Tommy Barnett is running out of time. "I'm dying while I'm preaching," the pastor of Phoenix First Assembly tells his congregation at a recent Sunday morning service. "I'm going to take my life and squeeze it like a washrag--squeeze every last drop out of it for the glory of God."
Don't let the seemingly somber words fool you. Barnett, who celebrates 50 years of ministry this October, is just as optimistic and energetic as he's always been--maybe more so. But these days there's an urgency about him that's hard to ignore.
"As you get older, you realize that what you're going to do, you need to do now," he told Ministries Today in a recent interview. "Imagine if one day I drove by this church and thought to myself: 'What if I'd given it my best? What if I'd given my money or my time or sacrificed some things to make it the focus of my life?'"
Instead, Barnett says he's "cranked it up" even more since he turned 50 years old--cutting out vacation days to help his son Matthew at the Dream Center in Los Angeles and turning in his country club membership. "They don't mow the grass where I hit the ball, anyway," he adds.
And he's seen dramatic results, particularly in the last four years. "Blessings are overtaking me," Barnett says with a bewildered smile. "More money has come through these hands for the work of the Lord; I've seen more people saved, more miracles and more signs and wonders than in the previous 46 years."
CHANGING METHODS
After a quick ride around the church campus in one of its covered golf carts, one would assume that the mastermind behind it all would be a little younger--a little more radical than the wiry 66-year-old who says his preaching is the same as it was when he started 50 years ago.
A building dedicated to youth ministry boasts a high-tech auditorium, a gymnasium and a Starbucks--the first church-based franchise in the United States.
The newly opened children's ministry pavilion features glass walls that can be retracted like garage doors to expand seating into an outdoor amphitheater.
Halfway up the rocky mountainside behind the church, ground is being broken for a prayer chapel and gardens.
While he still describes his sermons as a "greasy wrench" rather than a "masterpiece" ("I'm not preaching to impress. I'm preaching to fix something in our lives."), Barnett has refocused other areas of his ministry to adapt to changing times.
"I used to be very, very regimented," he says sheepishly. "Hymns only, ties and suits, no applauding in the church." He can't put his finger on it, but Barnett admits that over the years, something shifted.
"I'm more open to change than I've ever been in my life," he says. "I'm going to do whatever it takes--if it's in good taste--to reach people."
Barnett recalls being one of the first pastors to trade in hymnals for projection screens and high-tech gadgetry. "The preacher's responsible for this change," he says. And while many pastors would resort to cajoling to bring their congregations into the 21st century, Barnett used a different approach:
"'We like the old hymns, and we'll still use them,' I told the church. 'But let's quit being selfish. We've been singing these songs all our lives--they were once new to us. I'm tired of them. I want to rock 'n' roll a little bit.'"
And rock they do. Even in the early Sunday service supposedly populated by the more "mature" members of Phoenix First, gray-headed worshipers sway and clap to the music as the teens in the Masters Commission choir belt out upbeat praise choruses.
Members aren't the only ones taking notice these days. Recently, Phoenix Magazine rated the church one of the top 10 hottest places to be on a Sunday night.
"I've made up my mind; I'm going to be relevant," Barnett says firmly. "The method's not sacred, but the message sure is."
UNCHANGED MESSAGE
Barnett's message is--and always has been--about reaching the lost. "We need to be soul-winning," he says. "If we don't watch it, we'll just become an entertaining place where we shout and sing and make people feel good."
While he has no problem with the seeker-sensitive church model, Barnett is concerned that some pastors may be putting on a good show but "flaking out" when it comes time for an altar call. "I don't want people to have a false salvation," he says. "Drifting into church, enjoying the fellowship and music but never having a conversion experience."
Barnett suggests that current signs of growth in the church could be nothing more than what he calls a "Constantine revival"--numerically large, but not built on genuine conversions.
Barnett's passion for souls reaches back to the 16 years he traveled as an evangelist before becoming pastor of Westside Assembly of God in Davenport, Iowa--a church he grew from 74 to 4,400 before he came to Phoenix First 25 years ago.
