The iPhone 16 E: The Return of the Performa Era?
The Church is standing at a leadership crossroads.
God is raising up men and women within the Church—believers with fresh passion, spiritual gifts, and a heart to serve. But for these gifts to flourish, pastors must embrace a model of leadership that is less about control and more about calling. It’s not just about reaching the next generation. It’s about faithfully equipping the whole body of Christ.
Every believer has been given gifts and a purpose by God. The question for pastors and church leaders is this: Are you helping others step into their calling within your church? Because if not, they will go where they are inspired, trusted, and released to serve.
Romans 12:6 reminds us, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” That includes the seasoned elder, the young creative, the quiet intercessor, the passionate evangelist, and the tech-savvy volunteer. God has placed purpose in every heart. But when leadership only listens without releasing—or controls instead of cultivates—the Church becomes a place of spiritual frustration instead of mission fulfillment.
Listening is Not Enough
Too often, churches ask for input from their leaders or teams but hesitate to act on ideas that differ from familiar approaches. While unity and discernment are essential, it’s a missed opportunity when we invite others to speak, but not to lead. Encouraging people to bring fresh ideas means being open to new ways of carrying out the same unchanging mission.
Your people don’t just want to be heard—they want to be trusted. And trust means allowing them to lead. When church members sense that their calling is being ignored or minimized, they begin to wonder if they truly have a place. And if they can’t serve where they are, they will look for a place where they can.
Be Accessible
Leadership doesn’t begin in the pulpit—it begins in relationship. If people can’t reach you, they can’t grow under your leadership. Accessibility doesn’t mean answering every email or attending every meeting. It means creating a culture where your team knows they can come to you—not just with problems, but with vision, hopes, and God-given ideas.
Some of the most powerful leadership moments don’t happen in formal meetings. They happen in conversations, in quick check-ins, in the kind of relational moments where trust is built. Jesus didn’t just preach to the crowds—He walked with His disciples. He was accessible.
From Control to Cultivation
Churches that flourish are led by pastors who understand their biblical role: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). This doesn’t mean doing all the ministry. It means developing people to lead in it.
Ask yourself:
- Am I helping others walk in their God-given calling?
- Do I make space for others to lead—even if they do it differently?
- Is our church a place where people are developed, or just directed?
- Do people feel empowered to step into ministry—or boxed in?
The Kind of Leaders People Follow
People aren’t inspired by leaders who sit back and issue orders. They’re inspired by leaders who are willing to jump into the fight and lead with humility.
In the film Remember the Titans, team captain Gerry Bertier approaches Coach Boone about a teammate who’s deliberately missing blocks, putting others at risk. Bertier tells him the player should be cut. Boone responds, “I don’t cut anybody. You’re the captain. That’s your call. But if that’s how you feel, you’ve got to stand behind it.”
It’s a powerful leadership moment—not because of the decision made, but because of what Coach Boone did. He empowered a young leader to make a tough call and grow from it. Throughout the movie, you see Boone struggling with his own insecurities—but also constantly developing others. He builds a culture of trust and responsibility. That’s the kind of leadership the Church needs.
Later in the film, Assistant Coach Yoast, who had been passed over for the head coaching role, recognizes the bigger picture during the championship game. He humbles himself and asks Petey—who he had previously benched for his attitude—to get back in the game. Not for his own benefit, but for the sake of the team and the mission.
We see a similar model of courageous leadership in the series Masters of the Air. The commanders didn’t just sit in safety sending men into harm’s way—they flew with them. In one episode, a high-ranking officer climbs into the cockpit alongside younger airmen for a bombing mission deep in enemy territory. The risk was enormous, but his presence said everything: I will not ask you to go where I won’t go myself. That kind of leadership builds more than strategy—it builds loyalty, courage, and unity.
Pastors, this is what you’re called to do. Not to direct from behind a pulpit—but to walk, teach, serve, and sometimes bleed with the people you lead. That’s what makes a team follow. That’s what shapes a church.
