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Timeless Ministry in an Ever-Changing World

40 Days of Love

The Daniel Plan Study Guide with Streaming Video

Building a Better Life

Change is inevitable. During the last few decades, the speed of change in the communities where we serve has grown exponentially. We’ve seen it all around us, including our own communities. In this quickly changing environment, we want our ministries to be relevant—not so we get invited to speak at conferences or get the praise of our ministry friends, but so that we reach more people for Jesus. Acts 13:36 is one of my favorite verses. “For David served God’s purposes in his own time, and then he died” (GNT). David did the timeless—God’s purposes—in an ever-changing world. That’s always been my prayer for my life. I want to serve God’s unchanging purposes in my generation. Our message never changes. God calls us to “contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints” (Jude 1:3 NASB). Our mission isn’t to make the Bible relevant. It is already relevant. But the way we communicate the unchanging message of the Bible in today’s changing world can become irrelevant. How does irrelevance happen? Irrelevance isn’t just something that affects churches. Every organization can become irrelevant when the speed of cultural change surpasses its rate of organizational growth. The faster the culture changes, the easier it is to become irrelevant. I had the privilege of having Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, as a mentor for the last 30 years of his life. One time I asked him, “How often does a rapidly growing organization need to change its structure?” He suggested changing the structure every time the organization grows by 45 percent. At the time, that was a problem for Saddleback. For the first few years of its existence, the church grew by 47 percent each year. That means we needed to re-structure the church every year. The structure that worked at 50 didn’t work at 150. The structure we had at 500 didn’t work at 1,000. The DNA of Relevance Relevant leadership for a pastor and relevant ministry for a church won’t happen by accident. It’s a choice. You’ll need to deal constantly with three factors to stay relevant:

Organizational culture
Personal culture
Congregational emotions

All three are important as you seek to serve God’s purposes in your generation. You’ll need to make three decisions to stay relevant—one for each of those factors. Develop a ‘lab’ mentality Laboratories experiment. Your church should never stop experimenting. And when you do, don’t be afraid to fail. If you fail, simply try something else. Sometimes you’ll have to try 99 things that don’t work only to find success with the 100th. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll become irrelevant. Yesterday’s solutions won’t work tomorrow. Never stop learning Growing organizations require growing leaders. The moment you stop growing, your organization stops growing. All leaders are learners. Ecclesiastes 10:10 says, “If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success” (NIV). It isn’t dedication or desire that brings success. It’s skill. It’s like farming. You can work from sunup to sundown, but if you’re raising tomatoes and using a wheat harvester, you’ll get nowhere. Or if you’re growing wheat but using a corn harvester, you’ll struggle. Skill brings success. A sharp ax makes woodcutting easier than a dull one requiring extra swings. Work smarter first, then work harder. You’re never wasting your time when you’re sharpening your ax. So always keep learning. Read articles like this. Read books. Go to conferences. Take a class. You won’t stay relevant if you stop learning. Acknowledge the grief Your church can’t grow without change. There’s also no change without loss and no pain without grief. You must let go of the old to grab onto the new. Sometimes when there’s pushback on church changes, it’s because people are mourning. They aren’t angry at you (though it may seem like it). They’re grieving the changes that are happening in their church family. Grief is good. It’s how we get through the transitions of life. We need to go through all the stages of grief, including anger. Grief over the changes in your church won’t kill your church. Fear, resentment, and pride will. A wise pastor understands the emotions of the people he is leading. Let your congregation grieve, and then honor the past without perpetuating it. Don’t confuse relevance with style either. Styles change just like everything else. I’ve seen a number of ministry styles come and go during my ministry. Build your ministry not on a style but on the purposes of God. They’ll never change.

