Viral Vision

Being a pastor in a smaller church is a real struggle sometimes. You want to do so much. You see the need for so many things to be fixed or made better, but the reality is you are always in a catch 22. If you focus on too many things as a pastor, you fail at everything. If you don't do enough, it usually doesn't get done.

The trick is being okay with that. One guy can't do it all. There has to be a vision that is cast (and re-cast and re-cast and re-cast) and there has to be a motivation for people to embrace that vision and then be willing to sacrifice personally to make sure it gets accomplished.

Seminars and conferences for a smaller church pastor can be intensely frustrating as well (even for the church he serves too). Because you see all these great things and get all these neat ideas, but you are still left with the fact that it will only happen if you end up doing it.

Over these past few years I have allowed myself the freedom of being okay with only doing a couple of things...and doing them to the very best of my ability. (I can't say that I don't fall back into old patterns from time to time.) Preaching my message on Sunday is my TOP PRIORITY. Nothing supercedes that.

My next focus is relationship building/leadership development. Part pastoring, part teaching. It is the slow prodding of people to the next level. And it is grueling work at times. But it is something that a smaller church pastor needs to pour his life into.

I think that the challenge is realizing when it is okay to change your focus (although I believe my first focus should never change). I think that I cannot continue being so entrenched in people's lives if the church is going to grow. If the church starts to grow and I continue the ministry the same way, the growth will only be sporatic at best and will only go to a certain level before it stops completely.

Because more people are doing more ministry, the church is being energized and growth is happening. I am just being honest with the fact that most of the time, I am flying by the seat of my pants with this whole thing. Being a leader is a drag at times because you want people to have confidence that you know what you are doing, but any leader would probably confess that (at least at times) we don't know what we are doing.

And I think that's okay, ultimately. Because that requires more dependence on God. I know momentum is increasing in the church right now and I want it to continue. But that doesn't happen with me. My preaching is NOT a sustaining element. It is definitely within the Body itself (as well as God's Spirit moving in our midst).

So I've been praying about my next step. My next focus. What it should be. Our growth at the church also cannot be "event" centered. (I'm convinced of this.) It has to be a cultural shift within our Body. People in general will desire to make invites happen. That is how serious growth is going to occur for us.

I think that culture is getting there, but we still have a way to go. And, to be honest, I will still be an event-promoter for a while. But hopefully soon, it isn't going to be about any event. It will about who we are as a church. That we will become something viral...like a crazy Youtube video that everybody just has to see. We will become a place where everybody is just wanting to see what we're all about.