ROSEMONT, IL (June 27, 2003) - Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago is considered by some to be the most successful church in America when it comes to reaching out to embrace its community - a congregation of some 18,000 to 20,000 souls on any given weekend.

The passion of its visionary leader of more than 28 years, Bill Hybels, may explain the secret of the church's incredible success story, though Willow Creek's internationally revered church leader doesn't dwell on the successes of the past.

"I don't think about it very often," Hybels told a packed audience attending Thursday evening's worship service as part of the 118th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church. "I am instead overwhelmed by the unfinished task - the great, great need."

Hybels deflected attention away from the megachurch that has rewritten how evangelistic outreach is done. Instead, he lifted up all of the smaller local churches that dot our national landscape as "the hope of the world," challenging his listeners to consider what kind of impact they are capable of making on the world around them.

Sharing a touching story of his personal involvement in searching for two little lost girls in southern California, Hybels focused on pastors in the audience, suggesting that they, too, are leaders in search and rescue efforts of a different kind. "You pastors lead the single most important effort on planet earth today," he declared. "I operate under the theory that if you can change a church leader - fill them with vision and leadership skills - then you will change a church, change a community, then states, nations, continents and the world."

Eschewing the popular tendency by some church leaders to spend their time with the powerful and famous - business people and politicians - Hybels said he prefers to spend his time with those of strategic importance when it comes to really changing the world. "What you (pastors and lay leaders) lead is strategic to changing the world," he explained. He drew chuckles when he referred to his counseling sessions with a former (unnamed) U.S. President troubled with matters of indiscretion and questions of personal integrity, stating, "you can decide how successful I was." He recalled one high-level White House dinner where he spoke with a high-ranking general. The military leader suggested Hybels should be relieved he did not have to deal with the high-stakes matters of life and death that as a military leader the general had to face.

"No stakes are higher than the work you do in your local churches," he advised. He addressed the Bringing My World to Christ presentation earlier in the worship service, noting "each of those names has a past, a future and an eternity. When church leaders get it right and lead with courage, vision and integrity, untold amounts of good can be done. When leaders get it wrong, untold downside stuff occurs - the stakes are so high."

Hybels shared a personal recollection of his businessman father who arranged for the purchase of land to start a church in Michigan many years ago. The church was built and operated for many years before it declined and eventually closed. "So, why did the church die?" he asked. "It was appropriately fed (spiritually)," he noted, "but was never well-led. There was no white-hot vision to stimulate the people to serve and invest themselves in the vision. It just never occurred to us that the lost could be found in our church.

"What bothered me is not that no one came to Christ (over those many years), but rather that no one noticed. It needs to become the norm that people find Christ." Referring to a popular television cooking show, Hybels suggested it is time that the church "take it up a notch" when it comes to reaching out to the lost of our world.

Hybels spent the next several minutes profiling three biblical characters named Joe to illustrate the three characteristics that would later summarize the point of his message. The first was the Joseph who claimed the body of Christ for burial. Likening him to a modern day senator or justice, he suggested that this Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus because he didn't want to jeopardize his social standing and acceptance.

"What bothers me is when Christian leaders worry more about their social standing or respect - it is a sad thing to watch. The more you have to lose, the harder it is to lead with courage. One day, he (Joseph) throws caution to the wind and demands the body of Jesus. What happened? I have a theory. He got his bell rung on crucifixion day. He watched a good man die. He saw the crowd spit and mock him - this was God's son. He saw the whole bloody thing. When he saw the courage of the crucified one, it rung his bell - something stirred so powerfully that he vowed never to hide again.

"What do Christian leaders need worldwide?" he continued. "They need to get their bell rung."

The second Joseph of Old Testament fame was sold into slavery by his brothers. His rise to power came by doing everything he was asked to do - with integrity. "He succeeded by honoring God." Hybels suggested that today's culture desperately seeks leaders with integrity. "The water level for tolerating immoral leaders is nostril-high," he observed. "The people ask, 'will somebody restore the integrity of leadership?' Joseph would call us today to ratchet it up a notch. He would say to us, please honor God in everything - every decision, with mind, bodies and souls, in words and deeds. Purpose this day to cross the finish line with your integrity intact."

The third Joseph calls us to higher levels of compassion. When his promised wife, Mary, was found with child, "he didn't buy the story of the Holy Spirit and decided to call off the wedding. However, he wanted to avoid disgracing Mary publicly" - he was going to privately divorce her. "It was not in him to slam-dunk her publicly - he had a heart of compassion. Oh, that every leader could be known to lead from a compassionate center."

He challenged his listeners to expose their hearts to the fresh mercy of God each day. "God will give you compassion-driven dreams that will grab the attention of others.