When you understand Jesus’ leadership secret (chapter 1), you become discontent with questions of bigger and better. You find yourself asking more-profound questions about reproducing, multiplying, and movement making. I want to encourage and challenge you to reexamine the questions you ask. The answers to your questions lead to the practices you implement in your leadership.
In the introduction to this book, I outlined five levels of church development. In short, Level 1 churches are declining, Level 2 are plateauing, Level 3 are growing, Level 4 are reproducing (churches that are planting new churches and launching sites where planting is planned and programmed versus automatic and spontaneous), and Level 5 are multiplying (starting multiple outreaches that in turn each start multiple outreaches).9 See Figure 2.1 for a visualization. In the rest of this chapter, we’re going to examine different levels of questions and the resulting leadership practices. Here is my challenge for you: Take your questions up a level! In the questions you raise, don’t settle until you reach Level 5.
FIGURE 2.1
Level 1, 2, and 3 Questions Lead to Level 1, 2, and 3 Practices
Level 1 churches are among the most common out there (as are Level 1 ministries within churches, which could be a Sunday school, a youth group, a prison ministry, or anything else). Attendance can be in decline for any number of reasons. You may be in or leading a church that has experienced this or is currently working through it. Sometimes the church no longer has clarity of vision and purpose. Maybe the church has become too internally focused. Maybe the church’s neighborhood has changed over the years and the church hasn’t changed with it. We’ve all seen this happen. I’ve also seen churches lose relevance. The way the church has reached out in the past is no longer engaging the community. Maybe there has been unaddressed division within the church, or unhealed scandal. Maybe the church is even struggling to survive.
I’ve seen how it’s tempting for leaders of Level 1 churches to voice questions like those listed in Figure 2.2.
These are all important questions, but none of them will take the church out of its pattern of decline. I’ve observed how questions like these lead to practices that are more reactive than proactive, more about managing the decline than reversing it.
FIGURE 2.2
By the way, nothing requires you to keep asking Level 1 questions. One way to stop asking them is to make statements that reflect the dream of a different future for your church or ministry. How could the following build faith and hope that the pattern of decline can be broken?
• If God’s Word says there is an abundant harvest within reach of our church, then what if this coming Christmas (or Easter or Mother’s Day) we were to . . .
• If God says all things are possible through him, then why couldn’t we develop a plan to . . .
• I believe there are people out there who need our help to find their way back to God, so could we pray and then brainstorm ways that our church could reach out to them and . . .
And as you will soon discover, it’s Level 4 and 5 questions that allow you to dream big.
Like leaders of Level 1 churches, leaders of churches at Level 2—those that are plateauing—ask questions relevant to their situation. These churches are gaining ground each year, but their losses during that same time neutralize their gains. Often their identity is wrapped around being whatever size they are; they feel they’re in their sweet spot if they can simply maintain their current size, from programming to finances.
If this describes your church, you’re not alone—far from it. Churches at Levels 1 and 2 together represent roughly 80% of all U.S. churches.
Some examples of common Level 2 questions are shown in Figure 2.3.
FIGURE 2.3
These too are important questions, but none of them will lead to practices that take the church out of its pattern of holding even.
Nothing prevents you from addressing Level 2 questions necessary for survival while at the same time asking better questions. I think of Mike Slaughter, who, fresh from seminary, received an assignment from his United Methodist denomination to pastor a hundred-plus-year-old church in a central Ohio hamlet of fewer than twenty homes, named Ginghamsburg. Since its founding, Ginghamsburg Church had hovered at around fifty people. Mike set out to meet their needs but also to ask better questions, all centered on, “How can I lead this congregation to discover new heights in what it means to be a follower of Jesus?” He started a discipleship group among these saints, and as the months went by, they not only grew personally in their faith but also started inviting friends to join their journey. As Mike reflects, “I jokingly called the process ‘sanctified Amway’ because of how devoted people became to our product—a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. I foresaw the leaders who emerged from our small-group community becoming the Joshuas and Deborahs of tomorrow’s church.”10
And they did! Mike stayed at that church for more than thirty years, and so did a large portion of that original group. During this time, not only did attendance grow tenfold, but Ginghamsburg sent out several teams to birth five more Methodist churches in their area. And two of those births have helped birth other Methodist churches. Likewise, they’ve started ministries from urban Dayton to poverty-stricken Sudan in Africa. The Sudan effort, by the way, began with a congregation-wide question one year: “What does Jesus want from us for this coming Christmas?”
Level 3 churches are experiencing growth, anywhere from slow to rapid. Sometimes the growth is misleading. Perhaps it’s just a reshuffling of the saints because the church across town had a split and your church has a better children’s ministry. I’ve also seen growth as merely an extension of class or race, as when middle-class minorities are moving into an area, many of them already followers of Christ, and one particular church is an affinity match for them.
