-sacrificial giving for the good of others. Jesus came to Earth and

This type of servant-oriented leadership can’t happen without authentic humility. As you reflect on the cultivation of humility in your life as a leader, here are three questions to consider: 1. Are your team members bringing you questions?

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Colin Powell wrote, “The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They either have lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

We argue that although effective communicators are not necessarily effective leaders, it doesn’t work the other way. Effective leadership requires communication. This communication should not just be one-way. The healthiest leader-follower relationships regularly bring meaningful communication both to and from team members.

Are your team members actively communicating with you? While it can feel great that no one is bringing any problems or issues to you, this lack of communication is often not what it seems. It can feel like an indicator of an efficient system in which everything is working as it should. However, it is often just the opposite — an indicator that there are problems, but that team members are no longer bringing those issues to you.

Make sure you are communicating both openness and support when it comes to communication. Be proactive in your communication with the team, and make sure team members see you as a leader who is open and responsive to their communication as well.

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2. Are team members holding you accountable? Does open communication translate into transparency and accountability in the team as well? This transparency and accountability are not simply about leaders telling followers what to do and holding them accountable.

The best leaders don’t merely dictate — they model what matters. Communication is not just about the words we use. For better or worse, our most important communication takes place through our actions.

In our book Leadership in Christian Perspective, we tell the story of Bob Kierlin, the former CEO of Fastenal, and how he modeled what matters for his employees.

When he asked his employees to watch their expenses closely, Kierlin was also accountable to these expectations. For example, he capped his salary for around 10 years. Kierlin modeled frugalness in wearing used business suits. And he often traveled for the company on a limited budget, eating at fast-food restaurants and driving at times rather than flying.

While not common by CEO standards, Kierlin’s actions spoke volumes to members of the company. He was accountable along with other employees.

Healthy organizations encourage openness and accountability at all levels. No one should be above this — especially gifted leaders with a propensity to celebrity status in an organization. Along with all team members, leaders should be open to accountability.

This can be especially challenging, though, in organizations like churches, where people want to be “nice” to one another. The challenge is that being nice is not always the same thing as being helpful.

Being nice can keep us from saying the hard thing someone needs to say, or asking the hard question someone needs to ask. When the person needing accountability is a friend or close team member, it can be even more difficult. This tendency to be nice can lead to fellow staff members no longer asking questions of their peers, or board members believing trust means no longer confronting the senior leader on any issue.

This is not a call to view everyone with suspicion.

Rather, it is a call to balance biblical trust with biblical humility, openness and accountability.

3. Are you equipping and empowering team members? Are those under your influence growing? Are they receiving the skills they need to thrive? Are they empowered and released to use their gifts — even if that means less time in the spotlight for you?

Equipping and empowering are the natural outcomes

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of healthy and humble leadership. But both must be present. If someone is empowered but not properly equipped, it can lead to failure. If someone is equipped but not authentically empowered, it can lead to frustration. But when someone is both properly equipped and authentically empowered, it leads to fruitful and flourishing individuals and organizations.

What do you see when you look around? Are you just trying to rally people to your agenda, or are you developing genuine partners in a mission that matters to all on the team? Humble leadership in practice equips and empowers team members.

Inward and Outward

We asked you to engage in personal refection on humility, but then went on to ask you to think primarily about your team members.

There’s a bit of a paradox in this. The best way to find out how you’re doing as a leader is to look at the people around you. Are they flourishing? Are they growing?

Are they becoming all God is calling them to be and do?

The health of those surrounding you is often the best test of your overall health and effectiveness as a leader.

Lean in to this process of honest self-evaluation.

Pursue right beliefs by developing humble self-efficacy.

Nurture right attitudes by fostering teamwork and mutual accountability. And develop right actions by empowering others.

It can be challenging in an age of celebrity leaders, but this work is as important now as ever.

Justin A. Irving (Ph.D., Regent University) is professor of ministry leadership and director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has served as a pastor and is the co-author of Leadership in Christian Perspective: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Practices for Servant Leaders.

Mark L. Strauss (Ph.D., Aberdeen) is university professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary and is the author of books and articles on the Gospels, hermeneutics, and Bible translation, and, most recently, co-author of Leadership in Christian Perspective.

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FOUR TRENDS THAT WILL IMPACT THE CHURCH

2020 IN

Responding with realism and resilient hope.

O

D A V I D K I N N A M A N w i t h A LY H A W K I N S

ne of the most challenging aspects of my job as a social researcher is finding the Spirit-inspired balance between realism and hope. Real freedom comes when we tell the truth about where we are as a culture and as a Church. And when we hope in our risen Lord and in the power of His Spirit, we win the victory over fear.

The data and insights that follow are heavy on the realism side of the scale, but I pray you will join me in responding to these trends with resilient hope in God’s now-and-not-yet, here-and-coming Kingdom.

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AS STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND, CHRISTIANS MUST LEARN TO LIVE AS EXILES WHO ARE NONETHELESS CALLED TO BE PEOPLE OF GOD UNDER HIS RULE AND REIGN. The Reach of Digital Babylon Expands

Many Christians — especially older believers — feel culturally displaced.

A profound transition is happening in North America, moving faith from the center of society to the margins.

Barna data show widespread, topto-bottom changes from a Christianized to a post-Christian culture.

Pervasive internet connectivity, ubiquitous digital tools and hyper-social media have created a new culture we at Barna refer to as “digital Babylon.” As strangers in a strange land, Christians must learn to live as exiles who are nonetheless called to be people of God under His rule and reign. (My new book, Faith for Exiles, explores this idea in depth, along with data on young Christians whose faith is thriving in exile.)

Like the prophet Daniel and his friends, we can become fluent in the language and literature of the new world in which we find ourselves, while remaining laser-focused on God’s mission of redemption and reconciliation (Daniel 1:4,17).

Many of us today turn to our devices to help us make sense of the world. Young people, especially, use the screens in their pockets as counselors, entertainers, instructors, even sex educators.

And of course, Google searches can be wonderful benefits of life in the modern world. Who hasn’t found

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their life improved by access to the right information at the right time?

Watch a step-by-step tutorial on repairing your dishwasher. Listen to your favorite song. Discover a new recipe. Shop for your friend’s birthday gift right now, before you forget.

Screens are magical portals to more rabbit holes than Alice could visit in thousands of lifetimes — and a few even lead somewhere helpful.

That’s the hard part. Instant access to information is not wisdom.

In a 1965 sermon, Martin Luther King Jr. could have been talking about our present moment when he asked, “How much of our modern life can be summarized in that arresting dictum of the poet Thoreau, ‘Improved means to an unimproved end’? … We have allowed our technology to outdistance our theology

and for this reason we find ourselves caught up with many problems.”

One such problem is growing skepticism when it comes to the authority of Scripture. Six in 10 U.S. adults born before 1946 strongly agree that “the Bible contains everything a person needs to know to live a meaningful life (61 percent), compared to just 32 percent of millennials who say this.

And about 1 in 8 young adults characterize the Bible as “a dangerous book of religious dogma used for centuries to oppress people” (13 percent).

Similarly, Americans are increasingly disenchanted with institutions that historically have been the glue holding society together.

This is especially true of millennials, who have little trust that the country’s institutions “have my best interests at heart.” Just one-third

About 1 in 8 young adults characterize the Bible as “a dangerous book of religious dogma used for centuries to oppress people” (13 percent).

Nearly 9 in 10 evangelicals would have a hard time chatting with a Muslim (87 vs. 73 percent of all adults) or a person who identifies as LGBT (87 vs. 52 percent of all adults).

