THE LAKEWOOD PRINCIPLES (Joel Osteen)

Introduction

There are 4 million people in the greater Houston area.  Lakewood has a vision to reach 100,000 of those inside the four walls of the church.  That leaves 3.9 million looking for a church.  If national statistics are applied to the Houston area, almost 2 million of the 4 million are “unchurched.”

Some of those churches have clear vision for reaching a portion of the 3.9 million.  Others have no vision and do not want one.  The third group of churches are those that have the vision – the call – to do more and reach more for the Lord, but they lack the necessary resources and momentum to accomplish their goals.

If you have a church in the third group, this is for you.

Part of the calling on Lakewood Church, as evidenced in the Servant’s Heart ministry, is to stimulate new visions in smaller, like-minded Houston area churches.  Once stimulated, we want to work with those churches to help them reach the 3.9 million people we’re not reaching.

Lakewood Church has three basic functions, as do all churches: 

1. Evangelism   2. Discipleship   3. Administration and Support.

If these aren’t the three functions, they should be.  If there is no desire to bring people in (evangelism) and grow people up (discipleship), then there isn’t really a church to begin with.  It’s a club.

What many pastors will tell you they need is a better way to attract more people.  That’s known as marketing in the secular world, but really, if they’re hearts are right and they want more “unchurched” people, they need to improve their methods and processes for evangelism.

Evangelism is hard, if done correctly.  Once a certain level of momentum is achieved, evangelism is like flying a rocket into outer space.  It takes a lot of energy to get it off the ground and break free of the earth’s gravity.  It takes very little energy to propel the ship through space.  The critical need in space isn’t propulsion, it’s direction. 

As a result, many American churches focus their resources on discipleship programs.  Newcomers are rare.  So the focus naturally turns to the sheep already in the fold.  However, many churches have confused discipleship with fellowship.  Getting together and talking about the Lord is not necessarily a form of discipleship.   The fruit of discipleship is disciples.  The fruit of disciples is more disciples – also known as evangelism.

It’s a cyclical process.  For the church to grow, it has to evangelize non-Christians.  Evangelizing the body of another church to grow your own carries no purpose or honor in the eyes of God.  So if you want to grow the church, grow the disciples so they will grow other disciples.

At Lakewood, our strength has been evangelism and we are now re-creating a model for discipleship.  Administration and support is not usually a priority in most churches.  However, if needed, I believe we have the people that can provide much needed advice for administration and support.

Regardless of the area most in need at your church, all three areas – all three functions – must operate within a church culture that is the result of a body of principles that guide the church.  These principles are to the church what muscles are to the body.  Muscles make the body move.  The stronger the muscles, the more effortless the movement.  Strong principles are right principles.  The first chapter of this book details the 10 principles that I have observed as basic tenets of the Lakewood Church culture.

To provide the help to move to the next level that many churches want is easy.  However, it’s much like trying to get to God without accepting Jesus.  You can put your head in the clouds all you want, but until Jesus pours His shed blood onto your life, the religious experience is little more than artistic expression.  To ignore the principle of His death and resurrection leaves the religious experience looking good on the outside, but lacking substance. 

Similarly, Lakewood’s success is built on certain principles.  It is the imparting of these principles that is the key to successful help for Servant’s Heart churches.  If they can successfully adopt the principles, they can successfully transform the culture.

CHAPTER ONE - THE PRINCIPLES

These are the unchanging forces that guide the church. 

PRINCIPLE #1 – The Pastor’s top priority is to define and impart the vision.

What will be the signature of the church?  What ministry will help to define the church? What will the church do to make itself an instrument of God’s will?  A church does not need a mission statement.  How ridiculous.  The mission of the church is to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the city, the state, the nation and the utter most parts of the earth.

