Outreach Magazine came out with their 2007 list of America’s Most Innovative Churches and NCC landed on the list at #8.

I have a few reactions and observations. And I feel like it is absolutely imperative that I share them. Not for you. For me. This is my way of thinking out loud.

I’m not going to lie. It felt good landing on the list. I crave recognition as much or more than the next guy! Probably more. I wish I could say that I don’t have an ego but the last time I checked I still do. And it has an large appetite. And this kind of thing feeds it and it tastes good. I honestly wish this kind of thing didn’t matter to me but it does. I don’t like that I like it as much as I do! I say that because I don’t want to project a false humility. I think false humility is worse than pride! By the way, as soon as I’m completely sanctified I’ll be sure to blog about it

I feel like this kind of recognition puts us in dangerous territory. Here is how I think about it: praise is a narrow strait and pride is a terrible rudder. In fact, pride will sink the ship if we steer into the praise.

The moment we stop building altars to God and start building monuments to self our ministry is man-u-factured. Check out I Samuel 14:35 and I Samuel 15:12. There is a surprisingly fine line between building my kingdom and thy kingdom!

So here are some of my visceral reactions:

My first reaction is: what a cool pat on the back for our team.

Innovation is more perspiration than inspiration. And our team is sweats a lot! I think Joel still holds the record for all-nighters, but Dave and David have drunk their fair share of Red Bull. So props to everybody on our creative team that does what they do week in and week out. And it goes beyond that. I love the way our outreach and small group ministries push the envelop. All of our staff and leaders are shareholders. They are the creative shoulders.

My second reaction is: we better not stop innovating.

So many businesses and churches that were once on the cutting-edge stop doing what made them successful in the first place. I never want to become a closed-system. If the kindgom of God had departments, NCC feels called to work in Research & Development (R & D). One of our core values is: everything is an experiment. And we are driven by a core conviction that there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. I want to be in the middle of an experiment when Jesus returns!

My third reaction is: we better be good stewards. It seems to me like these type of acknowledgements are one way God grants favor and expands influence. But as our influence grows so does our responsibility. I honestly feel like we’re called to be a teaching church. There are hospitals and teaching hospitals. Both of them care for patients, but teaching hospitals are very intentional about training doctors. I feel like NCC is called to be a teaching church.

Our primary objective is to turn Washington, DC upside down. We want to impact our city and help people find their way back to God. And our local ministry will always be the top priority. But we also need to be intentional about sharing best practices. That is part of being an open-source church.

As a footnote, a huge thanks to so many churches on the list.

I’ll never forget my first Willowcreek Conference in 1993 when I was in seminary. Who hasn’t been impacted by Saddleback? And Community Christian Church was so instrumental in our move to multi-site.

Beyond that we’re totally inspired by Lifechurch.tv; Granger Community Church; North Point Community Church; Fellowship Church; Mosaic Church; Healing Place Church; The Journey; and Radiant Church.

Love the way they are pushing the envelope!

One more thing. I honestly think that the most innovative churches are the churches we’ve never heard of. They are some of the youngest and smallest churches that are just getting off the ground. Church plants have to innovate or die

I think of church planters like Trinity Jordan or Doug Miller or Scott Aughtmon who are at varying places in the launch stage. Or guys like Ben Arment or Gary Lamb who have been around the block a few more times. Or someone like Scott Hodge who is trying to reinvent a church he inherited.