by Impact Discipleship Ministries: Here is one question every pastor ought to ask: “Who are you discipling?” If the mission of the Church is to make disciples, then every pastor ought to be making them. Every pastor ought to be personally engaged in the mission of making disciples. Why are so many pastors not personally making disciples? Let’s walk through some possible reasons pastors are not making disciples.

Reason #1: I am too busy!

I have known many a pastor who claimed to be too busy for making disciples. Those pastors have a lot of activities on their calendars and have not prioritized space for disciple making. Can I remind you that we all have exactly the same amount of time in a week? Everyone has 168 hours in a week. Pastor, if you are too busy to make disciples as Jesus did, you are just too busy. Do not become so busy you cannot make time to do the very thing Jesus came to do. No one in history was as busy as Jesus, and He still made time for disciple making.

This blog is from our partner Impact Discipleship Ministries. Sign up here to get updates sent to your inbox about ministries like theirs so you can grow as a disciple maker.

Reason #2: I don’t know how!

Not knowing how to disciple someone is a very legitimate reason for why a pastor may not be making more disciples. If pastors have never been discipled or taught how to make more disciples, it makes since that they would not know how to begin that process. The good news is that everyone can learn. Even if you have never been discipled, you have the perfect model in Jesus. I encourage you to learn from other disciple making pastors, but let Jesus be the model you follow. Study His life and ministry and learn how He went about making disciples. You cannot go wrong studying Jesus’ approach to disciple making.

Reason #3: It’s not a priority!

I know several pastors who simply do not believe disciple making should be the main priority in their ministries. They are not claiming to be too busy or uninformed: they simply do not see it as the main goal. These pastors may not realize it, but failing to make disciples is an act of disobedience to God. Jesus Himself called us to come after Him in making disciples. If something is a priority for Christ, it certainly ought to be a priority for every pastor leading Christ’s Church.

By Impact Discipleship Ministries

Impact Discipleship Ministries exists to help you be and build disciples. For resources or training for disciple making, check out their website or contact them through impactdisciples.com.

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Source: Pastor, Are You Making Disciples?

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by Carey Nieuwhof: Let’s face it, you’d love to have ideal conditions to lead in. Who wouldn’t?

And while, ideally:

Your team would be perfectly motivated to achieve the mission

No good team member would ever leave

You’d be inspired to write every day

The people you’re trying to reach would be open and receptive

You’d introduce change without any fear or pushback

All your ideas would be great ideas

Life isn’t like that. At all.

And yet it’s easy to get into a place where you’re hesitant to act, constantly frustrated and thinking of quitting because things never seem like they’re as easy as they should be.

Yet here’s what’s true: if you waiting for perfect conditions to act in leadership, you’ll wait forever.

If you’re waiting for perfect conditions to act in leadership, you’ll wait forever.Click To Tweet

There Will Never Be…

There will never be

A surplus of amazing team members

Quite enough money

Thunderous applause every time you introduce a new idea

An absence of doubt when it’s time to pull the trigger

I feel this again and again. Whether it’s writing this blog (every post could be better), launching a new podcast episode (what am I missing that could make it better) or writing a book (I don’t know if this chapter measures up),  writing a sermon (this one isn’t as good as the last one) or hiring a team member (are we now over-staffed, understaffed???) conditions never seem ideal.

I have that even with cycling. I’m trying to hit a goal of 3500 km this year (about 2000 miles), and every day I think of going it’s a little too windy/cold/wet/hot/busy for me to hit the road.

You know the best way to hit a goal of 3500 km? Ride whether you want to or not.

Ditto with leadership. Lead whether you feel like it or not. Whether things are perfect or not.

Leaders have a bias for action and nothing produces traction like action.

The question is: how do you get there? What do you do if you’re still not sure conditions are right to act?

Here are a few things that continue to help me push through the inertia of life and leadership.

Leaders have a bias for action. Nothing produces traction like action.Click To Tweet

1. Focus on what you can control, not on what you can’t

It is so easy to focus on what you can’t control in leadership.

If you let your mind go there, there’s so much you can’t control. Here’s a very partial list of the things you can’t control:

Other people

The market,

Your team

The economy

The weather

Other people’s reactions

Your boss

Time

Other people’s actions

Honestly, the list could go on and on.

Here’s what you can control: you.

You can control your indecision, your willingness to act through fear, your response, your attitude, your determination, your willingness to try when everything else inside you wants to give up.

