This guest post is written by Angela Faith, Digital Strategist at one of our trusted partners, Pro WEBFIRE. Pro WEBFIRE spends every day on the edge of the digital space, and I’m excited to share what Angela and the team are learning.

The ever increasing shifts in culture seem to be at warp speed. That which would have taken years can now happen in a matter of months.

For example, a church with a few hundred attendees can reach a thousand or more when viewed online. Or a church with a few thousand people during a live service can turn into a church of hundreds of thousands. And while lots of people have questions about whether this is a good thing or not, the truth is, this is the age we live in.

In the past, the church has often been a late bloomer in cultural trends racing behind to keep up instead of being a trendsetter.

There are elements and shifts that are beyond our leadership that affect church growth.

You can be a good leader and communicator and yet your church can be in decline simply because you’re not making certain shifts toward the digital world. After all, everybody you want to reach is online. If you’re not there, you’re missing them.

After all, everybody you want to reach is online. If you’re not, you’re missing them. Click To Tweet

Here are 5 digital shifts that affect church growth:

1. Digital has become the New Normal

The new normal for many growing and multi-site churches is for people to watch the message on a video screen. The pastor preaches at one or maybe two services and the message is aired in other services or campuses on a big screen.

What was strange years ago, is now normal. We all consume large amounts of content on screens.

Younger adults have fully embraced a digital platform and are very comfortable watching the message digitally at a live service. This is revolutionary. Embracing the digital platform helps prevent burnout of the lead communicator (if you have multiple services) and allows for easier expansion to reach the community beyond the traditional 4 walls of the church building.

You may be asking, why would people attend a service to experience the message digitally? Great question.

Because they want a non-downloadable experience. People come for the community, live worship, kid’s ministry, relationships and to bring their friends.

Churches that understand that the platform has become digital are experiencing a reach that far extends the weekend services. The digital platform expands the reach of messages to thousands more online than those that walk through the doors of the building and can be re-lived and shared over and over again.

And online church is a front door. Many visitors watch online services for a few weeks to months before attending an actual service.

When you focus on the digital platform experience online, you can expand your reach which will, in turn, affect the growth of your live services.

Churches that shift to a mindset that the pulpit is not just live but is also digital, will reach more people and experience growth over the next decade.

Churches that shift to a mindset that the pulpit is not just live but is also digital, will reach more people and experience growth over the next decade.Click To Tweet

2. Apps Aren’t Your Front Door. Websites Are.

With the invention of smartphones came the rise of apps.

There was a short trend that suggested church apps would completely replace church websites. It was similar to those saying email would die. But today, the opposite has happened.  Emails and websites are stronger than ever.

Surprisingly, nobody visits an app to check out a church. Why? Because they Google their question, and Google leads them to websites, not apps.

The venture through the church website creates a digital experience that allows the church to have a voice and speak into the person’s life or it repels them.

The website isn’t nearly as much for the congregation as it is for unchurched people who are searching for answers.

Surprisingly, nobody visits an app to check out a church. Why? Because they Google their question, and Google leads them to websites, not apps.Click To Tweet

In today’s culture, the main purpose of the website is for the unchurched and the first-time visitor. Sure, your church website will have information for those in the church, but you could put that on an app (for attenders) or on the back pages of the site.

Websites are the digital foyer. Your website is the gateway for new people to discover amazing leadership,  preaching and a faith of their own.

Websites are the digital foyer. Your website is the gateway for new people to discover amazing leadership, preaching and a faith of their own.Click To Tweet

3. Right or Wrong, Decisions Get Made In Seconds

Digital decisions are lightning-fast decisions.

In a matter of seconds, you make decisions about whether to keep watching a video on YouTube or click away bringing the level of expectation higher than it’s ever been. Quality media is expected by those in your community for this reason.

Stopping the scroll goes beyond social media and translates into your church website.

When someone lands on your church website what do they think?

Your digital presence is sending a message from you that a generation is welcome or not welcome.  This message is not done in words but the actual design of your website.  Just like stopping the scroll, the decision is made in seconds.

Your digital presence is sending a message from you that a generation is welcome or not welcome.Click To Tweet

Before they watch a message or read what your church is about, the website visitor has already made a snap judgment about the church. The decision is made visually and through the power of design.

How often do you buy a product at the grocery store for the package and you haven’t even tasted it?  You liked the packaging so that is the one you choose.  The other product may have tasted better, but you make a snap judgment based on the package.  Whether you buy it again, will depend on the taste, but trying it out was based on the brand packaging.

Today, people make a decision to visit your church because of your brand and design.  Your digital presence and design matter more than the building you meet in for services.

Again, that might not be ideal, but it’s real.