FAITH CATEGORIES O F U . S . A D U LT S 50 1996-2016 Suurce: Barna Group

43% 40

39%

33% 30

Evangelical

28%

Born again All other Christian 20

Other faith

19%

Athiest / agnostic / none 10

9% 7% 7%

8% 6%

2016

2006

1996

0

of millennials strongly agree that universities are trustworthy in this regard (32 percent); 3 in 10 say so about churches (30 percent); 1 in 5 trusts for-profit companies (20 percent); or the U.S. president (19

percent); and even fewer agree congressional representatives (13 percent) or the government (10 percent) have their best interests at heart.

This lack of trust has led to a disintermediation of institutions in our society, meaning that people no longer put their faith in institutions to be trustworthy mediators of our communal life.

In response, Christians in 2020 must be relational. People may not trust institutions, but they do trust other people, especially those who love unconditionally and keep showing up — and these relationships make a measurable difference. For example, millennials who continue in their Christian faith into adulthood are twice as likely (59 percent) as those who don’t (31 percent) to say that, as a young person, they had a close personal friendship with an adult in their church. Meaningful relationships can make the difference for faith that thrives in exile.

Tribalism Deposes Truth

The phrase “post-truth” has caught on among political observers as a tidy encapsulation of our time, a time when it’s hard for many people to tell the difference between facts and “alternative facts” or between truth and “my truth.” It’s glib, but post-truth is also a fair summary of broader cultural realities that have

massive implications now and in the coming years for how Christians live, work and serve. If there are no facts that everyone accepts as fact, is it possible to change anyone’s mind — including our own?

Barna’s mission is to help spiritual influencers understand the times and know what to do. We believe that understanding the reality of this post-truth society and knowing how to wisely respond is more urgent than ever for Christian leaders — not just for ourselves but also as we raise up the next generation of Jesus followers.

The alternative is tribalism, where us versus them is the only truth that matters.

When people around us believe something, we’re more likely to believe it — even if it is untrue. And in so believing, we increase the likelihood that those close to us will start believing it, too. A recent example comes from Barna research

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FEW AMERICANS HAVE A BASIC GRASP ON BIBLICAL THEMES, SHARE A FOUNDATIONAL CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW, OR RETAIN EVEN A RUDIMENTARY MENTAL SKETCH OF THE GOSPEL. conducted in partnership with Impact 360, which found a majority of teens agrees that morality changes over time based on society (58 percent). Tribalism is one big reason our society can legitimately be called “post-truth”: As more and more people believe those around them, actual truth becomes irrelevant.

“Truth” is what people close to me feel is true at any given moment.

Tribe trumps all.

The echo chamber effect, which plays out on social media 24 hours a day, contributes to tribalism. We prefer people like us, making it hard to listen to and understand anyone

who is different. In research for my book Good Faith, our team found that American evangelicals are more likely than other U.S. adults to say they would find it difficult to have a natural, normal conversation with someone not like themselves. Nearly 9 in 10 evangelicals would have a hard time chatting with a Muslim (87 vs. 73 percent of all adults) or a person who identifies as LGBT (87 vs. 52 percent of all adults).

Can you see the danger? The more we become like the people who are already close to us, the crazier everybody else seems to get. At some point, we lose the ability to speak truth in a

way others can understand, because our tribes live in conversational echo chambers full of people who only speak our language and exert enormous pressure on one another — whether we know it or not — to keep it that way.

In stark contrast, Christ’s incarnation demonstrates the antidote to tribalism: “The Word became human and made his home among us” (John 1:14, NLT).

This is the calling for churches in 2020: “We” get close to “them” — not the other way around. Incarnation is how we earn a chance to speak the truth.

U.S. RELIGIOUS IDENTITY 2018

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ELDERS

BOOMERS

GEN X

GEN Z

MILLENNIALS

Which of the following best describes your religious faith?

The Shape of Salvation Shifts

Christian (non-Catholic) Catholic Other faith Agnostic Athiest None of these Source: Barna Group

CHRISTIANS

NON-CHRISTIANS

Donate money to charity

P O V E R T Y

In your outreach efforts, you may have noticed that people frequently ask different questions than we Christians are prepared to answer.

No longer is it safe to assume that there are just a few loose informational threads to tie up before people trust Jesus. Few Americans have a basic grasp on biblical themes, share a foundational Christian worldview, or retain even a rudimentary mental sketch of the gospel. On top of that, in these post-truth, fake-news times, they have no idea who is trustworthy.

The gospel of Christ still is and always will be “the power of God at

work, saving everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16, NLT). But the specific ways sin, death and the devil work together to destroy lives change with time and culture. To understand the deep and particular need for salvation among the people around us, we first need a clear understanding of our cultural moment.

Do people today even know they need saving? Perhaps not in the way previous generations recognized spiritual needs. Yet many are missing a sense of God’s purpose and of their life’s meaning. The good news of Jesus is the power of God to save all who believe from demonic nihilism and a soul-killing sense of emptiness — if only we can find fresh and effective ways to convey the power of God to save.

We must learn to connect Jesus to the reality of life today. This isn’t just being trend wise. It’s about being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who forms our efforts to know the times and gives us ears to hear what the Lord is saying. Becoming more relational, culturally discerning learners will equip us to share Jesus in ways people in need of salvation can hear.

Faith-sharing takes place within a specific social and spiritual ecosystem. Like it or not, Christianity’s overall reputation in our wider culture intersects with our local and

Take personal responsibility to end poverty

Make consumer lifestyle changes to fight poverty

personal efforts to live and share the gospel. We know Christianity is true; we must show that it is good.

Many Christians already take this effort seriously. Against the grain of popular sentiment, our team at Barna keeps uncovering evidence that many Christ followers are a force for good in the world. In just the past two years, we’ve found signs in the realms of work, relationships, and caring for marginalized and underserved people. For example, three-quarters of practicing Christians strongly agree that “I want

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Three-quarters of practicing Christians strongly agree that “I want to use my gifts and talents for the good of others.” to use my gifts and talents for the good of others” (73 percent); about 9 in 10 say it’s important to them that their work “contributes to the greater good of society/the world” (87 percent).

In a study of poverty activists, we found that self-identified Christians are more likely to report donating money to charity (75 vs. 64 percent of non-Christians), taking personal responsibility to end poverty (59 vs. 45 percent) and making significant consumer lifestyle changes (43 vs. 38 percent) to fight poverty. Among those who regularly attend church, the percentages are even higher.

And in research among 18- to 29-year-olds for Faith for Exiles, we discovered that the most committed believers, whom we call resilient disciples, consistently report greater relational connectedness and satisfaction than non-Christians, and express greater interest in talking with and getting to know people who are different from them. That is the power of God at work, saving those who believe!

Leadership Moves to the Front Burner

I was recently sharing a meal with a friend who said, “David, I would not want to be a young leader starting out today. Things are just so much more complex, especially trying to

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73%

lead in the era of technology and social media.”

He’s an older, successful leader, and his sentiment echoes something we see in our research and in our interactions with leaders across the age spectrum. People recognize that younger generations face some major headwinds on the road to effective leadership.

One reason leading is different is the fact that so much is up for grabs — and even those things that may actually be settled feel open to reinvention. Interconnectedness, powered by technology, is transforming how leaders mobilize followers toward a shared goal and how followers perceive their place in the world (disintermediation again).

Young Christians deal with high levels of peer skepticism toward the Church — especially, but not exclusively, in post-Christian climates.

In secularizing contexts, as my friend Gabe Lyons and I document in Good Faith, Christianity isn’t just something to be ignored; it’s often perceived as dangerous, harmful and extreme. Many of the older Christian leaders with whom I interact don’t seem to appreciate just how toxic these perceptions are and how difficult they make it to lead mistrustful teens and adults toward faith.

