Francis Chan of Cornerstone Church (Simi Valley, CA) discussed suffering during Verge Conference’s 6th session. Here is what he said:

Good ministry is full of suffering. Yet we are surprised when we suffer.

Do not be surprised when people persecute you (1 Peter 4:12). In fact, you should be concerned if people speak too well of you because that is how the false prophets were treated. At the end of the day, it is all about the Holy Spirit and what He has called you to do.

Jesus did not come to bring peace (Matthew 10 ). Blessed are you when people hate you because of Jesus (Luke 22). The world hated Jesus before it hated you (John 15). The apostles rejoiced at the opportunity to suffer for the cause of Christ (Acts 5). We are heirs of Christ provided that we suffer with Him (Romans 8). For the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in Him but suffer for Him (Philippians 1:29). Share in the suffering (2 Timothy 1:8). Let us bear the reproach that Christ endured (Hebrews 13:12).

If you are not suffering, there is a problem. Imagine how close you’d be with Jesus and how safe you would feel had you suffered alongside Him. Then you would know this is real.

You must learn to love people who betray you. The highest form of love is to love people who betray you.

If we really are serious about wanting Christ - to experience Christ, to know Him - we must be ready for suffering.

John Burke of Gateway Community Church (Austin, TX) discussed what is really missional during Verge Conference’s 5th session. Here is what he said:

If your unchurched friends are not finding faith and becoming the church, you are not missional. You aren’t really living on the mission of Jesus. If the world is not coming to Christ, can we really say that we are part of the Body of Christ? If we are being the Body of Christ, what would it look like? Very messy.

I think God could care less about our ministry efforts if we don’t have love for people.

3 Question to Ask Yourself

1. Am I serving the spiritual and physical needs of my neighbors?
   Everywhere Jesus went, He met people’s needs. So if we call ourselves missional leaders but do not meet our neighbors’ needs then we are not missional. If people think you are for them and not against them, they start to believe that God is for them not against them.
2. Do I point out God’s work in them?
3. Are my unchurched neighbors now leading the church?
   If you are on mission with Jesus then your friends will find Jesus and start leading the church. And that’s exciting!

In my book collection is The Class Leader. His Work and How to Do It. by John Atkinson. You can read it online or download a PDF. Originally written in 1874, it explains the methodology and importance of Methodist small group leaders. The ministry model it describes sets a challenging benchmark for effective small groups. Here are a few highlights:

The Structure

The pastor is the bishop or overseer of the entire membership of the charge to which he is appointed. It is his business to watch over their souls; to exercise discipline; to teach, reprove, rebuke, with all authority; to statedly preach the Gospel; to visit from house to house; and administer the sacraments.

The pastor, however, cannot exercise all the requisite personal oversight. The membership in many Churches is numerous, the demands made upon the pulpit are more and more stern, requiring a large amount of time to be given by the preacher to the studies and thinking necessary to the preparation of the Sabbath sermons; and with the numerous calls and interruptions inseparable from his office, it is impossible for him to give that thorough attention to all details of spiritual superintendance which the care of souls demand. The Church has made most wise and adequate provision for enabling the pastor to make his supervision complete by means of the services of Class Leaders.

All the members in full connection, and all on probation, are placed in classes, and each class is put in charge of a Leader. It is his office to see each person under his care once a week, that he may know the state of their souls. His office, therefore, is spiritual supervision.

Class Leaders in John Wesley’s Words

I called together all the Leaders of the classes, and desired that each would make a particular inquiry into the behavior of those whom he saw weekly. They did so. Many disorderly walkers were detected. Some turned from the evil of their ways. Some were put away from us. Many saw it with fear, and rejoiced unto God with reverence.
- John Wesley

Over time, the home-to-home Class Leader visits evolved into big group meetings of accountability.

How to Truly Lead a Small Group

Every Leader is in some degree a Gospel minister… The Leader, then, is to care not simply for his class collectively, but for all members separately.

If he simply hold class-meeting once a week, and look no further after his members, his knowledge of them will be very imperfect. He should know them, not simply in the class room, but in their daily life, their company, diversions, business; in their besetments, perplexities, discouragements; their temptations, falls, and uprisings. He should know their peculiarities of character, temperament, and condition, and so be able to rightly admonish, advise, and encourage them, and communicate to the pastor what it is needful for him to know concerning each.

