Bob Roberts drops by the blog today and will interact in the comments on all things megachurch.
If you don't know Bob, you should. Bob was recently interviewed for Christianity Today's Christian Vision Project. He has also weighed in a few times hereat this blog.
Feel free to ask him a question and dialogue with Bob below.
1. What is the biggest challenge you face as a pastor?
My biggest challenge is knowing how to get every member of NorthWood mobilized to use their vocation to live out their faith in society. But the default response has become going to church for an hour on Sunday. Obviously, I deal with the financial issues, space issues, etc., but the biggest is creating a culture where disciples can grow to maturity and become self-feeders. I'm convinced that faith must be viral, and for that to happen the lowest common denominator is the disciple. Where I struggle is a day like today where I'm balancing relationships -opportunities that are unique and come as a result of doing church like this. For example, I'm dealing with a highly influential Christian businessman who is willing to do business in an emerging country where I'm friends with world leaders and the media hears about it and wants to do a story. This is going on today in 3 major cities on the other side of the globe.
2. It seems like many pastors want to lead large churches to "make an impact." What advice would you give them? Is that a good or a bad motivation?
I think it's good that a pastor wants to make an impact and even lead a large church. Leighton Ford, one of my mentors, calls it godly ambition. What's wrong with that? Obviously arrogance and egotism can get involved. Contrary to what some would say, it isn't going away. I've spoken recently at several very large events with young twenties.They love to worship in mass; they have their own style and genre. They also love to serve. However, I would say that , for whatever reason, those with the biggest visions sometimes still tie that vision to a building. Here's a big vision: not pastoring a church that reaches it's community and grows, but pastoring a church that is a base to be the missionary to the community. An example would be to grow your place as much as possible, but start churches all around you. Think of yourself as the missionary to your city. Your church is merely one base and extension of that.
3. Remind me of the number of churches you have planted locally and how that plays into your church vision. How do you balance church planting with growing your church?
We've now started 100 churches out of NorthWood. I couldn't imagine NorthWood without them. Church planting is, in my opinion, one of the ultimate signs of a New Testament Church and of a healthy church. There's a lot of concern over what happens to these megachurches when the senior pastor is gone. What's cool is not to be tied to one church, but hundreds. That's my hope. A lot of people aren't aware of it, but Rod Earls did a paper I read on how many churches Spurgeon started. I don't view church planting as a program, but as something required of any legitimate church. We do have staff to help us these days - in the early days it was by the seat of our pants. You know, Ed, the things we fear the most about adversely affecting our church are generally the things that impact the DNA and make it the most unique. For NorthWood, church planting is one of those. It's fun - now several kids I used to take to children's camp are now starting churches. It's weird and exciting.
4. You and I have joked that you are an unlikely megachurch pastor... you care about transformation, church planting, global ministry, and the Kingdom. Yet, your people love you and your church continues to grow. Tell us a little about how you balance those passions with your local church ministry.
Ed, that's a great question. I'm not a likely megachurch pastor - anyone who knows me knows that. Because I started NorthWood, I have a lot more freedom than someone who inherited a church. I deal with this on page 172 of my book, Glocalization, because I'm asked this all the time.
First, I live in four key roles with NorthWood as the base: church planting, global speaking & writing, and networking. Bobb Bheil has been a personal mentor of mine for years. He's helped me stay focused. I'm not a detail guy - but I prioritize and am very organized. I journal daily, and then during the month of December I go back and read my journal from the previous year 3 or 4 times. I look at what God did and can get a sense of where things are going and of what I should focus on and what I shouldn't.
Second, we view missions, or what we call kingdom life, as the natural life of the church. Sadly, missions has become an add-on in many churches. We view it as, "here's our ministry here" and "there's our ministry over there." That's an unhealthy and non-missional view of life and the ministry. But for a pastor, missions/kingdom life is the DNA or essence of the church. If that's gone, all I've got is a religion class - the church is far more than that. I believe that with teaching, the end game is not merely to inform, but to engage people's minds and hearts with their hands and feet.
Third, I took a test not long ago that said I can see things more quickly than most. I don't know if that's true or not, but I can see the big picture and pull a team together. If you know the big picture, it determines your direction. If you know the big picture, you know what you need in a team. The average tenure of staff at NorthWood is 9 years and climbing. I'm a big believer in a long-term team. Bobb Bheil taught me that someone who changes the world for any reason takes 30 years of moving generally in the same direction and with many of the same people. Notice the idea is to "change the world," not grow a big church.
5. Some have said that the megachurch tends to marginalize mission and create a spectator culture. Knowing your passions, how do you fight that tendency in your people?
I disagree with people who generalize all megachurches like that. Dave Travis just wrote a book on that and found just the opposite. I was with 17 "mega" churches here at our church last week that are trying to come together to engage their communities and the world, and their primary heart beat was mission. These pastors have grown big churches and realize they have a bigger call than just a big building with thousands of people. I'm also a big believer in churches who run 100. I don't view them as failures or as insignificant at all. I believe they are sociologically healthy units, many of whom are just as missional as larger churches. I say that because I don't want to be misunderstood with what I'm about to say. Having said that, I believe mega-churches have a greater responsibility to engage society and be truly missional than any other kind of church in America. Why? Because we have resources --people, money, influence -- that, if we will use them, - share it, give it away - could have an exponential impact on society as a whole and the Gospel in particular.
My blog is at glocal.net - it's not read just by religious people but by lots of people around the world because of different projects we're involved with. You can read about Muslims, Communists, you name it.
Thanks Ed - I love you, appreciate you, believe in you. We need you. As one of my friends and mentors tells me a lot these days in a project we're involved together with, I say to you "Keep moving us forward."
Thanks, Bob, you are always gracious in your comments and a challenge to us all!
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