The context for emerging young leaders is a chaotic, reactive, disruptive, anxiety-inducing, rules-arechanging environment characterized

THE CONTEXT FOR EMERGING YOUNG LEADERS IS A CHAOTIC, REACTIVE, DISRUPTIVE, ANXIETY-INDUCING, RULES-ARE-CHANGING ENVIRONMENT CHARACTERIZED

BY RAMPANT MISTRUST AND DEEP SKEPTICISM. by rampant mistrust and deep skepticism.

My older friend was onto something: Would you want to lead?

While their reluctance to step up is understandable, it doesn’t change the fact that we need young leaders. Leadership development must become a front-burner issue.

There are now more full-time senior pastors aged 65 and older than under 40. While our data does not reveal exactly why this shift has occurred, possible contributors include increased life expectancy; the rise of bivocational and second-career pastors; financial pressure facing pastors, some of which goes back to the economic downturn of 2008; the allure of entrepreneurship among young adults; the lack of leadership development among millennials and Gen-Xers; and a lack of succession planning among boomers. All these factors and more contribute to the “graying” of America’s clergy.

The bare facts of the matter are that even the wisest of older pastors is not here indefinitely, and his or her wisdom will be lost to the community of faith unless it is invested with the next generation. Even more urgent is the prospect of a massive leadership shortage in the coming decades. In the best-case scenario, Bible-literate, Spirit-filled, missional lay leaders

will rise up in the place of a shrinking professional clergy, filling roles on a scale rarely seen before. This is certainly a possibility, but is it the most likely outcome?

It is critical that denominations, networks and independent churches determine how best to motivate, mobilize, resource and deploy more young church leaders.

Some solutions to the crisis include creating and demonstrating better cross-generational and cross-functional teams; developing and implementing better succession efforts; challenging more young leaders to sign on to be spiritual leaders and more established pastors to make

space for younger leaders; creating a broader vision for pastoring that includes a renewed vision of the priesthood of all believers; and improving the educational and developmental process to unleash more pastors.

The Church of 2020 needs intergenerational leaders to shepherd God’s people into the future.

Our near-term challenges are real, but they are not the final word. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:10).

With our hope secure in the living God, we can meet the challenges together.

David Kinnaman is the president and majority owner of Barna Group, a visionary research and resource company located in Ventura, California.

Aly Hawkins is a senior writer for Barna Group.

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the

m

*

ment

and the message

Creating memorable and meaningful worship services, especially during the holidays.

C H R I S C O LV I N

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i

clearly remember my first sermon. As a 16-year-old just getting my feet wet in ministry, I was a ball of nervous energy. I was excited to receive a chance to share from my heart — and scared I would mess it all up. I spent weeks preparing, writing and going over my notes.

The result was a message that trailed at times but perhaps hit a note once or twice. The most jarring part was my lack of a conclusion. I reached the end of my notes and said, “Well, that’s about it.” Afterward, my youth pastor congratulated me and offered some advice.

(He was also an English teacher, so he knew a thing or two about communication.)

“Most of my students fail to include a conclusion to their speeches,” he said gently.

That stuck with me.

In the years since, I’ve focused a lot of energy on ending messages well. I know I’m not alone. I’ve attended meetings where we spent nearly an hour discussing the last five minutes of a sermon. Some preachers see the conclusion as the most important part of a sermon.

The prevailing thought is that listeners are most likely to remember the last thing you say.

While neglecting the conclusion isn’t a good idea, I now realize it’s not necessarily the most crucial part of the message.

There are other opportunities to make your sermon memorable and meaningful. Instead of thinking about sermons in terms of outlines — three points and a conclusion — why not approach them as a series of moments?

What better time of year to make meaningful and memorable moments than C h r i st m a s?

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take a moment

Think back to last Christmas. What do you remember most? It might be a special gift you gave or received, a great meal, or just the time you spent with family. The long lines on Black Friday and the cleanup after the kids ripped open their packages probably aren’t the first things that come to mind. Your takeaway was likely the moments in the middle.

The memories we make are selective. After that holiday, you won’t remember the dull moments. You’ll think back on the exciting ones. This is how our memories work to make meaningful experiences.

Chip and Dan Heath capture this idea in their book The Power of Moments. They write about how companies and leaders use moments to engage their staff, enhance their customer experience, and encourage real change.

They define a moment as “a short experience that is both memorable and meaningful.”

Your entire weekend worship service should include memorable and meaningful aspects. Meaningful in the sense that your attendees will have opportunities to encounter God. Memorable in the sense they will leave with something that will encourage and challenge them the rest of the week.

And what better time of year to make meaningful and memorable moments than Christmas?

You have limited time during a Christmas service to reach those first-time visitors. Harness the power of moments to make it count.

In their research, the Heaths found that most people

do not remember the beginning or end of an event. They seem to filter out mundane occurrences. We remember the things that define the experience as a whole. If you have a good dinner, you might recall one specific bite of medium rare steak.

Moments can enhance meaning. How people feel about an event depends on the moments they encounter along the way. Sometimes it’s just one moment. Without moments that stand out, the memory is formless. In other words, there is no real meaning to it. It’s like remembering a work day last week when nothing of note happened. You know you went to the office, had lunch, had a conversation or two, but nothing really left a defining impression.

thinking in moments

When we lack focus in our church gatherings, the entire service can be directionless. But when we think in moments, we can focus efforts in a specific direction and create an experience that will spark life-change.

This leads to worship services that are both memorable and meaningful. Let’s consider how to do that with your upcoming Christmas services.

Andy Stanley teaches a focused direction of sermons in his book Communicating for a Change. Instead of multiple points with different applications and various ideas, choose one idea and shape the entire sermon to fit it.

Craig Groeschel likewise advocates for a defining purpose behind each sermon. He suggests asking three questions: What do I want people to know? What do I want them

to do? How do I want them to feel? This helps develop one clear main idea.

Once you have a singular point for your Christmas message, begin shaping the moment or moments of the message and the entire service around that idea. Without a clearly defined point, you will simply build moments that are creative for creativity’s sake. You may attract attention, but where is it focused?

After deciding on the one main point to build a moment or moments around, start thinking in moments. This requires some creativity and collaboration. Getting team members on the same page is crucial.

But what does it really mean to think in terms of moments? The Heaths point out four elements that define the power of moments: elevation, insight, pride and connection. Use any — or all — of these when planning out the moments of your worship service and message.

Elevation is a deep feeling of delight that rises above the ordinary. Receiving a Christmas card from an old friend or unpacking an heirloom ornament your grandmother gave you could spark a sense of elevation. How can you make your service similarly special?

When we gain new knowledge of ourselves or the world around us, that’s insight. It may be accompanied by an inspirational quote or story. It can also produce meaningful action.

When you experience great achievement, you are surely filled with pride. You might remember or even relive those moments by looking at an old ribbon or trophy from a

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Creating moments in your Christmas message is not about putting on a show but preaching to a point.

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first-place finish, a report card with all A’s, or even a thank you note from a church member.

Connection may be the most powerful element. When we share these experiences together, it heightens both appreciation and reflection. That’s why holidays are so difficult for those who have no family. And it’s also why creating a service that involves connecting with others is so important.

This article zeroes in on how the power of moments can be utilized in preaching at Christmas, but it’s important to realize moments can be used in other areas of ministry as well. Think about these four elements and how they can be implemented throughout your church. You might just find a greater response from your people as you think in moments each time.

messages and moments

How do we use moments in our preaching? How do we think in moments? I believe the best way is to process the service and sermon systematically. As you walk through the service, find ways that using a moment will strike the most memorable and meaningful note.

When you consider it in order, you’ll find three areas where thinking in moments has an impact on your message. First, your sermon is a moment in the worship service as a whole, and can be thought of as the moment.

Second, your sermon should include at least one moment.

Third, your sermon should be leading to a single moment of response at the conclusion.

Let’s look at each of these. As you read, consider your next sermon or worship service and how thinking in moments can make it that much better.

