I think Chandler is a great "Mega-pastor" because I don't think their is an ounce of being that cares whether he is or not.

Jason, agreed. I am praying his influence continues to spread as he continues access to the "other" pastoral tribes in places like Catalyst and Exponential. He is a guy with pretty much zero pretense. He is not afraid to punch every facade and human ambition in its devilish face.
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Lauren, that is awesome.

Love that clip. So true.

Awesome.

I want to know what happened next! What did he tell her? What became of her?

The rose thing could be cool, IF you answered the question like he wanted to.

Chandler is the real deal. He is so compelling as He speaks, but most importantly, he speaks truth.

He is one of those guys that needs a super amount of prayer to stay focused on the Gospel because he is talented enough, as a speaker, that if he gets led astray just slightly, he could do a lot of damage to the cause of the Gospel - arguably more damage than the pastor he mentioned in his anecdote - because of how gifted a speaker he is.

My wife and I visited the Village and loved it, but decided it was too far to drive to try as a church home.


Question: Suppose you could attend church at a place with a pastor who has all the giftedness and passion for the Gospel as Chandler does, but the church did not do well in terms of things such as small groups or worship, perhaps. (I am not speaking of the Village, here - this is truly a rhetorical question) Would you attend the church based solely on the excellence of the preaching? To what extent should a Pastor's acumen as a speaker weigh in on one's decision to attend that pastor's church relative to the body's other ministries' effectiveness (or lack thereof)?

Quaid,
Here's (what I think) is the answer.

Go to that church, join that church, and help them where they are weak. I'm not saying you should have an attitude of "I'm going to fix them" or "I'm going to make them into the kind of church I think they should be."

Rather go invest yourself. Become a part of their community and become a part of the solution. Who knows but that their pastor may have been praying for a small group leader or a worship leader or whatever, and YOU COULD BE THE ANSWER TO THAT PRAYER.

Anyway, that's what I would do, that's what I would advise doing to anyone who asks, and that's what I've done myself back in the days before I was a minister on staff.

That's a little tougher.

I think in that case it depends on two things..

1- How is the preacher weak? Is it in doctrine? Is it in preaching the gospel? If you can't support the pastor, you shouldn't join in the first place. However, if he's just boring, I think it would be OK...depending on the next question.

2- What do you value? If you value good preaching above ministries/fellowship or whatever, I'd say go somewhere else. But if you value the community/ministries/pastoral leadership over even a boring preacher, then join. As long as, you can support the pastor and commit to never complaining about him or causing trouble about his boring preaching later.

Of course, in your scenario, one bomb doesn't mean much. It depends on what you mean by bomb, first of all. But assuming it's just in presentation style and not content, I think you ought to give him a few weeks. Listen to several messages, maybe that bomb was an anomaly.

But if you "don't like the preaching", I realize there are exceptions, but generally speaking, I'd say go to a different church. You can make friends anywhere.

I like to read this blog because I have found the most interesting links and books here. Thank you. I'm enjoying Matt Chandlers podcasts now because of this post - and recommending them to friends who've given up on church because of frustration with what he speaks about (I don't agree with "giving up on church" but I don't get to tell people what to do)

Anyhow, a friend of mine on Facebook posted this and I thought it was very applicable to what Chandler is speaking about here. Maybe some of you will enjoy it.

THE QUESTION that CHANGED MY LIFE
-by David Ryser.

A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school
of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly
searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with
Jesus and to become voices for revival in the Church. I came across
a quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short
version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this:

Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece
and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution;
it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and
became an enterprise. Some of the students were only 18 or 19
years old--barely out of diapers--and I wanted them to understand
and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding,
"An enterprise. That's a business." After a few moments Martha,
the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not
imagine what her question might be.. I thought the little vignette was
self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless,
I acknowledged Martha's raised hand, "Yes, Martha." She asked
such a simple question, "A business? But isn't it supposed to be
a body?" I could not envision where this line of questioning was going,
and the only response I could think of was, "Yes." She continued,
"But when a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?"

The room went dead silent. For several seconds no one moved or
spoke. We were stunned, afraid to make a sound because the
presence of God had flooded into the room, and we knew we were
on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was,
"Wow, I wish I'd thought of that." I didn't dare express that thought
aloud. God had taken over the class.

Martha's question changed my life. For six months, I thought about
her question at least once every day. "When a body becomes a
business, isn't that a prostitute?" There is only one answer to her
question. The answer is "Yes." The American Church, tragically,
is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we
love Him? We don't even know Him; and I mean really know Him.

... I stand by my statement that most American Christians do not
know God--much less love Him. The root of this condition originates
in how we came to God. Most of us came to Him because of what
we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He would
bless us in life and take us to heaven after death. We married Him
for His money, and we don't care if He lives or dies as long as we
can get His stuff. We have made the Kingdom of God into a business,
merchandising His anointing. This should not be. We are commanded
to love God, and are called to be the Bride of Christ--that's pretty
intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can we love
someone we don't even know? And even if we do know someone,
is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are we lovers or
prostitutes?

I was pondering Martha's question again one day, and considered
the question, "What's the difference between a lover and a prostitute?"
I realized that both do many of the same things, but a lover does
what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends to love, but
only as long as you pay. Then I asked the question, "What would
happen if God stopped paying me?"

For the next several months, I allowed God to search me to uncover
my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true lover of
God? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He
never did another thing for me? Would I still love Him? Please
understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of God. The
issue here is not whether God blesses His children; the issue is
the condition of my heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His blessings
in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that I have
earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love God without any
conditions? It took several months to work through these questions.
Even now I wonder if my desire to love God is always matched by
my attitude and behavior. I still catch myself being disappointed
with God and angry that He has not met some perceived need in
my life. I suspect this is something which is never fully resolved,
but I want more than anything else to be a true lover of God.

So what is it going to be? Which are we, lover or prostitute?
There are no prostitutes in heaven, or in the Kingdom of God for
that matter, but there are plenty of former prostitutes in both
places. Take it from a recovering prostitute when I say there is no
substitute or unconditional, intimate relationship with God. And I
mean there is no palatable substitute available to us (take another
look at Matthew 7:21-23 sometime). We must choose.

-Dr. David Ryser.