I think there’s a tendency for people to conclude that because Elevation Church has grown at a very fast rate, we must be experts on all subjects related to church leadership.
Ha.
I fear that every time I hit post on a blog entry (ok, I don’t actually know how to post them. I hit send, MBA hits post) I reinforce this misconception.
Hey, check out my insight! We’ve cracked the code to save the world! Here’s how you can do it too!
And that’s not our heart. If you only knew how much we know that we don’t know much at all. I’m not playing humble pie here. I do recognize that I have certain gifts, abilities, and skills, given by God for the good of others. Our church has discovered, borrowed, and occasionally invented some concepts that have helped us reach our city well. And we take immense pride in what Jesus is doing through Elevation. We share our philosophies with passion because we’ve seen God bless them. No apologies there.
But, to paraphrase something Bobby Gruenewald told me the first time we met:
Outside of the Bible, we don’t have ministry philosophies. Everything is a theory.
When we share something about ministry or leadership, we’re not saying:
This is how you do it.
We’re simply saying:
This is how we did it before or this is how we’re doing it now.
Any ministry paradigm that is not clearly prescribed by the Word of God is subject to change: by the Holy Spirit, increased revelation, or cultural shifts. We reserve the right to disagree vehemently with ourselves if and when we learn a better way to do something.
So let me be the first to tell you:
I have said, and will say, some dumb things. I’ve said some inaccurate things. Sometimes, I’ve said accurate things in dumb ways. If it ever sounds like I’m schizophrenic because I say one thing in August and another thing in November, it’s because I’m learning. I’m progressing. I know it’s uncomfortable to watch me change clothes right in front of you. But at least I’m fresh.
Be patient with me. I’m not preaching, teaching, blogging and tweeting because I think I’ve got it figured out. But I figure our church owes it to you to figure it out in front of you. To learn out loud.
We’re bound to hit some bad notes. But at least we’ll have ‘em recorded for playback. Should make some fun blooper reels.