One thing that troubles me when I see churches become larger is that the communities in which they serve don’t seem to change much. I’ve been asking myself why? Am I just idealistic? Perhaps even naive? I don’t think so. But if I am, I will remain that way with hopes of seeing the church truly reform the communities in which we live.

Image: FreeImages.com/Harrison Keely

Actually I think I’m a realist, with a positive attitude. I don’t think my church will change the world. But I must believe it can change my community. If God is who He says He is, and Jesus did what the Bible says He did, we can change the areas where we live! And together we can change the world.

At first I thought it was the difference between a small town, and a large city. It made sense that in smaller towns the churches might have more influence on the culture. It also seemed like the large cities were just not conquerable. But culture in general, independent of church influence, reveals that many small towns change slower (if at all) than large cities, especially during crisis. For example in Florida, when a hurricane comes through and destroys entire trailer parks, they rebuild them exactly like they were, right in the same place. In contrast, large cities like New York after 9/11, the community has been changed forever. They live different, think different and will never be the same.

I’ve also thought it might be a small church, large church issue. I do think there is substantial truth to the potentially greater impact of larger churches because of their resources, but there doesn’t seem to be enough evidence to make a case for this.

It is tempting to say it’s all about leadership, but it’s not that simple. There are great leaders who are not reaching their community, and average leaders who are.

You may find what seem like hair-splitting ideas in this article, but read it through in order to think with me about the differences between growing a church and impacting a community. I will admit this can seem like nuance and spin, but I believe that at the core there is something to this idea. I’ve been thinking about it for awhile and I’m convinced that it is something worth a few minutes of consideration through your leadership eyes. If you have time, send me your thoughts. If nothing else, join me in my passion to change lives and truly impact communities.

You grow a church with talent and leadership. You impact a community with compassion. Churches that are blessed with talent (musical or otherwise) and great leadership are likely to grow. Most of these churches are considered good churches and in many ways they are. But that doesn’t mean the community has been changed – which for me is the mark of a great church. In my thinking, it is impact that matters. This does not discount the huge significance and eternal value of growing churches that are big because of new converts. I’m talking about a kind of impact that not only wins people to Christ, but that does so with such impact that the community takes notice and is changed.Now let me dance on thin ice. First, know that I have and will continue to give my life to Great Commission ministry. I’m all about people coming to Christ. But there is a corporate force that will enable us to ultimately win more to Christ if we have better served our communities. This means we must get involved in things that the community values, not just what we care about.

I believe this all begins with compassion. Churches who reach out with servant oriented efforts that will not ultimately result in anyone coming to their church demonstrate compassion that has true impact. I believe that the best way to do this is to prayerfully think through the various services in your community that did not originate from your church, and choose to serve and financially resource them.

Skyline Church, led by Pastor Jim Garlow did just that. About a year ago there were severe and devastating fires in San Diego County. Hundreds of people from Skyline (and other churches) jumped in to help. By actually fighting fires, and providing food and housing, they dropped what they were doing and jumped in with all their hearts. Dozens of testimonies chimed in the same way: “We can’t believe that church did so much for us.” That is community impact.

You grow a church on your terms. You reach a community on their terms. I love movies where the “bad guys” are in complex and suspenseful negotiations with the “good guys”. One such movie was The Rock with Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage. Mercenaries had hostages on Alcatraz Island and there were bombs aimed at San Francisco. The FBI, and everyone else imaginable, was involved to negotiate the demands. The suspense and tension grew as the negotiations determined who was really in control of the terms.Who sets the terms matters. If your church insists that everyone you connect with must do so on your terms, you may grow your church, but you won’t impact the community. This is not about sloppy theology, going “liberal”, or abusing grace. It’s about a willingness to adapt your church’s attitudes and behaviors, including receptivity to people who aren’t like you, in order that more un-churched people may be willing to try you out and even come back.

In this guest article, veteran Christian leader Dan Reiland asks: Are we measuring success in ministry the wrong way?

In our fast-paced, high demands, pressure-packed ministries—sometimes the lines of successfulness and fruitfulness can become blurred. Read and reflect on these thoughts and see what the Spirit stirs within you.

Image: Elizabeth Lies.

Power ties and power lunches have given way to Starbucks and business casual in jeans but the desire for success hasn’t changed. Leadership success isn’t as bold and brash as it once was. Red neckties have been replaced with colored wrist bands about things we care about, but we are still sending messages. We still want success. In thousands of conversations with pastors, I can’t remember a time when even one said to me: “Dan, my dream is to be a failure. Yup, that’s me. I just want to fail.”

