After seeing his church grow from a two-car garage worship experience to services at 13 different campuses across six states in the US, a TV ministry, and international book sales, Groeschel talks about a transformational agent he calls 'It' in his new book It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It .
"We didn't have a nice building. We didn't have our own office. We didn't have a church phone number ... What did we have? We had a few people ... We had enough Bibles to go around. And we had 'It'," Groeschel writes in the first chapter of his book, on the humble beginnings of his church 12 years ago.
You can name today the churches that have 'It', churches that had 'It' but lost 'It', and some that do not have 'It', the LifeChurch pastor said at a recent leadership summit.
So what is 'It'?
"The answer is 'don't know'," Groeschel said as he addressed thousands of leaders at Willow Creek Community Church. "Honestly, I'm not totally sure."
'It' has a lot to do with the Holy Spirit, Groeschel believes, but that is not everything.
What he does know is that organisations that do have 'It' possess seven qualities. They include a "laser focus", the ability to see opportunity where others see obstacles, having a willingness to fail, being led by people who have 'It', and having unmistakable camaraderie.
Moreover, 'It' is not a system or model, nor is 'It' something that can be created, copied or manufactured, he says. God makes 'It' happen.
And when churches have 'It', they see transformed lives but at the same time, those churches with 'It' attract critics, many of whom misunderstand what they are all about.
