Henry Tolbert [00:00:00]:
What's up, family? And welcome to another, another episode of the Church Systems podcast. I'm super excited. What I'm about to share with you today is going to be absolutely life changing. I'm going to introduce you to a principle that we've been using for a while, and I think if you could grasp this, it's going to change everything. It's so important. As a matter of fact, we're going to be diving into this in more detail over the next three episodes. But starting today, we're going to start with helping you move people from the crowd to the core. I'm going to show you the whole blueprint from how you take somebody from outside of the church, not knowing the church, not understanding the church, and move them to where they can be a part of your core.
Henry Tolbert [00:00:40]:
For those of you I haven't met, my name is Henry, and I am excited to be the person to come alongside you to help give you the tools and the resources you need to lead the church. Well, and today we're going to do just that. All right, so let me jump right in. What I'm going to introduce you today, I think, is going to be groundbreaking. It is something that we put together called the church funnel. That's right, the church funnel. Many years ago, I was reading a book, and I was doing some study, and I came across this pattern that I saw in the life and the ministry of Jesus. And in the life of ministry of Jesus, I saw these different people groups that he would engage, that he would encounter, that he would deal with.
Henry Tolbert [00:01:15]:
And I noticed how he dealt with each of them differently, but he dealt with each of them appropriately. And I started to study that pattern, and it came out as this funnel. The 5000, the 500, the 72, the twelve, the three, and the one. And for some of you or Bible readers, you already know where I'm going with this. And so we're about to have a good time, but I'm going to show you how this really helps dictate and determine how you lead and what happens as you lead. All right, so here's something I think we got to talk about on the front end, right? I want to tell you, I want to kind of disrupt some things on the front end because there's something you need to know. And here it is. You cannot treat everyone in your church the same.
Henry Tolbert [00:01:55]:
You can't treat everybody the same. And that sounds so antithetical. I know that sounds so backwards, it sounds so wrong. But I'm telling you, it is so true. You cannot treat everybody the same. Now here's the thing. You need to treat everybody right, but you can't treat everybody the same, all right? And what I mean by that is that the different levels and the different groups of people in your church need different things, right? They need some different things to make sure that they're cared for, that they're taken care of. If you want to use a simple example, your volunteers need something different than a person who just attends church.
Henry Tolbert [00:02:31]:
They might need a different level of care because they're trying to stack their serving and honoring God with their gifts and their talents on top of everything else that they've got going on their lives. So they need a different level of care. Same thing for your staff. Your staff needs a different level of care. The people who are serving and coming forward, they need more than just a Sunday morning touch, the people who are taking the next steps. And I get that these things, it's all mixed in and mixed around. But I'm here to tell you, you've got to make sure that everybody gets treated right and everybody gets treated fairly is the best word, I guess I could find. But the point that I'm making is everybody doesn't get treated the same.
Henry Tolbert [00:03:13]:
And if you don't understand that, you will struggle to grab this principle. I'm going to share with you with the church funnel. Because what we see in the church funnel is that to the 5000, Jesus interacted one way, but to the twelve, he interacted a completely different way. And even more so to the three, he had a different way. And so he treated and he engaged with people differently. I didn't say he loved them differently. I didn't say he cared differently about them. I didn't say he ranked them and he thought these were more important than those.
Henry Tolbert [00:03:41]:
I'm not saying he did any of that. And whether he did or not, I don't know. But what I am saying is we can see from his pattern that he recognized that different people need different things from their leadership. Different people need different things when it comes to their growth and their development in the ministry in the kingdom. And so we've got to be aware of that.
Henry Tolbert [00:04:01]:
All right?
Henry Tolbert [00:04:02]:
So let me tell you why. Let me make the case for why you can't treat everybody the same, all right? Because here is the main reason you can't treat everybody the same, because you don't have the same expectations of everybody. Expectations aren't the same for everybody. You don't have the same expectations for a person who just visited the church for the first time. Last week as you do for a person who's been a part of the church for ten years. You don't have the same expectations for a person who's a sporadic attender as you do for somebody who's on a paid staff. You don't have the same expectation for somebody who has the responsibility of overseeing maybe a campus or to oversee a ministry. You don't have the same expectations for them as you do for somebody who's just decided, hey, look, I'm going to volunteer and serve once a month.