So many people focus on what they can’t control. Leaders focus on what they can control. Even if that’s a small list, think about what you can do, not what you can’t, and you’ll make far more progress.

You’ll also enjoy this life and leadership far more.

Focus on what you can control, not on what you can’t. Click To Tweet

2. Don’t Lie About How Bad It Is.  Then Act Anyway.

One of the leader’s first jobs is, as Jim Collins says, to confront the brutal facts.

I have seen way too many leaders publicly say their organization is growing when in fact it’s flat, or who pretend they’re financially healthy when they’re not.

Listen, I feel all those urges to spin, manipulate and pretend it’s better than it is. Don’t.

Leaders are dealers in hope, but we’re not dealers in deception.

An inferior (and unethical) way to lead is to tell people everything’s better than it is. “Everything’s fine. We’re doing great. I’m excited for the future.” Your best leaders can sense when there’s a gap between reality and your words. And they hate spin.

A much better way is to say “So we can see this is not our finest hour. We have our challenges. But I’m ready to move forward. We can make this far better than it is. If we all pull together, we’ll shape a much better future. Who’s ready to go?”

Be honest with yourself. Honest with God. Honest with your team.

A realistic assessment of the present creates the best basis from which to forge a better future.

A realistic assessment of the present creates the best basis from which to forge a better future.Click To Tweet

3. Focus on What You Can Do, Not On What You Can’t

This sounds like a repeat of the first point, it’s not.

You and I have both been in situations where there are 10 things we can’t do because we don’t have the money, time, or resources. It’s hard in that moment not just to call it a day.

Wise leaders look for the one or two things they can do. Then they do them.

When things are really down, ask yourself: what is the one thing I can do? There’s always something.

Then do it.

Maybe you can

Pick up the phone one more time.

Meet with the one capable lead who said she’s in.

Build your strategic plan around the one idea that survived

If you spend your days thinking about what you can’t do, you’ll do nothing.

If instead, you look for what’s possible, you’re far more likely to turn what’s possible into what’s probable. And maybe, just maybe, what’s possible will one day look like it was inevitable.

There are so many things today that seem inevitable that two decades ago seemed so unlikely: that people would share their cars (Uber, Lyft, Turo) or homes (Airbnb), or that photo sharing would replace photo printing as the primary way pictures are consumed (Instagram), or that people would have a seemingly endless capacity for creating and watching user-made videos (YouTube, Vimeo).

If you listen to the origin stories of many of these companies, most almost failed before they succeeded. But they kept focusing on what they could do, not on what they couldn’t.

Think about it.

There’s always a church planter (or transitioner) who has a thriving congregation in a city where churches don’t grow.

In every city there are retailers who have burgeoning businesses even as most other retail dies.

Leaders…focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t.

Leaders…focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t. Click To Tweet

4. Ditch Your Excuses

Underneath all of this is our tendency to make excuses.

There are always reasons not to do something. It usually is too cold/wet/hot/dry/tenuous/uncertain/fragile/unclear to do what you have in your heart to do.

But great lives are never built on excuses. Right now, your excuses seem quite compelling to you. But fast forward twenty years and tell your future self and everyone else why you didn’t act, why you didn’t do what you knew you were supposed to do. In the future, your excuses won’t sound compelling. They’ll actually sound sad.

Beside, excuses are the enemy of progress. You can make excuses, or you can make progress, but you can’t make both.

So what are you going to do?

Make excuses?

Or make progress.

Excuses are the enemy of progress. You can make excuses, or you can make progress, but you can’t make both. Click To Tweet

Get Over Yourself (And Find a Renewed You)

Find posts like this overwhelming because it leaves you wondering how on earth you’ll find time to do any of this?

When will you find time to push through the inertia and really dig into the problems you face? To take care of yourself in the process? And to forge a new future.

Let me help.

My approach to life and leadership changed radically for me over ten years ago when I figured out how to get time, energy and priorities working in my favour.

I’d love to help you free up hours each day to do the same thing. And I’ve helped over 5000 leaders do just that.

If you’re trying to find the time for what matters most in life, my High Impact Leader course, is my online, on-demand course designed to help you get time, energy and priorities working in your favour.

Many leaders who have taken it are recovering 3 productive hours a day.  That’s about 1000 hours of found time each year. That’s a lot of time for what matters most.