I don’t want to fail either, I want to be successful like you do. But the longer I lead the more I reflect on the idea of success. I’ve come to believe that it’s more complicated than simply the difference between numbers and heart. Success requires honesty about the numbers and full engagement of the heart. It’s not one or the other. I think what’s on my mind is more about the fact that success, as commonly defined, doesn’t last.

Let me say again, success is a good thing. There are more than two dozen references specifically to success or successful in scripture (NIV). And dozens more implied. I love the passage in Joshua 1.

¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. ⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

Photo of Henri Nouwen by Frank Hamilton.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

But continuing with the question of success or fruit, let me quote the late Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) from his devotional book, Bread for the Journey.

“A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another’s wounds.”

I don’t know where Nouwen might have taken this thought had he developed it further. But my mind and heart connects it to the fruit of the Spirit and a reminder for all of us who are church leaders about keeping our aim on biblical success.

The list of fruit in Galatians 5 and the imagery in John 15 are clear. John 15:16-17 is a great summary:

¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

Dan Reiland writes to church leaders: Meeting the needs of the poor and needy is difficult to say the least. It’s not just a matter of limited resources, but understanding vision, direction and God’s heart in the matter. This article provides thought to stir you and your church to assess and strengthen your local church benevolence.

Solomon understood the requirements of his kingdom when it came to the poor and needy. “He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.” Psalm 72:4. God’s heart in this matter is clear. We have a responsibility to those in need. “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3-4).

How often do you (your local church) respond to a person who needs help? It may be a homeless person who is hungry. It may be a member who needs help paying their electric bill. The needs are seemingly endless and scripture is clear that it is God’s heart to help the poor. How you determine who gets what is another story altogether. This tension is not a new one.

After years of experience I now think it is sometimes okay to be taken advantage of if we have done our best to discern the situation. It’s better to be taken advantage of on occasion than to allow your heart to grow cold. God will take care of the rest.

It is imperative that we are wise with our time and resources. They are both limited. That’s the tension for the local church. It’s not a lack of compassion. So what’s a pastor to do? The following are some thoughts to help you evaluate a plan for your church.

Keep your own heart tender to the needs around you.

It’s easy to allow the pressures of local church ministry to override your heart for people. It’s a strange irony. We do what we do in part simply because we love people. Then at times people become the burden of ministry. There are so many needs and so little time. We all understand that. Finding the balance is the insight we need.

Understand that the need doesn’t constitute the call.

The first point made, now there’s the proverbial “other shoe.” You may have heard the phrase “the need doesn’t constitute the call.” It’s a good principle to guide your ministry. There are hundreds of needs, thousands really, but just because a need exists doesn’t mean it’s your responsibility to take care of it.

Part of educating and maturing a congregation is to teach the people that it is not their job is to find the poor and needy and bring them to a pastor! They should follow God’s heart and meet the need as they can on their own. In many cases they can do just as good of a job if not better.

Consider strategic partnerships within your community.

There are two distinctly different approaches in the way a local church goes about developing and implementing a benevolence strategy. One approach seeks to cover the needs directly from within the church by utilizing a direct hands-on method. The other forms strategic partnerships with organizations in the local community.

I have practiced each of these in a local church and there are benefits to both. It’s a good thing when a church is hands-on, and for example, has a food pantry and or a clothing bank. But now after trying both approaches, I personally lean heavily toward partnerships. By sending our volunteers and our financial resources to a number of existing agencies in the community, the process is more effective and the end result yields a greater impact.

Because a number of churches and organizations participate in these strategic partnerships, the total resources leveraged to any one need is significantly larger than when compared to what any one church could do on their own. Further, that organization puts their full time talent and attention to that work. Candidly, they’re better at it.

Image: Joel Muniz

The danger with partnerships is that the church might never “get its hands dirty”. They may just refer people out. That is a rare danger because there are always people you can’t refer, and the process of assessing and referring still requires time and care. Further, as already mentioned, one of the essentials is to send volunteers to wherever you send your financial resources. This helps ensure personal engagement at a hands-on level.

Know your strategy and put a plan in place.

This is important. You simply must know what you are doing. First pray about the specific needs you believe God wants you to lean into. There are dozens to choose from. Just because a church member brings you a new need doesn’t mean the church should own it. You can’t do all of them, so choose prayerfully. From there, decide what your limits are. For example, perhaps you decide to put a process of benevolence in place for your members. You need to decide, ahead of time, what criteria makes a person eligible to receive help, including how much they can receive. Exceptions can always be made, but you will be wise to have written guidelines.

Follow your discernment, and own your decisions.

