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Retooling the Church FINDING YOUR PLACE
IN
MINISTRY
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Retooling the Church FINDING YOUR PLACE
IN
MINISTRY
RON SATRAPE
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© Copyright 2007—Ron Satrape All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All emphasis within Scripture quotations is the author’s own. Please note that Destiny Image’s publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers’ styles. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules. DESTINY IMAGE® PUBLISHERS, INC. P.O. Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310 “Speaking to the Purposes of God for this Generation and for the Generations to Come.” This book and all other Destiny Image, Revival Press, Mercy Place, Fresh Bread, Destiny Image Fiction, and Treasure House books are available at Christian bookstores and distributors worldwide. For a U.S. bookstore nearest you, call 1-800-722-6774. For more information on foreign distributors, call 717-532-3040. Or reach us on the Internet: www.destinyimage.com ISBN 10: 0-7684-2438-0 ISBN 13: 978-0-7684-2438-6 For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U.S.A. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 / 09 08 07 06
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C ONTENTS
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 1
Retooling the Leadership Model . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 2
Recognizing the “No Team” Symptoms . . . . . 15
Chapter 3
Your Team—The Key to Moving Forward . . . 29
Chapter 4
Developing a Reproducible Team-up Model . . 37
Chapter 5
Making a Team Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter 6
Curing Communicable Team Diseases . . . . . . 55
Chapter 7
Your Ministry Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter 8
Successful Retooling Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Chapter 9
Team Vision and Goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Chapter 10
Planning Team Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Chapter 11
Team Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Chapter 12
Leadership Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Chapter 13
Team Ministry Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Chapter 14
Regional Apostolic and Prophetic Teams . . 193 Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
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F OREWORD
T
here is a new paradigm shift in Christian leadership taking place now in the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is moving His leadership from a “top-down” model to a team model. When Jesus first introduced His ministry, He came in functioning as a top-down leader but before He left He transitioned to a leadership team. Jesus knew that ministry could not go forward if it was focused on the security of His own ministry. He knew that the building up of the Kingdom must be centered on others. Jesus reproduced Himself in the Twelve who then reproduced themselves in others and the reproduction process began. Thus the Church—the Body of Christ and the Army of God— was released to take the gospel to the nations. Ron Satrape has hit a home run with his book Retooling the Church. Leaders must embrace this revelation and make the necessary changes needed to lead our congregations into this new wineskin. If you are searching for answers to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church then I believe this book can give you direction and answer many of your questions. Ron not only teaches but has walked it out. His life is a living testimony that it works. Terry Nance Author, God’s Armor Bearer 7
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P REFACE
This book is a result of more than 25 years of pastoral ministry and the passion to move today’s Church into fulfilling the needs of modern-day believers. Although I address charismatic church leaders specifically, the team and leadership concepts apply to Christians involved in a wide variety of situations and organizational structures. Based on a solid biblical foundation, the lessons shared have the power to enhance and improve the inner workings of your church, business, ministry, career, and life.
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CHAPTER 1
R ETOOLING
THE
L EADERSHIP M ODEL
I
started in the ministry during the charismatic movement in the early 1970s. At that time the Holy Spirit was virtually unknown in the typical denominational churches. The Church had become so structured and planned that God had no room to move. For the most part, the gifts of the Holy Spirit were not being used and were not welcomed in the formal and traditional church setting of the day. Local church theology was not receptive to charismatic theology or allowing the gifts of the Holy Spirit to operate during worship services. Consequently, the Full Gospel Businessman’s Fellowship membership increased during those years because people hungered to experience God in a personal and real way. There was a need for a paradigm change in the way denominational churches were structured and the charismatic churches began to fill that need. The Holy Spirit raised up a new breed of top-down leaders who pioneered a new Spirit-filled move of God. A prophetic leader led us into this new move of God. How we “did church” changed and the top-down leadership model was the way to assure that we wouldn’t be voted or politicked out of what the Holy Spirit was doing in this new movement. Jesus Christ operated in the top-down prophetic leader mode when He began His ministry. At that time, the religious 11
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Retooling the Church system had become corrupted and had strayed from rightly reflecting the character and nature of God. God came in person to retool His Church. The Son of God said, “No!” to what was happening within His Body. His ministry began as He modeled His Father: “This is what I’m like. When you see Me, you see the Father.” Top-down leadership is most valuable in the start-up stage of ministry. We need top-down guidance from the prophetic leader who points us in a new direction—back to God and God’s ways. Jesus forever changed religion as they knew it during His day. He led that change as a top-down leader. He made all the calls. He told His disciples what to do and they did it. This type of leadership model is seen throughout the Scriptures—Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses all brought great change and renewed direction to God’s people as top-down, entrepreneurial, pioneering leaders.
M OVING B EYOND T OP -D OWN The modern-day charismatic church was launched with a top-down leadership structure. But what was good for the beginning may be the very thing that stands in the way of expanding and developing the future charismatic church. I believe we need to move beyond our beginnings if the Church is to experience continued growth—or even continued existence. Over time, one weakness of the top-down leadership model became evident: lack of “buy in.” Followers of the topdown leader do not always fully embrace the faith, character, and lifestyle of their leader as their own. Because of that weakness, today’s typical charismatic Christian reflects very little of the values and character of their top-down leader. I believe that we are facing a crisis concerning American charismatic Christians living out the biblical values and ideals being preached and taught in the pulpits across the country. 12
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RETOOLING
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THE
LEADERSHIP MODEL
Unfortunately, many vary little from the unchurched regarding character and values. Christians divorce, are addicted, and struggle with the same ills as our lost neighbors. Many Christians don’t value morality, honesty, or integrity any more than the unchurched do. Many Christians allow their topdown leaders to live out Christianity for them—living vicariously through them. The standard is different for the pulpit than it is for the pew.
T EAM - UP L EADERSHIP I’m so thankful for the insight of Patrick Lencioni, who authored the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team1. Reading that book changed my life and ministry forever because I recognized some of the long-term weaknesses of the top-down leadership model we had learned in the church. I also recognized the even greater weaknesses that resulted from the democratic- or consensus-driven leadership models. My father was a Southern Baptist pastor who had planted several churches that were all congregationally ruled. In my experience, democracy in churches creates politics instead of spiritual leadership. Rick Warren, the Southern Baptist pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, developed a cutting-edge team model that works better without democracy. As far as I know, the only democratic thing that Saddleback Church does is allow the congregation to vote on the annual budget that’s submitted by their pastoral team. Team-up leadership is successful in the church and business environment. It is not without drawbacks, though—drawbacks that, if recognized, can be overcome. Patrick Lencioni is the first business leader I read that defines a model of leadership that falls between the extremes of top-down and consensusdriven. His secular book greatly influenced our ministry team model, and I believe is a must-read for every leader. 13
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Retooling the Church The remainder of the book is devoted to developing and strengthening your church, ministry, or outreach by using all the resources God gave you—the people involved in your work. Retooling the Church with a team-up leadership model empowers everyone to become who God intended them to be.
E NDNOTE 1. Patrick M. Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002).
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