Henry Tolbert [00:04:51]:
They're different. The expectations are different. And if you don't recognize that those expectations are different, what's going to happen is those expectations are going to get misplaced, meaning that you're going to start, if you're not careful, you will find yourself consciously or subconsciously expecting the wrong things from the right people. I'm going to say it again. When your expectations are misplaced, you will expect the wrong things from the right people, and sometimes you'll expect the right things from the wrong people. And so I want to show you a couple of things that happen. So maybe this is where you are. So you might be able to connect with this.
Henry Tolbert [00:05:29]:
So let's do a little bit of a test, and let's see if maybe you have some misplaced expectations. Here are four things that happens when expectations get misplaced. Number one, people get hurt. People get hurt. People get hurt because they might have an expectation of you, and you might have an expectation of them. And what ends up happening is both parties can walk away feeling mistreated and feeling hurt and feeling frustrated because they're expecting something that they shouldn't have expected. And Peter Cesaro does a great work on this, where he talks about the four kinds of expectations. And I think that's such a great work.
Henry Tolbert [00:06:08]:
But one of the things you got to understand is that when expectations are misplaced, people will get hurt. People get hurt. Sometimes people get hurt because they're directly impacted. Sometimes people get hurt because they fall through the cracks, because there's not enough attention going to their care and their oversight, whatever it might be, people get hurt when expectations are misplaced. Another thing that happens is that leaders get frustrated when your expectations are misplaced. For example, when you're expecting somebody who is a part of the 500, and I'll explain all of this in a minute, but when you're expecting somebody who's a part of the 500 to behave like somebody who's a part of the twelve, you're going to get frustrated because the twelve and the 500, they operate differently. They operate differently. And so you have to understand that, which is why you've got to put the right expectations in the right place.
Henry Tolbert [00:07:03]:
People on your team, people in your church need to know what's the difference in expectation between somebody who just attends church and somebody who serves in church and somebody who's a leader in the church.
Henry Tolbert [00:07:16]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:07:17]:
And somebody who's helping expand the kingdom. What's the difference between those groups? You need right expectations. All right. You can manage your frustration when you have the right expectations. I'll give you another example, one of the expectations that you have, and I'll talk about this with the 5000. The 5000, I consider those are the people around our church, around our communities. Oftentimes we see them most prevalently during outreach moments when we're giving away things, when we're meeting a need. And one of the things that frustrates many leaders is that they do outreach and ministry to the 5000, but then they expect them to automatically have the behavior of the 500, which means coming to church.
Henry Tolbert [00:07:54]:
And what often happens when you do that big outreach project. Those people come, they receive what they needed, and you don't hear from them again until you got something else that they need. And you can deal with their frustration. You need to do the outreach, you still need to serve them, but you just need to shift your expectation and understand that they're coming because you're meeting a need, not because they want to be a part of a church. That's not where they're coming. And so that's a part of managing expectations. All right, here's the third thing that happens when expectations are misplaced is that progress gets lost. And here's what I mean is that it becomes difficult to move things forward because the expectations are not clear about who is leading the train, who's driving the train, who's expected to help us move this forward.
Henry Tolbert [00:08:39]:
All right, some years ago, I had a debate with some leaders in the church because we were getting ready for a big project like Easter or something like that. And we were just asking everybody to share the flyer, right, to change their profile pitch, to record a quick video on their phone inviting people to invite some people. And there were some leaders who just said, I don't do that. I don't invite people. I don't have this. And progress got stalled because I'm not sure who they expected was going to be responsible for this mission that Jesus has given to the church, right. This mission of going into the world, right, and introducing people to Jesus, growing them up in Jesus and partnering them and equipping them to walk in partnership with Jesus. I don't know who they thought was responsible.