You have noticed that I have not given you a list of local compassion options or guidelines for how much to invest. You have to decide that. My desire is to stir some fresh thought in hopes of strengthening your local church benevolence practices. I trust that intentionality will decrease headaches and increase your impact in people’s lives with the love and mercy of God.

Originally from the October 2008 issue of The Pastor’s Coach (Volume 9, Issue 18). “This article is used by permission from Dr. Dan Reiland’s free monthly e-newsletter, The Pastor’s Coach, available at www.INJOY.com.”

Where does your authority come from? Your answer to that question makes a difference.

Leaders deal in the realm of authority—it’s the currency with which we get things done. We prefer the word “influence.” It is a better term. It more accurately describes the innate function of leadership. It communicates what we are about better than “authority,” but at the end of the day if a leader can’t handle authority, he or she can’t lead.

Leaders often struggle with handling authority. Some leaders take advantage of their authority, others barely act on it. Some leaders over-step their authority, others hide behind it. The wisest of leaders understand that the authority wasn’t theirs in the first place and steward it with wisdom, grace and strength of character.

Where does your authority come from? Your answer to that question makes a difference. What you believe about the source of your authority shapes how you handle your authority.

The Source of Your Authority

There are two primary sources of authority: God and Man. The two are usually integrated. The important point is that you are never the source of your own authority. The implication is that it doesn’t belong to you. The complication is that you are still held responsible.

God gave leaders gifts and abilities. He gave us the ability to influence, skills to work with, and talents that give us a unique edge. He gave all these things to us, and they are ours to keep. But ultimately they did not begin with us. Is this a fine line? Perhaps it is, but again, how you think about this really matters.

I have sat in many ordination services where young pastors were commissioned into the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That night they were scared to death, humble, and quick to acknowledge that all that they have came from somewhere else. Their God-given talents and their earthly-given opportunity to exercise those talents, all were given to them.

Then as time passed, they began to believe that they owned what they had been given, and some even began to believe they were the source of their own authority. And in these cases, nearly always, the ministry headed for trouble. Looking from the outside in, this seems impossible. But it is no more impossible than a young couple standing before a pastor reciting their sincere promises of love before God, family and friends only to find themselves a few years later in a bitter divorce.

Phrases like “my church,” “my staff,” and “my ministry” may be innocent, but they may also be a preview of ugly things to come. You may resist here, saying “But it IS my church, I’m the one held responsible.”

This is the complication I stated earlier. The life of a servant is complicated. We are responsible for that which does not belong to us.

Let’s face facts, we are all going to face some type of pressure in our ministry. How are you reacting to pressure and how do you overcome it?

My nearly-sixteen-year-old daughter’s favorite movie is Braveheart. Naturally, if William Wallace can capture Mackenzie’s heart I want to be all that Wallace is and more. In my more delusional moments I envision myself with a huge sword, blue paint on my face and looking to “pick a fight.” When I return to my senses and look in the mirror, I hardly resemble the Scottish hero.

We all face pressure. What separates good and great leaders from average and failed leaders is how we handle that pressure.

I wonder if that’s who is needed today. As a matter of fact, if I arrived at church on Sunday morning clad in a kilt, swinging a sword, and yelling FREEDOM, it is highly likely that I will be given a very long vacation.

While most leaders long to be as brave as William Wallace, most will not be called upon to face an English sword. (Then again, William never faced an angry church secretary.) Seriously, what does a modern day warrior look like? Underneath all the trappings of a thirteenth-century Scot (1270-1305) or a twenty-first-century church leader … pressure is pressure.

When I say words like courage, risk, abandon, sweat, passion, and sacrifice, I can see myself, and hundreds if not thousands of other church leaders.

We all face pressure. What separates good and great leaders from average and failed leaders is how we handle that pressure.

How about you? What kind of pressure are you under? How are you coping with the debt load of your church? You’ve outgrown your building, so how do you keep growing when you are out of space and short on parking? How are you holding up under the pressure of being way behind in budget and losing some key givers? Then there is the matter of staff. Now there’s a piece of cake without any pressure whatsoever. Remember your youth pastor? What do you mean you aren’t getting along? Then there’s that small group that wants to break away and start their own church. Let’s not go there. One of your trustees is having an affair …OK, enough!

Are you taking care of yourself?
Image: Marcelo Leal

But wait, we haven’t even started on your personal life yet. How are you dealing with the pressure of your family acting more like animals than angels? Your spouse and kids are struggling and demanding more of your time. You want to give them time, but …Then of course you have your health to reckon with. Are you exercising regularly? Are you still eating double-cheese bacon-burgers, fries and topping it all off with ice cream? Your kids are getting close to college age and how are you going to pay for that? And last but not least, being the spiritual leader you are, how well are you doing in your passionate pursuit of God and hearing His clear voice of direction for you and your Church? I have one word for all that. PRESSURE! Like it or not, leaders are called to higher standards than non-leaders. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 gives a good picture of those standards. We are not called to be perfect, but we are called to live lives above reproach and be productive at the same time. Isn’t that the real pressure?

