It's September 1st. This month my blog goal is to share one simple thing each day that I've learned from 35 years of doing ministry. These will not be lessons ala rocket science -- just elementary tips that have served me well these three decades plus.Here goes.
Lesson #1 ... Success cannot be determined by size.
Our first church to serve as full-time pastors was in Northern Illinois back in 1981. It was running about 400 on a weekend. Great people. Super loving. Awesome youth group of about 40 students that we had the distinct privilege to youth pastor. Some of them are in full-time ministry today. We're so proud of them.
The two congregations we served after that hovered right around the 1,000 mark. Also great churches with amazing folks. We learned so much at both places that has shaped us today.
Where we are currently runs just under 3,000 at two campuses. I guess that's big. Depends on your perspective.
You don't have to be big to be blessed.
But I've come to understand that God accomplished and continues accomplishing transformational, supernatural things in the lives of people in all those locations. They all love God, they all serve with big hearts, they all give sacrificially, they're all making an impact in their communities, they're all on their knees as believers who want more of God.
You don't have to be big to be blessed.
Just because you're big doesn't mean you're healthy. Last time I looked the fastest growing things in my garden were the weeds. There are some cool things about big, but big also has more problems.
On the other hand, just because something's big hardly means it's automatically unhealthy.
So I've come to have great respect and honor for my brothers and sisters in Christ who pastor and lead and serve and do life in small, medium-sized and large churches. Humongous ones, too.
And be blessed.
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