I am so tired of reading church growth books that have little substance!  When I first picked up, Steering Through Chaos, by Scott Wilson, I prematurely counted this book among them. 

In the forward, it describes the book as being about “…what it means to transition a church from Gutenberg to Google.” I thought, “Oh great, another seeker-sensitive, water-it-down, compromise-so-they’ll-come, waste-my-time leadership book.” Boy was I wrong!

Steering Through Chaos is one of the best books I have ever read on the topic of leading your church for maximum eternal results. It will boost your faith, impart much wisdom, communicate useful knowledge, and all with such transparent honesty.

One of the biggest highlights of the book for me was when Scott Wilson said, “Your church will grow only to the level of your pain threshold.” Wow! That statement revolutionized the way I think about ministry. 

Wilson went on to explain that God had to raise his pain threshold in order for him to deal with change, make difficult choices, and to endure the pain and hard work of church growth. The book points out that there is pain in change, whether it is adding another service, changing staff, implementing new ministries, or raising money for a new facility. He goes on to say that we need to care more about God’s calling than our comfort.    

I have been thinking a lot about Wilson’s “pain” statement. Although it is not a popular sermon topic, there is pain in the Christian walk. There is the pain of rejection when witnessing, the ache of forgiving someone who has wronged you, the throb of nailing your flesh to the cross and dying to self, the sting of persecution and scorn and the list goes on and on.

Even with our physical bodies, there is the pain of birthing new life, the pain of gaining new muscle, and the pain of hunger when trying to lose weight.  “No pain, no gain.”

In the ministry there is much pain as well, but if at any time we make the inner vow that says, “I refuse to put myself through any more pain.  I am not going to put myself out there anymore. I am not going to try anything new so I don’t have to endure the pain of possible failure. I am not going to set myself or my family up for future hurts” we will stymie the growth of our church, but more importantly the growth of the Kingdom. 

Steering Through Chaos should be on the “must read” list of any minister or leader in the church.