{"id":21742,"date":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1997\/07\/01\/comprehensive-health-plan\/"},"modified":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","slug":"comprehensive-health-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/comprehensive-health-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Comprehensive Health Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Capital Punishment. Last Rites. Cape Fear. After Death. Hell Fire. Apocalypse Now. 911. Endorphin Rush<\/em>. The latest movies?<\/p>\n\n

Nope. Labels from Rick Warren’s collection of hot sauces.<\/p>\n\n

“Listen to this one,” he says with a grin, reading from a label. “There is a point where pleasure and pain intersect, a doorway to a new dimension of sensual euphoria, where fire both burns and soothes, when heat engulfs every neuron within you. Once that line is crossed, once the bottle is opened, once it touches your lips, there’s no going back. Pain is good.”<\/p>\n\n

Sounds a lot like ministry.<\/p>\n\n

Rick Warren has known “the intersection of pain and pleasure” as pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church, a church he founded in Orange County, California, in 1980.<\/p>\n\n

Despite the rapid growth of Saddleback, Warren writes in The Purpose-Driven Church<\/em> (Zondervan) that “the key issue for churches in the twenty-first century is church health, not church growth.” Leadership editors Ed Rowell and Kevin Miller, and photographer Bill Youngblood, recently spent an afternoon with Warren to talk about what it takes to develop a healthy church. That soon led into what it takes to be a healthy pastor.<\/p>\n\n

Why do you say health should replace growth as the focal point for pastors?<\/p>

Rick Warren<\/strong>: Because size is not the issue. You can be big and healthy, or big and flabby. You can be small and healthy, or small and wimpy. Big isn’t better; small isn’t better. Healthy is better.\n\nThere is no correlation between the size and strength of a church. I’m interested in helping churches become balanced and healthy. If they are healthy, growth will naturally happen.\n\nI don’t have to command my kids to grow. If I provide them with a healthy environment, growth is automatic. If growth is not happening, it means something’s wrong, because it’s the nature of living organisms to grow.\n\n<\/p>

But kids reach a point where they stop growing physically<\/p>

Absolutely. That’s why I began trying to change the terminology from church growth to church health about ten years ago; church growth automatically means numerical growth to most people. That’s just one kind of growth God wants in his church.<\/p>\n\n

\n

Health Is Quantifiable.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nIn the early 1980s, I used the term “church growth” because that was what everybody was familiar with. But I stopped using the phrase around 1986 because of the things I didn’t like about the church growth movement.\n\n<\/p>

Such as?<\/p>

I don’t like the incessant comparing of churches. The Bible says it’s foolish to compare yourself to others. If you find somebody who’s doing a better job than you, you get discouraged. Or you find you’re doing a better job than someone else; you become proud. Either way, you’re dead in the water.\n\nAnother thing I didn’t like was the movement’s tendency to be more analytical than prescriptive. A lot of the church growth books were not written by pastors; they were written by theorists.\n\nI want a doctor who helps me get healthy again, not just one who tells me I’m sick. One best-selling book on small groups was written by a guy who’s never been in a small group in his life.\n\n<\/p>

If numerical growth is an unreliable indicator of health, how can you tell if your church is healthy?<\/p>

It’s not unreliable, just inadequate. There are five ways to measure growth. A church needs to grow warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry, and larger through evangelism.\n\nYou don’t judge an army’s strength by how many people sit in the mess hall. You judge an army on the basis of how many people are trained and active on the front line. The percentage of members being mobilized for ministry and missions is a more reliable indicator of health than how many people attend services. A church that’s running 200 in a town of 1,000 is doing a better job than Saddleback.\n\n<\/p>

We were recently with a pastor in rural Indiana. His church’s children’s program reaches 40 percent of the kids in the school district.<\/p>

Wow. That’s a highly effective church. Percentage-wise, that beats anything we’re doing here. A church may max out its numerical growth potential because of location, but it can continue its effectiveness.\n\nAnother mark of maturity is the ability to start having babies. I want to\nsee churches that are plateaued in numerical growth begin to reproduce through\nchurch planting.\n\nWe’re now in the grandparent phase; we have churches that were started by\nchurches started by Saddleback. That’s a lot of fun because we get the credit,\nbut we don’t have to mess with the dirty diapers.\n\n<\/p>

