Leadership Matters
I had the privilege of speaking at Heartland Church in Indianapolis yesterday morning…four times. Darryn Scheske is the lead pastor of this thriving multiplying church. Heartland began 10 years
- Pastor Darryn Scheske of Heartland Church, Indianapolis
ago with a handful of people meeting in Darryn and Loree’s living room. They couldn’t even get Christians to buy in initially, so they built relationships with unbelievers and led them to Jesus. The core DNA of Heartland is one of “making disciples.” This was obvious in my experiences today. What a thrill to see God at work still after 10 years, five church plants, and growing from nothing to thousands. And they have a vision that is far greater still—one that includes “multiplying transformational churches.”
As I talked with Darryn between worship services today, I was intrigued with his strategic approach to growing a strong multiplying church. They don’t do traditional small groups anymore. “I don’t like what they produce,” Darryn said. Instead, they have a culture of leadership. They identify people who are willing to grow and go all out. They invest time, energy, and resources into these people…by the hundreds. The idea is that when they produce a great leader, he or she will gather people around them. This is where lives intersect, usually in settings and activities of service.
Beautiful.
I’ve been talking with my International Ministries Team for some time about creating a culture of leadership among our missionaries on the field. Today only confirmed that direction. Christ-like leaders produce what Jesus produced:
- People of great influence
- People of vision and passion
- People who serve like nobody else
- People who are relentless to do something great for God
If we could get a hundred more of those kinds of ministers in key places in the world, we could see some serious God-honoring impact.
Why not?