A sermon is the moment of the worship service

As the lead communicator, it is easy to suggest that the message is the moment each worship service builds toward. That comes from a commitment to preach the gospel to those who would hear (Romans 10:14). On the other hand, what does that say about every other part of the service or ministry in your church?

One day I was speaking with the small groups pastor at the church where I was working. I off-handedly mentioned something I had heard our senior pastor say — that the weekend sermon was the major focus of the whole service.

In fact, in his view, it was the culmination of an entire week’s worth of work. Our small groups pastor begged to differ.

I understood the small groups pastor’s point of view.

After all, when you have so many different ministries in church vying for attention, it seems discouraging or

counterproductive to assign any of them a secondary place. However, there is something central to the preaching of the gospel in our churches.

If our goal is spiritual formation, bringing people into closer relationship with God, then how can we make the most of each worship service? Dr. Stephanie Nance, adult spiritual formation pastor at Chapel Springs Church (AG) in Bristow, Virginia, suggests we can have both diverse ministries and a focus on preaching.

“In a worship service, people should sense they’ve stepped into something moving them somewhere from where they are,” she says.

That’s where thinking in moments comes into play.

“People are often vulnerable before God and willing to move, so we must give much care to the process,” Nance says.

Using your sermon as a place for such moments can produce that desired movement. That’s why it’s so critical to not assume a sermon during a Christmas service is just filler. It can become the moment of transformation for anyone listening.

“God’s Word continues to form, shaping and bringing forth people into what He is calling them to become through and in Christ,” she says.

And it’s the sermon that echoes the very words of God. The sermon itself may be the most instrumental moment you can create each week.

However, we need to temper our enthusiasm somewhat. Nance points out that focusing too much attention on the message may not be wrong, but it is limiting. She suggests that while preaching may have a prominent place, it should also be seen as one movement among others in any given worship service. All of these parts should flow well together.

It’s not just about creating a moment through a sermon.

It’s about creating an atmosphere involving multiple ministry areas to bring your people to that moment. When everyone is on the same page with one idea each week, your team works together, not separately. Your worship team can select songs that lead to that one idea. Your children’s ministries can line up their teaching with yours. Even your ushers have a role to play, making sure to limit distractions during that crucial moment in the message. When everyone works together, something incredible happens.

A sermon should include at least one moment

Within the sermon itself, there will be multiple opportunities to create moments. You might obviously think

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of illustrations, but it can just as easily include a wellworded phrase, an object lesson or even a video.

When pastors think about creating moments, humor often comes to mind. In theater, it’s known as comic relief. Essentially, during a drama, one character will say something humorous to elicit laughs and give the audience a break from the seriousness. The same goes for sermons. Comedy in a message can grab your congregation’s attention, lower their guard and prepare them for a response later.

Jeremy Johnson, lead pastor of North Point Church (AG) in Springfield, Missouri, is known for his wit. Creating funny moments in a sermon comes naturally to him.

Whether it’s a well-placed joke or an engaging onstage illustration, he has a knack for drawing people in.

“I’m wired weird,” Johnson says. “I don’t know if I’m funny, but I probably am quite a bit different.”

Being different can lead to memorable moments. But it’s not always about being funny. Creating a moment or moments in your Christmas message is not about putting on a show. It’s about preaching to a point.

“Funny is an emotional part,” Johnson says. “Any call to action should stir the emotions. For me, it’s less scripted.

It’s not, start funny and end serious; it’s to communicate a point. And communicate it with passion. If we can feel it, we can follow it.”

Those moments are not only memorable, they are meaningful. Because they lead to a call to action.

A sermon leads to a single moment of response

Finally, your message should lead someone to a moment, a point of decision. It’s also known as a call to action. But what exactly are we asking them to act on?

Oaks Church in the Dallas area mixes the moment of decision with discipleship pathways. As Executive Pastor Mark Brewer explains, discipleship is the central focus of all they do. It just follows that a sermon would build to a moment that creates discipleship.

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“The No. 1 responsibility of each staff position is to make disciples,” Brewer says.

That includes the person delivering the message. But how well has the American church been at doing that?

Not well, according to Brewer.

“In Matthew 28, Jesus gave us our orders,” Brewer says.

“The Western church got the teaching part down. We’ve never been better from the pulpit, online and podcasts.”

However, making disciples begins with creating relationships. You can’t lead someone you don’t know. So getting people connected becomes a moment Oaks Church builds toward each week.

The moment of the message goes like this: Each sermon concludes with a clear explanation of the gospel. Rather than asking people to raise a hand to say a prayer, though, the preacher asks each person in the church to turn to a neighbor and ask whether he or she needs to make a decision that day. This is intentionally creating a moment each week — a decisive event that is hard to ignore.

The moment doesn’t end there. Remember, the moment is not about saying a prayer. It’s about leading toward discipleship. If the neighbor agrees he or she needs to make a decision that day, the two of them come forward together.

They pray together. They then begin a discipleship program together, working through the basics of the Christian faith together.

It’s a large task. But it is meaningful and memorable for so many! Think about the impact of coming forward with someone else and then starting a discipleship relationship together. That’s a life-changing moment. And it’s all possible because of staff members who are on the same page, a pastor who is willing to be bold about it, and a congregation willing to be challenged.

Moments in and around your message can change the course of history for so many — from an inspiring quote to a call of repentance, from a funny illustration to an on-ramp to discipleship. The next message you preach can contain a moment that affects many. How will you harness the power of that moment?

Chris Colvin is a contributing editor to Influence magazine and specializes in sermon research for pastors and churches. He lives in Springfield, Missouri. .

aims to inspire, challenge and resource the entire spectrum of leadership, from lead pastor to lead volunteer. Check out our print, digital, and social media resources.

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MULTIPLIERS Leaders Leveraging Their Gifts for God’s Kingdom

BREAKING THROUGH THE DIGITAL DIVIDE nlike any generation before it, Generation Z experiences life — and temptations — through a digital screen.

Gen Z (which Pew Research Center describes as the generation born after 1996) also faces increased isolation and depression.

In a 2018 Pew survey, 7 in 10 U.S. teens aged 13 to 17 cited anxiety and depression as major problems among peers in their communities. And 29 percent said they personally felt nervous and tense daily or almost every day.

All this poses significant challenges for those engaging in youth ministry today. Despite the obstacles, the multipliers in this issue are finding ways to break through the digital divide to reach and disciple the members of Generation Z for Christ.

Gary Garcia serves as both the lead pastor and youth pastor of Cornerstone Christian

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Fellowship (AG) in Fountain Valley, California. By investing in relationships, leadership training, mentoring and Bible engagement, he is helping shape the next generation of Christ followers.

Terry Parkman, the NextGen pastor at the multisite River Valley Church (AG) in Minneapolis, sees this as an exciting time. He is harnessing students’ enthusiasm for “publishing” and using it during services to lead them into Bible discussion, prayer, worship and journaling.

Kathryn Breker, a bivocational youth pastor at Sunbury Assembly in the small town of

Sunbury, Ohio, is finding ways to balance the demands of youth ministry with the realities of a busy schedule. She wants to see young people become disciples who carry out their callings into adulthood and remain involved in church.

In a rapidly changing world, Peter Reeves, NextGen pastor at Mount Hope Church (AG) in Lansing, Michigan, understands the importance of flexibility in youth ministry.

He alters his outreach approach from year to year in response to students’ needs. “As long as we’re reaching people for Jesus, I don’t care how it’s done,” Reeves says.

Matt Hufman is a licensed Assemblies of God minister and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He lives in Springfield, Missouri.

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A Heart for Youth A CONVERSATION WITH GARY GARCIA

“We see this cross-generational ministry that wasn’t planned but just happened.