How do you cultivate health in a church?<\/p>

Health is the result of balance. Balance occurs when you have a strategy\nand a structure to fulfill every one of what I believe are the five New Testament\npurposes for the church–worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and\nministry. If you don’t have a strategy and a structure that intentionally\nbalances the purposes of the church, the church tends to overemphasize the\npurpose the pastor feels most passionate about.\n\nIn evangelicalism, we tend to go to seed on one truth at a time. You attend\none seminar and hear, “The key is seeker services.” You go to another: “The\nkey is small groups.” “The key is discipleship.” “Expository preaching.”\nThe fact is, they’re all important.\n\nWhen a church emphasizes any one purpose to the neglect of others, that produces\nimbalance–unhealth. That causes a lot of churches to remain stunted.\n\n<\/p>

How do you keep things balanced?<\/p>

Four things must happen. You’ve got to move people into membership, build\nthem up to maturity, train them for ministry, and send them out on their\nmission. We use a little baseball diamond to illustrate that.\n\nWe’ve got a scorecard to evaluate progress. Just like when you go to a doctor\nand he checks all kinds of vital signs, the health of a church is quantifiable.\nFor example, I can measure how many more people are involved in ministry\nthis month than last month.\n\nHow<\/em> you accomplish those four objectives doesn’t matter.\n\n<\/p>

But wasn’t Saddleback’s unique style a big reason for your rapid growth?<\/p>

People always overemphasize style because it’s the first thing they notice.\nThe only important issue regarding style is that it matches the people God\nhas called you to reach. We’ve planted twenty-six daughter churches, and\nwe gave those pastors total freedom in matters of worship style and the materials\nthey use.\n\nAs long as you are bringing people to Christ, into the fellowship of his\nfamily, building them up to maturity, training them for ministry, and sending\nthem out in mission, I like the way you are doing ministry.\n\n<\/p>

In today’s society, how do you stay healthy when you bring in a lot of unhealthy people?<\/p>

Health doesn’t mean perfection. My kids are healthy, not perfect. There will\nnever be a perfect church this side of heaven, because every church is filled\nwith pagans, carnal Christians, and immature believers.\n\nI’ve read books that emphasize, “You’ve got to reinforce the purity of the\nchurch.” But Jesus said, “Let the tares and the wheat grow together, and\none day I’ll sort them out.” We’re not in the sorting business. We’re in\nthe harvesting business.\n\nWe do get a lot of unhealthy people at church, because society is getting\nsicker. But Jesus demonstrated that ministering to hurting people was more\nimportant than maintaining purity. When you fish with a big net, you catch\nall kinds of fish.\n\nThat’s why one of the biggest programs in our church is recovery. We have\nfrom five to six hundred people attend Friday night recovery meetings with\nyou-name-it addictions.\n\nOne of the most important decisions we made was not to have a counseling\ncenter. If we put a full-time therapist on our staff, the person would fill\nup instantly, and 99 percent of the calls would still go unmet. We couldn’t\nkeep up with five full-time therapists.\n\nInstead, we’ve trained about fifty lay people to do biblical counseling,\nalong with a standard list of approved therapists we can refer to if need\nbe.\n\n<\/p>

How are the skills to grow a church different from the skills to grow a healthy church?<\/p>

The skills may not be all that different, but growing a healthy church depends\non the personal character of the leader. It is possible for an unhealthy\npastor to lead a growing church, but it takes a healthy pastor to lead a\nhealthy church. You can’t lead people further than you are in your own spiritual\nhealth.\n\n<\/p>

What traits would indicate a pastor is healthy?<\/p>

The first is authenticity. That means you are aware of your weaknesses and\npublicly admit them. I’m convinced that our greatest ministry to others comes\nout of our weaknesses, not our strengths. You can impress people from a distance,\nbut you can influence them only up close. And if you’re going to influence\npeople, you had better be honest, even about your weaknesses.\n\n<\/p>

For example?<\/p>

Last weekend at our men’s retreat, I talked about how my wife and I went\nfor sexual therapy. That blew some people away.\n\nMy wife was molested as a little girl; it caused all kinds of problems in\nour marriage. I went to therapy thinking she had a problem. But once we got\nthere, I realized I had some attitudes that were perpetuating the problem.\nI tell those stories so people know that we’ve got real problems, too.\n\nRelated to authenticity is humility. It’s hard to talk about how important\nit is to be humble. You can’t say, “Read my best-selling book on being a\nhumble pastor.” (Laughter)<\/em>\n\nIt’s no accident that humor<\/em> and humility<\/em> come from the same\nroot word. Humility is not denying your strengths; it’s being honest about\nyour weaknesses. I’ve built a staff that makes me look good, because they\ncompensate for my weaknesses. I do what I’m competent in, and I don’t do\nwhat I’m not competent in.\n\nNext is integrity. Is there congruence between what you say is important\nin your life and what you actually do?\n\nAnd, just like churches need balance, pastors do, too. “Blessed are the balanced,\nfor they shall outlast everybody else.” So many pastors flame bright, then\nflame out.\n\nFinally, a healthy pastor is always learning. I read or skim almost a book\na day. I flip through magazines everywhere I go. The moment you stop growing,\nyour church stops growing.\n\n<\/p>

