You may be a church leader who is asking the question 'why are we not seeing growth in our church or why is our church not thriving?'. Perhaps at one point in time you experienced great growth and then things began to stagnate. I believe the following 5 keys will help you see fruit and success in your church again.
1. Spiritual life
Taking time to foster and cultivate our spiritual lives individually as leaders is crucial. Corporate success begins and starts with us individually. How can we expect to have a thriving church if our own lives are not thriving. Spending time in the Word of God and letting truth impact our lives, even the more difficult and challenging scriptures can mould and shape us into being better people and leaders in our spheres of influence. Making sure we have regular focused prayer time. The Lords prayer gives a great framework for focused prayer and yet our prayer lives should not be separate to every other area of life. The goal should be whatever we are doing in life we should be in constant communion with Him.
2. Community
A thriving leader often can mean a thriving church and that begins in the home. How are we as leaders thriving in our home environments. If you are a single man or woman in leadership it is important to recognise the need for healthy community. Practical things to consider when setting yourself up for success are not living alone but living with housemates. Having great friends and disciplines are vital for singles in leadership. A good discipline may be to limit your time spent watching television for instance. Learning to use your time wisely will set you up for success in your present and in your future.
There can also be challenges for married couples in ministry. Ask yourself 'how am I doing with my spouse?' It can be easy for your marriage to take a back seat to all the other pressing issues and yet your ministry is first to your family. For those with children remember there is no higher ministry calling for you than that of your children. Include them in your life and ministry and don't use them as a trophy to show off how spiritual your family is. Some fall under the pressure of this but your children need to grow and mature in a guilt free environment so they don't later grow to resent the church and the Lord.
3. Lifestyle
You're lifestyle is a sure indicator of whats really important to you. It is of paramount importance that you recognise potential distractions and pit falls to you thriving in life. Healthy boundaries are important so that our lives are not compartmentalised between 'ministry' and 'our time'. Our goal is to live Kingdom lives and all our decisions to be ones that reflect Jesus. In everything we do in word or deed, it all belongs to Jesus! A good way of knowing if you have a compartmentalised lifestyle or not is by asking yourself the following question, 'Are you able to express the natural lifestyle of the Kingdom even if there is no ministry programme in place?'
Also some real practical ways you can thrive are to get plenty of sleep, and exercise regularly. An unhealthy body can affect your overall lifestyle.
Your emotional health is also very important. Are you filled with anxiety and fear? What are you doing do cultivate fun in your life?
Finally many people can fall into the trap of making everything in life about ministry. Make sure you have some good hobbies which don't all relate to ways to reach the lost or potential sermons you could preach.
4. Destiny Synchronisation
You are unique and for this reason God has a unique calling and destiny on your life. It's really important that both you and the people you lead are synched up and doing the thing that you are wired to do and not something that your not called to do. Ask yourself 'Is this something that truly gives me life?'. Not everything you do is going to be fully life giving but the balance of time should be spent on life giving work. At least 2/3 of your life should be spent doing things that are life giving. If you are not spending most of your time doing life giving things, make a few adjustments and start investing in those areas of your life.
5. Mentoring
We all need mentors in our lives. Listening and learning from other leaders is crucial to our development. Even ones we disagree with can actually stretch us and help us grow and refine who we are. The greatest leaders recognise that they never stop learning. Having older brothers, sisters and spiritual parents keeps us accountable and doesn't allow room for pride to creep in. The old way of viewing mentorship was that of having one key mentor in your life whereas in the modern age we have whats known as constellation mentorship. This means we have many mentors and resources speaking into our lives to help us grow.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of ways to have a thriving church but there is a great likelihood that with success in these five areas, it will spill over to your ministry and church life too. John 10:10 says that Jesus came that they may have life and life abundant and my prayer for you as you read this post is that in every area of life by the power of the Holy Spirit, you experience life abundant.
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