Question: What does it take to survive in today’s church leadership environment as culture moves away from Christianity and into a more pluralistic, post-modern environment?
Answer: More than it used to, and likely more than you think.
The good news is that you easily discover not only what it takes to survive in today’s leadership culture, you can discover what it takes to thrive.
After two decades in church leadership (with a few more to come…I hope!), here are ten things that leaders who are thriving these days almost always have in common and almost always have in abundance.
And, conversely, leaders who are missing most of these generally don’t survive in our changing culture.
The good news is you can thrive—not just survive—in today’s church culture if you pursue the right things.
Here are 10 things that I would put on the post-modern church leader’s survival checklist.
As you’ll see, few of them directly tie into the cultural shift happening before us as Western culture shifts away from Christianity. You can read more about that here or in even greater detail in my new book, Lasting Impact.
Instead, the checklist I offer here is tied to the personal strength and resilience a leader brings to their calling.
Why is the checklist so personally oriented?
When a movement becomes counter-cultural (as is increasingly the case with Christianity), it takes greater leadership skill and resolve to make an impact than it otherwise would.
In some ways, it’s like leading into a head-wind rather having the tail wind your predecessors may have enjoyed.
As a result, seeing results might take longer. Leadership is probably going to be harder. It’s certainly going to be more complex.
But it definitely will be worth it, and the potential for impact is huge.
With that in mind, here are 10 things church leaders need to thrive in our post-modern, post-Christian context:
