The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
We're all about helping create a healthy, positive, and spiritually positive environment for church staff members and leadership teams.
The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
If Jesus Ran a Startup, What Ministry Might Look Like
Jesus built a kingdom with a startup mentality that continues to disrupt and grow 2,000 years later, offering powerful principles that can transform church ministry leadership today. His approach challenges conventional organizational wisdom with a simpler, people-focused model.
• Jesus started with just 12 ordinary but teachable people - not the most qualified but deeply relational
• Churches don't need large staffs to make an impact, but people who follow, adapt, and care deeply
• Jesus communicated a wild vision with simple clarity: "The kingdom is here"
• Motivation by calling rather than job descriptions creates breakthrough ministry
• No org chart existed, just radical empowerment and ownership
• Jesus delegated authority quickly, telling disciples "you give them something to eat"
• Failure was expected and forgiven - Peter denied, Thomas doubted, but Jesus used these moments for growth
• Create a staff culture where failure means learning, not shame
• Jesus measured success by transformed lives, not metrics or growth numbers
• Redefine ministry success by prioritizing impact over optics
If you're struggling with church staff health or need help with church structure, compensation levels, or leadership coaching, reach out anytime at podcast@chemistrystaffing.com.
Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com
Be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Church Staff Podcast wherever you regularly listen to podcasts.
- - - - -
Is Your Church Hiring?
If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help.
Are You Looking for a New Ministry Role?
If you are open to a new church role in the next few months, add your free resume and profile at ChemistryStaffing.com.
What if Jesus launched a startup today? Think about it no staff handbook, no HR department, just a wild vision 12 underqualified team members on a mission that hasn't stopped growing. Stay with me, because how Jesus built his kingdom might just be the disruption that your ministry needs. Hi there, my name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and I'm your host right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. All right, let's get started today talking about the startup team. We're looking at this kind of fun.
Speaker 1:What if Jesus was the head of a startup today? The startup team lean, scrappy, relational. Jesus didn't build a megachurch team. He started with 12, a dozen. Not the sharpest okay, let's be honest. Not the most polished, but deeply teachable, deeply relational people. Obviously, jesus saw something in those 12 disciples that he chose. He handpicked right. Your church doesn't need 15 staff to make an impact. It needs people who know how to follow, adapt and care deeply. So prioritize your trust, just like Jesus did. Prioritize your teachability over. Prioritize teachability of those people around you over credentials. Okay, he appointed 12 that they might be with him and that he might send them out. That's from Mark.
Speaker 1:Okay, jesus would also have a wild vision, but a simple plan. Okay, jesus, think about this. We're all about vision statements. I love vision statements, but Jesus didn't even write a vision statement, right? But he let everybody know the mission, right? The mission was the kingdom is here. Let's go. What if your team was more motivated by calling than by job description? So maybe, instead of quarterly reviews, imagine regular check-ins that ask things like where are we seeing the kingdom of God break through in our church, in our midst, in our community? Would that be a game changer, maybe? Key takeaway on this point clarity beats complexity. Key takeaway on this point clarity beats complexity, clarity beats complexity every single time.
Speaker 1:Okay, finally, jesus did not have an org chart, just ownership. There wasn't a discipleship pastor, there wasn't an executive pastor, a budget and strategy. Jesus delegated authority and he did it quickly. He said you give them something to eat. I love it. There wasn't a master plan. There wasn't a job. There wasn't an org chart. People saw the need and he said you give them something to eat. It was empowerment over micromanagement, ministry leaders. Really, we should be handing off responsibility and not just tasks, and that's really important. And finally, you have to remember that failure was baked in when Jesus started, right, and it was also forgiven. Think about it Peter denied, thomas, doubted James and John man, they were just. They were jostling for power and Jesus didn't disqualify. He used every opportunity with those around him whenever he could to disciple them.
Speaker 1:So startups iterate and Jesus' team failed, but they failed forward. So how do you do this in a staff? How do you do this at a church in 2025? You do this by creating a staff culture where failure is learning. Failure is not shame. There's a difference there. You need to look at failure as learning, not as shame.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then I've got one last kind of extra point for you today. Okay, since we're talking about startups, all right For Jesus, the ROI was measured in people. About startups, all right For Jesus, the ROI was measured in people, not in metrics. Okay, roi is your return on investment. Okay, startups obsess over growth. But Jesus didn't obsess over growth. I guess he knew growth was coming, but Jesus focused on transformation. Think about Zacchaeus, think about the woman at the well, think about Mary Magdalene. Their lives were the metric. So redefine what success means in your ministry, because impact is much more important than optics.
Speaker 1:If Jesus ran your ministry like a startup, what would he change first. Wow, that's a big question. Would he make your team leaner? Would he lead with wild clarity? Would he lead with radical trust? Would he lead with forgiveness that fuels growth? Absolutely, absolutely. You want to lead like that. Start with one thing, and you can do that today Empower your team like Jesus empowered his. Hopefully this is challenging to you today, because I love to take things and look at them from a different point of view, a different perspective, and definitely this was one where we took Jesus's leadership, took it out of Old New Testament times and put it into current times and If Jesus was here today, we would call it probably a startup. So really interesting. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that inspired you a little bit today.
Speaker 1:I'm here every day, monday through Friday, on the Healthy Church Staff podcast, but my main job is one of the co-founders over at Chemistry Staffing is to work with churches every day, both in staffing and hiring and even firing sometimes both in staffing and hiring and even firing sometimes. But I'm really passionate about helping churches, local churches, helping leaders become healthy and have a healthy church staff and a healthy church environment. And if you're struggling or you just need a little bit of help. Or maybe you're looking for somebody to coach you and your team on how to get healthy. Maybe it's something as simple as hey. We need somebody to come in and take a look at our structure, make sure that our structure is sound, make sure that our compensation levels are good. I can help you, or we have people on our team here at Chemistry that can help you as well.
Speaker 1:Reach out to me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom, and I would love to hear from you and I would just love to hear your story. Reach out to me. Just say hey, todd, I listened today. That would make my day All right. Thanks so much. I hope you'll join us again tomorrow right here on the Healthy Church Day Podcast. Have a great one, you.