Other times, however, the growth comes mostly from conversions as the church helps people find their way back to God. Maybe the church has an outstanding student ministry, high-visibility young adult gathering, vibrant missional communities, and/or an effective program of Christ-centered recovery groups. Typically, the teaching ministry is also relevant in content and regularly invites people to take next steps in becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. More often than not, the church is reaching out in tangible ways to show the community the love of Jesus, especially by serving the disadvantaged.
Level 3 churches make up approximately 16% of all Protestant churches in the United States. Figure 2.4 shows the kinds of questions that leaders of Level 3 churches ask.
FIGURE 2.4
These are also good questions, but none of them will lead to practices that move the church from its pattern of growth by addition to one of reproduction or multiplication.
Level 4 questions will lead to reproduction, and Level 5 questions to multiplication. We’ll go into those in the next chapter. For now, I want you to see and understand that Levels 1, 2, and 3 are about the shift from subtraction to addition. It is good to grow (Level 3), but why settle for good when what God wants for his church is something better (Level 4) or even the best (Level 5)?
Does Something Tell You There Has to Be More?
Asking the wrong questions gives us status quo answers and status quo results. Worse, it leaves too many of us thinking, There has to be more than this. We’re stuck and don’t know what to change. The day-to-day, week-to-week patterns we’ve settled into aren’t consistent with the dreams we had when we entered ministry. When we start to ask the hard questions and honestly assess where we are, we realize we’ve gotten sidetracked, spending all our time and energy running the church instead of focusing on multiplying disciples and accomplishing the mission of Jesus—the mission we gave ourselves to in the beginning.
I remember a meeting early in Community Christian Church’s history. We were trying to clarify our vision and mission, and our young team was struggling with how to articulate where we were going. Troy Jackson, an intern with us, finally spoke up, saying, “I got it,
I got it. I know our vision!” Then with a deadpan delivery he said, “We . . . want . . . to . . . be . . . a . . . really . . . really . . . really . . . BIG . . . church!” We all started laughing, and not just because of his delivery. We knew that what he said was true! But we also knew that we had to do more. Even then, we realized that if we and other churches continued to follow our current pattern of growth by addition, we would not win the world to Christ and make disciples in all the nations. Essentially, we would be disobeying Jesus’ clear and passionate call to all of his disciples (then and now) in his Great Commission (Matt. 28:19–20).
Asking the wrong questions leaves too many of us thinking, There has to be more than this. We’re stuck and don’t know what to change.
Let me put it as bluntly as I can. Too many church leaders are stuck asking the same old question: “How do I grow my church?” Let’s ask questions that are more profound! Let me give you four reasons why that’s the wrong question and why we need to take our questions up a level.
1. “How do I grow my church?” We were not meant to do this alone or versus others. That “I” should be replaced with a “we.” Hero makers know that the mission is accomplished only through the multiplying of other leaders.
2. “How do I grow my church?” This is only partially right. Yes, the church was meant to grow. And yes, healthy things grow. But growth is not the endgame. Hero makers understand that growth is not about creating more seating capacity; it’s about creating more sending capacity and expanding God’s kingdom. Also, the phrase “grow my church” should be changed to “multiply my church.”
3. “How do I grow my church?” It’s not yours or mine; we are only stewards. We’ve each taught this stewardship lesson hundreds of times to our people regarding their finances and every area of their life, but we need to look at ourselves and the churches we are responsible for and apply it to our own ministries and giftedness. Hero makers know it’s all God’s, so they say “grow God’s church” rather than “grow my church.”
4. “How do I grow my church?” It’s not just about the church (or whatever ministry you lead within a church); it’s about the kingdom of God. This question of how to grow the church is almost always asked with the lowercase c church in mind. That’s shortsighted. Hero makers are far more concerned about the growth of God’s kingdom. They see their church through a kingdom lens versus seeing the kingdom through the lens of their local church. Hero makers substitute “grow God’s kingdom” for “grow my church.”
A far better question than “How do I grow my church?” is the Level 5 question, “How can we multiply God’s kingdom?”
One-Question Assessment
Let me suggest a simple leadership exercise: replace the question, “How do I grow my church (or ministry)?” with the weightier question, “Am I trying to be the hero, or am I trying to make heroes out of others?”
Ask that question every day, and I guarantee you will multiply the impact of your leadership. How does it work? Like this:
• If you are leading a small group, ask, “Am I trying to be the hero in this group, or am I mentoring other leaders to make heroes out of them?”
• In your teaching, ask, “Am I trying to be the hero in my teaching, or am I developing other teachers who will be the heroes?”
• In leading your staff or team, ask, “Am I trying to be the hero of this team, or am I developing and investing in others so they will be the heroes?”
Making it a daily practice to ask one question is simple but challenging. However, keeping this question in the front of your thoughts and prayers may be the single greatest adjustment you ever make in your leadership.
