Ep 018: Not Proclamation, But Demonstration - An Interview with Tim Lucas

Welcome to Episode 18 of the Joshua Gagnon Leadership Podcast!Do you have a question about leadership or ministry for Pastor Josh? We will be hosting a special episode on the podcast where Pastor Josh will be personally answering a series of questions from our listeners. If you would like to have your question answered by Pastor Josh on the podcast, you can leave a voicemail or send a text message to (646) 801-6033.Today’s guest is Tim Lucas, the lead pastor of Liquid Church, a multisite church with four campuses located in New Jersey. Tim is a dynamic communicator and he’s known for his trademark humor, honesty, and insight. He has also written a book about marriage, called You Married The Wrong Person: The Relationship Secret Every Couple Needs To Know. Liquid Church's innovative approaches to outreach have been spotlighted by CNN and The New York Times. Learn More About Tim:Tim’s Website: http://www.pastortimlucas.com/Liquid Church’s Website: http://www.liquidchurch.com/Tim’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/pastortimlucasTim’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/pastortimlucas/Tim’s Book, You Married The Wrong Person: http://amzn.to/1Rmn0583 Takeaways For Leaders:1. When reaching others with the Gospel, it’s not just proclamation, it’s demonstration. One of the hurdles churches who are in or near urban areas may face is reaching them in a real and authentic way so that they are attracted to the thought of coming to church. Pastor Tim explains that his method of sharing the Gospel to a new community for a location is by serving them. Liquid doesn’t wait until launch day to show them they care, but rather they go out into the community and start impacting them by serving them in any way possible. 2. Leadership has to be more localized. Learn to speak the language of the community your church is in. Pastor Tim shares how diverse New Jersey is, and as a result of this, Liquid has played off of this diversity. Pastor Josh made the point that many times churches will copy the methods of other churches, but they overlook the fact that they are in a completely different culture. Contextualize the gospel message to the culture in which you live. 3. Don’t let ministry become your mistress. Tim admits that he had prioritized Liquid’s growth over the growth of his family. In order to eradicate this, he went through a season of “radical pruning”, where he radically cut back his schedule. This included letting go of his involvement in many church ministries and decisions, as well as saying no to outside speaking engagements until his children were a certain age. Tim explained that he had to “say no for a season so that my family...would get my prime cut.” Tim also revealed that his work week consists of Monday through Thursday, with his Fridays and Saturdays reserved specifically for family time.Quotes from this Episode:“A church on mission that’s engaged with the culture is more of a hospital for sinners than a museum for saints.” - Tim Lucas“Never preach methodology. Preach the message, but the methodology changes.” - Tim Lucas“The people we’re reaching, they’re not starting at 0, they’re starting at -4.” - Tim Lucas“We have to present the Gospel in the most winsome way possible. And it’s not just proclamation, it’s demonstration of grace.” - Tim Lucas“Contextualize the gospel message to the culture in which you live in.” - Josh Gagnon“Reach the culture that you’re in and stop trying to copy the culture everybody else is in.” - Josh Gagnon “The Church is Jesus’ bride; the calling is mine.” - Tim Lucas “It’s a discipline of the schedule that elevates the spiritual health.” - Tim Lucas “If you are in ministry, God has only entrusted it to you for a season--it’s not yours. But don’t fail on the things that God has entrusted to you for a lifetime.” - Josh Gagnon