Today, people make a decision to visit your church because of your brand and design. Your digital presence and design matters more than the building you meet in for services.Click To Tweet

People have already made a decision about you before ever walking through your doors.  This changes the visitor experience and how you need to treat them in your services.

If the digital experience is one that greatly affects your weekend visitors at your services, it only makes sense to get digital right.

When someone visits a church today, they have already decided they like it through a digital experience. They are one step away from becoming part of the church.Click To Tweet

4. Outreach is Also Shifting to Digital-First

Some of you remember the days you would go door to door as a church to evangelize.

But today things have changed. Almost nobody knocks on doors anymore (except couriers) and when they do, it’s almost counter-productive. What if you could knock on every cell phone within 30 miles of your church?

The good news is you can through Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

You can literally reach your community digitally and single out those in need. Then with a simple follow-up strategy in place, you could call or meet face to face with those needing prayer for a personal tragedy.

Your church has the biggest opportunity in history to reach your community for Christ. But are you maximizing the digital platform of our church?

What if your social media became a beacon in your community that said, “we are here to help?”

Over the next decade, the church that invests in digital will reach more people for Christ.

Over the next decade, the church that invests in digital will reach more people for Christ.Click To Tweet

5. Rural and Urban Have Become More Equal

Digital and the internet has reshaped the world.

Even in rural communities, people have access to the same media as the big cities.  It’s flattened our experience and broken down divides that used to exist because of geography and culture. While there used to be a big gap based on location, the average kid in the country has the same access to YouTube and TikTok the average urban kid does.

What does this mean for the church?

Churches that are intentional about creative media will be the ones who are heard in the future. Most young millennial couples will be reluctant to share a post from their church that has an outdated design?

Media brings the entire world together, and that means the geographical divide that impacted churches a decade ago isn’t nearly the factor it used to be.

Media has brought the entire world together. The geographical divide that impacted churches a decade ago isn’t nearly the factor it used to be.Click To Tweet

Want to Get Started? Some Help.

If it all starts with a google search for a first-time guest, the questions become: will your church’s website be the first to pop up? If so, does it make the people landing on your site want to go further not just digitally, but personally?

Most churches have room for significant improvement when it comes to their website.

A lot of churches wish they could hire staff, but just don’t have the wiggle room financially to do it.

That’s where Pro WEBFIRE steps in. They provide a done-for-you website, podcast, digital outreach, and more, for a monthly fee that’s a fraction of a staff member.

Plus, this month only they are providing up to 35% OFF plans for LIFE until October 31st. This special ends soon, choose a plan at www.prowebfire.com/carey.

When you work with the Pro WEBFIRE team, they provide:

Web design and management.
Monthly Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube Outreach.
Your own weekly podcast included for free.
Outreach campaigns for Christmas, Easter, and more.
Real growth in your congregation.

If you want to learn more about how these services can rapidly grow your church, check out Pro WEBFIRE at www.prowebfire.com/carey.

What Are You Seeing?

What are you learning about decision making, evangelism and online reach?

Scroll down and leave a comment!

The post 5 Digital Shifts That Are Impacting Church Growth appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 5 Digital Shifts That Are Impacting Church Growth

The post 5 Digital Shifts That Are Impacting Church Growth appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Carey Nieuwhof: So this isn’t an easy post to write, nor a glib one.

I’m not even sure what I’m about to write is accurate.

But once again last week, we heard of yet another mega-church pastor who isn’t in leadership anymore, this one fired by his church because of character issues.

I’m not naming names or linking to any post. If you’re plugged into church world, you probably know who I’m talking about, and if not, it’s not that hard to think of a bunch of others over the years.

Sadly, even if you read this months or years after this is published, chances are there will be yet another large church pastor who went down in flames.

The hardest part is there are just no winners. At least not in the short term. God is a God of redemption and he writes better stories than we do, but the pain of deliberate sin is something we’re best to avoid.

If there are direct victims (affairs, abuse, fraud), and sadly, often there are, their lives are devastated and their faith too often shattered or snapped. The people who were part of any movement or congregation associated with said fallen leader are crushed. The families of leaders are devastated, sometimes beyond repair.

And in the midst of it all, the unchurched gain one more reason to run in the opposite direction.

For those of us still in church leadership… think about that and let it sink in.

Bloggers and commentators who pile on to grab headlines or express outrage further destroy any hope left. I don’t want this to be that kind of a post.

And remember, for every mega-church pastor who has exited, there are probably 10 or maybe 100 smaller church pastors whose congregation and families are just as devastated. Only their stories never make the headlines.

Please hear me. I write this with a heavy heart and after a lot of reflection, introspection and prayerful consideration.

