ben mandrell: preaching to skeptics
“Of all the things about being a pastor that I found most difficult, keeping a burning heart for the lost was the highest challenge.”
Illinois native Ben Mandrell began his session on preaching to skeptics with a prayer of self-confession. Drawing on his experience as a pastor in Colorado, the President and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources then shared five practices to help pastors reach the irreligious in their communities.
1. Be very gentle in your apologetics.
To reach the skeptics, preachers need to be intentional about lifting up the glory of Christianity without bashing the other religions in their community.
“The beauty of the gospel, the beauty of Christianity is a defense in and of itself,” Mandrell said. “So if you want to win people to your church from non-religious circles, you have to create a culture where you speak kindly about those who are not in the room.”
Preaching with the skeptic in mind necessitates an understanding that church members will bring their non-Christian friends and neighbors to church. Doing this consistently will create a culture of trust where people feel comfortable bringing unchurched friends.
2. Tell stories every Sunday about someone you engaged with that’s a non-religious person.
Telling little snippets of interactions the pastor has with non-religious people in his everyday life encourages church members to have similar interactions.
Mandrell challenged listeners to be intentional about scheduling these opportunities on their calendar each week. “There should be a lunch or a coffee with somebody who has no immediate interest in coming to your church. You’re just building relationships,” he said.
3. Preach the Bible. People really are interested in it.
Attracting unchurched people doesn’t require abandoning the Bible. But don’t assume that unchurched people know anything about the Bible or how to apply it to their lives.
Mandrell said that he still faithfully focused on the biblical text for the majority of the message when preaching to his post-Christian culture in Denver, but he began adding three application questions at the end each week.
“I’m going to answer one question from the seasoned Christian; one question from a good-hearted skeptic in the room; and one question from a student in our student ministry.” These hypothetical questions helped each person in the church that day know how they might apply something from the sermon.
“If you’re not ending your sermon with some really clear takeaways,” Mandrell stated, “people are walking away from your message saying, ‘You’re a really great speaker, but I have no idea what you just said.’”
4. Put yourself in the center of kids ministry.
“The best way to reach non-religious people in your community by far is by loving their kids,” Mandrell said as he urged pastors to be personally involved and active in kids camps, VBS, and children’s ministry.
“A lot of pastors are making big mistakes here. We think that the main event on Sunday morning is the big room. But over 90% of people make decisions for Christ before they are 14 years old. The main event is outside the big room. The main room is what’s happening in the side rooms where the kids are.”
5. Elevate baptism. Baptism is a powerful thing.
The story of a life changed by Jesus Christ shown vividly in front of the church through baptism, combined with some video clips or testimony of a person’s story, can speak powerfully to the skeptic.
“The real-life story of how someone in your church reached a non-religious person—and they’re being baptized today—is the biggest pep rally that can happen at your church. It’s better than any sermon you will ever preach,” Mandrell said.
For Southern Baptists living outside of the South, understanding how to reach the skeptic is essential. Putting these five steps into practice can change the culture of the church, from one where only the most evangelistic in the church are sharing the gospel, into one where the whole church seeks to reach the skeptic.
By Ben Mandrell
kathy litton: the emotionally healthy leader
Spiritual leaders’ emotional health will be on display, and we won’t even know it. “It is our spiritual maturity that grows our emotional security,” Kathy Litton said at a packed session for ministry wives.
Litton is the wife of SBC President Ed Litton and Director of Planter Spouse Development for the North American Mission Board.
“When pastors and their spouses work on their own emotional health, it’s a real gift to the church,” she told the women, quoting author Michael Hyatt. “We should lead our heart, not follow it. The heart can lead to a downward spiral (to) depression.
“We can lead the heart to trust God.”
By Kathy Litton
mark clifton: revitalization and the multi-generational church
“When a church closes it’s doors, it says something about the power and glory of God that we don’t want to say.”
Mark Clifton, Senior Director of Church Replanting and Rural Strategy at NAMB, said that when a church closes its doors, it undermines the message of the power of God in the community. “They hear you preaching that God is the answer to your problems, but he can’t keep this church open.”
Pastors need to be equipped to revitalize churches because it magnifies the true glory of God. One of the essential qualities needed by pastors in church revitalization, Clifton said, is an affinity for multi-generations. A pastor must possess a love for both younger and older adults, as well as understand how to lead them together.
Practically, he advises two starting points for pastors seeking to become multi-generational in a church revitalization: First, focus on reaching and discipling one young man. Second, love older people for who they are.
When trying to reach young men, “don’t try to dress like them,” Clifton urged, instead “listen to them.” Young men want to be discipled by older men and they want the opportunity to lead.
An affinity for multi-generations recognizes that for a church to become vibrant for the next generation somebody must let go, and somebody must grab on. But if the older generation does not let go of leadership, he cautioned, the younger generation cannot grab on.
Only valuing young people will not create a multi-generational church. Change is often difficult for an older generation, where their church seems like the only thing in their world that hasn’t changed. Clifton said pastors need to recognize how difficult change is for older members. But instead of avoiding change, he said, “an older generation needs to be loved into change.” The older generation will find joy in the multi-generational church that will never exist if changes aren’t made.
An effective revitalization pastor will lovingly help older members make changes because it is what is best for them, not bad for them.
By Mark Clifton
clint calvert: coaching for solutions
“People have very low ownership of ideas they didn’t come up with themselves,” said Clint Calvert, Church Leadership Catalyst with the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention. A mentor or counselor may be needed during a crisis, but a coach can be the most effective role a leader can play.
Associational leaders and pastors often find themselves in relationships where help is needed by a peer, church member, or friend. When it is not a situation in need of clear-cut biblical or moral answers, a coach is the best answer for success.
Using the acronym, COACH, Calvert promoted a four-step strategy to simplify the coaching process and get the best results.
Conversation. Chat with the person. Write down a few details that are going on in the person’s life. Ask follow-up questions about these during the next coaching session. Conversation helps the coach get a feel for what the person is going through and really cares about.
Outcome. The person being coached must set the agenda. It won’t be an effective coaching session if they don’t identify what they want to accomplish during the session.
Awareness. The coach needs to ask questions that create awareness of progress and results. Calvert gives examples such as “What are you learning about yourself as we talk?” and “Are we moving toward the results you are looking for?”
Course. The person being coached must be led to determine what they will do to move the plan forward. The coach should ask clarifying questions that help put a clear course of action on paper.
Highlight. The coach should ask for a review of what went best and was most helpful from the session. “The (tactic) you believe in is the one you can make work,” Calvert said. When done well, coaching guides a person to discover his own ideas and clearly see his own solutions. A motivated person will put those solutions into action to make success happen
By Clint Calvert