Henry Tolbert [00:09:26]:
And so as a result, I quickly discovered why progress was stalled in certain areas. It was stalled simply because of misplaced expectations. Expectations that I had misplaced because maybe I had not communicated clearly enough to those leaders or expectations that those leaders had misplaced because they maybe thought that I would just handle all that and they wouldn't have to do it. And so one of the things that happens for sure when misplaced expectations are present is that progress gets stalled. It means you don't move forward as effectively and efficiently as you should. So that's the third thing. Then. Number four, final thing that I think happens when we have misplaced expectations is that morale gets low.
Henry Tolbert [00:10:11]:
Is that when expectations are misplaced and people don't know what they should be doing, where they should be, and there's not enough clarity to have accountability. One of the things that happens is that you'll see the morale start to drop. You'll see the energy start to drop. And so what will happen is people who came in excited and ready to work really hard, all of a sudden they find themselves, they're lethargic. The people who had the energy and who were excited about what God was doing and where they could go and what could happen, you look up and then all of a sudden those people are now just kind of like, whatever. And that happens when expectations are misplaced. Another way that expectations get misplaced is sometimes we don't have clear expectations on how people are going to interact with one another.
Henry Tolbert [00:11:03]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:11:04]:
Like, who reports to, who has the authority to chastise who? Who has the authority to stop somebody from doing something that they're trying to do? Who can do those things, right. It's important that you understand all of that, because when those things aren't clear, the morale gets low and what ends up happening is that everybody at the table knows what needs to be done, but nobody has the energy to get it done. And so you've got to manage that. You've got to make sure that you're paying attention and keeping expectations clear so that things don't get by the wayside.
Henry Tolbert [00:11:39]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:11:39]:
So that things don't get lost and so that you don't miss out on what God might be trying to do. All right, so let's dive into this. All right, so here's one of the things I want you to get right. I just want to set the pace for what I'm about to share with you, you've got to learn to expect the right things from the right people. I think that is a word within itself.
Henry Tolbert [00:11:58]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:11:59]:
You must learn to expect the right things from the right people, because when you don't expect the right things from the right people, you will know what needs to be done. You will know what needs to happen. You will know what's supposed to happen, and you will find yourself frustrated because it's not happening and because it's not moving forward. And a part of that is just getting your expectations in the right place. You need to have expectations that are appropriate for the people that you're dealing with. And when you understand this church funnel, it's going to help you do that.
Henry Tolbert [00:12:28]:
All right?
Henry Tolbert [00:12:29]:
And so let's look at this. Here's a church funnel. A simple path from first time visit to faithful disciple. All right, what are we saying there? Well, we need to draw the path if we want people to go on a certain journey. We need to map out that journey.
Henry Tolbert [00:12:43]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:12:43]:
I'm getting ready to go somewhere. When I leave here, I had somebody from the office send me the link with the address and all that so I know where I'm going. Like, don't just tell me. Here's what you need to get done.
Henry Tolbert [00:12:53]:
Great.
Henry Tolbert [00:12:53]:
That's awesome. How old do I get there?
Henry Tolbert [00:12:55]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:12:56]:
I need to make sure I can get to the right place so I can get what I need, do what I need, and keep on going and keep moving forward.
Henry Tolbert [00:13:02]:
All right?
Henry Tolbert [00:13:02]:
And that's what I'm about to help you do.
Henry Tolbert [00:13:04]:
All right?
Henry Tolbert [00:13:04]:
I'm about to give you what you need to help you draw out a path so that you know, okay, how do we move people from here to there? And that's what this is. If you want people to be faithful disciples in your church, you need to map that process. You need to make sure that it's clear how they get there. You need to make sure it's clear how they move from where they are to where they want to go. And over these next three episodes, I'm going to show you that today. I'm going to explain the funnel to you and show you exactly what it is. Explain what each people group is and how they look in your church. Then in a future episode, I'm going to talk to you really about just the beauty of how you serve these different people at every different level.
Henry Tolbert [00:13:43]:
At every level. What do these people need? How do you challenge them to come forward? I'm going to show you that. And then in the third episode, I believe episode 212, I'm going to show you how to actually implement this.
Henry Tolbert [00:13:55]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:13:55]:
So now that I know what this is, this is great. How do I actually put it into practice? How do I put it into action and how do I help this thing start moving forward? All right, so let's jump into the church funnel. All right, as you can see with the church funnel, there are six levels, all right? And these six levels represent six groups of people that Jesus encounter in his earthly ministry. And so as we walk through this, as we go through these six levels, one of the things that you're going to see and one of the things that you're going to get, again is that each of these groups interacted with Jesus differently for different reasons. And Jesus even had different reasons for how he interacted. And so we'll look at some of that as well. And so I want you to pay close attention to that. But today I want to focus on defining each of these levels.
Henry Tolbert [00:14:35]:
So let's walk through it.
Henry Tolbert [00:14:35]:
All right.
Henry Tolbert [00:14:36]:
Level number one, the 5000. We call this the level of provision. This is the level of provision. And the reason it's the level of provision is because we look at this group that the 5000 Jesus feeds with two fish and five loaves of bread. They interact with him based on his provision. They are like sheep without a shepherd. And so here comes this great shepherd. They see him.
Henry Tolbert [00:14:56]:
They are drawn to him because he feels that need in their lives. He provides a shepherd where they had none. He provides teaching and understanding where they had none. Eventually he provides food and nurture and sustenance where they had none. So this is the level of provision. This by far is the largest group because many people, I believe this is even more true today. Many people deal with God, deal with Jesus based on their needs. They deal with it based on their provision, based on the provision that they need what he can provide, what he can give them.
Henry Tolbert [00:15:28]:
And so one of the things that you've got to understand is that this group is the largest group that we get to engage with but we must understand that they too have value.
Henry Tolbert [00:15:36]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:15:37]:
I can't wait to get to heaven one day and ask God what came of the people who were in the 5000? What did they do after you sent them home? Did they change? Did they believe, were they believers? What came out of this group, we don't know.
Henry Tolbert [00:15:51]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:15:52]:
But it was important that Jesus ministered to them. It was also important that he allowed the twelve to help him minister to them. I'm a firm believer. I believe Jesus did some great stuff for the 5000, but I believe he did something greater for the twelve because he taught them in that moment how to put themselves aside for the sake of serving the needs of those people that were before them. And then he also taught them that when they focus on serving others, he will always make sure that they're taken care of. Those same hungry disciples who wanted everybody to leave so they can go and eat instead had to feed all these people first. And then after they fed them, instead of going to get a bite to eat, they all walked home with a basket. And so I think this group is important.
Henry Tolbert [00:16:37]:
The 5000 is important. You've got to understand who they are, what they bring to the table. They will show up in your church today. Again, this is your outreach group. This is your community. You give away backpacks, it's going to be a line around the corner. You give away Christmas gifts and Christmas supplies, Christmas toys, it's going to be a line around the corner. You give away food boxes, you give away turkeys, you give away all this stuff, it's going to be a line around the corner.
Henry Tolbert [00:16:57]:
It's going to keep on happening. They're going to keep on coming because you're meeting a need. All right, don't get frustrated again, set your expectation. Understand why they're coming but have a plan to figure out how to help them make the next step.
Henry Tolbert [00:17:10]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:17:10]:
And we'll talk about that coming up in the next episode. But for right now, you need to understand that the biggest level, the biggest group is the 5000. This is the group of provision.
Henry Tolbert [00:17:19]:
All right?
Henry Tolbert [00:17:20]:
Number two is the 500. This is the group of position. Position. And we call it position because one corinthians 15, Paul tells us that Jesus instructed a group of about 500 people to meet him in the upper room post resurrection. This moment for us shows us a group of people who receive an instruction on where to be and when to be there. And they follow that instruction to the t. They show up, they're there, they're in place. And that's who they are.
