Leadership Helps

Good Is The Enemy Of Great!
By James Smith

I love adventure. I like eating at restaurants that I’ve never eaten at before. I like going places I’ve never been before. I will often take a wrong road intentionally just to see what is there that I’ve been missing. I want to see countries, I’ve never seen before. I want to enjoy what is just ahead.


I want to enjoy some things in the spirit realm too. I look into the Bible and I see the Apostolics in the New Testament having an all night prayer meeting for Peter. The miracle to me was not Peter getting loosed from prison. The miracle to me was a body of believers putting their agendas, and personal motives aside long enough to agree that something had to be done about Peter’s condition.


In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins states "Good to Great companies do not focus on what to do to become great; they focus equally on what not to do and what to stop doing." We are too often seeking the next gimmick or program that will take us to where we’re desiring to go in the terms of church growth or revival. The problem with that is we start new things constantly but never do perfect them, only to go on to start something else without burying what we just gave up on.


As a result of that, we have our interests and labors so divided that many of our churches are dysfunctional with regards to evangelism, instead of being the driving evangelistic force that our Lord desires us to be.


There are a few things we can stop doing that would bring us closer to having Great evangelistic moves instead of simply good moves. I believe we would go from having good church to having Great church if we would stop trying to entertain one another. Too many of our musicians are all hung up trying to entertain the crowd instead of entertaining the presence of the Lord.


We have it all backwards. We think if we sing good enough. We think if the choir ever gets it all together we will really have church. We think if we hit the right note. We think if we gesture correctly as we sing. We think that somehow the crowd will be impressed enough to give their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ.


We can’t sing good enough to give someone salvation. You can’t sing good enough to heal a broken body. You can’t sing good enough to give deliverance to a drug addict. You can’s sing or play or act good enough to save even one person’s soul, so why don’t we just entertain the Lord with our singing? It might be that we could draw his presence closer with our sincerity and hunger to worship him. If He came closer there is no telling what could happen in this place before we leave here tonight!


We don’t have Great church because we have been satisfied with good church. We don’t have Great worship services, because we are satisfied with good worship services. We don’t have Great results from our evangelist labors, because we are satisfied with good results. We don’t have thousands come in, because we are satisfied with a dozen or two per year. Just enough to make up for the ones we lost this year. We don’t have Great moves of God because we are satisfied with good moves of God. We don’t have a Great walk with God, because we are comfortable with having a good walk with God.


According to Collins, to go from good to great requires “transcending the curse of competence.” What’s wrong with competence? Competence is GOOD!


Just because we had some measure of success, it shouldn’t satisfy us to the point that we don’t want to experience something far greater. Just because we had a little growth. Just because we had a little move. Just because “we liked what we felt in the service” is not enough. We have to expect far greater things from a God of the miraculous. We can’t be satisfied with a few being added to the church in a year. We have to expect something far greater than that to happen. We can’t say that one or two per month is good enough. We have to expect one or two dozen per week.


You might say "there is no way our church could have that kind of revival". I say, "you are right", if you are thinking with mans wisdom. However, if you are thinking by FAITH, then anything is possible!

When no one cares who gets the credit.
By James Smith


There is no limit to what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit. It is important to cast a vision of servanthood to lay leaders and those in the church who serve the body of Christ.

Preach servanthood. There can be no greater example of servanthood than Jesus Christ. He was someone who could have expected everyone to serve Him. However he continually offered himself as the servant of all. You get what you preach. If the church needs to be reminded to serve one another, Preach servanthood.

Live servanthood. If Jesus can do it, so can the preacher. People live by our example more than what we preach. If we preach servanthood but live lordship, people will become confused and view it as hypocrisy.

Reward servanthood. Praise those who put others first. Openly applaud those who go out of their way to put others needs before their own. Jesus said, “When you’ve done it to the least of these, you’ve done it unto me.” He wanted us to know how important servanthood was as

Expect servanthood. People will perform the way you expect them to. Believe in the potential of servanthood in your congregation. Let people know unselfish acts should not be rare, but the norm in the Christian church.

Evangelize via servanthood. When we put other’s needs before our own and go out of our way to meet those needs, it is very attractive to the world. Society encourages others to worry about themselves. However, many people are tired of the dog eat dog world they live in and desire to be a part of something that blesses others.

Tired Of The Results You Are Seeing?
By James Smith

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you are not pleased with the results you are seeing in a given ministry or program, make a change.

Positive change requires vision. Vision is always needed to begin a new ministry or program, but it is also needed to continue it. We too often allow vision to guide us to begin something, but then leave vision out of the picture when growth or decrease begin to happen. It will take constant vision casting to cause a given ministry to continue to have growth.

Change it up! It is in our nature to try to find a norm or comfort zone. However, when people find these, they begin to relax. Once they relax, it is very hard if possible at all to re-motivate them. One pastor told me he will throw a hammer through a wall before he allows people to think that change is not happening in the church. Constant change is exciting!

Change only what needs changing. Don’t get in the way of progress. Allow those areas and people who are having success to continue without interference. There are always areas of the church that need help. Only make changes there. If modifications are to be made in an area of the church that is doing well, make sure they are small modifications that will not offend those who are causing progress.

Boldly change what no man has changed before. Some sacred cows need buried. If you see an area that offers no help or blessing to the chuch and has become antiquated in it’s purpose, make a change. Make sure however, that the change you offer is better than what was offered before. Sell it to the individual first, then the congregation, then promote it and support it.

Not too many changes too fast. Rule # 1 for the newly elected Pastor… Don’t change anything for the first year. Now that may be a bit extreme, but it would be easy to allow our zeal to overlook the present culture of the congregation. This would cause us to make changes that may offend some people.

* Be sure you know the history of a thing before you change it.
* Who started it?
* Why was it implemented?
* What purpose does it serve now?
* Who will it effect?
* Will it hurt or offend them to make a change?
* If so, can I get them excited about something else which would allow them to let go of this?

Connect With People
By James Smith

If you desire for people to follow you, you have to connect with them. The catalyst of your relationship with them at any level may very well have to be a result of your constant effort to associate with them. An unbeliever’s only basis for coming into the knowledge of truth may well be his relationship with his teacher/preacher.

Connect with them on a personal level. Find out what it is that interests them and try to find a common interest. Get to know them personally. Visit their home. Invite them to yours. Go places with them. Let them know you care for them on more than a Pastoral level. If they consider you to be their friend, they will support you much more than if you are only an authority to them.

Connect with them on a professional level. If he is a doctor, read a few books on the latest surgery procedures. If he coaches football, learn a bit about the game. If she is a teacher, talk education with her.

Connect with them in your preaching. Personalize your preaching. Major newspapers write their articles on the 6th grade educational level. Hence they are able to reach a broader audience than if they wrote them on the college level where most people may not understand certain wording. Bring bible stories and situations into present day circumstances. Touch home once in a while.

Connect them to others in the church. Without good relationships in the church, new converts do not stay. If a person has only a few people they are connected with in the church, their chances of staying are much higher than someone who does not find relationships within the church. Create ministries to get them connected.