Mark Batterson's Talk To Pastors

This morning we hosted Mark Batterson at our monthly Catalyst Group Meeting.  Here's the notes from Mark's talk this morning to pastors and leaders.

• Do you think Zacchaeus every took his grandkids back to the sycamore tree that he climbed when he saw Jesus?  Do you think Peter ever rowed back to the spot on the lake where he walked on water?  Do you think that Paul ever returned to the spot on the Damascus road where he got knocked off his horse?  PERSPECTIVE IS IMPORTANT!
• John Chancelor once said, 'if you ever want to make God laugh--tell him your plans.'
• If your roots go deep in ministry.  You can bear a lot of fruit.  Longevity at a location is a key.
• Bill Gates said, 'we tend to over-estimate what we can accomplish in 2 years, and under-estimate the value of what you can do in 10 years.'
• One of the biggest keys to being an effective church planter and leader is the ability to manage your emotions.  When I am discouraged, it is because I have zoomed in on something one the one negative or criticism and therefore have lost sight of the big picture.  We need to zoom out to the big pictures.
• The more and the longer you have to pray for something, the less likely you are to take it for granted or take credit for it when it happens.
• Jesus did not spend a lot of time in Synagogues.  He did spend a lot of time at Wells.  Where the people were.  (...coffeehouses are the postmodern wells).
• 58% of all young people quit going to church in their twenties.  We cannot afford to lose the next generation. 
• I believe that there is no such thing as failure--if you take something out of it.  I don't think that the cure for the fear of failure is success.  The cure for the fear of failure is failure in small enough doses that you build up immunity.
• One of our core values at National Community Church is experimentation.  We try a lot of new things.  And some things fail.  But with each one we learn new things.  We need more churches who are part of the research and development department of the Kingdom of God.

Five Challenges That Pastors Face:

THE IDENTITY CHALLENGE: Finding My Identity In Christ And Not In Ministry - Ten years ago I was trying to be a pastor.  Today, I am just trying to be myself.  Ministry can be the best or it can be the worst.  When you are doing ministry out of duty--it is the worst.  When you are doing ministry out of the abundance of your heart--it is a joy.

Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.  1 Samuel 15:12

Diagnostic Questions:  Are you building altars to God or are you building monuments to yourself?  Is it about the Kingdom or is it about comparing yourself to someone else?

Monument building is just a sign of insecurity.  Pride and insecurity are basically the same motivation.  Actually, those who are experiencing success--may have more identity challenges to face, because there is a greater temptation to build your life around success.

If you forget that your ministry is based on God's favor and his anointing, then insecurity will eat your lunch!  See 1 Sam 18:18.  Saul forgot who had made him king.

THE FAMILY CHALLENGE - the balance of family and ministry...this is where priorities are revealed.  The most important thing I have done over the past three months is coaching my son's basketball team.

Three New Year's Resolutions I Have Made:

1. I don't check work related email on my day off.  (no one does a worse job of keeping the Sabbath than pastors).
2. Use all of my vacation days this year.
3. I limit my nights out and evenings away from home.

THE CRITICISM CHALLENGE - I have learned that every person who walks through our doors, who has a church background, has a personal and internal picture of what our church should look like.  If you don't know who you are and what your vision is--you will become a spiritual contortionist.  At some point, you need to come to grips with you are and who you aren't.

Erwin McManus:  Don't let and arrow pierce your heart until it has first passed through the filter of Scripture.  (if it passes through that filter, thank God for it.  If not--don't play defense.)

I often tell people...life is too short to be a part of a church that you do not believe in.  Don't do that to yourself.  Find a church that you can full support.

One of the defining marks of Jesus ministry was to purposefully offend Pharisees.  If we are going to follow Jesus, we need to be willing to offend for the right reasons.  It may be possible that if your ministry is not offending anyone, you may be offending Jesus?

THE CREATIVITY CHALLENGE - In my opinion, only about 2% of how to do church is defined.  God did not provide us in the Bible with the 'anointed order of service'.  Even communion and baptism are not defined by the Bible as to how often they should happen.

If God had everything we need to do, it would limit creativity.  And God is a creative God.  It is a huge value to him.   Creativity is actually spiritual.  God's nature is toward creativity and authenticity.

It is a danger that at some point you could become such an effective leader that you begin to do ministry out of memory instead of out of imagination.  The most important truths ought to be communicated in the most unforgettable ways.  Jesus was a master at this.

THE GROWTH CHALLENGE - The key to church growth is personal growth.  Outward success measurements are the effect not the cause.  Personal growth is the most important thing we do.

We devote 5% of our church budget for leadership development.  We invest in our staff for books, seminars, and conferences.  Leaders are readers!