There is a powerful dynamic set in motion when someone takes the first move.

It was Thursday afternoon, and I was on my way to a local bakery to pick up a box of goodies for a family I would visit that night. And, yes, I got one of their huge and unbelievably delicious chocolate chip cookies. There was light rain off and on, which was a nice break from the heat of our Georgia summer. Not enough to get you all wet, but just enough to make things slippery.

I was second in line in the right-hand lane of a four-lane road. It was a large and busy intersection—not the kind of road you would cross on foot. The light turned green for those making a left turn in front of us. One of those people had a pick-up load of about fifty or sixty 1 1/2 in. x 4 in. x 20 ft. pieces of lumber—it was a load of wood!—but his tailgate was down and the wood wasn’t tied in well.

In a second, as he was making the left turn, the wood sprayed across our side of the road. Everyone stopped and stared. The guy pulled over and ran out to start picking it up. Only a few, maybe thirty, seconds passed, but it seemed like slow motion. Everything in me said, get out of your car and help. But I was second in line, and couldn’t move my car.

A few cars in the lane next to mine drove slowly around or over the wood and carried on with their agendas. Then it happened—the passenger door of the car in front of me opened, and a boy in his late teens jumped out. His dad pulled the car over and got out with him. That’s all it took.

Then I pulled up and over and jumped out to pick up lumber. What took place next was so cool. Within ten seconds, another seven guys jumped out of their cars and started lifting and moving lumber off to the side of the road and back into this guy’s truck. No one knew each other but everyone knew exactly what to do. Two of the guys directed traffic. The lumber was heavy, so the guys worked in sets of two to lift the wet slippery wood.

Now, admittedly, this next part is a guy thing—no one ever said a word! There was a lot of eye contact and tremendous connection. When the wood was cleared and back in the truck (3 or 4 minutes, tops) everyone got back in their cars and drove off—silent, but tremendously satisfied and with plenty of testosterone pumping.

The power of the first move is incredible. We’ve all seen it in action, but I think leaders can forget to be intentional about making the first move.

Pastors, is it hard to talk about money with your church? In this article, Pastor Dan Reiland looks into the reasons behind why people give, wanting to fuel fellow church leaders to speak about finances well and with the right spiritual emphasis..

I find it interesting that many good pastoral leaders are hesitant or even timid in the area of challenging their people to give. In this issue of The Pastor’s Coach I hope to give some insight into the reasons people give and hopefully encourage you in this challenging area of leadership.

For most pastors, Monday morning carries with it anticipation for two critical numbers. One is how many people responded to the Holy Spirit’s promptings (as guided by the morning sermon.) And a distant second, but nonetheless second, is the offering. Let’s get honest for a moment, no matter how clear the priority of changed lives according to God’s purpose and power, money still matters when it comes to ministry. If you don’t believe that then you have never in the history of your church fallen below budget for several months at a time. (And if that is true, we would all love to hear how you do that!)

When I was a young leader I often said I wish money wasn’t an issue. I wish that some rich person would write one big check a year so we wouldn’t have to deal with this. My rationale? It is difficult enough to focus on life transformation without financial issues getting in the way. When you add the “money factor” to the equation it seems to get intensely complicated. That kind of thinking showed both my naivety about the reality that “ministry cost money” and the deeper theological issues about God wanting us to wrestle with the topic of money. Why? Money always leads us to the real issues of the heart. There are some 2,000 scriptures on money, and the following three give us a taste of the truth of this point.

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:24)

1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. (2 Corinthians 8:1-5) The “Money Factor” is really more about the “God Factor.” It reveals levels of spiritual maturity, obedience, commitment, trust, and an overall Kingdom mindset that causes people to invest in the eternal.

Pastor, my purpose is to encourage you and challenge you to dive into the issue of money in your church. Why people give is a good place to start.

Let’s begin with the wrong reasons people give.

I love the local church, and at God’s invitation, I have given my life to it. Overall it continues to be the most rewarding endeavor I could possibly imagine. When the church is working as God designed it, there is nothing quite like it. There are other times, however, when the church is a mess. Personally, I’m highly motivated either way. Success or mess, I love the church, and I’m fired up to help strengthen it any way I can.

