Subscribe to the NetworkHappy Anniversary To Me…
It snuck up on me, and it came and went without fanfare (not that it really deserves any), and I’m certainly the only one who keeps track, but yesterday marked my 12-year anniversary here at Saddleback. This morning as I was spending a little bit of time reflecting on my experience here that began in 1997, many things flooded my mind. Most of them were good. Of course, I can’t think about my life at Saddleback without thinking of Pastor Rick and the role he has played in my ministry journey. And while Rick is certainly a great leader and visionary and I have learned A TON in formal staff meetings etc., it’s the smaller little interactions and observations that have made the greatest impact on my life. I could literally list dozens and dozens, but here are three:
- His lifestyle of contentment and generosity. Certainly when you sell 30 million books it becomes easier to be generous and content, right? I’m not sure. I tend to believe that success and money usually serve to heighten our character flaws not eliminate them and replace them with new virtues. In other words: Whoever you are in want is who you will be in plenty. Before his window of afluence and influence opened up, Rick was generous, content and modeled that to the rest of us at Saddleback. Today he lives in the same house he has lived in for years and years, he drives an old Ford Expedition (in fact my Expedition is just as nice!) and is honestly one of the most generous men I have ever met.
- His genuineness. Simply put, Pastor Rick is the real deal. He loves Jesus, he loves the church and he loves others. When I was interviewing at Saddleback, the final meeting was a dinner date with Rick and Kay. Heading into that dinner, Rachel was pretty adamant that she wasn’t attracted to Saddleback, that it was too big, would be too impersonal, and that we would, frankly, be lonely and miserable. We spent a couple hours with Rick and Kay and not once did he try to “sell” us on the church. Instead he talked about life, let us ask probing questions and listened intently whenever Rachel spoke. I’ll never forget the walk back to the car that night when Rachel simply said, “I’m in.” Has his world changed in the past few years? Yes. Has he? Not that I can tell.
- His spontaneous nature. Sure, serving under a spontaneous leader has it’s frustrations (just ask anybody on my team….yikes), but I’m convinced Rick’s ability to make quick decisions, change course in mid-stream, hand off responsibilities etc. has been a key factor in Saddleback’s success over the years (and I’m aware that it has contributed to some of our failings, too. But I’ll take the trade off!).
Finally, my favorite Rick Warren story:
Several years ago I’m driving home on a Friday night after work. It’s about 5:30 or so and my cell phone rings. “Kurt, this is Pastor Rick. We just got a new pool table set up in our garage. Why don’t you call a bunch of junior high kids and invite ‘em over to our house. I’ll order the pizza.” What do you do with that?!?! I’m tired, looking forward to a night with my family when Rick Warren calls and wants to host a spontaneous junior high party! Honestly, my first gut reaction was one of frustration and feeling ‘put out’. But then I realized that most senior pastors of churches far smaller would NEVER invite the junior high group over, that most youth workers would LOVE to have their students feel valued in the same way. I called several small group leaders and within an hour Rick’s house was full of junior highers. Funny, he hasn’t invited us back since!
John Maxwell likes to say that everything rises and falls on leadership. If that’s true, then my incredible 12-year journey here at Saddleback really owes more to Rick than to anybody else. Perfect? No. Flawed? Uhhh….you bet. A leader I hope to serve for 12 more years? Without doubt!
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What a great post! There are so many of us who could write the same kind of post about you. Thanks for being a great leader yourself!
A great honouring post – Rick must be proud to have staff like you
[...] Personal insights into Rick Warren [...]