I have all but given up reading or watching the news. In our modern world of 24hr whatever you want, I have better things to do than hear the same thing over and over again. That being said, I do try and follow what is going on in the realm of religious news. In particular I follow the goings on of the Catholic Church because, for better or for worse, they are the largest and most visible expression of Christian faith. Continue reading “What Pope Francis can teach Pastors about being “Pastoral””
Category: Ministry
Book Review | Our Last Great Hope
Summary
I’ve been reading Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission by Ronnie Floyd. The author was given the task of leading the task force for the Southern Baptist Convention to revitalize and re-imagine the evangelistic efforts of the Convention. The book chronicles Floyd’s own journey of discovery as he thought deeply and more intentionally on the last thing that Jesus left for the church to do. As Dr. Floyd led the Great Commission Resurgence movement within the Southern Baptist Convention he discovered that he, nor his denomination, had thought deeply enough about the Great Commission even though they were known for their evangelism efforts.
The book is a wonderful reminder that our passion and desire to be a part of God’s work can never be too much. Our love of Jesus and his love for us should provide us who follow him with only motivation we could ever need.
My Thoughts
The book has many ideas that are not new. But, from the outset the way that Floyd framed the motivation that we should all have for evangelism and the Great Commission in particular was thought provoking. The author said that there are three tough questions that we all should be asking ourselves.
- Do I know Jesus Intimately?
- Do I love Jesus Passionately?
- Do I share Jesus Constantly?
Each one of these questions caused me to think more intentionally about my own faith journey. It is not enough to just show up and think that that will be enough. We have to realize that what God is calling us to is far more than many of us is really ready to give. The last word of each question is where the “rubber meets the road.” It’s not just do I know, love and share Jesus. It HOW do I do these things? What Jesus is asking of us is total obedience and surrender.
I found this book to be both enlightening and simple to follow. I found myself agreeing with Floyd’s insistence that the great commission must be the center of our understanding of life and faith. If you are looking for another perspective, another way of looking at what it means to live out the great commission.
Related articles
- The Cultural Implications of the Great Commission (crossroadjunction.com)
- What is the Great Commission? (onething4che.wordpress.com)
Can I Get a Witness?
Over the last few weeks our pastor has reminded the church of the vows that we made when we joined the church. I serve in a United Methodist Church and there is one question that all new members are asked by our pastor as they accept the responsibility of being members of our local church.
Will you be loyal to this congregation and uphold it with your Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service and Witness?
Each of these vows has served as the basis of the series on Discipleship that Pastor David has been leading us through. This week we focused on the final vow, that of witness. Pastor David asked me to write the front page of the newsletter helping our church orient their thoughts for the week as we get ready for Sunday Services. You can read it below.
The Challenge of Being a Pastor…
The reality of the full-time ministry is this, it can breed many of the opposite characteristics than are needed, dare I say, required of those whom God has called to serve in leadership.
… is remembering that it’s not about you!
I read R. C. Sproul, Jr.’s, article today, written for Desiring God 2013 Conference for Pastors coming up on February 4–6, 2013. The theme of the conference revolves around recapturing and re-centering pastoral ministry around the reality and power of the Holy Spirit to work through pastors. This is an amazingly refreshing theme and I wish that I could attend.
Over the last few weeks various articles have been written to gear up attendees for what will be presented during the conference. Sproul’s article was particularly poignant because it fires back against a general misconception within the church. There are many who believe that more information, more knowledge, will help to stem the tide of nominal Christianity. This notion simply does not hold water. It may never have. However, we followed the trend and now we are reaping the results of an intellectualized religion.
In the article, Sproul argues that this is not the case. We do not need to find more subjects to study, books to collect or workshops to attend. The root of the problem is found in trying to educate ourselves into faith. Here is the fundamental reality that we, as church leaders should learn, “It is more important to us and our sheep that we would learn to believe more, than that we would find more to believe.” As a self-professed bookaholic I completely understand how easy it is to fall into this trap. More learning is not what we need. We need more living. Living out the convictions that we have felt as we have been confronted by God’s word. Living out the love that we have experienced in community and in communion with God. Living out the truths that we have seen as we have tried and failed, or succeeded.