Henry Tolbert [00:17:53]:
That's what they do. And this group exists in the church. This is your Sunday crowd. This is your Sunday crowd. These are the people who will be in position on a regular basis to be in place for the day and the moment that has been set. Now, I know what you're thinking. I just said they're going to be in place and be in position. I said on a regular basis.
Henry Tolbert [00:18:11]:
But here's the issue. How you define a regular basis and how they define a regular basis might be different.
Henry Tolbert [00:18:17]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:18:18]:
In this modern day, again, some people have set in their hearts first and third Sunday, second and fourth Sunday. First Sunday, second Sunday, third Sunday, fourth Sunday, whatever. I think the last stat I saw was people attending 1.7 times a month. So maybe two times a week.
Henry Tolbert [00:18:35]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:18:35]:
And I know it's frustrating because you got a first Sunday church, a second Sunday church, a third Sunday church, and a fourth Sunday church. But you need to understand that this is a group that you really need to be focused in on, because as long as they keep showing up, you have an opportunity to help them take the next step. These people were where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there. And so a couple of things that goes into this, and we'll talk about in a future episode. Episode. But one of the things to think about is how clear you are in communication around not only where people need to be and when they need to be there, but what happens when they get there. I think it's important at this level to really understand that the Sunday worship gathering is still a major opportunity for your church. And so you need to make sure.
Henry Tolbert [00:19:25]:
Here's how I say it. You need to make sure that people have an unforgettable encounter with God when they come to worship with you on the weekend.
Henry Tolbert [00:19:36]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:19:36]:
It's not just about them experiencing great music and great singing and a great building and all that. And all that stuff is important. Don't get me wrong, those are all parts of it, but it's making sure that you facilitate an encounter with God. Can they meet the almighty God of the universe and understand, like, this is a place I never want to leave? I never want to leave. I remember when Shayna Wilson came out with that song, never want to leave this. Uh, no, that wasn't. That was. I'm sorry.
Henry Tolbert [00:20:05]:
Valencia Lacey. Valencia Lacey came out with this song, never want to leave this place. Man, listen, I still, to this day, go back and watch. She did a live workshop one time when she performed this live with, like, a youth choir, and the spirit fell like it was crazy. But my point is, I understand and I connect with the message. When you authentically experience the presence and the power of God, you genuinely don't want to leave. Like, you want to live in that place. Can you give people that encounter, can you give people that kind of encounter where they don't want to walk away, but they want to stay? They want to lock in.
Henry Tolbert [00:20:44]:
They want to stay and be a part of what's happening and what God is doing. All right, so that's what you want to do. That's the second level, third level, the 72. This is the level of practice. The level of practice at this level. These are the ones that Jesus sends out two by two to go out into the surrounding towns, right? And these are people who are now ready to word, take their faith, take all the things that they've learned and put it into practice by serving. This can be inside the church, outside the church, should be both serving in their homes, on their jobs, whatever, right. They serve.
Henry Tolbert [00:21:18]:
And so what you want to make sure of is that you are identifying those people who have taken the next step to serve in your church. I started this by telling you can't treat everybody the same. And I'm telling you, if you want to have volunteers in your church, you need to make sure that you identify who they are and that you spend time appreciating them. You need to appreciate them periodically, however you do it, you need to appreciate them because that's who this group is. This group is your volunteers. These are the people who are there to serve. These are the unsung heroes who help make all of this stuff happen. These are the unsung heroes who help make sure that people can have this absolutely amazing experience with God.
Henry Tolbert [00:21:58]:
And you need to identify where they are. All right, so just look at the three groups we've talked about so far. Provision, position and practice. One group, it's about, hey, here's what I need. Here's how you can give it to me. The another group is about, hey, this is where I'm going to be. This is when you get a chance to interact with me. Another group is now about, hey, I'm willing to serve.