At Lakewood, the church has undergone tremendous upheaval with the passing of founding Pastor John Osteen and the subsequent secession of John’s youngest son, Pastor Joel Osteen.  In many ways, the two of them could not be more unlike each other.  John was firey and pioneering.  Joel is quiet, humble and shy.  John had no hesitancy telling people his impression of God’s will in their life.  Joel has to be asked, several times, to get his impression of what needs to be done on even the smallest of issues, many times preferring to let individuals work out problems on their own. 

But the one thing they have in common is vision.  John imparted his vision directly in a positive, inspirational package.  The wrapping was full of spunk, but it was easy to know where we were headed.  Joel is rarely direct in his impartation, but the vision of “Be all you can be” is blatantly obvious in all that he says and does.  The fact that it is wrapped in humility doesn’t change the vision.  It only changes the style of impartation. 

Perhaps, most importantly, neither John nor Joel feel or felt the impetus to apply pressure to those running outside the boundaries of the vision.  Their primary job was to get the vision and cast it.  Who runs with the vision is/was not their concern.  Equally, who isn’t running with the vision is/was not their concern.  That’s God’s responsibility.

Remember this.  For the vision to be remembered, it must be simple enough to be remembered and specific enough to give direction. 

PRINCIPLE #2 -  The Pastor’s second priority is to deliver God’s message – not necessarily his own – each week with simplicity in both understanding and application.

Pastor Joel is a rare sight around the church; almost invisible on the weeks he’s preaching.  Let’s run that back through the brain.  The Pastor of one of the largest churches in America is a rare sight around the church.  He hires good people, empowers them, gives them the vision and leaves them alone.  That takes an emptying of self, because most pastors, as is the case with most CEO’s, want to leave their mark on the organization.  Joel, like his father before him, just wants to leave Jesus’ mark. 

He spends his time preparing the message as he feels God leads him.  If a pastor can institute principles one and two, everything else will flow from them.  The right vision will lead to the right message and the right message will reinforce the vision.  Those who want to run with the vision will do so.  That’s not the pastor’s responsibility.  If he’s on target, he’ll hit the exact bulls eye God has for him. It’s an individual choice to either move into the target area or acknowledge that you’re in the target area and there’s something you need to do about it.  That’s not the pastor’s responsibility.  This leaves room for the Holy Spirit to operate on individual hearts, minds and goals. 

PRINCIPLE #3 – The Pastor’s third job is to hire three good people.

As stated in the introduction, each church has three primary functions:  

1)Evangelism, 2)Discipleship and, 3)Administration and Support. If the Pastor hires one qualified person to lead each of these areas, his employee concerns are ended.  Which of the three individuals is leader?  The man in charge of evangelism starts the process.  Unless evangelism occurs, what need is there for discipleship and consequently there is nothing to administer or support.  Conversely, if the man in charge of evangelism makes all the decisions, all the money will continually go out without any check or balance.  The man or woman in charge of evangelism cannot be the final authority.   

The man or woman in charge of discipleship will focus his decisional abilities on the maturation process of the believers.  Where there is no growth, life will soon stagnate.  However, to leave the head of discipleship in charge will bend all decisions in favor of existing believers and new believers will be ignored, drying up the flow and also ignoring the needs of administration and support.  The man or woman in charge of discipleship cannot be the final decision maker.  

The man or woman in charge of administration and support must have one eye on the budget, one eye on the head of discipleship, one eye on the head of evangelism and one eye on the pastor.  He must be ready to follow any one or all of their leads, but hold them to fiscal accountability.  Likewise, the head of administration and support cannot be the final decision maker.   

And while the pastor must be the final authority as God’s chosen headship, his top three priorities have nothing to do with making the minutiae of decisions that inundate and characterize the daily operations of even the smallest of churches.  Who does this leave?  The pastor’s wife, of course!  No, seriously, the head decision-maker is the Lord.  Now, that may sound as if it has been over-spiritualized.  It’s not.  This is difficult because we all know the decision will come from the mouth of a man or woman at some point, which means it has to originate as a thought in their brain.   

It’s not so difficult.  It’s actually easier, because pressure never causes a decision to be made at Lakewood.  Consequently, we don’t feel any pressure.  We choose not to. 