It has totally changed the dynamic of our church.”

Gary Garcia is lead pastor and youth pastor at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship (AG) in Fountain Valley, California.

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hen Gary Garcia took over as lead pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship (AG) in Fountain Valley, California, he made it clear he wasn’t leaving the youth behind.

“I said, ‘I’m going to lead our church; I’m not going to just lead adults,’” says Garcia, who has served in the lead role for about two years now. “If I’m preaching on Sunday, I’m preaching to everyone.”

He makes sure his illustrations, even in the main service, resonate with youth.

Garcia continues to have a calling to youth, so he’s still the youth pastor as well as the lead pastor. He also continues to serve as a leader in the youth department of the SoCal Network of the Assemblies of God. He spends several weeks a year at youth camp.

Garcia grew up attending Cornerstone and became the youth pastor as a young man. Having served more than 20 years in youth ministry, he sees an urgent need to provide youth a foundation in the Word of God — a mission he continues to pursue through training leaders and discipling students.

“It’s more than devotionals,” Garcia says.

“We’re really in the Word. I love worship, but I feel like we’ve raised a generation who is so worship driven that they’re not on a foundation.”

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Biblical engagement is critical for today’s students, he says, particularly with all the distractions and the ease with which they can find temptation on their digital devices.

In busy Southern California, there is plenty vying for the attention of young people — and social media adds even more voices to the mix.

“A lot of times, people are going to the loudest voice in the room,” Garcia says. “We’ve got to be the clearest voice in the room, and we’ve got to be the most level voice in the room.”

Cornerstone started a churchwide small group discipleship ministry that walks people through the Bible, and the results have been positive. Not only are congregants gaining biblical training, they’re also building relationships with other believers. Young people, particularly those without Christian parents, are receiving mentoring naturally.

“We see this cross-generational ministry that wasn’t planned but just happened,” Garcia says. “It has totally changed the dynamic of our church.”

Garcia’s encouragement to other youth pastors, especially those struggling, is that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. He doesn’t want them to miss out on what God has for them as they minister to youth.

“I know there are people who aren’t going to last 20 years in youth ministry, or God’s going to call them somewhere else, but don’t use youth ministry as a steppingstone,” Garcia says. “Don’t miss this generation.”

Reaching a ‘Publishing’ Generation A Q&A WITH TERRY PARKMAN

“Generation Z is the generation the Church has been praying for: a publishing generation who isn’t afraid of witnessing.”

Terry Parkman is the NextGen pastor at River Valley Church (AG) in Minneapolis.

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INFLUENCE: How is youth ministry changing?

PARKMAN: With Generation Z, it’s twofold: First, they’re a generation that’s “apatheistic” — they just don’t care about God. They’re not looking up at the heavens and shaking their fists; they’re just not looking up thinking it’s important. We’re facing a post-Christian generation.

Second, we’re no longer preaching to a generation of consumers. We’re preaching to publishers. Their end is publishing. It’s been wired into their brains through their phones, whether it’s posting, commenting or tweeting. So we need to make space for this in our services.

Generally, the church is built for the consumer. You go get a coffee, sit and listen, ruminate on it, and then integrate it into your life.

Students are there to publish.

How do you help students “publish”?

Sharing a testimony, leading from the stage, and worship are all publishing.

The youth pastor presents a short message, the big idea, and then we go to small groups.

Within the context of community, students really wrestle with Scripture, talking with each other. That’s publishing.

Coming out of that time, we go back into worship, and students can journal, pray or worship — three different ways of publishing

to God. Then, they come back up to the stage, and the youth pastor gives them three points for next steps. And the next day, the small group leaders follow up through social media.

What are the biggest challenges facing today’s youth?

It’s identity in a rapidly changing culture. It’s not just stressing over identity — questions of sexuality and, “Who am I?” It’s, “Who am I when culture changes every four months?”

Really anchoring into a specific identity is difficult for students today. It’s like delayed adolescence to the max. Young adults want to be parented again.

We’re seeing that extended young adult season happen because there’s so much hesitancy to start anything until they know who they are.

How does a pastor even dig into that? I think our job is to lead them into a wrestling match with God and let the Holy Spirit do that.

What is your message to this generation?

Generation Z is the generation the Church has been praying for: a publishing generation who isn’t afraid of witnessing.

I think we’re going to look back at Gen Z as a builder generation.

So I would say to them, “Keep building.

Don’t stop innovating, but make sure you’re tapped into the Holy Spirit because He’s the source of all creativity.”

The Measure of Discipleship A C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H K AT H R Y N B R E K E R athryn Breker is busy. She works at the Ohio Ministry Network full time, goes to school, and is a pastor at Sunbury Assembly in the small town of Sunbury, Ohio, where she leads the youth group and the worship team, among other things.

She has been described as a selfless, hard-working, and fearless leader, but she brushes off the accolades.

“God has opened up incredible doors for me,” she says.

Nevertheless, she acknowledges that being bivocational has its share of challenges.

“There are a lot of things I don’t have time to do,” Breker says.

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Kathryn Breker is a bivocational youth pastor at Sunbury Assembly in Sunbury, Ohio.

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“I’d like to be at the soccer games, but a big thing for me is not making promises to students I can’t keep. So, if they say, ‘Can you come to this?’ I can’t promise, but I’ll try. Or, if I can’t be there, maybe someone else can be.”

In her small church, the youth ministry represents a significant share of the congregation, and students serve as leaders and volunteers.

The students are also active in Fine Arts, which thrills Breker, who plays several instruments.

“It’s one of my favorite discipleship tools because that means I spent every Sunday with them for four months,” she says.

Breker recognizes the challenges today’s teens face, from electronic distractions to social pressure. She’s particularly concerned about what she sees as a sense of isolation and depression among youth.

“I’ve sat with young people as they struggled with anxiety and suicidal tendencies,” Breker says. “Only Jesus can fill the void.”

Creating a sense of community has been important to help break isolation. She has worked on building relationships among the group and taught students to reach out to other students in their schools.

Sunbury Assembly is the only Pentecostal church in town, and that’s a draw.

“We have something others don’t have,” Breker says. “We teach students to rely on the Holy Spirit. We teach them to pray in the Spirit and rely on the confidence of the Holy Spirit.”

One thing Breker has noticed is that many students she meets in the community and in her ministry don’t seem to have a moral compass or an understanding of the consequences of their actions. Through relationship building and discipleship, Breker is not only introducing students to Jesus but also helping them grow into adults who follow Jesus.

“I want them, when they step out of youth, to still be involved in church and in a relationship with Jesus,” she says. “I measure my youth group by how many Christian adults I create.”

Pushing the Boundaries of What’s Possible

A Q&A WITH PETER REEVES

“Our vision is to reach our entire city and all the students with the kingdom of God and the gospel message, but how we do that looks different for us every year.”

INFLUENCE: What are some of the major

struggles young Christians face in their attempt to live spiritually and physically in a way that honors God and serves as an example to others?

REEVES: I think one of the struggles or strongholds is students have so much access to things they don’t know how to process or understand. It’s starting to destroy them.

A lot of time we’re asking or preaching questions the students are not asking.

They’re struggling because they saw something on social media. They have access and temptations at a level we never had. We have to help them answer that. We have to help them understand how to process and walk in freedom.

What encourages you about this generation?

I’m noticing that students are really engaging the supernatural, and they’re extremely creative. I think the students are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. I’m encouraged by that. I think that’s going to help them preach the gospel and reach others like never before.

Peter Reeves is the NextGen pastor at Mount Hope Church (AG) in Lansing, Michigan.

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What is your vision for student ministry, and how are you pursuing it?

Our vision is to reach our entire city and all the students with the kingdom of God and the gospel message, but how we do that looks different for us every year.