Henry Tolbert [00:22:18]:
Here's how I'm willing to serve.
Henry Tolbert [00:22:20]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:22:20]:
So look at those three different groups, and hopefully now it's even a little bit more clear what I mean when I say you can't treat all these groups the same because these are three different groups of people who have three different goals. Even Coca Cola, who makes the most popular soda in the world, doesn't treat everybody the same. They understand. Some people want that old fashioned coke. Some people want the coke zero, right? That's got a few things in it, but it doesn't have sugar in it and it tastes almost like regular coke. Some people want Diet Coke, right? That it's not going to taste just like regular coke, but it's not going to have as much of the stuff that you don't want in it. So you got that. Some people want caffeine free coke because they want the coke, but they don't want the caffeine and all of that kind of stuff.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:04]:
Some people like myself, like a vanilla coke or a cherry coke.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:09]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:09]:
Or orange Coke or orange vanilla Coke.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:12]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:12]:
I know that sounds weird, but I'm telling you, it's real good. I really like it.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:15]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:15]:
But whatever it is, my point is they don't treat everybody the same. They understand that, yes, we want to have something for everybody, but we're going to understand that everybody's taste is just a little bit different. And so hopefully you understand that. All right, let's keep going. Level four, the twelve. This is a level of partnership at this level. Jesus has twelve disciples that he calls.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:36]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:37]:
I need you to get this. He calls. This is important because one of the things that I think we have to battle with and against in the church is this idea that people get to decide to be leaders all the time, and that's not always the case.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:50]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:23:50]:
Depending on the size of your vision and the size of your ministry, you can create space for every person who feels called to lead, to be developed as a leader, not to just get in a role that they want to be in, but to go through processes to be developed. And that's a part of what I'm laying out for you. If you haven't figured that out already, what I'm laying out for you in these stages, it's a process. It's a system by which you can focus on developing people, and it can just happen almost routinely, and people can just as they come through each step. You come to church. Okay, great. You come to serve. Okay, great.
Henry Tolbert [00:24:22]:
Thank you for serving. Now you come to help out at a deeper level by leading in some capacity. All these different things are just part of the process. But in the twelve, the Bible says that Jesus climbed up to a high place and he called to himself those who he would have to be a part of his twelve. Jesus called them and he challenged them to make a climb. He called them, he said, all right, cool. You come and you want to be with me, you got to come up here where I'm at. You got to come to another level.
Henry Tolbert [00:24:48]:
You can't stay down there and do what you want to do and behave how you want to. No, come up here where I'm at, you got to make the same climb I made. And I believe that was a word picture. That was a shadow of the journey that he was calling them on to say, come from the low place where you have been living. He says, I want you to come up because there's a different perspective to be had up here. And this is often what I like to call in the church high capacity leaders. These are leaders who are not a part of the church staff. They're not a part of the paid staff, but they do the work of a paid staff person.
Henry Tolbert [00:25:24]:
They have the capacity of a paid staff person. They are so gifted and they are so called and so in tune with their call that they're partners in ministry. Now. These are not people who show up and say, well, ooh, somebody needs to do this. Somebody needs to go and replace the paper towels in the bathroom. Somebody needs to pick up this trash. These are people who take it upon themselves to understand, hey, if this needs to be done, I'm a part of it. I'm a part of helping get this done.
Henry Tolbert [00:25:49]:
I'm a part of walking alongside this. I'm a part of being with this. I'm a part of this. I'm a partner now. All right, these people, these twelve with Jesus, this group went from, hey, we do ministry together to we do life together, right? They now go with Jesus everywhere he went, right. And it doesn't always look that way in the church, but I do think there does need to be a different level of relationship, but then there also is a different level of responsibility because now at this level, we have decided to be partners. So it's not your church, it's not your ministry, it's ours. We're in it together, we're serving together, and we're making this thing happen together.
Henry Tolbert [00:26:27]:
All right, man, listen, this is getting good. And listen, I ain't even started talking about how do you develop these people? How do you train these people?