At Lakewood, decisions are not rushed.  The three people in charge of the three main areas are good, solid, dependable people with absolutely nothing in common – personality-wise.  However, they do share a belief that if one of them can’t give in to the other, then the decision’s time has yet to come.  As Pastor Joel says, “Don’t worry about that, let the Lord handle it…”  And when it comes to these three men, the pastor simply needs to give them as much freedom as possible to do their jobs.  If they’re running with the vision, his job is finished. 

 PRINCIPLE #4 – Make sure new hires have good hearts.

This is the difficult one.  Most churches have a mold for the perfect employee.  They volunteer for a while, in some cases, a very long while, to prove their worthiness.  They prove themselves to be hard workers.  They walk the same walk as all the other employees.  They’ve been a believer for five years and in the church for three years.  They have the same dress code.  They believe everything in the bible exactly the same or at least profess to believe the same things the same way.  They have all the same doctrines.  They fit the mold! 

Poppycock.  God judges the heart.  Who are we to judge more than that?  Take a good look at the heart.  If the heart is right, meeting the qualifications set forth in 1 Timothy 3, will quickly follow.  BUT – making sure a new hire has a good heart is not the job of the pastor.  It’s the job of the three men in charge of the three church functions. 

Spend some time with the potential new hire.  Get to know their heart.  Listen to how they talk, because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 

If the heart is right, the potential new hire will want to be lead by the Holy Spirit, not his or her own selfish desires or goals.  If the heart is right, the potential hire will put the needs of others above his/her own.  If the heart is right, the new hire will be looking after the needs of other staff members.  If the heart is right, the new hire will be submissive.  If the heart is right, the new hire will be obedient.   

Yes.  The heart is the key.  Not the belief structure.  Not the ability to mimic the mold of a good employee.  Many times, churches judge the form as primary in the new hire screening process, ignoring the more substantive heart.  This leaves them with empty shells of human beings who quickly find themselves feeling empty or lost.  At Lakewood, we have a myriad of beliefs, values, backgrounds and ethnicities.  It can make for some interesting doctrinal discussions, but it is our strength. 

PRINCIPLE #5 – Teach to teach.

Billy Graham said that if he had to do it all over again, he would find 12 men and pour his life into them.  Not exactly brain surgery, is it?  The discipleship principles of Jesus begin and end with this philosophy.  It’s simple and effective.  Reproduction is at the heart of growth, both corporately and individually.  The human body grows as a result of cell multiplication.  As Pastor Walter Hallam of Abundant Life Center in La Marque, Texas says, “You know you’re doing good when you’re producing Timothy’s!” 

The over 200,000 member International Christian Mission in Bogata, Columbia, leads by Pastor Cesar Castallanos has at its heart the principle of reproduction.  He focuses on pouring himself into his 12 key people who in turn focus their lives on pouring their own selves into their 12 key people who in turn… etc., etc., etc. 

It’s easy to see how both discipleship and evangelism are natural bi-products of this process.  To get 12 people for each person in the church requires evangelism.  To keep 12 people for each person in the church requires discipleship.   

As usual, the Bible says it best when Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” 

Teach to teach. 

PRINCIPLE #6 – Family before ministry.

This is the number one place where most churches miss it.  They may experience incredible growth as the result of hard work in the early years but they soon plateau as the vision expands to include all kinds of things as a response to the ever-increasing plethora of needs and demands put on the staff by the membership.  Or they may be doing what Shakespeare called, “A great sound and fury signifying nothing.”   

Once again… POPPYCOCK! 

You DO NOT spell Christian ministry W-O-R-K.   

You spell Christian ministry L-O-V-E. 

And if a staff member cannot meet the needs of his/her family, how can they be expected, much less demanded, to meet the needs of someone else’s family.   

