The first book I read for summer vacation was Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley. Andy is the Senior Pastor of North Point Community Church just north of Atlanta. North Point has three campuses in the Atlanta area and strategic partner churches all over the United States. The focus of his book is creating churches that unchurched people love to attend. That is also the vision of North Point ministries and all of their partners. I am not the pastor of a church, but I’ve heard great things about this book and would love to find more ways to be creative and intentional in the way that I present the gospel.
This is a fast read, but there are tons of great leadership nuggets throughout. The book tells the story of how North Point got started and more importantly, gives a very candid look as to what Andy and his team did right…and what they wouldn’t repeat!
I highlighted several things while reading and have pasted them below…
- Beginning emptyhanded and alone frightens the best of men. It also speaks volumes of just how sure they are that God is with them.
- Atlanta doesn’t need another church. Atlanta needs a different kind of church. Atlanta needs a church where church people are comfortable bringing their unchurched friends, family members, and neighbors. A church where unbelievers can come and hear the life-changing truth that God cares for them and that Jesus Christ died for their sin. We’ve come together to create a church unchurched people will love to attend.
- In the beginning, the church was a gloriously messy movement with a laser-focused message and a global mission.
- It wasn’t the teaching of Jesus that sent his followers to the streets. It was his resurrection. The men and women who made up the nucleus of the church weren’t simply believers in an abstract philosophy or even faithful followers of a great leader; they were eyewitnesses of an event.
- An ekklesia was simply a gathering or an assembly of people called out for a specific purpose. Ekklesia never referred to a specific place, only a specific gathering.
- Are we moving or simply meeting?
- Are we making a measurable difference in our local communities or simply conducting services?
- Are we organized around a mission or are we organized around an antiquated ministry model inherited from a previous generation?
- Are we allocating resources as if Jesus is the hope of the world or are the squeaky wheels of church culture driving our budgeting decisions?
- Our culture has grown increasingly uneasy with the idea of absolute truth. If there is a right way of doing things, then there’s a wrong way as well. Nobody wants to be wrong. So along with truth, sin becomes a casualty as well. But the New Testament is clear. We are not mistakers in need of correction. We are sinners in need of a Savior. We need more than a second chance. We need a second birth.
- If we’re not careful, we will end up doing for none because we can’t do for everyone. The better approach is to do for one what you wish you could do for everyone, knowing that everyone is not going to be treated the same way.
- One of our pastors, John Hambrick, has a saying that we’ve adopted organization-wide. He says, “We walk toward the messes.”
- Our doctrinal statement is conservative. Our approach to ministry is not.
- It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. (Acts 15:19)
- As a leader, your task is to protect the missional integrity of the Jesus gathering to which you have been called.
- We take seriously Jesus’ words that “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). We figure if heaven is celebrating, we should join in.
- Let’s rid our churches of anything that makes it difficult for those who are turning to God. Let’s proclaim God’s liberating truth. Let’s create communities characterized by grace. Let’s get comfortable with the tension, the inconsistency, and the messiness that ensues. Let’s be the church.