Henry Tolbert [00:26:36]:
Man?
Henry Tolbert [00:26:36]:
Wait till you see the next episode. It's going to be so good because I put this alliteration together that just, my goodness. Well, really Chat GPT helped me do it, but still, we did it and it's, man, listen, it's gonna bless your life. It's gonna give so much clarity. But I'll talk about that in a minute. All right, let's go to the next level. Level five. It's a three.
Henry Tolbert [00:26:54]:
This is a level of privilege. Privilege. I don't know why I keep doing that privilege. All right, but check this out. In the level of privilege, at the three, Peter, James and John, they get a different kind of access. Jesus brings them into some experiences that nobody else gets to have. When he raises the dead girl, when he goes on the mountain, transfiguration. And when he goes deeper into the garden of Gethsemane, when he invites them to come closer in the garden of Gethsemane, he invites them into some unique experiences, because he's given them the privilege to come in and be close to him.
Henry Tolbert [00:27:31]:
He's given them the privilege to hear his prayer in the garden more clearly. He's given them the privilege to see him transfigured. He's given them the privilege of seeing him raise the dead. He's given them this privilege, and he's drawing them closer.
Henry Tolbert [00:27:45]:
Right.
Henry Tolbert [00:27:46]:
And this is what I would consider the staff of the church. Right, to use an analogy. And this could be different, depending on your leadership style or your structure. This could be your elders, whatever it is. But these are the people who. They live in the kitchen. They see how the sausage is made. They see how it really happens and how it really goes down.
Henry Tolbert [00:28:07]:
And let me talk to senior leaders right here, because this is so important. You need to understand who this group is, because you need a group of people who can handle your divinity as well as your humanity. Now, most people wouldn't say that, because when we hear stuff like that, we think people got to know our stuff and our issues and stuff like that. And I'm a little bit different on that. I tend to think, like, okay, if you got some stuff that's sinful, that's outside of the will of God, just fix it. Work on it. Instead of trying to surround yourself with people who will hide it for you or who will make it okay, just fix it. Just work on it, right? Just work on it.
Henry Tolbert [00:28:48]:
And I know we all human. We all got issues. None of us are perfect, right? But if you mean, for example, and you mean, and you really don't like people, and you got a pension for saying bad words to people, instead of surrounding yourself with people who will accept your bad words, just stop saying bad words, man. Just stop. Just work on that change.
Henry Tolbert [00:29:14]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:29:14]:
So I'm not saying find people who cover up. What I'm saying is, as you work on that stuff with your therapist, with your pastor, with whatever process you're walking through, I'm saying, in addition to that, have people around you who can handle walking with you as you work on it, right? Who have the privilege of seeing who you are, right? You don't want to be surrounded by people who are in awe of who you are when you hit the stage, and yet they abandon you when you come off the stage in your humanity.
Henry Tolbert [00:29:48]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:29:50]:
Listen, I'm going to just speak for myself as a leader. One of the things that I am, as a leader, is in my humanity. I can be impulsive. I can be impulsive that if I hear something or if I get an idea today, I want to implement it today. You thought I was going to say tomorrow. No, I want to implement it today, right now. Let's do it right. And so I can be impulsive as a lead.
Henry Tolbert [00:30:20]:
That's a part of my humanity, right. But there are moments when that's also a part of my divinity, in a sense of, I don't always have to wrestle with the Holy Spirit long when there's something that he wants to call us into, right. If we see it and we see the moment and we see an opportunity, then it's like, all right, cool, let's go.
Henry Tolbert [00:30:39]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:30:40]:
And the best example I can think of is a scripture where Jesus says, listen, if you have it in your power to help somebody today, don't tell them, wait till tomorrow. Just go ahead and help them. Just go ahead and help them and let that be what it is. You know what I'm saying? And so you need to do the same thing. You need to have that kind of mentality that says, okay, I need to have people around me who can handle both sides.