Training Produces Results

The urgent need of the world is Christian workers who can accomplish results.

To ensure the largest success of Christian workers there must commonly be training.

These are just a fraction of the insights from The Class Leader. For more insights, read it online.

Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) closed Catalyst Conference’s last and 10th session by discussing how to create a healthy work culture at your church.. Here is what he said:

I think that your church and your church culture should be the healthiest organizational culture in your city. I think that business people in your city should stop by during the week and say, “Wow! I have never seen an organization run so well!” I am not talking about on Sunday. I am talking about your church’s weekly work culture.

Think about this.

In the local church we have so much going for us culturally (if we follow the Bible… love, harmony, work as though unto the Lord) that we should have the best work cultures. Yest some of the meanest people I have met are on church staffs. Some of the laziest people I know are on church staffs. Some people think it doesn’t take much competency to work at a church because they lazy people who work at a church. And that is a shame.

Healthy people are drawn to healthy cultures. Healthy people don’t stay in unhealthy cultures. Unhealthy people thrive in unhealthy cultures.

Occasionally, there are gaps between what we expect people to do and what they actually do. As leaders, we choose what to put in this gap. And what you as a leader choose to put in that gap will shape your culture. And what you put into that gap, will also be what your staff puts in that gap. You will either assume the worst or expect the best.

There are a couple of things that determine what I put in that gap:

1. What I see
   If someone consistently brings you poor quality, you will always assume the worst.
2. Who I am
   Your past hurt and betrayal will influence what you put in that gap. We like certain types of people. And we dislike others.

Developing a culture of trust is critical to the health of your organization. Trust fuels productivity. The message of trust is this… I think you are smart enough to know what to do, and if you make a mistake, you will tell me then fix it.

A culture characterized by trust attracts healthy people.  You will never know who you can trust until you trust them. The longer you refuse to trust people, the longer that untrustworthy people can hide in your organization. The moment you feel to tightly manage someone, you might have made a hiring mistake. And if you don’t address the hiring problem, you might create a culture where everyone distrusts each other. You will never know who you can trust until you trust them. Trusting is risky. Refusing to trust is riskier.

Trust enables an organization to move faster. In an organization of trust, the culture is fluid. When their is a high level of trust, I am going to act/email/write/communicate as if I believe the best. Teams use trust as currency. The development of trust then becomes a significant leadership strategy. It feels 100% relational and 90% emotional.

Developing a culture of trust begins with a leader. Trust and suspicion are both telegraphed from the leader throughout the organization. We must learn to choose to trust.

When you choose to trust, you must choose to confront. The moment there is suspicion in a person, everything he does is tainted. When you and I sit on our raw assumptions, and it leaks out to our family and organization, the energy makes our suspicion grows bigger and uglier. And then all of a sudden, a handful of offense gets a huge response. If you want to build a culture of trust, you must confront fairly and quickly and refuse to sit on it. Before I assume the worst, I should at least ask for the facts. The consequences of concealment are far greater than the consequences of confrontation.

To develop a culture of trust, leaders must be trustworthy. Worthy of trust does not mean perfect. It means when I create a gap where your expectations don’t line up with the experience I give you, I talk to you about it.

5 Essential Commitments of Trust

1. I will believe the best.
2. When other people assume the worst about you, I will come to your defense.
3. If what I experience begins to erode my trust, I will come directly to you to talk about it.
4. When I am convinced I will not be able to deliver on a promise, I will come to you ahead of time.
5. When you confront me about the gaps I’ve created, I will tell you the truth.

The gaps are the opportunities… the gaps are the litmus test… for you to choose what culture you will have.

Questions to Ask

1. Are there people in your organization you have a hard time trusting.
2. Is it your issue or is it theirs? (if you have never chosen to trust it is still your issue)
3. What can you do about your part?
4. What do you need to address with them about their part?
5. Who do you sense having a difficult time trusting you?
6. Why?
7. What can you do about it?

If you choose to trust, you will create an organization that is more nimble and effective.

Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church (Grandville, MI) discussed how to enjoy being where you are at during Catalyst Conference’s third session. Here is what he said:

I was recently talking to you pastor who said he wanted to quit. So I asked him to draw a pie chart of what he does every week. He had been a pastor for a year and wanted to quite every day. So I asked if he practiced Sabbath. [silence]

There are lots of concepts and truths that we would intellectually agree with, but we are made anxious by deep subterranean forces in our bones that drive us. We “believe” one thing but then do something else.

John 6 tells the story of Jesus giving expectations but the crowd thinning because they think they can’t do it. Sometimes the crowd thins. What would Jesus say to modern church growth experts that say if you do A then B then C, then there will be growth and numbers? Sometimes the crowd thins, and people leave, even ones who are close to you.

Luke 21 tells the story of the poor widow that gave “more” out of her poverty than what the rich gave. What we naturally think is an important measurement may not be how God measures things.

You are a living Eucharist. How can we break ourselves open and pour ourselves out, so that the people around us might experience God? The Eucharist is a sacred and holy thing. You surrender your agenda when you serve. But when you exploit the Eucharist and break it down and rank it, you destroy it.

In John 5:19, Jesus says, “the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing.” His work comes from a grounded, centered, calm place where He only has a few things to do, and He sets out to do it. He is not distracted. He is not stressed. There is a difference between something that is hard and difficult and something that is a burden. God will not give you a burden you can’t carry.

In Exodus 20, the first 9 commandments are external and measurable,  but the last commandment about coveting is not externally observable. The “tenth” is considered a reward. Meaning if you follow the first 9 rules then you won’t have a problem with the 10th rule because you won’t want anyone else’s life.

If you have a burden of feeling like you have not accomplished enough, God wants to set you free from that. Jesus wants you to simply enjoy the place that you are at and the work that is in front of you.

Is there any way in your ministry, that you have neglected to take care of yourself? You need to love your neighbor as yourself. You need to take care of yourself so that you can be energized. Which day do you take care of yourself, so that you can give during the other six days of the week?

Does your spouse get your very best, or does your spouse get what is left over from the church? Do your kids get your very best, or do they get the scraps? Our children pick up on what really matters to us without us saying a word.

If it is not going well at home, it will not go well at church. Jesus invites us into a peaceful, calm place in the center of his love.

Lately, I have been watching my artsy wife design handmade wedding ring pillows for her Etsy shop of creative wedding ideas. As I watch her lovingly cross-stitch a pink heart on a white ring pillow, I can’t help but remember how much care she put into planning our own wedding.

It is amazing how people spend months (or even a lifetime) planning the perfect ceremony - a wedding dress, wedding invitations, wedding cake, wedding songs, and the list goes on and on. Every detail must be perfect. Unfortunately, wedding planning is usually the only time I see such high-quality planning.

While not everything needs a meticulous strategy, most of us need to improve our planning in one area or another. Perhaps it’s your church service or your youth retreat. This week, just ask yourself:

What details do I need to plan like a wedding ring pillow shopper?

Remember, the more you sweat in preparation, the less you bleed in battle.

For Discussion:
- What are your best practices for great planning?

Sometimes blunt, crude words are the only things that can shock a person out of a rut and motivate him to improve to the next level. This four-part blog series is for the church worker who needs such forthright words.

What if you die today? Would you be pleased with your legacy?

If the answer is “no,” then you need to figure out how to change it. Life is short. Some of us need to increase our tempo. Some need to act instead of waiting for tomorrow. Some need training. Some of us are doing everything right, but we need time to achieve it. You need to take care of your body by eating right and working out so that you will have that time.

Is there anything distracting you from pursuing your purpose?
Is anything slowing you down?

At the same time, some of us need to be patient, wait for God’s timing, and not ruin things by forcing it on our own. You know the answers to these questions.

For Discussion:
- How do you keep yourself effectively working on a legacy?

Stay tuned for more crude words.

Read Part 1 - You Deserve to Go to Hell
Read Part 2 - You Will Die Unless…

Sometimes we create easy-to-use yet complex systems to work around the Bible’s difficult-to-do yet simple mandates.