I’m far from perfect. There’s been no affair (by the grace of God) or fraud or anything worth headlines. But just talk to my family or my team. They see me on good days and bad days, and I write about the struggles of leadership as openly and candidly as I know how, as any of you who read this blog regularly or have read my latest book will realize.

So I’m not casting stones.

But I am writing so that all of us who lead anything (big or small) can look inside and notice the warning signs before it’s too late. Before yet another church loses its leader. Before yet another countless thousand people wince and say, “I told you so” or “Yeah…figures” and the collective eye roll/anger wave gets unleashed once again and more people walk away from Jesus.

Because, believe it or not, I think failure is in all of us. And yes, I think the seeds of failure are in me too. None of us are exempt.

But if you know what to look for…if you know where the danger lies, maybe, just maybe, you can finish well. Because not only are the seeds of failure in all of us, so are the seeds of finishing well.

So what’s the difference?

That’s why I’m writing this post.

Nobody who starts out in ministry sets out to fail. But all the time, people who never thought they’d fail, fail.

Every time another story breaks about a pastor who resigns, my phone lights up with texts from friends asking, “How do we make sure this doesn’t happen to us?”

A few years ago I wrote a post about the exit of two megachurch pastors…I think the observations are still true:

Most pastors aren’t fake. The struggle is real.

It’s hard to lead anything.

God uses broken people.

Even if all of that is true, still, why all the failure?

Here are some new thoughts…and some things I look for inside me in the hopes of finishing well.

The seeds of failure are in all of us. So are the seeds of finishing well.Click To Tweet

1. It Just Got Bigger Than I Could Handle

Please hear this: leading something large is not inherently bad.

Although I hear the argument all the time, I personally don’t believe there is anything inherently bad about a large church or organization.

But there is something inherently difficult in it. And to some extent, the larger something is, the harder it is.

Please know, this doesn’t mean leading a small church or venture is easy. I have led small churches. I get it. Few things in leadership are easy.

But I’ve also led some larger ministries and organizations, and the larger it is, the greater the pressure and the more there’s at stake.

I remember when our church grew past 300; my mind was blown. Now it’s five times the size.

Or look at this blog or my podcast. Honestly, 100,000 readers or listeners was inconceivable six years ago. Then millions showed up.

Nothing gets you ready for that.

It’s way too easy for your platform to outgrow your character. And that’s where all the danger lies.

There isn’t anything inherently bad about leading a large church or organization. But there is something inherently difficult in it.Click To Tweet

Add to it one more fact: you and I are not naturally made to lead thousands or millions.

It doesn’t mean you can’t do it. It just means you’ll have to grow your character faster.  Much faster.

As I outlined in Didn’t See It Coming, that has come in the form of hundreds of hours of counseling for me, some dead honest conversations, and a lot of painful personal growth. And in my case, I’m so thankful that groundwork was laid before things became bigger.

It doesn’t mean I’m off the hook. It just means God beat some things out of me that had to go before the stakes were any higher. And he continues to do that. Daily.

It’s way too easy for your platform to outgrow your character.Click To Tweet

So what can help you when things get bigger than you thought, whether that’s two hundred or two million?

Try this.

First, your platform isn’t yours. It’s God’s. It’s not your church or your organization. It’s His.

You don’t have a ministry, but God does (and out of his grace he chooses to use you).

Your life isn’t your own.  Are you allowing God’s spirit to loosen your grip on your life?

The more I remind myself of these things, the healthier I am.

Second, it’s a platform, not a pedestal. There is a world of difference between a platform and a pedestal.

Pedestals are about ego and adulation.

Platforms are designed to be shared and used for the benefit of others.

On the days I remember that, I’m a better leader because I’m a better servant. On the days I forget it, the clock starts ticking.

There is a world of difference between a platform and a pedestal. Pedestals are about ego and adulation. Platforms are designed to be shared and used for the benefit of others.Click To Tweet

2. I Created a World Where Nobody Challenged Me

So…let’s be honest…nobody likes critics.

But the bigger your organization or church becomes, the easier it becomes to surround yourself with like-minded people who won’t challenge you.

Please hear the distinction. You need like-minded people. You have to run with people who get your mission, vision and strategy. Otherwise, your organization descends into internal chaos.

But what you really need is likeminded people who can challenge you.

You need people committed to the same vision, mission and strategy you are, but who will push your thinking and who will push you.

Sure…maybe you have an accountability partner. You can spin your accountability partner. You can say it’s better at home than it is. Maybe they should ask your wife how it’s really going.

What you really need is people who have influence with you and power over you who can speak into you. Like a board and an inner circle to whom you are transparent and to whom you are truly accountable.