You Are More Ready Than You Realize to Be a Hero Maker
As a young leader, I thought I had a very big vision for my church (notice I was saying “my church.” Ugh!). I wanted to lead a church that would reach one thousand people. Then I heard a paradigm-shifting challenge from author Neil Cole that caused me to start asking different questions. He said, “Take your current dream for your church and multiply it by one million.” I quickly did the math. One thousand times one million equals one billion! I started thinking about trying to reach a billion people, and it immediately challenged my current practices. I knew that I couldn’t turn my dream into reality with one leader or one church. I knew that I would have to multiply my efforts through hundreds, maybe thousands or tens of thousands, of leaders. It took my questions to a whole new level!
Don’t stay where you are. Don’t stay stuck asking the same old questions. If you do, you will get the same old answers and same old results. You were made for more. Ask yourself every day, “Am I trying to be the hero, or am I trying to make heroes of others?”
What is the dream for your leadership? Multiply it by one million. Now, how could God accomplish that? If you want to know, let’s move on to the next chapter, where we start asking the really big questions.
Hero Maker Discussion Questions
OPEN
• Tell a story about a time when asking the wrong question got you into trouble. Extra points if it’s a humorous situation.
DIG
• Read Acts 1:6, where the disciples asked the wrong question. John Calvin said that there are as many errors in that question as there are words in it! What are some of the ways their assumptions behind that question had to change in order for them to understand the response Jesus gave them in Acts 1:7 and Acts 1:8?
REFLECT
• What disillusionment about church, ministry, or leadership, if any, has caused you to think, There has to be more than this?
• What in this chapter has given you hope?
CHAPTER 3
The Right Questions
Big Idea: Hero makers understand that if we focus on multiplication, we can see God-size results.
Asking the right question can change everything.
In an article in Forbes magazine, David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom describe how half a century ago, someone asked a profound question that fundamentally changed how we communicate with each other every day. He asked the question in an era when every phone was tethered to a wall in our homes by a short, squiggly cord. In some rural communities, people still used a “party line,” where everyone would listen for the pattern of rings when the telephone sounded to determine if the call was for them or for the next farm down the road.
As Sturt and Nordstrom tell the story, it was then that Marty Cooper, a young engineer at Motorola, asked a very insightful question: “Why is it that when we want to call and talk to a person, we have to call a place?” That contrary question led to a new era of communication and the invention of DynaTAC 8000X, the very first cell phone.
The Tanner Institute interviewed Marty and more than 250 other great innovators like him and found that the genesis of almost every brilliant innovation was asking the right question. The just-right question can be a disruptive agent, cutting through years of complacency to redirect a leader’s or team’s focus toward extraordinary new insights.11 Makes you wonder what question Steve Jobs asked that led to the Mac computer, what Elon Musk asked that brought the electric car to market, and so much more!
As we learned in the previous chapter, if we start with the wrong questions, the result will be a certain set of answers and practices that lead to status quo results. Instead if we dare to start with the right questions (Levels 4 and 5), our pathway will lead to a different set of answers, better practices, and multiplied results.
FIGURE 3.1
If I could give you only one leadership question to ask yourself every day to maximize and multiply your influence, it would be, “Am I trying to be the hero, or am I trying to make heroes out of others?” As you ask that question, know that God has given you a unique vision for your life, and for that reason, I want you to gain clarity in how to ask all the right questions to lead a multiplying movement.
If I could give you only one leadership question to ask yourself every day to maximize and multiply your inf
luence, it would be, “Am I trying to be the hero, or am I trying to make heroes out of others?”
This chapter has stories, Scripture, and statistics all pulled together to encourage you to ask the right questions so you can get multiplied results. My hope is that you never settle for parroting the familiar questions of leaders before you. I challenge you to ask the questions that God wants you to ask, questions that will lead you to the practices he wants you to implement. Your choice of questions is critical. To enhance their quality, I want you to do the following:
• Pray for guidance. When we pause to pray, it opens us up to the deeper, richer thoughts of heaven that are often chased away by our hectic rush through our daily schedule. In the early stages of our difference-making quest, the simple act of paying attention to the prompting of God’s Spirit can provide the kinds of subtle adjustments that bring about the greatest innovation. Pause to ask God to bring to mind the right questions for you and your leadership vision.
• Pray for people. Tell God about the people you want to help. Ask God to bring to mind faces of individuals and groups that he wants you to reach. Don’t be surprised if the faces are not always familiar or the groups are not always local. As God brings people to mind, ask him to use you to reach them.
• Pray big! What would you love to see happen through your leadership? Not just like to see happen. Not just feel good about. What would you love to see result from your time and energy? What is the big dream? Now give that dream a number. Once you have that dream and number, multiply it by 100x. Such as a hundred times more conversions or volunteers or small groups or new churches. If you have the faith to ask for 1,000x or even 1,000,000x, ask God for that.
Did you pause and pray? Please do it right now.
Einstein had this to say about asking the right questions: “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would use the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”12 If you are an Einstein, just spend your time thinking about it. If you are not (like me), spend that time in prayer with God!
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