The key to success at Lakewood – if there is one key – is this: Family before ministry.  My first day at work at Lakewood, after leaving a 20 year career in advertising and marketing, I remarked to the Chief of Staff that my son had a football game that day.  He asked what time.  I told him in about 45 minutes.  His response?  “Leave.”  “What?” I incredulously asked.  “Go!” he repeated emphatically.   

I left and got to the game just in time to see my son take the first play at quarterback and run 75 yards around right end for a touchdown.  I couldn’t cheer.  I just sat there and cried thinking of what I had been missing.  This was the first game of the year I saw and the season only had two more games left in it.  And yes, I left early to see the next two games. 

Don’t ever forget that a staff member’s child’s baseball game may well be the most important event in the church that week.  You can understand if it’s the most important event in that staff member’s life that week.  And you can be absolutely certain it’s the most important event in that staff member’s child’s life that week. 

Yes, this requires a balance.  But balance does not predate existence.  Balance comes from putting too many beads on one side of the scale and having to shift them from one side to the other. Balance doesn’t exist without conflict or confrontation.  Sometimes the scale will get too heavy in one direction or the other.  It has to.  Because growth automatically means new beads are being put on the scales.   

And when someone gets out of balance, bring them back into balance through appropriate Christian ministry.  And how do you spell Christian ministry?   

L-O-V-E. 

PRINCIPLE #7 – The three key leaders need to be there for their staffs.

Success comes from delegation.  Delegating responsibility to the three key staff leaders is paramount to success.  However, the three key leaders must in turn manage their respective staffs within the gifting and personalities God has given them.  This will manifest itself in differing management styles. 

The problem is different staff members will enjoy different management styles and there is no way to align all employees by management style preference.  This again is choosing form over function, symbolism over substance.  In short, it’s the seed of religiosity and the antithesis of relationship. 

Managing their staffs within their giftings and personalities does not mean that one department head can be unapproachable and another is always ready to help.  It means there has to be a balance.   

And balance means when a staff member needs help or has a question, that department head or his/her designee is the first person that staff member turns to for help.  The primary mission field for these three key people is the staff that God has given them. 

PRINCIPLE #8 – Don’t be in a hurry. 

Have patience.  On the big things as well as the small things.  As stated earlier, Pastor Joel runs the church with the implicit dictum of, “Don’t worry about that, the Lord will take care of it.” 

Remember, it’s those who WAIT upon the Lord that will mount up with wings as eagles.  At Lakewood, we wait.  And no one worries about it.  No one.   

It doesn’t matter if it’s a big thing or a small thing.  We wait for agreement on every decision.  If one of the department heads has a bad feeling or a legitimate reason for disagreement, we usually postpone deciding.  We don’t fight it out, with the strongest personality usually winning over the strongest argument.  At all times, the three department heads are NOT in competition with one another.  Their goal is to run with the vision Pastor Joel has given them. 

But run as a team.  Not individuals.  Does this “running as a team” always happen?  Absolutely not.  Running as a team is one of the key indicators of balance at the top.  And balance does not happen without there being some moments or periods of imbalance. 

This requires the acknowledgement that everyone has an opinion and it’s important to take inventory of those opinions.  And not just on the highest levels of decision-making.  At Walt Disney World the people who receive the most training for the location of everything in the park – from the rest rooms and water fountains to the rides and exhibits - are the street cleaners.  Why?  Because they’re the ones in the street when the patron with the puzzled expression is desperately looking for someone in a Disney uniform to alleviate that lost feeling. 

It didn’t take a nuclear physicist to recognize that most people don’t have questions or get lost next to the information booths.  It took listening to the street cleaners.  And more importantly, it took responding to those questions and observations.   

The head of the street cleaners had to foster a culture where not only the questions and observations were welcomed, but good ones were adequately motivated and rewarded.   This requires patience.  It requires building into processes points where each department head waits on the input and opinions of those that report to him or her.  This places the organization in balance with the vision God has given the pastor. 

PRINCIPLE #9 – Don’t twist arms for money.

If giving goes up as the result of a great mini-sermon delivered prior to receiving the offering, that does not constitute heavenly confirmation to repeat the same type of sermon each and every offering.  That’s at the very least religiosity and at the very worst, greed. 

Let the Lord move on people’s hearts to give. Certainly teach them about tithing.  This is a basic Kingdom principle.  Monitor consistency in giving when assessing peoples situations or needs.  Do not monitor amounts. Monitoring amounts makes us a respecter of persons.  And if God gives up His right to be a  respecter, we in turn have no such right. 

At Lakewood Church, our media ministry costs literally millions of dollars every year.  This is a nod of the head to the age in which we live.  Countless numbers of people claim Lakewood as their church of choice who have never darkened the door of any church, including Lakewood! 

We couldn’t care less.  We live in a mediated society where as Marshall MacLuhan stated, “The medium is the message.”  If they want to attend church by TV, what’s wrong with that?  Is it better for them to be here in person?  We think so.  But, for some people, attending in person is out of the question and watching on TV makes them feel a part of the ministry. 

As a result, our media ministry is viewed as ministry, not advertising or ego-gratification.  And since we spell ministry L-O-V-E, we don’t ask for money to support the media ministry. Not now. Not ever.  Seriously, in almost 20 years of media ministry, we have yet to take up a single donation in the church or over the air to support the millions of dollars invested annually in our media ministry. 

As a result, the media ministry is self-sustaining.  What?  That’s right.  The media ministry supports itself, not with bake sales or fund-raisers but with faith.  We believe the Lord is in the middle of the ministry and if He is, it’s His job to supply the funds.  This He does.  Arm-twisting makes people uncomfortable and quenches the flow of the Holy Spirit.  Once you have quenched the flow of the Holy Spirit, you will see the principles of reproduction go out the window and the flow of money will soon stop. 

Trust the Lord to give the money.  He’s a big God who’s capable of supporting His works.   

PRINCIPLE #10 – Don’t Burn Out the Staff

How many church staff members have I spoken with who are burned out on their jobs?!?!?!?  About one tenth as many ex-staff members who got burned out on their jobs and chose to work in the secular world over any work in the ministry.  How sad.   

The joy of the Lord is our strength.  It’s hard to have joy when you’re working 80 hours a week.  The one point we emphasize at Lakewood that was a revelation for me is that what used to be a point of refuge – the church and the church services – once employed, now becomes an extension of the work week.   

And that’s how it’s treated.  If you’re at a church service, and you’re a part of the ministry (evangelism or discipleship) the church service is considered a part of the work week.  The average work week for non-ministerial employees is only 35 hours a week as well. 

Once again, the vision is for a happy work force.  There happiness makes it so much easier to minister to hurting people.  It also makes it so much easier to attract people looking for the joy of the Lord in their lives.  Many staffs become experts at showing the happiness to all church members and visitors and in reality, they’re frustrated, burned out and secretly hoping for another job at any place other than a church. 

If your staff is secretly harboring this type of attitude en masse, I believe it sits as a stench before the nostrils of God.  This ought not to be. 

Treat your staff better than any secular company could ever treat them.  Give them more vacation time, shorter work weeks, more personal time for family events, higher pay and more love than any church any where.  Give them free child care so their children can be close by.  Give them the gift of unity through staff luncheons and retreats where the principle work is having fun.  Keep them refreshed.   

His burden is easy and His yoke is light. There are a lot of people working in the world who could help transform the way the world looks at the institution of the church.  But they won’t work for a church because of the image involved with being a church-worker. 

By that, I’m not speaking of the so-called, low-down scrubbing-the-floor church worker.  I’m talking about the employees of the corporations who worked in churches for years only to leave frustrated beyond any normal level of tolerance and now tell horror stories of how terrible it was to work for a laundry list of ministries despite having a well-intended heart.  Almost all surveys of employee needs have more money down at need number 3 or 4.  Every survey has as need number one the need to be needed.  Translated for church workers, that’s the need to be appreciated and loved.