Leadership Journal

Hawaii is a fitting place for a pastor like Wayne Cordeiro. One of the first things you notice about him is his smile: it glows like a Pacific sunset. But even in a paradise-like climate, people are in need of the Savior. And Cordeiro, 47, has devoted his life to helping people connect with Christ.

In 1994, he left a thriving congregation in Hilo, Hawaii, to plant New Hope Christian Fellowship O'ahu in Honolulu. During its first four years, the Foursquare church grew from 70 to more than 6,000 weekend attenders. Today it's listed as one of the fastest-growing congregations in the U.S.

New Hope was founded on the unextraordinary notion of people putting their natural gifts and passions to work for the kingdom of God. But the results have been extraordinary.

Using the concept of "fractals," Cordeiro has devised a radical yet simple model of discipleship—he calls it "doing church as a team." LEADERSHIP editors Marshall Shelley and Edward Gilbreath recently spoke to Cordeiro about his vision for building churches and disciples.

You tell pastors to become "dream releasers." Why?

Because I love helping people discover their gifts and passions, and see them used for God's glory.

Every person has a dream of what they can be. But too many Christians are going to the grave with their dreams locked up inside and unexpressed. Many are releasing some of their dreams in the marketplace because that's the only place they can dance or play guitar or use computers.

As leaders of the church, we have to change that and say, "Wait a minute, that dream needs to be expended for the advancement of the kingdom of God. That's how it's meant to be."

Does focusing on "my dreams" lead to a self-centered rather than God-centered faith?

Not necessarily. There's always a personal sense of fulfillment when you can give away life. We all start, as babies, taking life, needing life, having needs. That's just humanity. But there's something deeply fulfilling about giving of ourselves, because God wired us that way.

Whether you're a Christian or a non-Christian, God's the same designer. He put the same circuits in you as he did in someone who doesn't know him yet. But in the beginning, usually all our arrows are pointed inward. Even when we go to church, it's still inward: "God help me." "God give me a promotion." "Give me this." "Give me that."

If we're not careful, we can go our whole life with our arrows pointed inward.

What we as pastors do is help people turn those arrows outward, so that the person is not a cul-de-sac of God's blessings, but a channel, an avenue through which God blesses others and brings glory to himself.

Then, as God flows through you, all of a sudden you say, "That's why he created me the way he did." And lights start turning on, and circuits start to work.

How do you help people discover the joy of selflessness?

I use a lots of parables and stories. Otherwise, you become a lecturer saying, "You've got to do this and that." And people are tired of that.

People are not ...