The piece is not very long, but there is a section that really grabbed my heart as I considered my calling and God’s desire for his people.
We are not to give our wisdom, our insights, the fruits of our scholarship. Rather, like Paul before us, we serve up our weakness, our frailty, our need. That’s how the Word breaks through, where the power comes from.
Brothers, your flock may need some more information. What they need more, however, is someone to lead them, to show them the Way. They need to see you repenting. They need to see you wrestling with your sins. They need to see you preaching the gospel to yourself, not because you like the sound of your voice, but because you hate the sin that yet remains, and you need grace. They need to see you rejoicing in the fullness of His promises, and mourning both sin and its fruit, the last enemy, death.
“Professional Christians” is a phrase I coined a couple of years ago, but I find opportunities to use it more and more to describe the pitfalls of vocational ministry. As a professional Christian, I have found the transparent life more difficult to achieve. There are so many reasons to promote a facade of transparency rather than genuine vulnerability.
- “I don’t know how long I’ll actually be here!”
- “What if they betray my confidence, my ministry would be over.”
- “How is anyone going to take me seriously if I share this?”
- “They just won’t understand what I’m talking about, so why bother?”
These and other thoughts like them are the reason that many in church ministry hide behind the sacred desk, the pulpit, and retreat into their ivory tower of Greek, Hebrew, exegetical rigor, homiletical precision, hermeneutical accuracy, blah, blah, blah. Please don’t misunderstand. I am one of them, one of us. This is me at my worst. But, what my youth need (I am a youth pastor), what our churches need is not another authority, what they need are leaders that are unaffected. Leaders that will hold their ground biblically against the persistent effects of wave after wave of cultural ambiguity and moral atrophy.
The reality of full-time ministry is this, it can breed many contradictory characteristics than those needed, dare I say, required of those whom God has called to serve in leadership. I am praying to get better. To move away from a ministry life impinged by preservation, to a servant’s life defined by freedom. I may be naive. It may well be true.
However, if that is the case, then leave me to my dreams.
Leading vs. Being in Front
I was driving home from work about a week ago and a thought came to my mind.
“What is the difference between leading and being in front of a group of people?”
I know that there are probably many different ways of answering that question. And I am not about to pretend that I have the final answer on this question. To be honest I am not even sure why I had this thought come to mind other than to say that God put it in there. So, taking that for what it is, this is what I believe God’s answer to me was. The difference is purposefulness.
This is more specific than purpose because you can be out front choosing the direction, but that may not mean that there is an end in mind. We can become so used to the idea of enjoying the journey, that we fail to recognize that the journey does have an end. All of this will come to an end. There will be a moment in time when we will no longer be about “smelling roses” but will finally get to “pushing up daisies.”
Over the last several years I have tried to become more intentional about what I am doing in and for the kingdom of God. I am not here to just share some platitudes or make people more comfortable where they are. This does not mean that I am trying to be difficult. I want to be challenged to do more, to go further, than I have ever gone before. I want to see and be a part of great things. Not for my own sake, but for the sake of God and his glory.
By the grace of God he called me to be a pastor. I have not always appreciated what this meant. I have struggled to do it my way. I have made a mess of things because of this attitude, and I still do (I just hope lest frequently). In spite of my shortcomings, I have seen God do some amazing things. I have witnessed transformation and renewal.
As of late, however, I have realized that many of us in professional ministry have not taken ownership of what God is calling us to do. It is not enough to be out front. It is not enough to have the title without also taking hold of the responsibility. Another way of talking about this would be to ask a simple question:
What is the vision that God is asking you to fulfill?
What is it that God has put inside of you, that you need to see through to the end? I have been grappling this with this question. While it is possible that the ultimate vision is the same, the way that we accomplish it will be as varied and as unique as the ridges on our finger tips. God made us unique, and that uniqueness cannot be stripped from us as we go into the world.
