#13 – I gave too much weight to what insiders would think

While my heart in the beginning was to reach outsiders, I found that soon after we started I was giving in to insiders for all the wrong reasons. This hurt us, because there was a moment when I drew a line in the sand and said, “This is not going to be an insider church. It’s going to be a place where outsiders can learn and grow.” Had I laid that out from the beginning, these people would have left because there’s a million churches that are insider driven. However, I placated them and sure enough it all blew up. These people accused me of watering down the Gospel and all the rest (I didn’t know putting the Gospel into understandable language was watering it down, but whatever). What this did was create major problems later on. Who’s fault was that? Mine. Sure, they didn’t handle themselves in a mature manner (even though, that’s what they claimed to be). But the responsibility to stay tenacious to the vision was me. And it took us about 18 months to truly get over it. So word to the wise, don’t be apologetic about what God has called you to do. Do what God has asked of you and if they leave let them. What’s worse is they could stay and cause problems, which is inevitable if you are placating them.