This article is written to leaders who find themselves in a mess of crisis proportion. First, let me say take heart. You can navigate through tough times no matter what is happening. Keep these four things in mind.

1. It’s not your church. It belongs to God, and He cares even more than you do.
2. Set your vision on the long haul, not the short run.
3. Don’t panic. God isn’t panicking and remember He’s the owner.
4. Think much and pray more.

So let’s take a more dramatic case, since the topic is Leadership Crisis. A church in San Antonio, Texas wanted to sell their property, relocate and build a new building. More accurately stated, the Pastor, staff and board wanted to relocate. It was a congregational government so a vote was taken. The membership was split nearly 50-50. The older generation wanted to stay, and they controlled the money. The younger generation wanted to go and they controlled the volunteer power. This is overstated, but accurate enough to paint a picture of what happened. So the pastor and board made the call, it was time to sell and relocate.

No one would have guessed what happened next. The tension got so thick, and the infighting became so all-consuming that the Senior Pastor took it as a sign from God to resign. He delivered his final message, packed up his office and left. No fuss, no muss. No drama. Just gone. He had been there for 9 years and the people loved him.

How does a local church flourish, by building the Kingdom of God or by offering a cafeteria of amenities to its surrounding community? Pastor Dan Reiland warns of appeasing cultural or consumer Christians, instead calling for bold and courageous leadership.

At Crossroads, we pray what can seem like a strange prayer. We pray that God does not send Christians to our church. Before you yell “heresy” and push your delete key, keep reading. We have such a passion to reach the un-churched that we don’t want to fill up the limited space we have with Christians who are looking for a new church to attend.

I have been asked: “How can you pray such a prayer?” “Do you turn away followers of Christ?” Of course we don’t. We don’t turn anyone away. We don’t have our parking lot attendants “carding” people, asking if they are Christians and turning them away. It’s easy to pray such a prayer when your heart is hot to reach people far from God.

We pray also for a second group. We pray for Christians to come who are nominal in their faith. We would love for the majority to be non-Christians, but particularly in the Southeast, that is not our reality; there are many who have some church background and consider themselves Christians even though their lives give no evidence. (Don’t go theological on me, stay practical here.)

We pray for a third group to attend. We pray that the Christians that do come are leaders who are ready to serve. For these believers we are most grateful. We ask God to make this a small but powerful percentage of new people.

Pastor and ministry coach, Dan Reiland, says there are important lessons to be learned in the garden about leadership.

My brother Lan is the one in the family with a green thumb. He and his wife Stacey live in Southern California, and their yard is a registered wildlife habitat. When he first told me, I thought, that’s no big deal. We may not be registered, but my house is a wildlife habitat with teenagers of all shapes and sizes running loose. Seriously, it’s quite an effort to be registered. He had to have certain plants, in certain places that provide very specific food or cover for defined wildlife species. Lan recently told me that when the basil in his garden goes to seed his yard fills with beautiful “lesser Goldfinches.” Cool.

As for me, if you can plant it, I can kill it. Nonetheless, I do invest time and energy to a nice looking yard. Actually, I’m sort of an existential gardener. I’ve hired a landscaper, consequently, “I pay therefore I am.”

When we talk Lan loves to talk gardening and I love to talk leadership. And believe it or not there is a connection. Below are four insights I believe will be helpful to you from a slightly creative angle.

You cannot make mechanical or synthetic what was meant to be natural, and obtain the same results.

There is something divinely creative about life producing life, and there is something patently synthetic about that which is man made. I’m not remotely qualified to use genetic engineering even for the sake of illustration. So let’s stick to something less complicated, like tomatoes or apples. There is an undisputable difference between the taste, texture, and touch of a tomato you grow in your own garden and one that is grown (engineered) in a hot house. The difference between pesticides, super-fertilizers, and artificial lighting; and how you garden using natural methods is undeniable. My wife Patti buys organic apples. They don’t look perfect, nor are they shiny (no wax coating to catch your attention), and, they are usually smaller than apples grown “professionally.” But when you bite into one, they literally burst with flavor, and catch your taste buds by surprise.

The best leadership is natural, not synthetic. Many of us can spot a leader that lacks authenticity a mile away. For those that can’t, they still sense something isn’t quite as it should be.

Synthetic leadership is saying the right things to the right people at the right times, but never really connecting at a heart level with any of it. At a quick glance it still looks like an apple, but when you take a bite, it just doesn’t taste the same.

Synthetic or mechanical leadership is based on a formula, and carries a certain degree of lifelessness. It may be executed by highly intelligent leaders, but it doesn’t move people. It is more science than art, and it’s based on position not influence.