Pastor Jaime Loya was 20 years old when he and his wife started Cross Church in their living room in San Benito, located in deep south Texas by the Mexican border.
“Our vision in 1995 was to reach our friends and family and people who are far from God,” Loya explains. “I jokingly say that I didn’t have anyone around to talk me out of it. But that’s how God works. In our ignorance, we follow him wholeheartedly without asking questions.”
We are called to be “salt and light.” How we do that is what makes all the difference. Loya was intent on spiritual truths becoming a reality in the lives of everyday people. Hearing a message on a Sunday morning is meaningless if that message is not lived out all week long.
“The church is an organism, not an organization,” Loya says. “Like any organism, there needs to be some type of evolution, and church, in general, hasn’t evolved much in the past 100 years.”
Sometimes change is scary, and people can resist having the courage to embrace change. Loya cites how Goliath was taunting and threatening the people of God for 40 days until David dared to battle the giant. “There are giants who are taunting and threatening the next generation. We have to ask if we have the courage to step out and do something about it.”
Loya felt that they should focus less on the gathering of people on Sunday morning and more on making disciples. “That really became our new metric—focusing on how we help people take that next step in their spiritual growth. It was no longer about adding to our numbers, but rather adding value to the people we already had.”
He wanted to help believers mature in their faith and discover their gifts, develop their talents and be deployed into the community. When Loya began sharing this new way of thinking—discovering, developing and deploying—he recognized that he risked losing those who didn’t agree. But he was willing to take that risk. It turns out that many others embraced the new strategy.
Loya believes that this change in mindset has been the catalyst for much of their growth. In five years, they have opened six campuses and are in the process of opening a seventh. Other pastors are intrigued and frequently inquire about the potential for acquisitions, new church plants and mergers. In addition, Cross Church has a vast network both here in the States and in Central and South America. Many pastors are coming to Loya seeking direction and resources, particularly because Cross Church translates all their materials. They also host conferences and create podcasts. As a result, they feel on track to eventually have some type of global impact.
“People see that we’re on a different trajectory,” Loya says. “We aren’t going the way of everybody else. This train is headed somewhere else, and a lot of pastors want to get on board with the vision God has given us.”
Loya notes that when you look at the life of Jesus, it’s clear that he was the biggest revolutionary who ever lived.
It all circles back to Loya starting a church as a 20-year-old, flying by the seat of his pants.
“If some people don’t think that you’re at least a little crazy as a pastor, then you’re probably not doing everything God told you to do,” he says with a chuckle.