I realize in the age of social media, those of us at a distance might think we have a responsibility to speak truth to power or to criticize someone from afar. But I promise you, most leaders just tune out an angry person or troll 1000 miles away from, and perhaps to some extent rightly so. You don’t know them. They don’t know you.

There are also critics inside your church who intend to harm you or the mission. Learn what you can from them, but move on. They will not help you or your church long term.

But what you and I need most is people in our lives who know us inside out, who love us and as a result of that love, tell us the truth about us.

But you’ll be tempted—so tempted—to tune those people out. Don’t.

Keep them close.

Cultivate an atmosphere in which your team and those around you can tell you the truth. How you hurt them. What you’re not seeing. What you don’t realize is that they’ll be afraid to do that. You can fire them or dismiss them.

Just welcome their feedback, and encourage their critiques.

They may feel like your enemy in the moment, but I promise you they’re your best friends. They’re on the same mission as you, and they want you to win. And to help you win means they have to call your sin.

To help you win, your friends have to call your sin.Click To Tweet

The way to cultivate that is to thank those on-mission people every time they critique you. Welcome it. Tell them how much it helped you.

And if it hurts, get on your knees and talk to God about it. Ask what needs to stick and what you can discard, but for God’s sake (literally), listen.

And in the further need of transparency, a few things that have helped me.

First, give the people close to you your passwords.

My wife can look and at times does look at anything on my phone or devices. She has ALL my passwords and I let her see ANY of my conversations. DMs. The whole thing. Especially with the women I work with and talk to.

To make it even more interesting, because of the nature of my team, they have access to virtually everything in my life—all my inboxes, my passwords, my notes. So even if my wife’s not looking, they are. Everything. And that’s a wonderful thing.

Should you share that with everyone? Of course not.

But just because everybody doesn’t need to know everything, it doesn’t mean nobody does.

Give people access. And let the people who love you challenge you.

Just because everybody doesn’t need to know everything, it doesn’t mean nobody does. Click To Tweet

3. I Stayed Too Long

This isn’t a problem for everyone, but it is a problem for many of us.

I’ve been in the same church for 24 years. And you know what, we grow bored and accustomed to power. So I change it up. Regularly. That’s another story for another day.

And just over three years ago, I moved out of the Lead Pastor role and into a Founding and Teaching Pastor role at our church. Why? Because I sensed the season of me being the point leader at the church I founded was ending.

I wanted to jump before I was pushed. I wanted to leave while I was still serving the church, not when the church was serving me. I wanted to go while I was still fresh, not when everything grew so stale that everyone knew it was time for me to go except me.

By all accounts, I left early. But looking back, I think the timing was perfect.

Don Miller did an incredible interview with author Stephen Mansfield who shared 10 signs a leader is heading toward a leadership crash.

Sign #1? The leader stayed too long.

I get why leaders stay too long: it’s all you know how to do, and financially, you can’t afford to leave. But that’s such a mistake.

First of all, you’re supposed to serve the church. It’s not supposed to serve you. Secondly, I get that you’re not ready for retirement. But that’s not a tenure or honour issue: it’s a financial issue. Boards should get far better at handling financial issues as financial issues, not tenure issues. (I wrote more on why pastors stay too long and the succession crisis facing the church here.)

When I jumped out of the Lead Pastor role, I took a pay cut. It was a huge trust issue.

But I promise you, trusting God is never a bad thing. So trust God.

Leaders, you’re supposed to serve the church. It’s not supposed to serve you.Click To Tweet

4. Somewhere Along The Way, I Lost My Soul

You got into this for the right reasons. I know you did. Everybody does.

But somewhere along the way, it’s too easy to lose your soul.

How exactly does that happen? Well, it’s a subtle art.

Most leaders who sell their souls aren’t 100% on the right track one day and the next day wake up in someone else’s bed. It just doesn’t usually work that way.

Selling your soul starts with compromise.

You look at a little porn. Once. Okay, twice. Okay, a little more, and soon it’s a habit…

You flirted with her once…then again. Then you were emotionally entangled.. And then…

You started justifying your impulsiveness. If they only knew the pressure I’m under, they’d be this way too, you told yourself. And you repeated that to yourself the next day, and the next…

You swore a bit because just because you think cussing a little doesn’t mean you’re not a Christian.  But now, you internal dialogue is just so foul…

You had the one drink…then the other, then every Friday, then most days…

You blew your stack at the meeting the other day, but man they were being dumb, and you’re the leader, and you can get away with it, and…

And before you know it, a thousand little compromises left you compromised.

You’ve gotten so ugly you don’t recognize yourself in the mirror.

The challenge is several fold.

The more I see leadership as a trust, the less likely I am to use it for personal gain or to indulge my flaws.

