Hindsight Sample

1. Connect with leaders outside your tribe and outside your generation. 

If we “dance only with the ones who brung us,” we’ll remain backward in our thinking (like that line!), and we’ll fail to connect with younger generations. If you’re a young leader, you’re probably already connected to your peers, so reach out to older people who have experience walking with God and wisdom you can glean. Their style of ministry may not be very hip, but they have treasured personal traits you value: integrity, passion, and tenacity. 

When I realized that I hadn’t cross-pollinated nearly enough, I asked Sam Chand, “Will you connect me with 10 leaders anywhere in the world? I want to travel to visit them and learn all I can from them.” I invited them to preach at Cornerstone, and I met with them to download everything they could teach me. Then, I traveled to their churches—from New Zealand to South Africa to every part of America—and saw how God was using them. They are some of the most amazing leaders in the world, and my horizons expanded. They taught me to see the church, individuals, and God in new ways.

I attended a service at Paul DeYoung’s church in New Zealand and saw something I’d never imagined: the drummer had on ragged cutoff shorts and a tank top, and he had long, ratty hair. As the band played, thousands of people passionately worshipped God. Sam sat next to me. He leaned over and said, “You’re having a hard time with this, aren’t you?”

I whispered, “Sam, they don’t even have a dress code!”

Paul overheard me and smiled. “Oh, yes we do. No swimsuits.”

You’re probably thinking, “Man, Maury, you’re so stiff you’re going to break!” Exactly. I had to get away from the 20 acres of paradise known as Cornerstone Church to see how someone else thinks, prays, and leads a culturally relevant, incredibly effective church.

2. Don’t waste a crisis. 

Was it a crisis that our church had plateaued? Yes, absolutely. If an organization isn’t growing, it’ll start declining; and sooner or later, it’ll lose any semblance of effectiveness. When that happened to Cornerstone, at first, I panicked. Then, I looked for help. I learned the most valuable lessons of my life only when desperation opened my heart to people who could teach me.

3. Be a student of the culture. 

Subscribe to magazines or blogs that keep you informed about trends in the culture. You may not agree with everything you read, but you can be sure that many of the people who are listening to you agree with some of the things being said and written. As you become more perceptive about what’s going on, your communication will be filled with wisdom and compassion, righteousness and justice. No matter what, never stop learning.

One of the primary roles of leaders is to tailor their message to a changing culture. If they don’t keep their eyes open, they won’t keep up with the change, and they’ll become irrelevant.

I was confident the model of ministry that had worked in the past was the only one that could work in the present and the future. But I was wrong. It took far too long for me to see the importance of knowing what needed to shift and what should remain unchanging.