We Must Stay on Mission
We cannot forget why we lead in the first place. Jesus gave the Church its mission in Matthew 28:18–20:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
And in Acts 1:8, He clarified the strategy: Start where you are and go everywhere else.
That mission begins in our neighborhoods and extends to the nations.
But we must understand the world we’re reaching. Today’s culture is not built around suits and Sunday best. It’s a world of flip-flops, cut-off shorts, tattoos, and earrings. Many faithful believers—and many who’ve never encountered Jesus—don’t look like the traditional churchgoer of fifty years ago. And that’s not a barrier to the Gospel. It’s a reminder of the Gospel’s reach.
From the tribes of Africa and Papua New Guinea wearing lip rings and grass skirts, to the tattooed French and Germans walking the streets of Europe, the call remains the same: go and make disciples. To do that, we must contextualize without compromising. Paul modeled this when he said:
“To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews... To those not having the law I became like one not having the law... I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:20–22).
The Church must stop expecting the world to adapt to us. Instead, we must carry Christ to them—where they are, how they live, and in a language and posture they can understand. That doesn’t mean watering down the truth. It means living it out where people can see it, hear it, and believe it.
This is the model of ministry we see throughout Church history. Oswald Chambers once wrote, “A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone.” He ministered wherever God led him, often outside the spotlight. George Whitefield, one of the great evangelists of the First Great Awakening, famously preached in open fields, coal mines, and city streets so that the unchurched could hear the Gospel. And D.L. Moody—known for reaching thousands—understood that the Church should never be a place of comfort for the comfortable. At Moody’s church in Chicago, members would sometimes pay for their pew seats not for themselves, but so that those who had never heard the Gospel—the dirty, the homeless, the widows, the lost—could sit closest to the front. They believed those farthest from God deserved the clearest view of Jesus.
That is the heart of the Gospel. That is the heart the Church must recover.
But the Church in America must also ask a hard question: Are we truly taking the Gospel to the lost—or are we just bringing our version of it? Just like the missionary who goes abroad, we must be willing to lay down our cultural preferences to reach people where they are, not where we’re comfortable. The message of Jesus never changes, but the method must always be led by the Spirit and shaped by compassion.
A Fresh Fire and a Waiting Church
Over the past five years, we’ve seen powerful signs of spiritual awakening on college campuses across the country. From Asbury University to secular campuses where worship and prayer have broken out, it’s clear: young people are looking for something more than what the world is selling them. They're not interested in another program or performance—they're looking for truth, purpose, and God’s presence.
And it’s not just young people. Across our churches, people are whispering the same words: “Put me in, Coach.” They’re ready to serve. Ready to lead. Ready to fulfill the call God has placed on their hearts.
The Church must become a place where calling is not just affirmed—it’s activated.
We need to bring both Timothy and Barnabas into our congregations. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” But mentorship isn’t a one-way street. In Acts 9, Barnabas stood beside Paul when no one else would. He built bridges, created trust, and helped a leader step into his purpose.
The Church needs Timothys—young men and women with fire in their bones—and it needs Barnabases—seasoned leaders who build up others. Mentorship must go both ways, where generations walk together toward the Kingdom.
The Church Belongs to Christ
Everything we lead belongs to Jesus. The ministries, the people, the vision—it’s all His. And that should shape how we lead. If we’re holding on too tightly, we may be forgetting who the true Shepherd is.
Our job is to steward—not to control. And stewardship means preparing others to carry the mission forward.
Final Word
The Church doesn’t grow through one person’s vision—it grows when the whole body is mobilized. When pastors and leaders create space for others to walk in their calling, the Church becomes a place of transformation and purpose.
So, pastor, ask yourself:
Am I building a church centered around my leadership, or around the callings of God's people?
Because if your people don’t find purpose within your church, they’ll look for it somewhere else.
Let’s be the kind of leaders who don’t just preach about calling—we unleash it.