Henry Tolbert [00:31:06]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:31:06]:
They can handle both sides. And they can understand that. Yes, as a senior leader, I may be God's chosen person to lead us and so on and so on, but I'm a work in progress like you. But I need you to honor the privilege of these moments that we get to share, because we're going to have some great moments, we're going to have some hard moments, we're going to have some challenging moments, but let's honor these moments together.
Henry Tolbert [00:31:31]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:31:31]:
Going on the mountain of transfiguration, seeing Jesus transfigured, man, it's awesome. Going in the chaos, raising a dead girl was a little crazy. Going into the garden of Gethsemane, when the son of God is sweating his drops of blood and you hear him praying, like, if you could take this cup from me, please. But nevertheless, that's different. And so what I'm saying is, you need to understand all of that, right? And you need to be aware of who those three are. All right, last one is the one level of passion. I can do this one pretty quickly. This is John.
Henry Tolbert [00:32:04]:
John was the one who remained through every trial, through every court session, even at the foot of the cross. He's standing there next to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jesus says, son, this is your mother. Mother, this is your son. This is a level of passion, his love is so strong that he stays. He refers to himself as the apostle of love, the one whom Jesus loved, who would lay his head in his bosom, even the one who was so trusted with his passion for Jesus that he was given the privilege of the book of revelation.
Henry Tolbert [00:32:40]:
Right?
Henry Tolbert [00:32:40]:
He was given that privilege. And so this is a level of passion. This is the one. This is the senior leader, the one who will go all the way. In most cases, this is a senior leader. But it can be more than that. This can be a team of people who are so committed to the mission and vision that God has for each local church that they are willing to see it all the way through. And I want to speak to those of you who are in the one right now, and I want to encourage you to keep going and see it all the way through.
Henry Tolbert [00:33:07]:
I know that you've seen some difficult times. I know you've seen some hard times. I know you've seen some challenges. I know you have gone through some things that most people around you are not even aware of. But I want to encourage you that it is not for naught. It is not for nothing. There is purpose in your pain. I want to encourage you to keep on going.
Henry Tolbert [00:33:26]:
I believe that the same God who helped start this journey will help finish it. That he will strengthen your tired hands and your weak knees, and he will give you what you need to continue to go forward as you continue to endeavor to be the one who will stay with Jesus no matter what happens, who will stay with him. All right, listen. I started this episode by saying this, with this statement. You cannot treat everyone the same, and I hope you understand that differently. Now, it's not that we want to show favoritism to one over the other, but it is understanding that different people need different things, require different things, and can handle different things. And so you need to know that, right. There are some things that happen in your life that are not for the consumption of your community, but they might be for the consumption of your twelve.
Henry Tolbert [00:34:20]:
Whatever the case may be. You need to understand that and you need to recognize. All right, so check this out next week for our next episode. Episode 211 is going to be from the masses to the mission. I'm going to show you how to develop people within the church funnel. I'm going to show you how to do it. I'm going to show you how you take each of those six groups and what it is that you can do to help them take the next steps and continue to move forward in their faith and in their journey with Christ. All right, listen.
Henry Tolbert [00:34:48]:
I hope this episode has been a blessing to you, and I want you to take some time and really engage with it. I want you to drop in the comments. What's your best takeaway? Let me hear from you. Whether you're watching on YouTube or you're listening on Apple Music or Spotify, wherever you are, I want you to just comment and leave a comment. Leave me a great, positive review if you want a podcast, whatever it may be, but let me know. What's your biggest takeaway? Let me know that this has been helpful to you, that this has been a blessing to you. And I'll make sure I do that because this is so important. I'm considering building a whole resource around this, a course, a book around it, a training around it, so that you have everything you need to understand how to move people in the direction that God wants them to go.
Henry Tolbert [00:35:33]:
All right, listen, God bless, man. I appreciate you. Thank you for being a part of the tribe. Thank you for being a part of the village. Until next time, keep the gears turning. Peace.