What must you give up in order to continually read and learn?<\/p>

Television, mostly. I read early in the morning and late at night. I’ve learned\nto get the ideas of a book quickly, to skim fast. Not every chapter in a\nbook is of value.\n\n<\/p>

Does giving up television hurt your ability to preach to unchurched people?<\/p>

I haven’t completely given it up. But you don’t have to watch “Seinfield”\nor “Home Improvement” every week to know exactly what’s going on. I flip\nthrough TV Guide<\/em> once a week to see if there’s anything I need to\nvideotape. Then I’ll watch it on my schedule.<\/p>\n\n

\n

In Evangelicalism, We Tend To Go To Seed On One Truth At A Time<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

What does it take to find balance in your life?<\/p>

It usually takes a crisis to get our attention. When we began Saddleback,\nI was imbalanced. I burned out by the end of the first year, and I was depressed\nall of the next year. My prayer was not, “God, build a great church.” It\nwas, “God, just let me live through the next week.”\n\nBut it’s good to have your losses right up front. The lessons I learned in\nthat second year of depression saved me from flaming out for good. I set\nparameters. You’ve got to know who you are, whom you’re trying to please,\nand what contribution God wants you to make.\n\nFor example, I don’t often speak at national events. Because I’m a trainer\nat heart, I usually leave our congregation only to train other pastors. I’m\na local church pastor, and nothing is more fulfilling to me than pastoring\nmy congregation. I don’t really care to be a celebrity on the circuit.\n\n<\/p>

So to be healthy, you have to know your focus, your strengths and limitations.<\/p>

Right. One limitation I have, for example, is that I was born with a brain\nmalfunction. I took medicine from the time I was a child until college, because\nI would often faint. I could be sitting in a classroom and just keel over.\nI even had to take a year off from college because of this. It was a scary\ntime.\n\nI’ve been under the care of the best neurologists around. It’s complicated,\nbut a simplistic explanation is that my brain has an unusual reaction to\nadrenaline.\n\n<\/p>

Good thing you’ve got a low-stress job.<\/p>

(Laughter)<\/em> Right. When a normal amount of adrenaline hits my system,\nI get dizzy and can black out. My vision remains blurred, my head throbs,\nand I feel intense panic until the adrenaline goes down. It’s like hanging\nto the top of the Empire State Building with one finger and looking\ndown–absolute terror.\n\nNow anybody who speaks knows adrenaline is the pastor’s best friend. It gives\nyou passion, alertness, and energy. The very thing I need to accomplish what\nGod has called me to do acts like a poison for me. I guess it’s a thorn in\nthe flesh. When I speak, I’m often unable to clearly see the congregation\nduring the first several minutes of the normal adrenaline rush. People look\nblurry, I feel panic, and it is extremely painful to speak.\n\nI have asked a team to pray for me the entire service, during each of the\nfour services.\n\nPeople ask me, “Do you ever get full of pride speaking to all those people?”\nHonestly, that’s the last thing on my mind. I’m praying, “God, get me through\nthis. Use this weak vessel, and in my weakness, you be strong.”\n\n<\/p>

What practical skills help keep you healthy?<\/p>

Learning how to refuel physically, emotionally, spiritually. For example,\nI’ve learned to fall asleep in about five minutes. Last Saturday, I spoke\ntwice at our men’s retreat. On the way back, I took a brief nap in the car,\nand I was able then to speak at two services that night. You can’t land every\ntime you’re tired. You’ve got to learn to refuel in midair.\n\nTo refuel, I do three things:\n<\/p>\n

\n

Divert daily
\ndo something that’s fun.
\n \nWithdraw weekly
\na day off every week.
\n \nAbandon annually
\nget away from your church to vacation, and don’t call in.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Are you able to stick with that?<\/p>

Absolutely. I insist on it with my staff, too. It is a law at Saddleback\nthat staff cannot work more than three nights in any week. I think the reason\nmany pastors flame out in moral failure is that fatigue lowers our sensibilities.\nOne pastor described his affair by saying, “I was under such stress that\nI pulled the trigger, then ran around and stood in front of the gun.” The\nonly way he could get off the fast track was to sabotage himself.\n\n<\/p>

