Hero Maker Read online

  Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird are leaders of leaders. Hero Maker will not only impact you; it will impact the leaders you are raising up.

  —Mark Batterson, author, The Circle Maker; lead pastor, National Community Church

  Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird are a great leadership combination of church praxis and leadership research. Hero Maker inspires a leadership-development approach in a fresh yet ancient way.

  —Dave Gibbons, CVO, Xealots.org, Newsong; author, Small Cloud Rising

  If my friend Dave Ferguson wrote it, I’m going to marinate in the wisdom of every page. And when you add Dr. Warren Bird to the writing mix, Hero Maker becomes an indispensable resource for pastors and church planters.

  —Derwin L. Gray, founding and lead pastor, Transformation Church; author, The High Definition Leader

  If you’re looking to raise and empower great leaders, Dave Ferguson’s new book, Hero Maker, is packed with valuable insights. Each of the five principles Dave unveils is practical, doable, and helpful to every leader.

  —Craig Groeschel, pastor, Life.Church; author, Divine Direction

  When I am around Dave, I get the feeling that I can achieve just about anything. Aided by researcher Warren Bird, Hero Maker is built squarely on decades of the experience of someone who is proving to be one of the significant apostolic leaders in our day.

  —Alan Hirsch, award-winning author; founder, 100 Movements, 5Q Collective, and Forge

  Hero Maker is a must read for pastors and leaders serious about moving from growing a church to the courageous call to multiply churches. I know few people who have been used to catalyze church multiplication like my friend Dave Ferguson.

  —Mark Jobe, lead pastor, New Life Community Church—Chicago; author; founder, New Life Centers

  Jesus spent his life multiplying his leadership, and billions of lives were changed for eternity. If you do what Hero Maker says, you will be able to do the same thing.

  —Dr. Ajai Lall, director, Central India Christian Mission

  Are you tired of small gains through addition? Do you long to see your life and ministry get to the multiplication stage? Dave Ferguson reached these goals by being a hero maker. Read Hero Maker and learn from one of the best.

  —Dr. James MacDonald, senior pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel; author, Act Like Men and Vertical Church

  Jesus made it clear that to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, we must make disciples who make disciples who make disciples. If you need practical help with disciple-making, read Hero Maker.

  —Joby Martin, lead pastor, The Church of Eleven22

  The most important feature of Hero Maker is that Dave and Warren turn the term hero inside-out and upside-down. In their hands, hero becomes servant of God, servant of the gospel, servant of others, and servant of the world. Read and learn how to make heroes of others.

  —Scot McKnight, Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary

  Read this book! The message of Hero Maker will change not just you but every leader you raise up.

  —James Meeks, senior pastor, Salem Baptist Church of Chicago

  Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird help us unpack five essential practices to grow our leadership and the leaders we are mentoring. Hero Maker is for every influencer who knows that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers—and leaders—are few.

  —Tony Morgan, founder and lead strategist, The Unstuck Group

  Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird have a heart for the church and a head for knowledge. In Hero Maker, they are two great guides for every leader.

  —John Ortberg, senior pastor, Menlo Church; author, I’d Like You More If You Were More Like Me

  As long as I’ve known Dave Ferguson, he has always used a kingdom scoreboard to measure both his life and his ministry. In Hero Maker, Dave lays out five simple and powerful practices that will help anyone who applies them become a more effective hero maker and ministry multiplier.

  —Larry Osborne, pastor and author, North Coast Church

  At last: the core message of the Exponential conference boiled down to five simple, practical, powerful practices. Start here!

  —Andy Stanley, author, communicator, and founder of North Point Ministries

  Dave Ferguson has raised up an amazing number of leaders, church planters, and pastors. He has an unmatched heart and passion for multiplication, and I’m thankful for him. Read Hero Maker to find out how he does it.

  —Ed Stetzer, Billy Graham Distinguished Chair, Wheaton College

  Hero Maker offers every leader a chance to catch the biblical principles that multiply leadership impact and create sustainable momentum for long-term kingdom advance. Get this book. Inhale this message, and let’s breathe out heroes!

  —Danielle Stickland, speaker, author, advocate

  As a leader of a multicultural church in the inner city of Detroit, I find leadership development to be one of the greatest ways to make a real impact in both my church and the community we’re called to serve. Hero Maker will steer church leaders and laity alike into practices that make our lives greater than what they could ever be in the silos we often unintentionally create.

  —Harvey Carey, senior pastor, Citadel of Faith Covenant Church

  In this fantastic book, one of my mentors, Dave Ferguson, not only addresses the heart behind being a hero maker rather than a hero, but he gives us practical steps to implement a plan. Challenge and change your leadership today. Get this book!

