Craig Groeschel is the lead pastor for lifechurch.tv and he spoke at one of the main session for the Exponential Conference this year. You can read my previous blog post about his book, Confessions of a Pastor if you would like.

I enjoyed the main session a lot, but he taught a workshop that really got my mind going. Here are my notes:

-Every movement starts with outlandish ideas.
-E,g. Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr.

-These movements always start with the question, “What If.?”

-What if what happened in the New Testament Church happened in my church?

-What if 3,000 people would accept Christ at my church in one day like in Acts 2:38?

-What if, like in Acts 2:42-46, our community would be filled with holy fear? What if people became radically different? What if God added to our churches daily? What if we believed that the church is a building and not the people of God?

-You must ask your own “What If” questions.

-Three theories about leading a movement.

1. To lead a movement you have to see things others don’t see.
-You see the trends in the culture and you ask, “What’s coming?”
-You must go where people have never been before.
-Where there is no vision the people perish
-People don’t want to join a church or a building—they want to join a movement.

2. To lead a movement you have to do what others don’t do.
-Story of the Paralytic Man in (Mark 2)
-You have to be willing to fail.
-You have to be willing to break the rules.

3. To lead a movement you have to hurt like no one else.
-People will often hurt you when you see what others don’t.
-You will often be criticized, mis-understood, fail, and feel dissatisfied.
-You have to be willing to make hard decisions.
-You will over-estimate what God wants to do in the short-run. And you will always under-estimate what God wants to do in the long run.

Groeschel is a guy with vision who thinks outside of the box. Lifechurch.tv is one of the most innovative churches in the nation, and this comes from asking the question, “What If?”

So what if? I think this is a great question because it helps us to dream. We have such small vision sometimes. Sometimes we let fear and criticism keep us from dreaming. Sometimes we have let the past dictate what we do in the present. But the question, “What If?” forces us to examine the heart of God, and seek to aggressively do whatever it takes to carry out his mission.

So what are your “What If?” questions?

tim