Discussion Questions

The speaker says, “the health of every church can be measured by the conversations you’re not having and the conversations you’re having poorly”; what specific conversations does your congregation avoid (or handle badly), and what do those silences reveal about what you most fear losing? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What topics does your church avoid talking about, or talk about badly? What do those silences show you’re most afraid of losing?

In Matthew 24 the speaker highlights Jesus’ repeated warning about deception and then says the best way to combat deception is to “be a witness”; how does “being a witness” function as protection from deception in the speaker’s logic, and where would early Christians have located “truth” differently than “thanks to Google”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does “being a witness” help protect someone from being deceived, according to the speaker? Where would early Christians look for truth instead of relying on something like Google?

The speaker frames current instability (“wars,” “economy…volatile cocktail,” “trust of authority…all-time low”) as an opportunity and quotes the idea “never waste a great disaster”; what does that reveal about God’s purposes in hard times, and what kind of church actions would prove you actually believe God is not wringing His hands? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does the speaker’s “don’t waste a disaster” idea say about what God might be doing in hard times? What actions would show your church really trusts God isn’t panicking?

The speaker claims his generation “reacted by shying away from leadership,” and urges the 25–45 group to “come under spiritual authority”; what does “coming under authority” practically look like in a healthy church, and how would you distinguish it from control, image-management, or simply keeping traditions? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does it look like to “come under spiritual authority” in a healthy church? How can you tell the difference between that and control, protecting an image, or just keeping traditions?

“Healthy members aren’t co-dependent. They’re contributors”; what concrete patterns in church participation, financial life, or hospitality would expose co-dependency in a member who insists they are “just receiving,” and why does the speaker treat that as a readiness/preparedness issue? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What habits in serving, giving, or welcoming others might show a person is co-dependent while saying they are “just receiving”? Why does the speaker see that as a preparedness problem?

The speaker asks, “When a congregation returns to the vision of the early church…will their possessions be affected?”; what would early Christian assumptions about ownership (Acts-style sharing and transparency) require from your lifestyle, and which possessions or comforts would be the first to be “untouchable” in your heart? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If your church lived more like the early church, how would it change the way you treat your money and stuff? What possessions or comforts would be hardest for you to let go of?

The speaker’s unity model is “my way, your way, and the right way,” with the “center” defined as love that is willing to “die” (often without physically dying); what specific “deaths” (preferences, reputation, control, spending, time, privacy) are you unwilling to die, and how does that limit your church’s ability to offer a believable alternative to a “self-centered…twisted world”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What personal “death” are you unwilling to accept (like giving up preferences, reputation, control, money, time, or privacy)? How does that keep your church from looking truly different from a self-centered world?

The speaker warns that changing methods is inevitable but removing traditions without replacing them “with something better” will cost “generations,” and he calls reaction “the major contributor to church drift”; where is your church most tempted to “react” to a former generation rather than build on what was valuable, and what would “rowing” instead of “drifting” look like in that exact area? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Where is your church tempted to react against the older generation instead of keeping what was good? In that same area, what would it look like to move forward on purpose instead of slowly drifting?

The speaker says financial transparency was an early-church response and describes Gary Miller’s practice of members reporting debt ratio and leaders asking the “top five” for a correction plan; what emotions does that idea stir in you (fear, anger, relief, suspicion), and what does your reaction reveal about modern evangelical instincts around privacy, autonomy, grace, and accountability? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do you feel about church members sharing financial details and leaders asking big givers to make a plan to get out of debt? What does your reaction show about how you think about privacy, independence, grace, and accountability?

The speaker challenges spending by saying, before dropping $20,000 on a four-wheeler, “drop 20 grand in the offering” first, and he ties generosity to how neighbors “experience Jesus” (Matthew 25); what would it cost your household to adopt the speaker’s “before I spend X on myself, am I willing to give that same amount to the Lord’s work?” test for one year, and what would it expose about what you truly believe God is like? JumpstartAnother way to ask: For one year, what would it cost your family to try this test: “Before I spend X on myself, would I give that same amount to God’s work?” What would that show about what you really believe God is like?