  —Lèonce B. Crump Jr., founder and pastor, Renovation Church; author, Renovate

  I am grateful for books like the one you’re holding. It gently presses while it superbly encourages. Dave Ferguson lays out God’s plans and calls us to walk in them.

  —Matt Chandler, lead pastor, The Village Church

  Dave Ferguson makes proven biblical principles accessible to you and your team in five simple practices. If you’re looking to multiply your impact, start with Hero Maker.

  —Carey Nieuwhof, founding pastor, Connexus Church

  I have known and respected Dave Ferguson for almost twenty years. In my view, Hero Maker is his best book yet.

  —Bill Hybels, senior pastor, Willow Creek Church; founder, Global Leadership Summit

  Other Books in the Exponential Series

  AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church, Hugh Halter and Matt Smay

  Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture, Brandon Hatmaker

  DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples, Jim Putman and Bobby Harrington with Robert E. Coleman

  Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement, Dave Ferguson and Jon Ferguson

  For the City: Proclaiming and Living Out the Gospel, Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter with Joel A. Lindsey

  It’s Personal: Surviving and Thriving on the Journey of Church Planting, Brian Bloye and Amy Bloye

  Missional Moves: 15 Tectonic Shifts That Transform Churches, Communities, and the World, Rob Wegner and Jack Magruder

  On the Verge: A Journey into the Apostolic Future of the Church, Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson

  Sifted: Pursuing Growth through Trials, Challenges, and Disappointments, Wayne Cordeiro with Francis Chan and Larry Osborne

  Small Matters: How Churches and Parents Can Raise Up World-Changing Children, Greg Nettle and Jimmy Mellado

  Transformation: Discipleship That Turns Lives, Churches, and the World Upside Down, Bob Roberts Jr.

  The Underground Church: A Living Example of the Church in Its Most Potent Form, Brian Sanders

  (More titles forthcoming)

  ZONDERVAN

  Hero Maker

  Copyright © 2018 by Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird

  R
equests for information should be addressed to:

  Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

  ePub Edition © February 2018: ISBN 978-0-310-53694-9

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Ferguson, Dave, 1962- author. | Bird, Warren, author.

  Title: Hero maker : five essential practices for leaders to multiply leaders / Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird.

  Other titles: Five essential practices for leaders to multiply leaders

  Description: Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017048399 | ISBN 9780310536932 (hardcover)

  Subjects: LCSH: Mentoring in church work. | Christian leadership.

  Classification: LCC BV4408.5 .F47 2018 | DDC 253--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017048399

  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

  Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  Cover design: Faceout Studio, Tim Green

  Cover photo: Shutterstock

  Interior design: Denise Froehlich

  18 19 20 21 22 /DHV/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

  Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

  Contents

  Foreword by J. D. Greear

  Introduction

  Part 1: A Hero-Making Challenge

  1. Jesus’ Leadership Secret

  2. The Wrong Questions

  3. The Right Questions

  4. Leading as a Hero Maker

  Part 2: Five Essential Practices of Hero Making

  5. Multiplication Thinking

  Tool: The Dream Napkin

  6. Permission Giving

  Tool: An ICNU Conversation

  7. Disciple Multiplying

  Tool: Five Steps of Apprenticeship

  8. Gift Activating

  Tool: Commissioning

  9. Kingdom Building

  Tool: Simple Scoreboard

  Part 3: Hero Makers Get Results

  10. The Influence of Hero Making

  11. The Tensions of Hero Making

  12. A Culture of Hero Making

  13. A Secret to Be Shared

  Afterword: A Call to Action by Oscar Muriu

  Appendix 1: Chapter Summaries

  Appendix 2: Tweet the Book: Hero Making in 280 Characters or Less

  Appendix 3: Multiplication Resources

  Appendix 4: Paying Interns and Residents: Legal Requirements; By David O. Middlebrook, The Church Law Group

  Acknowledgments

  Notes

  Scripture Index

  Meet the Authors

  Foreword by J. D. Greear

  I don’t know how many places Jack Welch and John Calvin agree. It can’t be that many. But they both are clear on this: one of the most valuable investments a leader can make is identifying and raising up other leaders.

  Jack Welch, the CEO who engineered the turnaround at General Electric, says, “The future belongs to passionate, driven leaders . . . who can energize those whom they lead. One of the jobs of a leader is to pump confidence into his or her people. And when you’ve got somebody who’s raring to go, and you can smell it and feel it, give ’em that shot.”

