Let’s suppose there’s a pastor who has a heart for outreach and the community, but is having a hard time getting people to own that vision. What counsel would you give?
God only needs three people to change Babylon. Get three people who can believe with you, then once you do that outreach, take a lot of pictures. Come the next Sunday and show the evidence of what has happened. Now the pastor needs to understand that when you do an outreach, it’s not to build your kingdom, but to build the kingdom of God. And that pastor needs to send that message to the church. Hey, we’re going to do this outreach, we’re going to invest $5,000, we’re going to sow seed in the kingdom of God. We don’t care if these people come to our church or not. We just want them to come to know Jesus. If he preaches or she preaches that sermon and shows pictures, I guarantee you the next outreach instead of three people you may have seven. And you just continue to show pictures of what you’ve done in the community and that begins to inspire people. Bring testimonies up on stage. Show your congregation the evidence of what can happen. And then do it again, and then do it again until you build your volunteer base.
We tend to swing from one extreme to another—from in-your-face evangelism to demonstrating the love of God through acts of compassion, but never getting around to the message. I’m curious about your sense of that, because New Life is famous for its message but also for its compassionate outreach. As a leader, how do you find that balance?
Well, the word balance is really tricky and a little bit romantic sometimes. When you start balancing things, something’s going to fall. So I’ve always tried to live my life not to cheapen grace. Don’t cheapen it. And we’ve come today where grace for the most part has been cheapened. I believe in the grace of God. I believe we get what we don’t deserve. But I also believe that the gospel is in your face!
Think of Jesus at the well with the woman—he “slapped” her. People don’t like to talk like that. But he slapped her. He said, “Go get your husband.” She said, “I don’t have one.” And he said, “You’re right. You’ve had five—and the one you’re with is not yours.” Tell me if that’s not in your face.
In our ‘hood, in the community we live in, people just want it raw. Give it to me real. But we’re afraid, and so we just operate in love; let’s just accept everybody. Well, I accept everybody—straight, gay, black, white—it doesn’t make a difference. But I’m not going to change the gospel and I’m not going to cheapen grace just because our society is saying it’s OK, you can do this or whatever and God will forgive you. No, we’re called to live holy lives. Separate lives.
So in the community we’re in, we’re like in your face. People appreciate it. Maybe some will get offended, some will want to soften the gospel, but they’re not going to get it here.
So you are meeting very specific needs in the community with no strings attached. You’re expressing love to people wherever they’re at. But you’re not making concessions when it comes to truth and how you present the truth.
No, I don’t want anybody to ever question where Pastor Choco stands, because there can’t be ambiguity with the gospel. I see these Christians over here smoking or drinking their vodka and I see Pastor Choco and he’s totally anti-drinking. He’s totally pro-life. He’s totally for the sanctity of marriage. When people come to New Life, they’re like, Oh, it’s not gray with him. It’s black and white.
We’ve got to give that because young people in our community are looking for true leadership. Consistent. Twenty years, 30 years, he doesn’t change. Because God doesn’t change.
The God that we’re serving—the God Elohim—people have him changing all the time. But the Bible tells me he doesn’t change. He’s the God that will bring judgment, and he’s the God that brings love and grace. When you have those two things as a pastor and a leader, I believe your people will follow, because you’re like a picture of the Father.