"I can win more souls as a pastor than I could as an evangelist," Barnett says. "Because I have a core of people around me to help."
DREAM RECRUITS
This is the challenge he shares with the 7,000 pastors who attend his annual Pastor's School--Get a vision to reach the lost, and gather a group of dreamers around you to carry out the vision.
All but one of Barnett's staff came from within the church. "Most were businessmen who had a heart for God," he says. "I watched to see if they were the ones who came to the altar, served people, loved people."
While most would argue that Barnett has recruited some very gifted leaders to serve on his staff, talent is one of the last qualities on his checklist. "I look for loyal, positive people who love God," he says. "They may not be the most talented, but they have character."
Barnett's staff reflects his upbeat outlook on life and ministry, but he suspects that they have more potential for success than he did early in his own ministry. "Most of them have a better education than me, and they know how to use computers and technology," he says. "They're going to be able to go further than me, because they are a product of what they've seen and heard."
"We are a permission-giving church," Barnett says. "I want people to become great." As a result of this philosophy of releasing rather than closely guarding church ministries, many have outgrown the confines of Phoenix First and become national ministries--Athletes International, National Association of Marriage Enhancement (NAME) and Master's Commission, to name a few.
"A lot of pastors may feel threatened when a great ministry rises up in their church," Barnett says. "My joy is seeing these ministries become great--I live a vicarious life."
A LIST OF 'DON'TS'
More than what he has done, Barnett credits his success to what he hasn't done. "Don't just have a 'to do' list," he tells his congregation. "Have a 'don't do' list, as well. Knowing what is your business and what's not your business is the secret to an effective life."
In an age when some pastors' kids get more space on the police blotter than the honor roll, Barnett made it his business to put his family first. As a result, both of his sons, Luke and Matthew, are in full-time pastoral ministry, and his daughter, Kristie, and her husband are faithful members of Phoenix First.
Barnett admits that there are people who have reached the world, but lost their children. "But what about those who have reached the world and not lost their children?" he asks. "It is possible if you keep your priorities straight and include your family in the ministry."
"My kids always wanted to go to church," Barnett says. "It was never a question. They were there on Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. But they knew that the rest of the week we were going to do things together. We played night and day when we weren't in church."
This doesn't mean that the family hasn't made significant sacrifices. Barnett recalls the Christmas morning when they were preparing to exchange gifts, and the phone rang with news that a church member had been in a car accident and was dying in the hospital.
"The kids were anticipating opening presents, but I said: 'Please understand that this is important. I'll be back.' They all said, 'OK, Daddy,' because our priorities were in the right place."
Some pastors argue that priorities should be arranged with God first, family second and ministry last, but Barnett sees it a different way.
"I say we put God-dash-people as the highest priority," he argues. "Jesus said that the only way you can feed, clothe or minister to Him is when you feed, clothe and minister to
others."
A people-centered ministry has grown Phoenix First to a church of 15,000, but does Barnett ever want to get away from it all and trade his pulpit for a desk job?
"Every Monday morning I want to resign," he says with a smile. "But before I resign, I say, 'Lord, I'm going to have a cup of Starbucks coffee'--there are some mornings I have two. After the second cup, I'm ready to work one more week."
One would never imagine that the favorite pastime of a man who's made a life of caring for people is--of all things--spending time alone.
"If you love people you must spend time alone, alone with God studying and meditating," Barnett says. "Every time you go back before the people, they've got to know that you've been with God."
With the same effort he expends in making time for himself, Barnett labors to keep his connection to the people in his care, sometimes staying for hours after church services to give hugs, prayers and encouragement.
"Everyone in this church would probably say, 'Yeah, Pastor's my friend,'" Barnett says. "But I also have people in this church who've never shaken my hand, because they want me to be free to minister to new people."
"I do things to keep me loving people," he says, describing times he's driven into the projects, as well as into the neighborhoods of lonely millionaires.
"Even more than my message, they need to know that I love them," Barnett says. "And I need their love, too!"
by Matt Greenfrom Ministry Today magazine
May/June 2004