Recent Articles

When Pressure Is High, Let God Speak First

“It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the LORD, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.” Daniel 9:1-2 (NLT)Prayer is one of God’s best gifts in a crisis, not because it helps you manage stress, but because it puts you back in front of the only one who can actually carry what’s too heavy for you.Daniel modeled that.When Daniel realized the clock was running out on Israel’s exile, he didn’t just feel hopeful. He also felt the gap: The people weren’t spiritually ready for what God was about to do. That burden drove him to prayer.But notice where Daniel started. He let God speak to him before he spoke to God.Daniel “learned from reading the word of the LORD, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet” (Daniel 9:2 NLT). Before he prayed, Daniel listened. Scripture steadied him, reminded him what God had already said, and gave him the right frame for what came next.That’s a word pastors need, especially on a Monday.When pressure is high, it’s easy to treat prayer like a quick download: “God, here’s what’s on fire. Please handle it.” But Daniel’s approach is slower and better. God speaks first. God moves first. God leads first. Then we respond.So how do you listen to God when problems and stress seem to be all around?You open the Bible—not to hunt for a verse to share, but to meet with the Lord.Here’s one simple way to do it today:Read a short passage (even a few verses).Sit with it long enough for the noise in your head to settle.Ask, “Lord, what are you saying to me?”Then pray one honest response based on what you just read.Daniel didn’t come to God ready to give a speech. He came ready for a conversation. And he let God set the tone.The more Scripture shapes you, the more your prayers will stop sounding like panic—and start sounding like trust.

The Kind of Leadership That Lasts

You can build a crowd on personality, and you can build momentum on skill. But you can’t build a ministry that lasts on charisma alone.That’s because the foundation of leadership is character, not charisma.Charisma is real. In fact, it’s a gift. Some leaders can walk into a room and settle everybody down. Some can tell a story and you can feel the temperature change.But charisma won’t hold you up when the stress hits—when criticism comes, when you’re tired, and when you’re tempted. In those moments, who you are matters more than what you can do.I’ve watched leaders with real charisma lose their influence because their private life couldn’t support their public life. That’s why charisma can’t be the foundation. If people can’t trust you, they won’t follow you for long.Credibility—the real testA lot of organizations confuse position with leadership. They think a title creates influence. It doesn’t.And the same mistake happens in ministry. A platform can make you visible, but it can’t make you believable. Here’s the difference: Reputation is what people say you are, and character is what you really are.Character is what you are in the dark, when nobody’s looking, when you could cut the corner and no one would ever know.What Scripture says to look for in leadersThe Bible says, “Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7 NIV).Notice what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say, “Consider their talent.” And it doesn’t say, “Consider their style.”It says, “Consider the outcome of their way of life.” God builds lasting leadership on a life you can trust.That Hebrews passage gives you three simple things to watch for:A message worth rememberingWhen you speak, are you giving people truth they can build on or just something that sounds good in the moment?A lifestyle worth consideringDo the people closest to you see the same person the crowd sees?A faith worth imitatingAre you depending on God, or are you living off adrenaline and ability?When you have those three things—a message worth remembering, a lifestyle worth considering, and a faith worth imitating—that’s character. And character outlasts charisma every time.How leaders are madePastor, don’t ask, “Do people like me?” Ask, “Is my life worth following up close?”That’s not a question meant to shame you. It’s a question to give direction, because you can’t lead people somewhere you refuse to go yourself.If you feel a gap between your public leadership and your private life, don’t panic. Just get honest.Character isn’t built in a weekend. It’s built one decision at a time—when you tell the truth and it costs you, when you do the right thing and nobody sees it, and when you keep your conscience clean before God.That’s where leaders are made. And that’s the real measure of leadership.

