Sunday, November 08, 2009 Last Update:11:25 am ET

Ministries|Sat, Aug. 25 2007 12:21 PM EDT

Five Tools Saddleback Uses to Develop Spiritual Maturity

By Rick Warren|Christian Post Guest Columnist

In 1990 Saddleback was already one of the larger churches in America. On our 10th anniversary I stood up and said, “What’s next?” In our first 10 years we became one of the largest churches. But my goal now, our goal, is that we become one of the most spiritually mature churches in the nation. Spiritual maturity is not automatic. It’s got to be cultivated. This is your role and your responsibility as a leader in your church.

You might be saying, Rick, that’s a pretty audacious goal! No, it’s not. It ought to be the goal of every church. Every church should want its people to be as much like Christ as possible. We want them to be spiritually deep.

When you go fishing, do you want quality or quantity? I want both! I want to catch as many fish as I can, and I want to get them as big as I can. I don’t want the little fish. I want big fish. I don’t want minnows. We want Saddleback to grow in quality and quantity. There’s no contradiction there.

Just as it takes certain tools to cultivate a garden so it will grow, there are certain practical tools that you need to cultivate spiritual growth in the lives of your members. It’s not automatic. It doesn’t just happen. You have to help them grow.

In this article I want us to look at five tools that we use to cultivate spiritual growth. Really, if you want to know the secret behind Saddleback Church, it’s these five things. These are five very practical tools that we have used to develop the maturity level of people in our church.

1. Commitment cards

The commitment cards help our people respond to what we’re teaching in the weekend message. We use commitment cards all the time. We’ll even design special cards for Mother’s Day, Easter, Christmas, and other key days during the year.

This is one of the most overlooked tools that pastors have at their disposal – just giving people an opportunity to respond. A lot of people get right up to that point but never cross the line. We need to teach people what to do and then ask them to do it. You must ask people for their commitment or you’re not going to get it.

2. Classes based on the purposes

We have four core classes at Saddleback (101, 201, 301, and 401) – each of them focuses on one of the purposes of the church: membership, maturity, ministry, and missions. Through these four-hour classes, we try to help our congregation live out these purposes in their everyday lives. These classes are the building blocks of Saddleback. They have consistently produced mature believers who walk the walk, talk the talk, live the life, and sacrificially give.

Most Christians know far more than they’re putting into practice. If you have application-focused classes centered on the purposes, that’ll change. Your people will start to learn how to actually live out the biblical purposes in their lives. I cannot over emphasize the importance of setting up a regular class system like this. Once the system is set up, you just improve it every year. People say, "What are you going to do next year?" Same thing that we did last year. We’ll just do it better. You can find the classes that we use on Pastors.com.

3. Covenants

Covenants are the most important part of our classes. We have a membership covenant, a maturity covenant, a ministry covenant, and a missions covenant. We have our members sign the covenants at the end of each of our classes. Why? Continue >>

Pages: 12
Sort by: Newest | Oldest | Agree | Disagree
All comments on this page are subject to our Terms of Use and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Christian Post or its staff.
  • Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:02 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 1

    Not to forget golfing, small groups and spiritual socializing, worship of rock music, small group self help and psychology, some of the courses for pay and under secular shrinks. Lots of good business and connections for preachers who are actually paid consultants, thou not good enough to be self-employed, and members who want to use naive sheep for their goods and services. And of course don't admit the really needy, sick, broken-hearted, thirsting of God's word.
    Maybe Christian news should keep reporting on Christian congregations or add fine print like: This report does not pertain to a biblical church, to avoid confusion. But then little would be left for Christian reporting.

  • RBB »
    Sun Aug 26, 2007 11:17 am Agree: 15   Disagree: 1

    One has to wonder...why aren't Prayer and Bible Study on this list? There can be no real spiritual growth without God, and these two things are how we both communicate with Him, and learn how we are to think, act and grow in Him.

    Concerning "commitments" and "covenants". Matthew 5:33-37 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your "Yes' be "Yes,' and your "No,' "No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one".

  • Sat Aug 25, 2007 11:37 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 1

    1Co 12:18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body as it has pleased Him.
    1Co 12:26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is praised, every part rejoices with it.
    1Co 12:11 But one and the same Spirit produces all these results and gives what he wants to each person.
    1Co 12:12 For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, form one body, so it is with Christ.

Please help us to monitor our message boards by flagging comments that are unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable.
Contact Us if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Comment on this story
ID Password

Don't have a Christian Post ID? Signing up is easy. Click Here

  • icon1
  • icon2
  • icon3
  • icon4
  • icon5
The Christian Post reserves the right to terminate the account of any User who violates our Terms of Use.
Advertisement
Advertisement
CP Shopping
  • Jewelry
  • Health
  • Gifts
  • Church
  • Coins

Bracelets | Chains | Crosses | Earrings | Gemstone |

Featured contents & Giveaways
Zondervan

Struggling to succeed in the Nashville music scene, talented singer/songwriter Parker James finds the competition fierce even deadly. A young woman's murder, industry corruption, a

Featured Advertiser Links