How you think about what you do in ministry is very important. The mindset you bring in to your ministry can be a make or break factor in your church’s ability to impact your community. Over the last few years, I’ve had the honor of talking to hundreds and hundreds of church leaders for my podcast or my latest book on church growth. Through my interaction with these leaders, I’ve started to sense that there are some common traits or mindsets among them. I see some common approaches to life and their ministries as I’ve interacted with them. Here is a collection of what I have observed and continue to pick up as I talk with these leaders. How do you resonate with these mindsets in your own leadership and ministry?

“Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12 (NLT)

One of the most striking similarities of church leaders who are leading thriving ministries is that they realize the fact that they have a limited amount of time to do what God has called them to do; in fact, they take this point very seriously. There is an urgency in their actions that ripples through everything they do. This drive is more intense than just an “entrepreneurial drive”; it is deeply rooted in a sense of the frailty of the human condition and their own limitations as leaders.

5 Signs That a Church Leader Knows Time is Short

Leading churches are a curious mix of attracting people to their services while simultaneously sending people into the community to make a tangible difference, all while working hard to get people deeply plugged into community within the church. This tension of being both a deep and wide church is common among churches which are making a difference today. Church leaders from growing churches see themselves trying to balance out these tensions in perfect harmony. Here are some common elements of these aspects of ministry that we come across in many churches today:

Common Come & See Elements

Common Go & Serve Elements

Common Stick & Stay Elements

“Let’s try it and see what happens.” Church leaders in growing churches see much of what they do as a learning process rather than opting for a settled “best practice”. They are constantly making small course corrections on much of what their church does. They firmly hold the message of the church but are flexible enough to leave an open hand on how the church accomplishes its mission. They are more like scientists testing out new theories all the time than a baker executing the perfect recipe.

5 Areas to Experiment at Your Church (and not lose your job!)

We all would like to try out some new things at our church. Yet, we’re looking for “safe places” to take some risks before rolling them out for the rest of the church.

“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.” – 2 Timothy 2:2 (NLT)

Prevailing churches are constantly raising new leaders at all organizational levels. They are constantly seeking ways to pass along leadership training through intentional mentoring, equipping and training. They don’t see it as a “nice to have” part of what the church does but as core to what the church is. In fact, when you look at where church leaders from growing churches spend their time, it’s on leadership development tasks. Take a closer look at 2 Timothy 2:2 above and try to pick out how many “generations” of people the message was passed onto? From the beginning of the church, creating new leaders has been a core function!

4 Ways to Integrate Leadership Development into Every Weekend at Your Church

When you get around leaders from growing churches, you’ll notice that they have a deep sense of faith at the core of what they do. In fact, leaders of prevailing ministries know that their own faith, growth and development need to come before they even attempt to lead publicly. They invest time, effort and energy into ensuring that their faith is unshakable, vibrant and growing. The old adage that you can’t take someone somewhere that you haven’t been has never been truer about leadership in the church today. These individuals are looking for ways to consistently apply the teaching of Jesus more deeply to their lives.

5 Quotes to Encourage You in Your Personal Development as a Church Leader

As a church starts to grow, the leadership needs to shift its attention from “doing the weekend right” to building and perfecting systems in order to accomplish that outcome. In a very real way, these leaders make the transition from trying to build ideal Sunday services to building amazing organizations that will host services for years to come. This transition can be hard for leaders because they get into ministry to minister to people directly and hence, can find the skills of organization building to be a stretch. This shift is at the very core of what allows a church to scale up and go. If the leadership can’t make this transition, the church will ultimately plateau and spiral into decline.

If you look at the marketplace, you can see all kinds of examples of people who were “obsessed” with building great products or services. However, over time, they shifted to building great organizations with a lasting legacy. Arguably, the story of Steve Jobs is one wherein his first iteration of leading Apple was all about building the perfect computer. But his second stint as the CEO was all about building an amazing organization. Ultimately, that organization went on to scale new heights than he was able to achieve in his own lifetime. We’re seeing the same thing happening with Amazon as well. Earlier on, Jeff Bezos was all about being customer driven, but he has most definitely shifted to building a world-class customer-driven company. The task of leading an organization that attempts to scale and grow is about gearing up for the task of building an amazing organization rather than myopically focusing on the actual deliverables we’re delivering. How are you working “on” the church rather than just “in” it?

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