  And John Calvin, leading Protestant Reformer in the 1500s, agrees: “The more focused a leader is on upbuilding other leaders, the more highly [he or she is] to be regarded.”

  Surely, if Jack Welch and John Calvin agree on something, it is settled in heaven!

  The book you hold in your hands has been written with a passion to see that focus become a reality in the church. My friends Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird, writing from years of experience, demonstrate that those who care the most about the future of the Great Commission will devote themselves to multiplying and sending, not gathering and counting. A focus on multiplying leaders doesn’t mean we neglect growing our own ministries; it just means that we add multiplication as an essential element of our “scorecard.”

  Multiplying will not happen on its own. If we aren’t choosing to make it happen, it’s probably not happening.

  It’s time for us to put forward a new vision for the church. Actually, it’s not a new vision but an old vision recently forgotten. Jesus’ vision for completing the Great Commission was never platforming a few hyper-anointed megapastors to pack an auditorium with their electrifying sermons, but empowering ordinary believers to carry the gospel everywhere they went.

  In Acts, thirty-nine of the forty miracles the Holy Spirit performs occur outside of the church. We need to expect that kind of ratio today too. If we really want to see the power of God, it’s not going to be found primarily in the pulpit. I’m all for the pulpit, but the real power of the gospel is released as ordinary, Spirit-filled people multiply the gospel wherever they go, into every part of their communities.

  Dave and Warren take this passion for multiplication and break it into its parts. It’s one thing to inspire; it’s another to instruct. This book does both. A mentor of mine once told me that when it comes to accomplishing great visions, it’s never the dreams you dream but the small decisions you make. Hero Maker not only helps you dream the dreams; it helps you start the process. This book will walk you through the steps to catalyze your congregation to become the leadership factory God intended it to be.

  In the final section of the book, Warren and Dave identify the obstacles you’ll likely encounter. They help us see where difficult decisions will have to be made and delicate tensions will have to be managed. What I most appreciate about this book is that its authors are practitioners, not theorists. Dave has years of experience leading a church, filled with its own needs and concerns, to multiply. Warren has years of observing and coaching church leaders in multiplication. Dave and Warren aren’t lobbing platitudes into a world they know nothing about; they are warriors returning with tales from the front lines.

  The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important message in the world. It tells us about a God who loved us so much that he took our sin upon himself so that we could have eternal life with him. Getting that message to others is a matter of life and death. This is no time for small dreams or weak ambitions. It’s no time for territorial jealousies or status quo ministries. It’s time to dream great things for God, and then attempt great things for God.

  The good news is that Jesus promised that his Spirit is willing and able to lead us in this. But if we want his power, we have to do it his way. All of Jesus’ promises about the greatness of the church are tied to sending, not gathering.

  Hero Maker takes you into the execution of those promises. What will the next generation of church expansion look like if today’s leaders take these promises serious
ly? I get excited just thinking about that.

  Jesus once promised his disciples that they would do greater works than he (John 14:12). That promise staggers the imagination, and most of us, frankly, don’t really believe it. Do you feel you have thus far done greater works than Jesus? He promised that you would. Of course, he didn’t mean we’ll preach greater sermons than the Sermon on the Mount, or pray greater prayers than his intercession in John 17, or do greater miracles than raising Lazarus from the dead. Greater refers to the reach and extent of our works as we see the Spirit multiplied through us into the lives of others. Greater happens only as we pursue multiplication.

  The days of faithful leaders being satisfied with a single, thriving ministry are long behind us. The new measure of success is multiplication.

  Truthfully, that has always been Jesus’ standard; we’ve just become so enamored by the glitz of the megachurch that we’ve forgotten that. Dave and Warren show us why multiplication is at the heart of the gospel, and how, with God’s help, it can become a reality in our ministries.

  Introduction

  “I have already won the awards, gotten the trophies, and been personally successful. Now I want more!” These words came from Barry,1 someone whom all his college friends remember as the guy who made the heroic last-second shot to win the championship their senior year.

  Today Barry is a middle-aged business executive and follower of Jesus, a gifted “big dog” leader with an impressive resume and a bank account that most would envy. When you walk into a room where Barry is present, people assume he is in charge. He knows how to lead.

  But recently there seemed to be a lid on his leadership. He felt like he was missing something.

  As a Christ follower, he wanted to make a greater impact with his life.

  A mentor challenged him: “You accomplished much in your work life. What are you dreaming about next?” Barry wanted to maximize his leadership but felt even his most heroic efforts weren’t paying off.

  It was then he started focusing less on his own leadership and more on the leadership of others. He told me that as he pursued this in his work and life, he began to understand an important distinction. He phrased it like this: