We spent some time talking about the “Hedgehog Principle” at our staff meeting today. If you don’t what that is, go buy Good to Great right now. Anyway, two of the questions are, “What are you most passionate about?” and “What can you be the best at?”

We talked about what other churches are known for. We named them, discussed them, and found a phrase that described them. Then we talked about our church and what we are known for and why.

Here’s what we discovered: the passion of the lead Pastor determines the focus of the church. As the staff asked me questions, we discovered that what I am most passionate about is what drives us as a church. The focus of my life personally is to know and experience God. That’s it. Paul’s words that he simply wanted to know Christ is what consumes me. Needless to say, this leaks out of every pour of my being and into every message I teach and into every environment we create. Needless to say, our church’s mission statement is “Experiencing God…Together.”

If you’re a lead Pastor or church planter, discover what you are most passionate about and follow that because this is how God has wired you. Just be yourself. The most “successful” guys in church world are guys that are simply being themselves and expressing that in their ministries. Look at some the big boys: Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Greg Laurie, Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, or Ed Young. They are all different and all are effective.

The moral of the story: don’t try to clone someone else. The problem is, when you’re starting, it’s so tempting to want to be someone else. Fight the temptation. Do the hard work of finding out who you are because that’s who God wants to use.