Second, the more sensitive I become to the impact of my actions and attitude on the people closest to me, the better I lead. The gravitational pull is to to make excuses to those closest to you or find people who tolerate your weaknesses. And that’s a mistake (see #2 above).

I need to become expert at noticing the little compromises.  I don’t have to confess them to my whole team, but I need to confess to someone.  Bringing them into the light when they’re small prevents them from growing into something sinister.

The challenge in leadership is to live in a way that people closest to you become the people most grateful for you. And people become truly grateful for you when your life is characterized by humility, confession and grace.

Live in a way that people closest to you become the people most grateful for you.Click To Tweet

5. I Invested Too little Time at Home

Often—not always, but often—when you talk to leaders who are no longer in leaders, you realize that there were some serious issues in their marriage that were either neglected or never resolved.

And that can create a vicious cycle where because things aren’t going well at home, you throw yourself even harder into your work because you feel you can win there, all of which makes home go even more poorly.

Here’s what I’ve come to believe: Ultimately, everything rides on how you lead at home. 

If you’re winning at work but losing at home, you’re losing.

The stakes are high.

If you’re winning at work but losing at home, you’re losing.Click To Tweet

The difficult issues you work through in your home life will make you a wiser, stronger leader organizationally. Like many couples, my wife Toni and I have worked through some difficult seasons and (thankfully), came through to a better place.

But in my thirties, I became so consumed with work because it was honestly just easier to win at church than it was to win at home.

Why do so many leaders fall for that trap? There are at least three reasons.

There’s a clearer scoreboard at work. You can accomplish things far easier at work than you can at home.

It’s easier to earn respect at work than it is at home because you hold a title, and for senior leaders, direct a team.

You can avoid the hard conversations at home by staying later and working longer.

All of these are terrible reasons of course, but that doesn’t keep leaders from falling for them. I’ve fallen for them in different seasons too.

The challenge with home, of course, is that no one is that impressed by your title, latest progress or corner office.

But lead poorly at home for more than a season and the consequences will play out in several ways throughout your life and leadership:

You may win in ministry but lose the heart and affection of your family. Most of us have met leaders whose family is still together but deeply resents the leader’s organization.

Your leadership in ministry might be permanently stunted as unresolved character issues leak from home into your organizational leadership. Your flaws tend to eventually impact everything you lead and touch.

You might lose it all – the collapse of your family might lead to the collapse of your ministry and leadership.

See what’s at stake?

But here’s the truth.  You can’t have a great ministry and bad marriage. A bad marriage will eventually undermine a great ministry.

So if you’re struggling at home, invest more there. It will be painful at first. It may involve expensive counselling and hours (days, months…) of wading through mud. Do it.

I look at the investment I’ve made over the last 15 years in counselling, coaching, retreats and more time on my knees, and I can’t believe how much it’s paid off. Naturally, I still have a long way to go. The ancients called this process sanctification, and it’s never done. But things can get better. They really can.

Lead well at home, and you will inevitably become a better leader in your ministry or organization.

It’s just too easy to lose at home. So don’t.

You can’t have a great ministry and bad marriage. A bad marriage will obliterate a great ministry. Click To Tweet

Addendum: Four Likely Reasons Billy Graham Finished Well

The news is not all bad. There are more than a few long-time leaders who appear to be leading and finishing very well.

Billy Graham was certainly one of them.

Most people in church leadership are aware of the Billy Graham rule: never meet alone with a member of the opposite sex. And while it has its critics and limits, it’s helped many people.

Thank you to Kadi Cole who alerted me to the origin of the Billy Graham rule in her fantastic  new book, Developing Female Leaders.

As Kadi points out, the Billy Graham rule actually had four aspects. Billy and a few of his colleagues got together in 1948 in Modesto California in 1948 after seeing other evangelists become entangled in affairs, greed and running down local churches.

It consists of four rules:

Financial integrity…so that Billy Graham and his team would not raise money themselves at crusades.
Sexual integrity…so they wouldn’t fall victim to affairs or impropriety.
Respect for local churches…so they would build up local churches, rather than compete with them.
A commitment to accuracy in reporting…so they would not exaggerate how many people attended or how ‘successful’ their ministry was.

All four issues are still real issues. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

You can read Billy Graham’s own description of the Modesto Manifesto here.

Some Deeper Help

13 years ago, I burned out. By the grace of God, there are no affair, nothing that precluded me from moving forward in ministry except my loss of energy and passion.

By the grace of God, I recovered, and it’s become a passion of mine not only to thrive in life and leadership, but to help other leaders do the same.

Of course none of us have mastered this entirely and it’s an ongoing commitment, but I recently released two resources that I hope can help you.