Here are what some alumni are saying about The High Impact Leader Course”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you for providing the course again. It has absolutely made an impact in my life and family already that I can’t even describe.” – Joel Rowland, Clayton County, North Carolina

“Just wow.  Thank you, thank you.” Dave Campbell,  Sioux Falls South Dakota

“A game changer.” Pam Perkins,  Colorado Springs, Colorado

Curious? Want to beat overwhelm and have the time to reflect, rest and reinvent yourself?

Click here to learn more or get instant access.

What Helps You Lead?

The bottom line moving into the future?

Leaders who learn to launch in imperfect conditions will always have something to lead. Leaders who don’t, won’t.

Leaders who learn to launch in imperfect conditions will always have something to lead. Leaders who don’t, won’t.Click To Tweet

What helps you lead when conditions are imperfect?

Scroll down and leave a comment!

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Source: How to Lead Through Imperfect Conditions

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By Patrick Bradley: If you haven’t heard this response yet in your church planting journey, you will: “Call me back when you’re a real church.” Have a plan to address this before you’re hit with it.

Oh, they never say it exactly like that. But when you invite someone to get involved in the church plant before you have weekly Sunday morning gatherings, it’ll come up. Usually, it sounds more like:

Sounds cool! Let me know when you’ve launched and we’ll check you out
You don’t have a building yet? Keep me posted
I’ll definitely be there for the grand opening!
etc.

If you’re unprepared, it can be disheartening. You see the beauty and adventure going on now and want people to share it.

But instead of letting their response deflate you, accept it as the challenge that it is.

What’s Really Going On

Encoded in this common response are all kinds of potential messages:

You Don’t Fit in my Box

Somewhere in our collective American psyche, there’s a baseline understanding that church happens on Sunday mornings. Your church plant is not at that stage yet, so some people won’t know what to do with you. You might even get asked if you’re some kind of cult.

My Theology of Church is Off

Some people have only experienced a consumerist, non-participatory, only-show-up-on-Sunday-morning kind of church. That may be their fault or another church’s. Regardless, they don’t know what being part of the church is like Monday through Saturday. Or they’re not interested.

I’m Not Ready to Commit

They might be begging you off because they’re not ready to commit to getting involved in a brand new church. They may or may not have any idea what it even entails. But probably they’re politely telling you no.

How to Prepare

Here are some pointers on how to be ready for the “when you’re a real church” response to an invitation:

Let go of any need to control their response
Pray through how God would have you lovingly challenge their assumptions; this may be their God-appointment to grow their ecclesiology
Recognize that this response overwhelmingly comes from already-churched people
Remember that they are people, not grist for your organizational machine
Be clear about what exactly you’re inviting them to (that isn’t Sunday morning worship)

I don’t have to convince you that church is so much more than an event on Sunday morning. But you may have to convince them.

The post Call Me Back When You’re a Real Church appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: Call Me Back When You’re a Real Church

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The following is a guest post by Barry Smith of YouChoose.Community, a friend, veteran church planter, assessor, coach, author and nonprofit founder.

We’ve all heard it, and it can be paralyzing: “I’m just not getting fed anymore!”

It’s a dagger to the heart. It’s the comment that breaks the pastor’s back. The phrase that makes the most pious planter want to cuss like a sailor. It’s the excuse, if repeated, that can make us want to quit.

It could be a façade they’re hiding behind. But you know you’ve been preaching your best stuff and nothing has changed. Let’s assume they legitimately feel this way. What’s the basis for this ridiculousness?

1. The pastor and/or preaching has changed

They’ll say something like, “Things just aren’t the same. It used to be so exciting and interesting. The pastor was so passionate. It’s like everything he said spoke directly to me. But now I just can’t relate as much. I’m just not getting fed anymore. I want deeper teaching.”

A bad way to respond: “Every pastor knows that a person’s discipleship is their own responsibility. To give credit to or put blame on a weekend service is shortsighted, if not ludicrous. Grow up, parishioner, and take responsibility for your own growth!”

2. The church got too big

“It’s like no one notices me anymore. I don’t know anybody. And when I miss a service, nobody calls me.”

What you might think to yourself: “Are you flippin’ kidding me? Too many people are getting saved and growing in their faith? How horrible. We’ll immediately kick some people out so you can be more comfortable. You’ve probably already disconnected, stopped tithing, or never even got involved in growing in the first place.”

3. The focus has changed

“I’m just not sure I buy into the vision anymore. It’s turned into a big show. And all you do is ask for money and tell us to invite our neighbors. It seems like you only care about unchurched people. What about me? Don’t you care about me anymore?”

