Why should your church be remarkable? Because Jesus is the most remarkable human being alive. And the gospel is the most remarkable message ever communicated. Your church is a unique expression of the body of Christ stewarding the gospel. That's remarkable.
Enter Seth Godin's insight on being remarkable. Allow your knowledge of Jesus and the gospel to collide with this Godin gold. It just might create some new insight or energy for your team. Here are my four favorite quotes on tribal greatness:
#1 "The market wants you to be remarkable."
People today are longing for experiences that leave them changed. How do people in and around your congregation "taste and see" the fruit of transformation? How do you show them what they want to believe is possible? Remember that God has set eternity in their hearts. (Ecc. 3:11)
#2 "Whatever the status quo is, changing it gives you the opportunity to be remarkable."
The holy discontent behind the book Church Unique, is the epidemic of photocopied vision. As churches copy one another, there is a move toward incremental improvements that make everyone increasingly generic. Everyone copies everyone else not wanting to be without the key feature or best practice or new program. Eventually this evolution of "generic improvement" gets cluttered or stuck as an "overconstructed" ministry. Why not break from the pack and do something remarkable? Free yourself to be yourself. Be original and truly creative as a steward of the gospel. What could you do to pursue "blue ocean" as the place of ocean-size opportunity where no one else is swimming.
#3 "We choose not to be remarkable because we are worried about criticism."
Ultimately, the more remarkable an idea, a dream or a vision, the more likely fear will cripple us. Consider taking a fear audit. If you as a leader, or your church as an organization, had nothing to prove or nothing to loose, what would you dare to do to be remarkable?
#4 "Tribes that work better when they’re bigger get bigger."
Okay, reread this quote again until it makes sense. This quote, in my opinion, is the most important observation for the church in Tribes. Why? Because the growth of mega-churches and giga-churches (more than 10,000 in attendance) leads us to many conversations about the "best" size of church. Rather than talking about the benefits of small vs. big or organic vs. organizational, what if we talked about our local redemptive movement with this idea. How does reaching the next person in our church make our church better for each person? How does ____________________ (plug in your growth or multiplication strategy) enhance the effectiveness of the whole and for each individual. What could happen if we pushed the envelope of our thinking on this? Wow!