3. Holding My Team Back: 3 years ago or so, I was telling our team that they had to quit being doers and start being leaders. Though I would teach this to our team every week in staff meeting, down deep inside I didn't like this change, and it showed up in my speech and actions outside of staff meeting. I believe in hard work, and I wanted our team busy doing the ministry even though I told them in staff meeting to release the ministry to others. I know some of the team had to be confused during this season because I was teaching them how to develop leaders and release ministry, and then, I would talk to them one-on-one a few days later and drill them about why THEY weren't getting stuff done. I confess, I held back our team for a season. This was a tough transition for me as leader to release our staff to be leaders and not doers.
4. A Heart Full Of Religion: Yes, when I started People's Church 8 years ago, my heart was full of religion. I didn't realize that I had become a legalistic, nasty and mean-spirited preacher. I loved tradition and minor doctrinal positions more than I did people. I had a doctrinal pride because I thought I was right and everybody else was surely wrong. I would cling to my opinion of the Bible more than what the Bible actually said and emphasized. The early days of my preaching were more condescending than uplifting because my heart was full of religion. I was critical of other Bible-believing churches that didn't do it like we did it and didn't believe like we believed. I was critical of some churches’ methods of reaching people for Christ. Yes, I'm even guilty of being critical of a pastor that I've never met. I didn't know his heart, motives, prayer life or lifestyle, and yet, I would sit in judgment of his methods of reaching his community for Christ. Because I didn't understand why some churches used out of the box methods to reach people for Christ, I thought they were wrong, compromising and worldly. I would even tell my wife, "We will never do what that church does." I'm grateful that God set me free from religion. The absolutely funny thing is that some of the very things I said we would never do to reach people for Christ, we now do! I'M FREE, thank God Almighty that I'm FREE INDEED!