Your flesh reacts: “Of course we care about you, fool. Think about it… it was all of this horrible outreach mentality and concern for people outside the walls of our church that actually connected you to our body. In fact, you probably wouldn’t even know Jesus if it weren’t for our church.”

A More Spirit-Led Response

There is a solution to all this insanity: start a 3/3 (three thirds) group. These groups have been called many things over the years:

faith community
house church
missional community
small group
discipleship group

It doesn’t matter what you call them. What’s most important is what happens in the group.

The Three Thirds

The top of the fraction stands for the 3 topics of the group:

Sharing
Knowledge
Application

They are like the 3 legs of a stool: if one is short or missing, the whole stool is off kilter.

The bottom of the fraction represents that 1/3 of the total time is spent on each topic. They are equal in importance. Too many discipleship settings spend time exclusively in Bible study, memorization, and prayer. Obviously, those things are important. But they miss inviting the Spirit to lead them in applying what they’ve learned, and then sharing at the next meeting how they did at obeying what God told them to do.

The 3/3 group gains further success by its being made up of their 11 closest family and friends. They never have to birth, split, branch, or multiply. These 12 gather on a weekly basis and spend time studying Scripture, applying it to their lives, and holding one another accountable in a loving environment. And when you get each of them to have a top three list of people they’re praying will meet Jesus, AND to help other groups form as well – that’s going to produce disciples who make disciples.

When everyone spends an equal amount of time in each of these three legs, they will consistently obey what the Holy Spirit leads them to do.

Nobody can be “just not getting fed anymore”! Growth is all but guaranteed! And this type of discipleship group eliminates most weekend service complaints because everyone is getting fed by God and not a weekend service. This is humbling to the primary communicator… but it is effective.

I’ve known Barry for almost 20 years and love his heart for reaching people and starting new things. He’s the founder of YouChoose.Community – an online ministry where you choose when, where, how, and with whom you do faith. YouChoose has communities in California, Indiana and India. You can learn more at www.YouChoose.Community, www.barryonline.com and Family With Purpose, a company through which he and his wife serve families.

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Source: How to Feed Those Who Are Just Not Getting Fed Anymore

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by Carey Nieuwhof: I often hear from people who say “We don’t any need more ideas/strategies/conferences/skills…all we need to do is ________,” and then they fill in the blank with something that sounds spiritual.

Maybe you have people like that at your church, or someone like that on your team.

It’s amazing how common this perspective is.

You know the drill.  Every time you suggest “Why don’t we try reformatting our services/changing our kids ministry/reaching out into the community” they shoot back with “what we really need to do is just pray” (or “what we really need to do is get back to the Bible…”) as though that settled the discussion.

Sometimes, of course, it’s not other people who have the problem. Maybe you’ve fallen for a leadership cop-out too—dodging the real issue by putting a spiritual mask over it.

Can it be that something that sounds so spiritual can actually stop some very spiritual work?

Well, yes. The answer is yes. In the name of God, some people end up opposing the work of God. And it’s all done in the most holy-sounding way.

Here are three leadership cop-outs that sound spiritual, but aren’t.

In the name of God, some people end up opposing the work of God.Click To Tweet

1. All we need to do is pray about it

This sounds so good. After all, how can prayer be a BAD thing?

I mean how are you supposed to counter that? It puts you or anyone around you in a horribly awkward position.

If you disagree, you sound like you’re coming out against prayer.

If you agree, you’ve just mothballed any productive strategy conversations.

I mean who really wants to come out against prayer? Not me. Not you.

And so, not sure what to do, we shut down the leadership conversation and all the potential that comes with it.

Prayer alone can become a smokescreen. Why? Because while prayer is foundational, God almost always moves people to do something.

The walls of Jericho ultimately fell down because having heard from God, people obeyed God, marching around the city for a week, blasting trumpets and shouting.

The early church grew because Paul prayed day and night then got out on a boat, escaped from jail and kept preaching the Gospel even if it put his life in danger, which it did again and again.

Jesus prayed all night long and then went out from city to city encountering people in a way that changed their lives and the world.

All of this kind of sounds like strategy doesn’t it?

Interestingly enough, the scripture is filled with strategy if you look for it.

I haven’t become an atheist. I agree that the church needs more prayer and I believe all authentic, effective ministry is rooted in prayer.

But saying “All we need to do is pray” really misses how God works.

If all we needed to do was pray, we could lock ourselves in a closet and never come out. But I’m not sure that’s how God has moved historically.

