Steve Mizel

Planter & Pastor of Trailhead Church. Reluctant Writer & Restless Reader. Distance Running & 14'ers. Always moving unless not. Loved by God. @ConvergeMidAm.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

If you want to know who is following Jesus, look for those who are laying down their lives in love for others, choosing to be defrauded, destroyed, and ruined instead of taking up the weapons of this world to defend self or destroy others. The path to life goes thru the cross.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@nlopdotcom 2,598,960 journeydfm

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@nlopdotcom journeydfm - thanks!

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

There are many other lessons to be learned, but this is a solid start.

[L. David Fairchild @David_Fairchild]

It's been 10 years since the implosion of Mars Hill Church. Hard to believe. Like most things, Mars Hill had some amazingly beautiful and terrible fruit from its ministry. I will always treasure the good but want others to learn from the not-so-good.

In the spirit of the anniversary, here are 10 reflections from working in and through that difficult season:

1. Don't let your platform outpace your maturity.

1 Timothy 4:16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

I believe one of the greatest kindnesses the Lord can give is to reduce our ministry to the level of our maturity. Mark and Mars Hill outpaced their maturity. Mark's success expanded a platform he wasn't ready for. In fact, I'm not sure many men would be ready for it. Mars Hill's notoriety grew but her maturity was tied to Mark and that ultimately sank the ship. The same captain who launched her was the one who led her to the rocks.

Pray the Lord only gives you a ministry size commensurate to your godliness and maturity. Then be content if He does.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

God became human in order to rescue humans from having to try to be God.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

Do you remember when you joined Twitter? I do! #MyTwitterAnniversary

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

I love me some Blanton's.

Win a barrel of Blanton's Gold valued at $20,000 https://t.co/7djmFcxtkj #blantonsgoldsweeps #sazeracbarrelselect

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

Your entitlement will either kill your gratitude or your gratitude will kill your entitlement.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@therweck beautiful - man, I love that picture. So much devotion and love.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@therweck I've heard she makes her best music when she's sad, so... just saying...

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@joe_rigney @MBurtwrites horrible choice for the leading image. Medusa was a beautiful woman raped by Poseidon in the temple of Athena, where she sought refuge. Athena then blamed her for violating a sacred space and cursed her. Medusa was a monster created by the abuse of power and then blamed for it.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@DennyBurk @joe_rigney horrible choice for the leading image. Medusa was a beautiful woman raped by Poseidon in the temple of Athena, where she sought refuge. Athena then blamed her for violating a sacred space and cursed her. Medusa was a monster created by the abuse of power and then blamed for it.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@dhanabarger you're going to have to teach me!

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

This is a very good list. Some of these are hard truths - some profoundly comforting. But all have been true to my experience.

[Luke Simmons @lukedsimmons]

This past week was 15 years since planting our church.

It's been a wild ride — mostly really great. We've done some things well and had plenty of "learned it the hard way."

15 LESSONS ON CHURCH PLANTING & PASTORING FROM THE LAST 15 YEARS:

1. Don't launch a church plant prematurely. Take the time needed to build a solid core of 50+ committed adults so that you have a shot at starting the church with over 100 people. If you don’t start over 100, it’s a big challenge to get there.

2. Do a few things well. Better a good worship leader on only guitar than a mediocre full band. Too many programs or ministries early on kill momentum and distract the best people. Once you have the core things operating at an “A” level, then you can add more.

3. The sooner you can get out of set-up and tear-down the better. It signals to your people that you’re taking the future seriously and it creates a space that unchurched people tend to find less weird. Only warning: make sure the space isn’t too small to keep growing. I’d rather be in a high school with room to grow than a storefront that’s too small on day 1.

4. Catalytic pastors typically hire people who are more maintainers than builders. We build and they maintain and improve. All good. But eventually the planter becomes a bottleneck of new ministry. As the church keeps growing, enough will need to be built that you’ll need at least 2-3 other high-capacity builders.

