KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA—I was surprised and honored to be invited to speak at the 2015 Asia Pastors Summit. Unfortunately, I was given the dreaded post-lunch 1:30 p.m. slot. For afternoon speakers, the standard for success is pretty low. I figure that if at least half of the conference people actually attend the post-lunch afternoon session, it is a success, whether they pay attention or fall asleep. My talk ended four hours ago, and I am calling it a success.
The Asia Leaders Summit is an invitation-only conference for Asian mega-church pastors. The motto is “Asians Reaching Asia.” Apparently, no one on the organizing committee googled my photo to discover that I’m an American reaching Asia. So, I am the only white dude in the room. And I feel at home.
The other people in the room are the pastors of some of the largest churches in the world. And, oddly enough, some of these pastors are the most humble leaders I have ever met. Could it be that humility and church growth are somehow connected?
I have been particularly impressed with the humility of the organizer of the summit, Dr. Younghoon Lee, who is also the senior pastor of the largest church in the world, Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul. He and his team humbly and graciously serve in a way that honors God.
I end this blog with a few random quotes from today’s seven sessions.
“We need missions with humility, not missions with imperialism.”
“We need to replace racism with grace-ism.”
“We should be grace-ists not racists.”
“So many are called to the UK, USA, and Australia. Why does no one feel called to Pakistan and Afghanistan?”
“We have too many churches that are led by CEOs. We need more senior pastors who know how to defeat and behead Goliath.”
“A well-managed church is not the same as a well-led church.”