What begins in prayer should end in some kind of action, because prayer without action lacks courage.

As Augustine said, pray as though everything depended on God; work as though everything depended on you.

Prayer without action lacks courage.Click To Tweet

2. We’re Just Being Faithful

I’ve seen too many leaders behave like faithfulness and effectiveness are mutually exclusive.

They’re not.

Just because you’re being effective doesn’t mean you’re being faithful, but just because you’re being faithful doesn’t mean you’ll be ineffective.

And yet time and again I’ve seen leaders use faithfulness to justify a lack of fruitfulness.

Too many leaders use faithfulness to justify a lack of fruitfulness.Click To Tweet

Sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade.

No, you’re not being faithful. You’re being ineffective. (Enough said.)

Sometimes, church leaders, you’re not being faithful. You’re being ineffectiveClick To Tweet

3. Jesus Didn’t Have a Strategy

People often tell me “Jesus didn’t have a strategy.”

Actually, he did.

He needed one. The opposition to his ministry was so intense to approach it in a haphazard, poorly-thought-through way would have meant disaster.

Think about it.

He prepared for thirty years for a three-year mission. that’s a 10:1 preparation to accomplishment ratio. He spent ten years preparing for every year of ministry he did.

During his active ministry, Jesus would disappear again and again to pray. He knew his private input would need to exceed his public output.

Jesus intentionally organized his community of disciples into concentric circles of 70, 12, 3 and then 1. His prayer resulted in action…thoughtful action. He built a succession strategy directly into his ministry.

The night before he went to the cross, he talked to God all night in agony to prepare him for what was ahead. Do you know what that was? It was a strategy.

Leaders, a great strategy is a wonderful companion to a great prayer life.

Great strategy is a wonderful companion to a great prayer life.Click To Tweet

And it’s not just Jesus who thought and acted strategically. God noticed that Moses had a bad leadership strategy that was ultimately going to wear out both him and the people. So God used Moses’ father-in-law (of all people) to give him a new strategy that required tremendous reorganization.

The early church continually rethought its strategy as the church grew and the mission expanded (see Acts 6, Acts 13 and Acts 15 as examples).

Sometimes church people behave like strategy is the enemy.

It’s not. It has never been.

Strategy is not the enemy. Overly simplistic thinking is.

Strategy isn’t your enemy. Overly simplistic thinking is.Click To Tweet

So Where Does This Leave Us?

So what’s the point?

Strategy should be a good word in the church. And it should be a good word in your church.

That means you should have the tough conversations.

You should surface disagreements (even pray through them).

You shouldn’t skirt tough issues.

It also means you need to lead.

Leadership requires your heart but it doesn’t stop there. It requires  your soul, your strength AND your mind.

So use your mind. And your strength. And your soul.

So Next Time

So next time someone interrupts the conversation and says “What we really need to do is pray”…what should you do?

I think you might agree…and say “I agree. We should pray.”

But then add.

“And after we pray, let’s get working on the most important issues facing us. The mission is just too important to ignore them.”

And when people say their’ being faithful, challenge them to be effective. When people say Jesus didn’t have a strategy, beg to differ and sharpen your strategy (prayerfully, of course).

Great prayer can and should lead to great action.

It’s time for the church to act. And to get the best strategy we can find to accomplish the mission God has given us.

Great prayer can and should lead to great action.Click To Tweet

Some Strategic Help

In the end, a prayerful strategy can be exactly what a church team needs.

I love producing resources that I hope will help with that.

If you want to drill down on why your church isn’t reaching new people, my book, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow covers the major reasons churches fail to reach new people. In the book, I outline 7 issues that keep churches from reaching their mission. You can get it here.

Plus I’ve created a Lasting Impact Team Edition video series that will help your leadership team discuss the book in a healthy way. You can get that here.

If your church is reaching new people but is stuck an attendance plateau (this is so common in growing churches), check out my Breaking 200 Without Breaking You course. It’s designed to lead you and your team through the barriers that keep growing churches from their true potential. While it addresses the #1 church growth barrier (200 weekend attenders), it has also helped hundreds of churches scale the 400, 500 and even 700 barrier. The principles are often the same.

Click here to learn more.

Both of these resources provide deeper help for leaders who want to move forward.

Anything Else?

Have you ever run into leaders who block action in a holy-sounding way?

Anything else you’ve said or heard others say that stunts your mission?

Scroll down and leave a comment!

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Source: 3 Leadership Cop Outs That Sound Spiritual, But Aren’t

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