5. You will voluntarily practice sabbath or God will force you to through burnout. About 5 years in, the signs of burnout were emerging. Fortunately, I’d prepared enough to recognize them — but a major factor was getting sloppy on sabbath. People can debate about the moral requirements of the sabbath. But you can’t debate the practical value (and necessity) of it.

6. When you hire, prioritize growth areas — these will help pay for other areas. For example, hiring the youth guy to build a ministry that serves families will create a financial base to then hire a counseling or care or missions pastor.

7. There are things a pastor can only learn through a sabbatical. Taking a sabbatical to mitigate unhealthy personal rhythms is a bad idea. Pastors should sabbath, use vacation, and have healthy rhythms — and in that sense, a sabbatical is unnecessary. But, there are things that a pastor can only learn through sabbatical. For me, these were game-changing and set me on a course for much healthier emotional leadership over the next season. (my sabbatical recommendations: https://t.co/03zRdjnZ2l)

8. Initiatives to raise money for buildings simultaneously suck and are awesome. They are a ton of work and pressure (and if you choose to lead the way in giving, they are also costly). But they are so good for clarifying vision, leading boldly, learning to talk about and manage money, and sharpening your skills as a leader.

9. Investing in your leadership always pays for itself. Establish a healthy budget (think of what you need and then double it) for training & development. Use this to hire a coach, join a leadership cohort, visit other churches, or take leaders to a formative conference. A lumberjack never wasted time by sharpening his axe.

10. The 80/20 dynamic is the fault of the 20, not the 80. Here I have in mind the thing where 20% of the church does 80% of the work. The core people (the 20s) look with disdain at the 80s — “Why don’t they step up?!” But when the 20s need something done, who do they ask? The other 20s. It’s the job of the 20s to work to get to know and involve the 80s.

11. If you move into a new “forever home” building, expect to lose some of your long-time people after a year or so. The church will feel different than they are used to, they’ll feel like they “don’t know anyone anymore” and will, sadly, want to move on. They’d rather be a new person at a different church than feel like a new person at the church they’ve loved for the last decade.

12. People need proximity to maintain trust in leaders. Leaders often think there’s a wide bridge of trust, but it’s actually more like a narrow tightrope of trust. Small touches, handwritten notes, in-person connection, genuine conversations — all these make a real difference in people still feeling like the leader knows and cares.

13. Expect to do some kind of re-org of the staff structure every 1½ -3 years. Do it more often and with more future-orientation than you think you need. Usually a restructure just catches you up to what you should have had in place 6 months ago. Help the staff develop the expectation that this is how we do it “for now.”

14. If the elders are unified, you can get through anything. It’s easy to take for granted that the relationships are solid because the people are solid. But it needs to be intentionally maintained. If it is, you’ll be OK. If the elder team cracks, you’re one crisis away from disaster. (other elder team recommendations: https://t.co/uaASuAhGxP)

15. A lead pastor has to genuinely delight in other people getting credit. In a great church, there are things that exist that the lead pastor would never have thought of, cared about, or wanted — but they actually make things better. He has to delight in other leaders who develop ministry outside of his interest and enjoy that they get recognition for it.

—

Thanks for reading. Follow me @lukedsimmons for more stuff like this.

Or join my email newsletter where I send out free coaching and encouragement to more than 3,000 pastors: https://t.co/wfuySsAEbA

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@nlopdotcom woohoo! thanks! journeydfm

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@nlopdotcom woo hoo! pick me! journeydfm thanks!

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@nlopdotcom Thanks! journeydfm

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@aaronyoungren This leads me to put my faith in his faithfulness, not mine. My goal isn't to "do it right" - it's to trust the God who is greater than all my sin and all the mess and loves me and my kids more than I ever could.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

Beware of promises that if you follow a "spiritual formula" you will be guaranteed to have a "biblical family" that doesn't struggle like others. It's deceptive marketing. Find me a single family in the Bible you want your family to be exactly like. Godly families struggle.

[Steve Mizel @stevemizel]

@aaronyoungren So, I ask again: what family in the Bible is your example of the "biblical family" who "did it right?" I see messy families, full of obedience and foolishness and sin, and also loved by a God of grace who works his grace through the mess.