Lead with Mercy When People Are Hurting

Jesus’ ministry was all about mercy. He showed mercy everywhere he went.If you want to know what mercy-shaped leadership looks like, watch how Jesus meets people in three moments pastors face all the time: shame, disappointment, and death. Luke 1:78 says, “A new day will dawn on us from above because our God is loving and merciful” (GW). Because Jesus is merciful, you can’t just talk about mercy. Mercy has to shape the way you shepherd.Watch how Jesus treats the ashamed, how he answers disappointment, and how he speaks hope when death is close. Then go do the same in your ministry.1) When people mess up, protect their dignity and refuse to throw stones.In John 8, a woman is dragged into public shame. The religious leaders are not trying to restore her. They are trying to use her to trap Jesus.I love what Jesus does first. He slows the whole moment down, protects her dignity, and refuses to let her become a spectacle.When they keep on questioning him, he straightens up and says to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7 NIV). One by one, the accusers walk away. After they all are gone, he assures her he doesn’t condemn her and then says, “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11 NIV).Pastor, that is where mercy begins. Jesus refuses to shame her, but he does call her to change.That is the kind of mercy people trust.It tells the truth without public humiliation.It makes room for repentance.It offers a next step instead of a permanent label.And if you are honest, you need that mercy too. When you have stumbled, overreacted, or said something you wish you could take back, Jesus is not looking for a chance to shame you. He is ready to restore you.Jesus says, “I have come to save the world and not to judge it” (John 12:47 NLT). If you lead like a judge, people will hide. If you lead like a shepherd who has received mercy, people can finally be honest.2) When disappointment settles in, don’t let it harden you.A lot of anger is really disappointment that has been sitting too long. Pastors know that feeling.In John 5, a man has been lying by a pool for 38 years. That is a long time to live with disappointment. So when Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6 NIV), the man does not really answer the question. He explains why nothing has changed: Somebody else always gets there first.Let disappointment sit long enough, and blame starts to feel normal. You stop expecting much. The heart gets hard.Jesus does not shame the man for that. He answers him with mercy: “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8 NIV). Mercy gives him something to do, and the man walks.Pastor, sometimes the impossible is not a dramatic turnaround by Sunday. Sometimes it is the quieter miracle of staying soft when you have been let down, obeying God in the next small step, and refusing to let disappointment train you into cynicism.God’s mercy makes room for hope again.3) When death is close, offer people more than comfort; offer them mercy.Sooner or later, every pastor walks into a room where eternity is no longer theoretical: a hospital room, a graveside, or a conversation where death is suddenly close enough to touch.In Luke 23, two criminals hang beside Jesus. One mocks him. The other admits the truth: “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41 NIV). Then he says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42 NIV).And Jesus answers, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43 NIV).That is more than comfort. It is mercy.It reminds you that the people in front of you do not mainly need better religious performance. They need a Savior, and so do you.So, pastor, carry mercy into the rooms waiting for you this week.Carry it into the hard conversation with the person who failed, into the long disappointment that is tempting you toward cynicism, and into the hospital room, the funeral, and the private places where fear gets loud.Mercy cannot simply be something you preach about. It has to shape the way you care for those you lead.Isaiah 30:18 says, “The LORD wants to show his mercy to you. He wants to rise and comfort you” (NCV). That is God’s word to your people.It is also God’s word to you.

Focus on What Lasts

Your ministry will shrink to whatever is right in front of your face.Let that sink in.If you only look at this week’s pressure, you’ll end up building your schedule, your budget, and your emotional energy around what is urgent, not what is eternal.But God is looking for leaders with foresight. That’s what happens when you lead in light of eternity.Set your mind higher than the moment.Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (ESV). The Living Bible paraphrase puts it like this: “Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here.”There’s a saying that goes, “They’re so heavenly minded they’re no earthly good.” That can be true of some people. But I also know people who are so earthly minded they’re no heavenly good.I think the message the church needs to hear is simple: There is more to life than just here and now. Most people are only interested in what Christ can do for them today, this week, and in this season.But the Bible keeps calling us up and forward: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. . . . But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. . . . For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 NIV).If you want foresight, build on what lasts.Pastor, I want you to get serious about answering one question for your ministry: What is going to last?These four things will still matter when everything else disappears.1. God’s Word will last.God’s Word is going to last. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35 NIV). So I build my life—and I want you to build your ministry—on God’s Word.2. Faith, hope, and love will last.The Bible tells us faith, hope, and love are going to last. So build your life on them.3. People will last.People are going to last in one of two places: heaven or hell. Where I spend my time now may determine where they spend their eternity.4. Prayer will last.Prayer is going to last. Revelation 5:8 says the prayers of the saints are stored up in vials in heaven. God hears prayer. There are prayers being answered today that were prayed a hundred years ago.Don’t pour your best into what will burn up.Here is the tragedy I’ve seen over and over: Most Christians spend their time, money, energy, and effort on things that are going to burn up at the judgment.Cars are not evil. Nice clothes are not evil. The issue is what happens when the present becomes the main thing.I have seen it so many times: People get preoccupied with “right now,” and they end up getting set on a shelf spiritually.A focused life is a finished life.I really believe that Jesus, since he was perfect, never wasted a second. He knew when to relax. He knew when to have fun. He knew when to be serious. He was perfectly balanced. He knew when to be intense, and he knew when to lighten up.When Jesus was 12 years old, his first recorded statement was, “I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49 KJV). When Jesus died on the cross, some of his last words were, “It is finished!” (John 19:30 NKJV). Not “I’m finished,” but “It is finished.”What was finished? The Father’s business. Those are bookends on a successful life.

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