I’ve tried to ebb and flow with our leadership team. As long as we’re reaching people for Jesus, I don’t care how it’s done.

What is unique about your approach to student ministries?

We have a lot of really good communicators.

I share the preaching responsibilities with my wife and our youth director and even our administrators. Part of our passion is to raise up communicators to reach the world for Christ. We want to reach the generation for Christ.

We have all these gifts in the Body, and I fit more of the apostle seat, but I need students to hear from the pastor, the prophet, the teacher, and the evangelist. I need them to hear from everybody.

What is your message to other youth leaders across the country who are engaged in the battle for the hearts and minds of today’s youth?

Allow people to grow at their own pace. Let them fall in love with Jesus so they can hear the voice of God. They don’t need to just hear you. They need to hear God. Give them the space and time to hear from God in your services. One word from God can change everything.

If we can teach students how to identify God’s voice in our services, then we can teach them to hear God’s voice in their lives.

MAKE IT COUNT An Eight-Week Study for Leadership Teams

THE LEADER GOD BLESSES 8 QUALITIES THAT ATTRACT GOD’S FAVOR STEPHEN BLANDINO

FREE

DOWNLOADABLE DISCUSSION GUIDE HANDOUTS

Go to InfluenceMagazine.com Click on “Downloads”

WHAT IS MAKE IT COUNT?

Week after week, you invest time and energy into making every Sunday count. But you also have to think about staff meetings, board meetings, and meetings with key volunteers and other church leaders.

Juggling so many meetings can seem overwhelming, especially as you think about developing the leaders around you. Effective leaders are continually looking for great leadership content they can use to develop and mentor other leaders. Make It Count is a powerful, little tool to help you accomplish just that.

Each Make It Count lesson is easily adaptable for individual or group discussion, allowing for personal application and reflection among your ministry leaders

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and lead volunteers. The lessons are useful as devotionals in board and staff meetings and in departmental meetings with your lead volunteers.

Studying and growing together is an important practice of building strong, healthy relationships with your team members.

It is also a necessary component of building healthy, flourishing Blandino churches. These lessons can help you make each moment count as you lead and develop the leaders around you.

very leader wants to experience God’s blessing and favor. We long for God’s blessing in our personal lives and in our families. We yearn for God’s supernatural favor on the churches, ministries and organizations we lead. No matter where we find ourselves or who we’re surrounded by, we desire the fingerprint of God on our lives and leadership.

When you take a closer look at the Gospel of Matthew, it becomes clear that Jesus has provided a pathway to God’s blessing. I’m not suggesting that God’s blessing is a magic formula or a 1-2-3 step-by-step equation. Rather, Jesus states clearly, over and over, what it means to be “blessed.”

In this edition of Make It Count, we’re going to explore the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3–12).

The word beatitude means “blessedness.” Jesus repeatedly proclaims, “Blessed are … ” and then goes on to describe the kind of life that God blesses. According to Jesus, the life God blesses is more about character (who you are) than consumption (what you have).

When we lay the Beatitudes on top of leadership, we discover that God has called us to become a specific type of leader. We are called to be a …

• spiritual leader; • repentant leader; • humble leader; • hungry leader; • merciful leader; • pure leader; • peaceful leader; and • persevering leader.

As you read and discuss these eight lessons, you and your team will learn how to put the Beatitudes into action in a leadership context to become the kind of leaders God blesses.

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The following eight, easy-to-use lessons on the leader God blesses are written by Stephen Blandino, lead pastor of 7 City Church (AG) in Fort Worth, Texas (7citychurch.com).

He planted 7 City Church in 2012 in a thriving cultural arts district near downtown Fort Worth. Blandino blogs regularly at stephenblandino.com and is the author of several books, including Do Good Works, Creating Your Church’s Culture, and GO! Starting a Personal Growth Revolution.

HOW TO USE MAKE IT COUNT

We are pleased to offer the Make It Count Discussion Guide in a downloadable PDF, available through the “Downloads” button on Influencemagazine.com. Each lesson in the PDF Make It Count Discussion Guide is divided into a Leader’s

page and Team Member’s page. The Leader’s page corresponds directly to the material in this print issue of the magazine.

We encourage you to print multiple copies of the PDF Discussion Guide from Influencemagazine.com for all your ministry leaders and the team members they lead in your church or organization.

You will notice that key words and concepts are underlined in each lesson on the Leader’s page. These underlined words and phrases correspond to the blank spaces found on the team member lesson pages. Team members can fill in the blanks as you progress through each lesson’s material.

We trust these lessons will help you make each moment count as you lead and develop the leaders around you.

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MAKE IT COUNT Study

1

The Leader God Blesses: 8 Qualities that Attract God’s Favor

The Spiritual Leader Assess: What causes a leader to drift toward spiritual poverty?

Insights and Ideas

n Matthew 5, Jesus takes us on a journey into the Beatitudes. As we will see, each Beatitude has powerful application for leaders today. The word beatitude means “blessedness,” and Jesus begins by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

Jesus isn’t talking about physical poverty, but rather spiritual poverty. Simply put, Jesus is saying, “Those who are blessed are those who admit that without God they are spiritually impoverished.” This is the starting point for a spiritual leader.

Another translation of Matthew 5:3 says, “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (NLT).

This Beatitude reminds spiritual leaders of three truths: 1. Spiritual leaders recognize their poverty without God. The Beatitudes are not the only place we see spiritual poverty illustrated. In John 15:5, Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” I don’t believe it’s an accident that Jesus began with this Beatitude.

If you cannot recognize your spiritual poverty without God, you will always compete with Him for first place. That’s dangerous for all of us, and especially dangerous for leaders who exert influence on others.

2. Spiritual leaders remain connected to God. Jesus said, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you” (John 15:4). Jesus was relational before He was transactional, and He calls us to follow the same pattern.

When widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food, the apostles said, “Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:3–4). The apostles’ priority was their connection and their calling. Their connection to God was found in giving “attention to prayer,” and their calling from God was found in “the ministry of the word.” The connection empowered the calling.

3. Spiritual leaders realize fruit bearing is possible only with God. The first two points produce a natural byproduct — bearing fruit. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Spiritual leaders realize fruit bearing doesn’t start with the fruit; it starts with our relationship with God. Leaders walk into the danger zone when they try to be rich in ministry without also being poor in spirit. Richness of ministry is empowered by poorness of spirit. In other words, when we admit our spiritual poverty without God, we become vessels He can fill with His Spirit and empower for His purposes.

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Reflect and Discuss

1. Why is being “poor in spirit” so important for spiritual leaders?

2. What are the biggest challenges for leaders when it comes to remaining connected with God? 3. How have you seen or experienced the connection between fruit bearing and remaining in Christ?

Apply

Take a few minutes in prayer and worship, acknowledging your spiritual poverty without God. Then recommit yourself to remaining in Christ and inviting His Spirit to bear fruit in you and through you.

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MAKE IT COUNT Study

2

The Leader God Blesses: 8 Qualities that Attract God’s Favor

The Repentant Leader Team Review: How have you been refreshed in your commitment to remain in Christ?

Assess: Why is repentance so important for a leader?

Insights and Ideas

he Beatitudes in Matthew 5 remind us of the character Jesus calls us to cultivate in our lives. Without these qualities, leaders can multiply the deceptive lure of sin and use influence in destructive ways. The second Beatitude Jesus shared gets right to the heart of this issue. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Commentators note that mourning here connotes repentance, and the comfort God offers is forgiveness for the penitent.

Simply put, God blesses those whose sorrow for their sin leads them to repent. Paul further described this sorrow in 2 Corinthians 7:10: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

Repentance may not be a fun topic to discuss, but a heart that is sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s correction and quick to repent is crucial in leadership. Consider these three truths: 1. Repentant leaders admit their failures. Repentant leaders are quick to admit when they’ve blown it. They don’t make excuses, cast blame or neglect their responsibilities.

