Once again, I want to thank Injoy Stewardship Solutions and Scott Williams for giving me the privilege of guest blogging at this year’s RightNow Conference. What an incredible event!
Jen Hatmaker, well-known conference speaker, blogger, and author, along with Todd Wagner, Senior Pastor of host site Watermark Community Church, just completed the 2nd session. Jen, in particular, brought one of the Top 5 most challenging messages for Christian leaders I have ever heard.
The following are their leadership quotes that all pastors and church leaders can learn from:
Jen Hatmaker
- We were simply serving saved people in a city that is completely lost. (Austin, TX is 93% unchurched.)
- We had a “come-to-us” paradigm in a city where no one was coming to us.
- We were blessing blessed people.
- We were churning out untransformed people, including ourselves…Folks were leaving mostly unchanged.
- Failure is a fantastic teacher and in this area I am rich.
- I really believe consumerism is a cancer to missional communities…It is unsustainable.
- If we develop a church geared toward the saved, blessed people will come wanting more blessings.
- Only Christians want a church with 49 programs.
- The church has a limited amount of resources. If saved people consume them all, we have nothing more missional activity.
- How do we teach people to live missionally? Do it yourself first. Live it or you have no hope in leading it.
- With a click of a button we can cherry-pick leadership from 10,000 guardians/nannies.
- A nanny has no responsibility. A father is charged with raising his children for Christ.
- Leaders, we cannot possibly lead a missional community if we are not on mission ourselves.
- What can people look at in our lives and say, “That, that is worth following”?
- We are leading in a time when “Well done” outtrumps “Well said”.
- Conservatantly, the church is America is losing 150,000 a week…40% cite distrust and lack of respect for the pastor. Churches built on the charismatic personality of the pastor are going to struggle to reach the cynical.
- Should we consider ourselves not as leaders but rather as influencers?
- Heaps of well-spoken theology only impresses Christians who are in to that sort of thing.
- We are nothing if not disciples first. We do not get to shirk that responsibility because we wear the “Christian hat”.
- To tell a better story we are going to have to live a better story and be watched first.
- If we live a life worthy of being followed we will earn a hearing for gospel we never intended to.
Todd Wagner
- When people say you have a beautiful church I say, “Who did you meet?”
- God believes life change happens in the way you do things.
- The greatest leaders that ever lived are the “Follow Me” leaders…Don’t do as I say but do with me.
- Follow The Leader is not just a child’s game.
- God brings judgement on a land but raising up leaders who act like children. – Isaiah 3:1-4, Ecc. 10:16-17
- Children are selfish. They are not others-centered.
- Children have no sense of delayed gratification.
- They lack wisdom. They’re childish and foolish. When they have the wisdom they can’t executive…They don’t know the difference between a curb and a cliff. They are indisriminate with what they put in their mouth.
- Charismatic leaders can gain a following very quickly…Charismatic leadership that isn’t ultimately surrended to Jesus Christ is going to be a scourge on Christianity.
- God has always wanted people to lead with moral authority.
- God has always looked for the willing, even if they’re weak, to glorify Himself.
- All of life is a leadership test. The reward of faithful service is the opportunity to serve more.
- Pharoah never misses his Joseph but you must be a Joseph.
- Death. Surrender. Faithfulness. This is what separates men from children.
- Children will fight for the comfort. Men are not concerned with comfort.
- Some of us are called to have well-done ministries that the world may never know about except Him.
- When you surrender to anything other than God you will be surrendering to something that is not good for you.
- People will not surrender to anything where they don’t see life.
- You cannot keep selling something you are not convinced you (personally) need to buy.
- Just because I’m a pastor doesn’t mean I still can’t be a Christian.
- I am an evangelist for the cross. That doesn’t mean I don’t run to it and act (as a pastor) like I don’t need it.
- What is your motivation for your obedience?
- The greatest evil in this country is that which God has called salt and light and dispel darkness is not doing our job.
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