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Church Leaders: Please Step Outside of the Church

I did my undergrad at Lincoln Christian University (LCU). For those of you unfamiliar with LCU, it is a legitimate Christian university. It's not one of those that have heritage in Christianity but basically looks and functions like a secular school today. No, it's very focused on Christian ministry. Just look at some of the majors:
  • Preaching ministry
  • Youth ministry
  • Worship ministry
I originally went to LCU with the intentions of becoming a full-time church pastor, and so I majored in preaching ministry for the first two years. Long story short, I found I wasn't really cut out for it, so I switched to Business Administration. (One of the few majors there that isn't specifically church occupational.)

I really appreciated a lot of my education. It was interesting to get everything filtered through a Christian perspective.

But it was also a bit of a detriment.


In switching to Business Administration, I got a taste of the regular business world without a specific Christian lens. We did talk about Christian values in things like business ethics, but for the most part, a marketing or finance class there was pretty much your run-of-the-mill marketing or finance class.

The problem is that I don't think my friends in Christian ministry majors got that same thing. I think everything they got was filtered through the Christian lens. Don't get me wrong, I have no particular biff with Christian studies, but here's the brutal reality:

Most of the best leaders are not in the church, and church leaders could stand to learn from them.

I don't think I've ever heard a pastor recommend a podcast from Tim Ferriss or a book from Seth Godin. It's usually a recommendation of the "latest and greatest" church study or theology book.

It disappoints me because I've read a lot of those recommended books, and most of them aren't all that great. Slapping the name of Jesus on something doesn't automatically make it great.

I wonder if there is this fallacy that something that doesn't have Jesus's name in it isn't good for the church. I don't know that for a fact, but it would certainly make sense.

But it's not good. As somebody who values the church, I want to see it grow. I think there is a ton of stuff out there that church leaders can benefit from that doesn't have the Christian label on it.


My encouragement for church leaders is to step outside the Christian world. Christian books and podcasts are still fine to check out amidst the other stuff, but I would be leery about keep your focus 100% on that. If you want your church to grow, the best strategies are out there waiting for you. Adapt them for your churches.
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