Real Heroes

It is striking that the cult of celebrity we see played out in our media surrounding the celebrities of movie, music and television fame is also present in the body of Christ. We Americans seem to have a fascination with the celebrities in our culture. Notice the rise of E Network, Inside Edition, and numerous magazines about the celebs.

The same happens in the church though not to a greater extent. We have our celebrity pastors and rightfully so. Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, and Joel O'Steen to name a few. We have them in the church planting world too: Perry Noble, Mark Batterson, and Steven Furtick to name a few. And even in my own tribe: Mike Slaughter, Adam Hamilton, Mark Beeson. The majority of these and the other heroes of the church lead large burgeoning churches. They are innovative, creative and full of wisdom. I love them all (OK maybe I just really like Joel!) They are in many respects heroes who I have the utmost respect for and have learned so much from them. I am thankful God has used each one of them, their teams, and their churches to make the name of Jesus famous. See I am not against big churches, or large number of people in worship (that is what it is going to be like in heaven- read Revelation!), or even these great leaders receiving this celebrity status. And I am in no way against these people or even against their status though many of them I would guess would eschew the celebrity that has been brought upon them.

However, I want to suggest some new (or additional) heroes that the holy catholic church doesn't often call upon to lead conferences, write articles, or have their faces on Outreach Magazine. I am talking about pastors that lead their churches to multiply. That is to start new churches out of their existing churches. In most cases, multiplying churches out of your own church, especially if you lead a church of under 200, does not gain celebrity status because the church may not become the megachurch. To me the pastor of a church with 200 or less in worship who is leading his/her church to multiply is a hero as well! They too have much to teach and share. They and their teams, and churches need to be celebrated, asked to speak, and highlighted by Ed Stetzer in a cover story for Outreach Magazine- "The top 100 multiplying churches with 200 or less in attendance." Because in the end, history has taught us, a movement of multiplication will not come from megachurches (as vital as their ministry is). Rapid multiplication will instead come from churches with 200 or less in attendance taking the bold step to reach emerging generations, populations, and other niche groups. This is good news considering most of our churches in Christendom are less than 200 in attendance.