I want to be a leader worth following. My heart yearns for the ability to help others find their way to Jesus. But, in order to do that I have to accept that fact that what God has put inside of me must find its way out of me. Leading is dangerous because there will be those that do not agree with what you are doing, how you are doing it, or why you are doing it. There are many who would not even venture into some of the places God has placed on your heart, but that should not matter. We go were the spirit leads. We go because that is where are hearts are being pulled.
Being a leader is not about popularity. Leaders go where no one else has gone. Leaders are usually alone because the risk can be too much for others. The risks of leadership are not careless or impulsive. Leaders should give careful thought to what they are doing. To chose a path is to own the effects and result, whether good or bad.
Which are you? Are you leading, cutting a new path? Or are you just in front glad to have a better view.
Related articles
- Great Leaders Start Off As Great Followers (footsoldiers4christ.wordpress.com)
Worth Reading | He Buried 200 Church Members
I came across this article and was really struck by it. This is one of those areas of ministry that many times we take for granted. People will die and as pastors we will serve an important role in helping families grieve and move forward in hope.
This is one pastors reflections on his ministry and that of an older retiring ministry. It is worth reading.
Parents… Talk To Your Kids About Sex
An interesting reality check. I came across these statistics and was more than a little surprised. One of the fundamental roles that a parent has is in helping their child or children develop healthy sexual lives. If you have kids that can be such a daunting idea.
A 2011 study revealed a surprising source for teenagers to learn about sexuality—their parents. Here are some of the results of the research:
- 45 percent of teenagers rely most heavily on their parents for information about sexuality.
- 32 percent of those surveyed relied on guidance from friends.
- 15 percent relied on what celebrities thought about sexuality.
The study also revealed another interesting statistic: 78 percent of parents assumed that their teenagers would turn to other sources (besides parents) for advice about sexual issues. Based on these statistics, the study’s lead researcher concluded, “Parents are more important than they think. It’s the role of the teen to be autonomous and turn away, but it is the role of the parent to remain a role model.”
If you have kids it can be such a daunting idea to have these conversations. But, what do we want our young people to know? The more we communicate the clearer the message. We should not be so naive as to think that we are not communicating, especially on this subject. Having two daughters does not make this subject all that much easier. What I have been resolving within myself is that, as a family, this should not be a “private” matter. Something to be discovered and learned about by accident. I am not completely sure how it will all play out, but I am thinking about it and working to be prepared.
God wants to interject…
“Don’t become so enamored by the world’s agenda of success that you miss the spiritual growth and ministry appointments in your family’s everyday life. Then you’ll realize you’re not busy doing life, but busy doing ministry.” – Jack Fiscus in MORF Magazine (Issue no. 1, Fall 2011, p. 5)
*MORF Magazine is a free magazine for youth workers. You can subscribe on their site.
The Piper-Warren Interview
First of all, it was a refreshing and interesting interview. Two men with different approaches to ministry “jousting” about what they believe. Dr. John Piper picked the questions that he wanted to get clarification on and Dr. Rick Warren answered them in as candid a way as I have ever seen. While Piper was accused of giving in to the “Purpose-Driven” machine when he invited Warren to give a talk at the Desiring God Conference in 2010, there were not minced words in this interview. There is a genuine affection shared by these two men for one another. What made the interview worth watching was to see Piper dig deeply into Warren’s book “The Purpose-Driven Life” and to ask very direct and uncomfortable questions that Warren was quick to answer.
Interview on Desiring God’s website. (This is also available on Pastors.com, but the quality seemed to be better here.)
Here is an example of the questions that were asked. This is a very direct question by Piper to Warren on the nature of the atonement.
Culture’s Impact on Conversion
Jonathan Dobson writes for the Acts29 Network about the need to understand and adapt the way that we (Christians) present the gospel to those outside of the church. We all know, to varying degrees that our experience of the gospel and our response to the gospel is unique, but what do we do when we change the cultural context? In Conversion & Contextualization Dobson looks at the experiences of missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries describing the frustrations and challenges they faced as they shared the Good News expecting conversions to follow the same pattern across the cultural spectrum.
UPDATE (2/4/16): The link has been updated and a PDF created and attached for future reference just in case.