Does it help to have an accountability group?<\/p>

Nah. Accountability is overrated. It works only if you want it to. If I don’t\nreally want you to know the truth, you’re not going to know the truth. The\nguy I just quoted had an accountability group.\n\n<\/p>

Has your family’s health been negatively affected by your ministry?<\/p>

I don’t think so. My wife and I are pastor’s kids so we knew exactly what\nwe were getting into.\n\nThe previous generation said, “If you put God first, then God will take care\nof your kids.” We believe that, but that’s not the same as putting the church\nfirst.\n\nSo I’ve tried to demonstrate in practical ways that my family is more important\nthan our church, such as not preaching at a Saturday service in order to\ntake my daughter to a special school function.\n\nOur youngest son didn’t want to attend our children’s camp for years. But\nlast summer he said, “Dad, I’ll go to camp if you’ll go with me.” Well, there\nwas no question about it; I was going.\n\nBut I was scheduled to speak at a preliminary Promise Keepers event for pastors\nin Atlanta. I canceled speaking at the\n PK\n event in order to\nbe with my son.\n\n<\/p>

What skills will you have to learn to stay healthy in the second half of life?<\/p>

Well, I’m getting back into blues guitar. It’s a great stress reliever for\na frustrated rock star like me! You oughta hear my “Backslider Blues,” baby!\n(Laughter)<\/em>\n\nIf you live in California, you’ve got to be bilingual, so I’m hoping to learn\nSpanish.\n\nBut mostly I just want to keep sharpening the skills I’ve developed so far,\njust doing everything better–communicating, caring, planning, leading.\n\n<\/p>

A number of pastors have moved out of local-church ministry in the second half of life. Do you see yourself doing that?<\/p>

I have no change of plans for the next part of the journey. I’m not going\nanywhere. I’ll pastor Saddleback, and at the same time continue to train\npastors in how to grow healthy, balanced, purpose-driven churches.\n\nLast year I was asked to consider becoming the new \nCEO\n of\nthe Southern Baptist North American Mission Board. It’s a mammoth organization,\nwith a $100 million budget, but I knew I was not the man. I love being a\npastor.\n\nOne reason pastors listen to me is they know I’m still changing diapers every\nweek. I’m at bat every seven days. I still deal with cantankerous members.\nPastoring keeps me honest as a trainer.\n\nSaddleback is kind of the Research and Development department of the church\nat large. We’re not afraid to fail. We’ve always tried more things that didn’t\nwork than did.\n\nEvery once in a while we find-usually by accident–something that works.\nThen we teach the seminars and pretend like we planned it all along, when\nreally it was just the result of trial and error. (Laughter)<\/em>\n\n<\/p>

What have you learned about staying healthy that you didn’t know starting out?<\/p>

I’ve learned to offer my resignation to Christ every Sunday. That causes\nme to hold God’s gift with an open hand, and the stress factor goes way down\nbecause my identity is not tied to integers. I’ve seen pastors toward the\nend of their ministry who start holding on. They’re afraid to let go even\nwhen they stay beyond their effectiveness. We’ve all seen professional athletes\nwho played two seasons too long. It’s only when you don’t have to stay that\nyou can stay.<\/p>\n\n

1997 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership<\/em> Journal.Click here<\/a> for reprint information onLeadership<\/em> Journal.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Capital Punishment. Last Rites. Cape Fear. After Death. Hell Fire. Apocalypse Now. 911. Endorphin Rush. The latest movies? Nope. Labels from Rick Warren’s collection of hot sauces. “Listen to this one,” he says with a grin, reading from a label. “There is a point where pleasure and pain intersect, a doorway to a new dimension Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[2811],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[160],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[653,156,656],"tax_ctp_tags":[3559,3609,3610,3617,3793,3897,4264,4679,4919,5042,5046,5265,5305],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-21742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-rick-warren","tax_publications-1997-leadership-journal","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_publications-summer_1997-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-character","tax_ctp_tags-church-growth","tax_ctp_tags-church-health","tax_ctp_tags-church-planting","tax_ctp_tags-discipleship","tax_ctp_tags-evangelism","tax_ctp_tags-integrity","tax_ctp_tags-prayer","tax_ctp_tags-self-examination","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-direction","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-formation","tax_ctp_tags-weakness","tax_ctp_tags-worship"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nComprehensive Health Plan - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Capital Punishment. 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