Leadership Summit 5: Craig Groeschel – IT: How Leaders Can Get IT and Keep IT

Craig Groeschel, Founding and Senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv, has a passion for leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. From its modest beginning in a two-car garage in Oklahoma City, LifeChurch.tv is one of the country’s first multi-campus churches reaching more than 18,000 people with 40 weekly worship experiences in 12 locations including an Internet campus. Known for his creative and relevant Bible teaching, Groeschel has authored four books including the upcoming release, IT.

Notes from Craig’s talk follow.

• Have you every been to a church that was just dead?  Have you ever been to a church where you can sense something special, it just had IT.
• When I started LifeChurch.tv we didn’t have all things many people think you need to have church, but we had IT.
• We had what was necessary – the Spirit of God working in a very special way.
• What is that intangible IT?  It’s something more than just the Spirit of God.
• Even some teams within a church can have IT while others don’t.

Here are my theories about IT.

• God makes IT happen.  From Him, by Him, for Him.
• Can’t be manufactured.
• Caught.
• Not a specific system.
• IT has a downside – critics.
• If you don’t have IT, you can find IT.  If you don’t have IT, you can get IT.
• The early church had IT.  Acts 2:42-47.
  • Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders… All the believers were together and had everything in common… Every day they continued to meet… the favor of all… God added to their numbers daily…

4 qualities that seem to be present in those churches that have IT.

1) Incredibly focused.

• More ministries is not better.  Better ministries are better.
• What can you be the very best at?
• In order to reach people no one is reaching, you have to do things that no one is doing.  Can’t do what everyone else is doing.
• Which ministries are working?  Producing disciples.
• They cut everything except 5 things – weekend worship, small groups, children’s minsitry, student ministry, missions.
• Don’t do VBS, concerts, conferences, men’s, women’s, singles.
• As a result they have the margin to do things that nobody else is doing.
• What are you doing that you need to stop doing?

2) Those with IT see opportunities where others see obstacles.

• What is God trying to show you through your greatest limitation?
• You have everything you need to do what God has called you to do.

3) Willing to fail

• What has God called you to do that you’re afraid to attempt?  When are you going to do it?
  • Organizations that have IT are willing to fail rather than play it safe.
  • Failure is not an option, failure is a necessity.
  • Have courage to get out of the boat.
  • Shake off the failure and step up.

4) Organizations that have IT are led by people who have IT

• When leaders have IT on the inside, people show up.
• Your ministry won’t have it if you don’t have IT.
• Craig stopped reading books because he was too drawn to copy, started fasting, went to another country, lost his brother-in-law.
• “IT hurts because I’m never satisfied.”
• “I pray you don’t sleep until you get IT.”
• A Franciscan Benediction: May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen.
• May we fall in love with Jesus all over again.