Instead, repentant leaders ask for forgiveness when they’ve treated somebody poorly, made a bad decision, broken trust with the team, or acted in a way that is inconsistent with their values. People will follow leaders who admit mistakes and seek to walk with a pure heart before God. 2. Repentant leaders welcome feedback. Feedback shows up in three ways: accountability, assessment and advice. First, repentant leaders are willing to be held accountable by other leaders and to submit to structures that help the organization maintain healthy boundaries and practices. Second, repentant leaders are willing to be assessed by coaches and consultants and through annual reviews. Finally, repentant leaders welcome advice from leaders, teams and others in the congregation. To “repent” implies change, and leaders won’t change if they are closed to these three forms of feedback.

3. Repentant leaders make hard changes. The word “repent” means to turn around and go in a new direction. Repentant leaders make hard changes — personally and organizationally — that lead to life and produce greater measures of health.

As hard as it is to mourn, we must remember that God “blesses” leaders whose sorrow for their sin leads them to repentance. Sometimes those sins are personal, while other times those sins are organizational.

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Reflect and Discuss

1. When was a time you admitted a failure to your team or another leader? How did that group or individual respond?

2. To which form of feedback are you most resistant: accountability, assessment or advice?

Why? 3. What’s the hardest change you’ve ever had to make (personally or organizationally)?

Apply

Is there an area of your life where you need to “mourn” (where your sorrow needs to lead to repentance)? Maybe it’s personally or organizationally. Spend some time with the Lord, invite Him to search your heart, and then make the hard choice to change in response to His direction.

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MAKE IT COUNT Study

3

The Leader God Blesses: 8 Qualities that Attract God’s Favor

The Humble Leader Team Review: What changes did you to make after our discussion on the repentant leader?

Assess: Why are we drawn to humble leaders?

Insights and Ideas

ne of the most important qualities a leader can possess is humility. That’s the focus of Jesus’ next Beatitude. He said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Another translation says, “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth” (Matthew 5:5, NLT).

Leaders are regularly confronted with the temptation to view themselves more highly than they should. Praises, accolades, and achievements can quickly make us think we’re better than we actually are. And leaders face the temptation to use their power for personal gain. But again, God blesses the humble leader. How? 1. Humble leaders experience God’s grace. First Peter 5:5 says, “In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’” Grace is God’s unmerited favor; humility is how we attract it.

2. Humble leaders receive God’s promotion. Peter continues: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). And Jesus said, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). The key is to trust God with His timing for the promotion.

3. Humble leaders exhibit God’s wisdom. One of the most important things a leader can pray for is wisdom (James 1:5). While prayer is the pathway to gain wisdom, humility is the posture that attracts wisdom. Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

4. Humble leaders attract God’s favor. Favor is not something we can demand. The only thing we can do is position ourselves to receive favor as God chooses to give it. Humility is how we position ourselves for favor. Proverbs 3:34 says, “He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.”

5. Humble leaders experience God’s riches, honor and life. Proverbs 22:4 says, “Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life.”

There are clear benefits to becoming a humble leader, but it starts with submission and obedience to God.

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Reflect and Discuss

1. What’s the hardest part of becoming a humble leader?

2. How can humility strengthen your relationship with your leader, your co-workers, and those you lead?

3. What are practical steps a leader can take to become humble?

Apply

Do an autopsy on your propensity toward pride. Ask yourself three questions: In what situations do I let my pride swell? How do I need to bring my power under Christ’s control? How has my pride hurt others? Then develop three strategies to counter this temptation and cultivate a spirit of humility.

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The Leader God Blesses: 8 Qualities that Attract God’s Favor

The Hungry Leader Team Review: What’s a practical step you discovered to help you cultivate a spirit of humility?

Assess: How can a leader foster a deeper hunger for righteousness?

Insights and Ideas

ometimes leaders experience temptations that demand a compromise in integrity.

These defining moments are not easy, and at times they come with a high price. In the next Beatitude, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

God wants to pour more of His righteousness into our lives. But He is looking for those who are hungry for His presence, those who are seeking Him wholeheartedly.

The question you have to wrestle with is, Just how hungry am I? How hungry are you for God’s righteousness, God’s presence, and God’s grace and peace? Do you just want a taste, or are you truly hungry for what God alone can supply? There are three qualities of spiritually hungry leaders: 1. Hungry leaders have an unapologetic priority. What is the priority of hungry leaders?

Seeking God! These leaders hunger and thirst for righteousness and are unapologetic about what matters most. Nothing distracts, derails or diminishes that priority and the pursuit to see it fully realized.

2. Hungry leaders have an unwavering passion. Hungry leaders aren’t satisfied with just a small taste of what God has to offer. Hungry leaders have a deep, unwavering, unflinching, all-consuming passion for the Lord. That hunger drives them to pursue their highest priority wholeheartedly.

3. Hungry leaders have an unrelenting persistence. Hungry leaders keep coming to the table of righteousness for more of God. Are you a hungry leader? Is your priority for knowing and seeking the Lord coupled with passion and persistence? God blesses those who hunger and thirst for His righteousness.

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Reflect and Discuss

1. When was a time your hunger and thirst for God lost its edge? How did you rekindle the passion?

2. What are the biggest distractions you face in keeping your passion for the Lord alive?

3. How do you think God blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness?

Apply

On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rank your hunger for righteousness right now? What would it look like for you to feed that hunger and increase your appetite for the Lord? What step will you take to increase your hunger this week?

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The Leader God Blesses: 8 Qualities that Attract God’s Favor

The Merciful Leader Team Review: What have you done in the past week to increase your hunger for God and His righteousness?

Assess: How do leaders tend to show mercy?

Insights and Ideas

eople often think of mercy and leadership as traits that reside on opposite ends of a spectrum. Most have heard of — and many have encountered — merciless leaders who leveraged their power and authority to abuse others, pad their own pockets, and create corrupt systems that hurt innocent people. That wasn’t Jesus’ approach. Instead, He said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7).

Mercy goes beyond just feeling pity. It’s sympathy in action. It’s seeing a person’s need for compassion and then doing something about it.

Leaders have a particular responsibility when it comes to mercy. Because leaders have influence, they have the opportunity to use their power and position to multiply mercy.

When leaders infuse mercy into their influence, they can make life better — not just for one, but for many.

Ministers can show those who are watching that leadership and mercy should go together as they follow Jesus’ example, intentionally cultivate mercy, and apply their influence to situations that require mercy.

Remember that mercy requires action, so look for opportunities to act mercifully. Start by asking several questions: • Who in my family needs a little extra mercy? What would be a meaningful way for me to show that mercy?

• To whom in our church do I need to show mercy today?

• What member of our team is in need of my mercy?

• What problem in our community needs the help of a merciful leader?

• What would be a practical expression of mercy that I could extend to meet a need in our world?

• What ministry could we support that is showing mercy to the most vulnerable in our world?

Being a merciful leader doesn’t mean you’re a pushover or that you lack backbone. Being a merciful leader doesn’t mean you don’t hold people accountable, or you don’t have high standards of quality or expect people to meet deadlines. Being a merciful leader is about choosing to forgive and show compassion. Being a merciful leader is about leveraging influence and resources to relieve suffering, solve problems and make the world a better place.

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Reflect and Discuss

1. When was a time a leader showed you mercy? How did it feel, and what lessons did you learn from that encounter?

2. How do we become merciful leaders without becoming spineless leaders?

3. How can you leverage your influence in a merciful way to meet needs in your community?

Apply

Is there a person or situation in your family, church, community or world in need of an extra dose of mercy? What could you do to act as a merciful leader and provide compassion and kindness where it is most needed?

