I am back in NE Ohio from a Times of Refreshing Retreat near Louisville led by Bob Russell of Southeast Christian Church. I had reached out to Bob to find out how he maintains fresh impact as a former Lead Pastor of SE Christian, one of the 10 largest churches in America. He invited me to come to his retreat. And it was a treat.
Five of the pastors at the retreat were Christian Church pastors. One was United Methodist. The other was an independent charismatic. I was the lone Great Commission Baptist (GCB).
We had a delightful time majoring on the majors and minoring on the minors. Of course, since I was outnumbered, I was teased as a GCB.
But I could sense a great deal of respect for me and for my tribe. In fact, Bob Russell has been asked to speak at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) many times. He is friends with the SBTS President, Al Mohler.
The main reason I wanted to come to this particular retreat was to study Bob Russell. After he passed the baton as the lead pastor he has maintained a very fruitful ministry in his 70s. Of course, one of the reasons he gets invited to minister a lot is because he built a church of 20,000. But it still noteworthy that he gets invited to a lot of places and that he often gets invited back.
Why?
Bob doesn't let go of his doctoral distinctives. But I think what makes him an attractive leader are five characteristics (in no particular order):
1. Smiles. He seems to be a man of irresistible and extraordinary joy. (Bob encouraged us to look at a sermon delivery without the sound to determine how much joy we are exuding with our body language. He told the story of once hearing a recording of his conversation with his wife in which he was lifeless and monotone. He was convicted that he needs to be a man of joy especially with his wife and family.) Bob seems to have an uncanny capacity to focus not on what's going wrong but on what's going well and how he might be an encourager. Plus, he's not afraid to make himself the brunt of the joke.
2. Stories. He has an uncanny ability to remember and tell stories that are often insightful, humorous, and meaningful.
3. Scripture. Bob is a man who encourages expository preaching. When he would pose various pastoral role conundrums, he would always bring us back to the Bible. He has an unwavering commitment to the truth in a commonsense kind of way.
4. Stewardship. Bob has an ability to leverage resources to add value to the lives and ministries of other leaders. Bob involves friends and dollars from his ministry in order to bless the lives of other leaders. He does this with excellence. The retreated I just experienced was free of charge. We received $50 of books from the bookstore. He gave a $100 gift to our wives. We got a baseball bat from the Louisville Slugger Museum along with a free tour. We went bowling. We ate at Ruth's Chris, the finest steakhouse in town. We were given a nice shirt. Truly, the generosity that came our way was extraordinary. (If you would like to attend one of Bob's retreats, you can find out more here.)
5. Simplicity. Even though Bob has led a highly organized, mega ministry, he has an amazing ability to keep things simple. Common sense, old-fashioned spirituality and care for people are key characteristics of what makes him effective in such a highly technological age.
I know that you, like me, want to be a someone who has great influence with others as we move forward in age. Holding to our doctrinal distinctives is vital. But our character and our persona may have more to do with our opportunities to influence others than we would like to think.
Questions: Which of the five characteristics do you need to add the most? How will you leverage smiles, stories, scripture, stewardship, and simplicity to have a more profound impact on others?
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