The first is my latest book, Didn’t See It Coming, which outlines how issues like cynicism, compromise, pride, burnout and disconnection can take out leaders or stunt their potential. You can explore more or get a copy here.

The second resource is my High Impact Leader Course, where I show you how to avoid burnout, get more done at work and have more time to be fully present at home by getting time, energy and priorities working in your favour. It’s an on-line, on demand course that outlines the principles I’ve used over the last decade+ to get healthy. The course has helped thousands of leaders do the same.

You can learn more or enrol in the High Impact Leader here.

What Do You See?

I would love to hear in the comments some of the things you see in your own life that you need to watch.

Please don’t pile on leaders who are already down or take cheap shots at people or the church. I’ll delete those comments. This isn’t a place to make the problem worse.

I want this to be a place to help us all find solutions that create a better future.

So as you look inside, what seeds of failure and seeds to finish well do you see inside yourself?

Scroll down and leave a comment.

The post Some Thoughts On Why MegaChurch Pastors Keep Falling appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: Some Thoughts On Why MegaChurch Pastors Keep Falling

The post Some Thoughts On Why MegaChurch Pastors Keep Falling appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof: In a polarized culture filled with a growing number of angry people, how do you find your voice, counter arguments and keep your sanity?

Messy Grace author Caleb Kaltenbach is back with a fresh look on how to embrace a culture of outrage and division. Conservatives and liberals both struggle to respond to the changes around them, let alone to one another. Caleb offers and outlines option for the culture that merits every leader’s attention.

Welcome to Episode 192 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Win a Free Copy of Caleb’s New Book

Want to win a copy of Caleb’s new book, “God of Tomorrow”?

To be eligible to win Caleb’s book:

1) Go to my Facebook page.
2) Like Caleb’s post pinned to the top of the page.

2) Share it; and then

3) Subscribe to the podcast (current subscribers will still be included in the contest if they like and share this post)

Then enjoy this interview.

My team will select the winners on Thursday, May 17th.

Guest Links

Caleb on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

CalebKaltenbach.com | God of Tomorrow available now!

Messy Grace

CNLP 033: Growing Up With Gay Parents—An Interview With Caleb Kaltenbach

Links Mentioned

Join The Art of Better Preaching waitlist today! Don’t miss out on open enrollment coming summer 2018!

Visit DesignCrowd.com/Carey for your $100 VIP discount!

3 Insights from This Episode

1. There are 3 Ways People Engage (or don’t engage) in Our Constantly Changing Society

We live in a divided culture. Historically, it’s always been this way, but the tensions of the current climate have stirred up a great deal of fear in many Christians.

Fear isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just depends on how you manage it. We fear what we don’t understand and can’t control. In Caleb’s new book, God of Tomorrow , he shares 3 ways Christians choose to manage their fears when engaging a society that is constantly challenging moral values.

Aggressively Fighting with a Broken Society – viewing the opposition as the enemy
Surrendering and Fully Hopping on Board with Society – ignoring the tough subjects for the sake of not hurting others or stirring up conflict
Investing in Society with Empathy and Conviction – abstaining from negativity with a listening ear,  while still standing up for values and injustice.

2. Social Media Filters Are Always a Good Idea

We all know social media has its good and bad sides. Most times, it seems the bad upstages the good – or at least grabs the biggest attention. Engaging in it can be tempting, especially with the best of intentions when it comes to topics close to your heart. Caleb offers 3 simple and smart tips to consider before sending that next potentially damaging post.

Don’t post something online if…

1. You wouldn’t say it to someone’s face.

2. It doesn’t apply to a majority of your followers.

3. It doesn’t lead to encouragement.

3. Allowing Difficult People In Our Lives Creates Opportunities for Jesus to Move

The easiest way to rid your life of difficult people is to kick them out or remove yourself from their paths, but the only person that serves is yourself and in the end, can lead to a callused, empty heart.

There’s nothing wrong with maintaining a healthy level of boundaries when it comes to protecting yourself (and in extreme cases, separation is absolutely necessary), but when you separate from people who are different than you, you are running away from the opportunity to be made more like Jesus. It’s a commitment you are called to make over and over again, because there’s always a chance that God can use you to make a change in the life of someone who needs Him.

Quotes from This Episode

Our differences should drive us to people, not from them.” – @calebwildsClick To Tweet

We fear that which we cannot understand and that which we cannot control.” – @calebwildsClick To Tweet

Combativeness without compassion is always going to be counterproductive.” – @calebwildsClick To Tweet

Allow difficult people in your life because they make you more like Christ.” – @calebwildsClick To Tweet

A lack of empathy will always lead to shame.” – @calebwildsClick To Tweet

Our theology never changes, but out posture towards society has to change.” – @calebwildsClick To Tweet

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Next Episode: Clay Scroggins  

There’s no question we’re undergoing one of the biggest transformations in history, but the digital disruption that’s happening around us every day has caught most church and business leaders off guard. Clay talks about how large and small organizations are missing out on one of the greatest opportunities there is, and some ideas on how to respond.

Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 193.

The post CNLP 192: Caleb Kaltenbach on How to Embrace an Outraged and Polarized Culture Most Leaders No Longer Like appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 192: Caleb Kaltenbach on How to Embrace an Outraged and Polarized Culture Most Leaders No Longer Like

The post CNLP 192: Caleb Kaltenbach on How to Embrace an Outraged and Polarized Culture Most Leaders No Longer Like appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof: You don’t need to be anything more than a casual observer of American (and Western) culture to know that something significant is happening.

Charlottesville, Ferguson, Baltimore and a host of other cities that have seen events which symbolize the problems this generation is struggling with will, sadly, likely give way to a list of more cities and events yet to come. Terror attacks in North America and a host of global cities seem to happen weekly. In addition, the current political division is as bad as it’s been in a long time.

The violence, destruction, and tension have become so normal that we no longer even post the “Pray For [Insert City Here]” graphics that used to earnestly spring up on social media whenever a new crisis emerged. There are just too many, and we’ve become too numb.

Add some unbelievable political tension into the mix, and most of us don’t know how to respond. Even as someone who lives north of the US border, has a great affection for the US and has many friends in America, we all feel the tension to one extent or another and are living through it.

No church in Canada or anywhere in the West can pretend we’re not living in an age of heightened tension.

So how do we respond to the situation we’re in? While some in our culture believe the church is part of the problem, I believe it’s key to the solution.

Jesus is the love we keep missing as human beings. He is who we all really long for, and in Christ, we find our unity.

So how does the church better function as part of the solution rather than as part of the problem?

Here are four ways Christians and the church can bring hope to the increasingly fragile culture around us.

Some in our culture believe the church is part of the problem, maybe it’s key to the solution.Click To Tweet

1. Be A Confessor in a Culture of Blame

It’s so easy to point the finger at someone else. This is true in human relationships (think about your marriage), but it’s also true culturally.

So when any kind of tension arises, ask yourself what you own before asking anyone else what they own.

Violence begins in our hearts before it ever hits the street. A nation and the world become divided because our hearts are divided.

Too often Christians focus on what we can’t change and ignore what we can.

All of this is what confession is designed to root out.

Imagine what would happen if Christians owned the racism, sexism and other isms that live in our hearts. Imagine what might happen if we confessed that we have not adequately loved people who are different than us.

Maybe true prayers of confession are rare in church  (they are usually either rote or non-existent) because they’re rare in leaders.

Maybe true prayers of confession are rare in church because they’re rare in leaders.Click To Tweet

It’s so easy to believe you’re right and everyone else is wrong. There’s a sense in which that’s normal. I hope you believe you’re right about what matters most, otherwise, why do you hold your conviction?

But… you are not always right. And you don’t hold a monopoly on truth. Your perspective and mine are flawed. None of us loves perfectly or deeply enough.

When you confess that you’re part of the problem, the solution becomes clearer. You will never address the wrong you don’t confess.

You will never address the wrong you don’t confess.Click To Tweet

2. Foster Conversation in a Culture That Shouts

Thanks to social media, everybody has a platform. A ridiculous amount of people use theirs to shout rather than to listen.

Just check your feed at any given moment, and it’s likely crammed with everything from people WHO SPEAK IN ALL CAPS to links denouncing the other side (whoever that other side is) to proclaiming how they’ve figured out what all the dumb people haven’t.

This translates into real life too. Conversations seem to be devolving into an exchange of monologues between two people who don’t seem terribly interested in each other.

People appear to be talking at each other as much as they’re talking with each other. I’ll share my opinions and then you can share your opinions. That’s not conversation.

People today appear to be talking at each other as much as they’re talking with each other.Click To Tweet

You know what’s missing in the current culture?

Well, a bunch of things.

Listening

Thoughtfulness

Humility

Kindness

Openness

Genuine, authentic conversation features all of those elements and more.

When was the last time you had a genuine conversation with someone who doesn’t share your values? By that, I mean an exchange where you listened as much as you spoke? Tried to understand more than you tried to be understood? Cared about them as much as you ever cared about your point of view?

That’s what conversation is. And conversation an endangered species in our current culture.

Love listens. So should Christians.

Love listens. So should Christians.Click To Tweet

3. Broker Meaning in the Age of Information

Information used to be rare.

Remember when you couldn’t just google an answer to any question? You had to ask. Find an expert. Pull an encyclopedia off the shelf.