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The Leader God Blesses: 8 Qualities that Attract God’s Favor

The Pure Leader Team Review: How did you show mercy to someone in need during the past week?

Assess: What do you think it means to be a pure leader?

Insights and Ideas

n Matthew 5:8, Jesus shares another Beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The word, “heart” refers to our attitudes, motives, thinking and will. To be “pure” is to be unadulterated and undivided in loyalty. The outcome of the process of purifying our hearts is that we “see God”— that is, we experience intimate fellowship with Him. What was Jesus telling us in this Beatitude? He was saying, “God blesses those whose attitudes, motives, thinking and will are pure, full of integrity, and loyal to God.” The apostle Paul offers some great insight on these four areas: 1. Attitude. Paul said, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24, emphasis added). Attitudes are contagious. Paul’s words challenge us to be made new in our attitudes.

2. Motives. First Corinthians 4:5 says, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.” The Lord knows our motives better than we know ourselves, and one day those motives will be exposed. Unless we invite the purifying work of His Spirit into our inner being, out motives will continually undermine us.

3. Thinking. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” We have the power to control our thinking. Paul didn’t say, “Think about thinking about … .” He said, “Think about … .” It’s a deliberate choice.

4. Will. Philippians 2:13 says, “It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” We have a will, but we can also invite, welcome and cooperate with God’s work in our will.

When our heart is right before God, we can become the pure leader God is calling us to be.

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Reflect and Discuss

1. Who is a pure leader (besides Jesus) you admire? Why? 2. Which of the four areas above — attitude, motives, thinking or will — is your biggest challenge to keep pure? Why? 3. What practical steps can leaders take to become pure in their attitudes, motives, thinking and will?

Apply

Do a “purity” audit on your attitude, motives, thinking, and will, and then draft a plan to see one area transformed to become more like Jesus. What steps can you take? What Scriptures can you engage? Whom can help you? What resources would help you grow?

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The Leader God Blesses: 8 Qualities that Attract God’s Favor

The Peaceful Leader Team Review: What area of your heart have you allowed the Holy Spirit to purify in the last week?

Assess: Who’s the most peaceful person you know?

Insights and Ideas

y wife and I recently visited Muir Woods in Northern California. As we walked down a path through this breathtaking environment, there was such a sense of peace. These enormous trees created a canopy that housed gentleness, calm and peacefulness … a shelter from the brokenness of our world.

Interestingly, Jesus called us to be peacemakers. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Somebody who works for peace is not only at peace with God, but they help others experience peace, too. Simply put, Jesus was saying, “God blesses those who help people experience peace with God and peace with others.”

Being a peaceful leader is not a matter of personality. You can be a bold, hard-charging leader with a tremendous amount of inner peace. And you can be a soft-spoken, gentle leader with a great deal of inner turmoil. Peace begins on the inside.

Peace stands out from the leadership abrasiveness and disorder we often see today. Of course, Jesus’ Beatitude is not just about experiencing peace but being a maker of peace.

How do we make peace as leaders?

1. Be at peace. Creating peace begins by making sure you are at peace with God. You cannot give what you do not possess. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2. Create peaceful environments. As a leader, you have the ability to shape the environments where you live, work and serve. At home, create peace by loving your spouse and kids and cultivating an environment that’s a safe place from the storms of life. At work, cultivate a peaceful environment by giving time and attention to employee engagement, building relationships and addressing conflict quickly.

3. Seek the peace of your city. Our world is full of turmoil. What would it look like for you to work for peace in your city? Those were the instructions Jeremiah gave to the Jews living in Babylon when he said, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7).

Leadership is filled with fearful moments, but we don’t have to be hostages of that fear.

Instead, we can live and act as peacemakers.

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Reflect and Discuss

1. What aspects of leadership create the greatest amount of fear for you?

2. How can we create a more peaceful work environment?

3. How is God calling us to be peacemakers in our city?

Apply

What can you do to make peace in the places God has called you — at home, at work, in your church, in the community or around the world? Rather than talking about the need for peace, why not take action this week to be a maker of peace?

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The Leader God Blesses: 8 Qualities that Attract God’s Favor

The Persevering Leader Team What are you doing to be a peacemaker in your home, church or community?

Assess: What has been one of the biggest challenges you’ve had to persevere through as a

leader?

Insights and Ideas

he leader God blesses is marked by a number of positive character qualities. Perhaps one of the most difficult is what Jesus addressed as He closed His teaching on the Beatitudes.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10–12).

In the simplest of terms, Jesus is saying, “God blesses those who do right despite what persecution comes with it.”

Leadership is filled with hardship. There will be times when you’re accused falsely or dragged through the mud. There will be seasons when you feel like you’re carrying the weight of the world … walking under the constant pressure of compassion fatigue and decision fatigue. But in the midst of the pain, backbiting, brokenness, suffering and fatigue, keep doing what’s right. Persevere. Don’t quit. God has not forgotten you. There is a reward that awaits you. What marks a persevering leader?

1. Persevering leaders have the right purpose. Leaders who persevere have something worth fighting for. They know their God-given purpose, and they refuse to take their eye off the ball.

2. Persevering leaders have the right perspective. Persevering leaders have the ability to see pain and problems from a healthy perspective. They embrace these setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow.

3. Persevering leaders have the right people. Leaders who last for the long haul don’t fight alone. They surround themselves with family, friends, mentors, coaches and teachers who will help them finish well.

4. Persevering leaders have the right practices. Leaders who persevere are committed to important practices like spiritual disciplines, personal growth planning and habits that cultivate health.

5. Persevering leaders have the right parameters. Persevering leaders establish boundaries and safeguards that enable them to protect their integrity.

At the end of your persevering journey, may you be able to join the apostle Paul in declaring, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7–8).

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Reflect and Discuss

1. When is it hardest for you to persevere in leadership?

2. Which of the five persevering qualities is your biggest strength, and which is your greatest weakness?

3. How can a leader persevere in the midst of persecution?

Apply

Set aside some time to evaluate your “perseverance quotient” in the five areas of purpose, perspective, people, practices and parameters. How can you strengthen each of these and maximize your ability to finish well?

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THE FINAL NOTE

CHRISTINA QUICK

A fear of missing out can cause us to miss God’s priorities.

Christina Quick is assistant editor of Influence magazine.

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ave you ever had the uncomfortable sensation you were on the outside looking in — that something amazing was happening, and you weren’t a part of it? There’s a word for this feeling: FOMO, the fear of missing out. It can be a powerful driver of human behavior.

In a recent survey of U.S. adults by investment group Charles Schwab, roughly half of millennials — and 35 percent of all respondents — said their friends’ posts on social media had influenced them to spend more to keep from missing out on all the excitement.

Those Instagram photos of fancy meals and dreamy vacations are irresistible. People are staring at their screens and asking, What am I missing? How does my life measure up? What do I need to pursue next?

Many feel this pressure most acutely around the holidays. A desire for something more, something that often seems just out of reach, fuels overspending and increases anxiety. The resulting consumer debt can take months or years to pay off, affecting quality of

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life and giving capacity along the way.

It’s easy to fall into this trap. We stress over what we — and especially our kids — might miss out on if we don’t cross off every item on the to-do list and purchase every item on the wish list. But the reality is, more isn’t always better. In the end, a fear of missing out can cause us to miss God’s priorities.

As you move through the busy holidays and look toward a new year, make a commitment to spend less, give more, savor time with family and friends, soak up God’s presence, and reflect on what matters most. Your example will influence church members in a positive way, encouraging them to do the same.

The only kind of missing out that should concern us as Christians is overlooking matters of eternal importance. Rather than leaving you feeling depleted, may this season bring renewed passion and fresh vision for the mission to which God has called you. And may your church not miss out on Spirit-led opportunities to grow in Christ and share His message with the world.