You can strip away almost every other thing the church does. But at the core of the core of the core, growing people into Christ followers is all about helping them engage in God’s Word and inspiring them to invite God to be at the center of their lives. I did not emphasize that as much in the early days as I do now. It’s a deep regret I carry.
How do you keep your passion for seeing people engage Scripture and follow Jesus fired up?
In Romans 12:11, Paul says: Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. He’s saying, don’t let your zeal burn low, but he’s also saying you’re responsible for your zeal. I like to remind myself of that. It’s my responsibility to keep my passion hot. It’s no one else’s.
So I have to discern what cooled it off, and then I’ve got to stop letting that happen. I have to figure out who the people are, what the books and the experiences are, that refresh my spirit—and then lean into whatever works to re-fire a passion for Jesus.
Do you have a final word of advice or encouragement for church planters?
Church planters are some of the luckiest people on the planet—because the most important thing happening on earth is the establishment and building of local churches.
Enjoy it! You get to traffic in kingdom ideas and work with great people who are pulling with you to try to form this Acts 2 dream of Christ’s church. You should fall on your knees and say, “God, what an incredible privilege to be invited by your Holy Spirit to play a key role in the most important thing happening on planet Earth.”
I tell pastors all the time that I’ve had a ball! We’ve taken our hits. There are bad days. But I’ve had an astonishingly blessed ride. And I think God would have that same heart toward every pastor. I think he wants every pastor to love His Word and love the adventure of His work. So my final word to church planters is this—you won the lottery! You get to lead the coolest endeavor on planet Earth, the only agency God said He was going to predictably bless and favor.
You get to be a part of that!
This interview is featured in the free e-book MOVE for Church Planters: What Willow Creek and 1,000 Churches Reveal About Spiritual Growth. To read the full interview, including what Hybels says was one of his biggest leadership mistakes in Willow’s early days and what he calls his “second conversions,” download the eBook at Exponential.org.