The last decade has fundamentally changed that in two ways:

1. You can find almost any information or content you want for free. When was the last time you googled something you couldn’t find an answer to without paying? Exactly.

2. Everbody’s a publisher. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, SnapChat, Instagram and other platforms have turned anyone and everyone into content producers, and self-publishing has turned every half-serious writer into an author.

As a result, the crisis in our culture no longer centers on access to information. We have more information than we know how to process.

You’ve felt this every time you’ve scrolled through your social media or news feed and thought “there is nothing of value here at all.”

In fact, on some days, the constant rants, drivel, trivial observations, bragging, hatred, ranting, self-promotion and complaining has made you think about giving up social media altogether.

Consequently, we have a new crisis. The current crisis in our culture isn’t a crisis of information, it’s a crisis of meaning. We have a million springs of endless information and we have no idea what it all means.

The current crisis in our culture isn’t a crisis of information, it’s a crisis of meaning.Click To Tweet

The challenge for church leaders moving forward is not just to produce more content. The challenge is to provide meaning. 

I believe the future belongs to leaders who broker meaning in the sea of endless content. 

It follows, then, that the key to providing meaning isn’t more, it’s better. More content will simply get lost the constant chatter.

More without meaning will make you less relevant. You become yet another unhelpful voice.

Better is not nearly as easy as more. Better requires thought, reflection, digestion and ultimately resonance (it’s resonance that tells you your content is connecting).

This provides a huge opportunity for church leaders. Who better to provide meaning than the leaders called to share timeless truth in an era starved for meaning?

There’s a generation of people looking for love in a world of hate. Looking for truth in an age of relativity. Looking for something to cling to when everything else seems to be falling apart.

Leaders who read widely, pray, digest, think, and above all produce content that actually helps people find meaning will become leaders in their field.

4. Be the Counter-culture

If there was ever a time for the countercultural message of Christianity to offer a real alternative, this is it.

When the church simply reflects the social or moral values of an increasingly post-Christian culture, we echo the current emptiness; we don’t echo God.

This is where the message of authentic Christianity and the church have so much to offer. In an age that says “My belief demands your life,” authentic Christianity says “My belief surrenders mine.”

In an age that says “My belief demands your life,” Christianity says “My belief surrenders mine.” Click To Tweet

In an age that says “Hate your enemy,” Christ says “Love him.”

Christianity is a fusion of grace and truth because Jesus is the embodiment of grace of truth. The challenge, of course, is that most of us instinctively lean toward either grace or truth. It seems easier, but it’s incomplete and wrong.

Grace without truth produces a spineless sentiment that helps no one.

Truth without grace is cruel, a twisted imitation of what love actually looks like.

Neither reflects the heart of God.

Grace without truth produces a spineless sentiment that helps no one.Click To Tweet

Truth without grace is cruel, a twisted imitation of what love actually looks like.Click To Tweet

Christ is truth and grace majestically woven together. He is love that moves you out of sin. He is truth that simultaneously makes you realize how horrible it really is, and how loved you really are.

Fusing grace and truth is an exceptionally difficult venture and is usually only successful when you spend significant amounts of time on your knees and when the source of your attempt is actually Christ himself. I am rarely good at it, flipping from one side to the other too quickly.

But when you see grace and truth fused, it takes your breath away.

The more we reflect the fusion of grace and truth, the greater the alternative we offer people. Without Christ, people either get cheap grace or fake truth.

In Christ, people experience the fusion of grace and truth every heart most deeply longs for.

Grace fused to truth is what our hearts most deeply long for.Click To Tweet

What Are You Doing to Diffuse the Tension?

Your most significant contribution to diffusing the tension will not be in what you think (although it begins there). It will be in what you do.

A few things to think about before you go. I promise you, these are as challenging for me as they might be for you:

How diverse is your dinner table? Do you only ever have people over to your house who look like you, make the same amount of money (or more) than you do, share the same values as you? Or are you engaging people who are different than you? This is about race but also goes far beyond race to the myriad of other barriers we erect in our lives.

When was the last time you listened as much as you spoke?

When was the last time you confessed your sin to God rather than trotting out someone else’s asking God to change them?

How long has it been since you served someone who is different than you…helped them tangibly?

What you’re doing almost always beats what you’re saying.Click To Tweet

What are you doing to diffuse the tension you feel that’s helped? I’d love to know.

Scroll down and leave a comment.

The post The Current American Tension and 4 Opportunities for the Church appeared first on Carey Nieuwhof.

Source: The Current American Tension and 4 Opportunities for the Church

The post The Current American Tension and 4 Opportunities for the Church appeared first on Passion for Planting.