Back on the Inside

I just noticed that I have not posted on this blog since November! The reason? There are two main reasons: First, I am no longer on the outside of church leadership looking in having been hired as the Tech Pastor of Community of Faith Church in Marion, IL; and secondly because when I arrived at the church I hit the ground running and have been working hard ever since.

So I am back on the inside and it has been an interesting transition back into ministry. Let me say right up front that I am very glad to be back on the inside, and so grateful for the opportunity to serve this great church. The congregation here has welcomed up with open arms, and even though we have only been here for a short time, we already feel like family. 

The interesting part of the transition comes from the perspective gained from our last ministry experience which taught me a lot both in how the 9 years it lasted unfolded, and through how it ended. Having been in ministry for so long through and before that experience, I think it was a good thing to be on the outside for a while. It has given me new perspective and the ability to step back and really get some things written down and worked out about how I would lead if called on to do so again. I can't say that I have finished this process yet (writing out my thoughts), as I find myself revisiting those thoughts and adding to them as I learn more through this current ministry experience.

The most challenging part right now is learning to follow again. If you have ever gone through a similar experience you will know what I mean. To go from being the person who's ideas, vision, and leadership others follow, to following the ideas, vision, and leadership of someone else, is a big adjustment. Ultimately I believe this change will make be a better leader in the future.

Learning to follow again has reminded me that no matter how many people we lead in ministry, no matter how big our churches or ministries get, we must never loose sight of the fact that as leaders in church we are all still followers! As much as our job is to lead the church, it is also to follow Christ - following him in our daily lives and in direction He has chosen for our ministry. So if the Lord should ask me to lead a congregation again in the future, I want to use this experience to remind me that as a leader in His church, I will and should always be a follower.

This will likely be my last entry in this blog, since I am back on the inside, but I will leave it up so others can read it. I am also working on developing a new blog called "Can the Church Survive" so be sure to look for that coming soon!

Thanks for reading.

The Judas Generation

In the movie "To Save a Life", there is a powerful moment when the main character, Jake Taylor attends a youth group meeting at the invitation of the youth pastor. Jake is upset by the behavior of the kids in the youth group who are acting just like the people he goes to school with - making inappropriate jokes, making fun of the lesson, and even passing around drugs. In the middle of the group Jake stands up and asks a very important question - "What's the point of all this if you aren't going to let this change you?"


That is a great question for all of us who claim to be Christians. What is the point of all of the things we say about our faith, all of the time we spend in church, or whatever relationship we have with God if we are not going to allow it change us?


Thinking about that questions makes me think about Judas. When we hear his name most of us think about the fact that he betrayed Jesus and later killed himself out of guilt and shame. It's important to remember though that Judas didn't just turn on Jesus at the end, he was a man who was consumed with greed and a love a money, and it was that love of money that drove him to take a bribe from the religious leaders to literally sell out Jesus. It was also his love of money that led him to steal from the disciples. (See John 12:6)


What I can't understand about Judas is not just about how he could betray Jesus, but how did he spend 3 years with the Son of God and apparently not change? How did he hear the teachings and see the miracles and still end up as the same man who would cheat, steal, and betray? In other words, how and why did he not let all of that change him?


Something that worries me right now is that I see a lot of people who would call themselves Christians, people who spend more than just Sunday morning in church, but do not seem to be changed by the time they spend with Jesus. Their actions, choices and lifestyles are not that different from the lives of their non-Christian friends. These people are part of what I call the Judas Generation - an entire generation of Christians who are not growing in their faith and not becoming more like Christ as the Bible compels us to do.


How can this happen? I think the key to answering that is found in Jake's question - "What's the point of all this if you are not going to let this change you?" The key is that we have to let it change us. I would think that just being around Jesus would change you, but how much it changes us is up to us.


Are you a Christian? If so, are you letting the time you spend with God change you? Or are you a part of the Judas generation? How different does your life look when compared to your non-Christian friends (not counting the fact that you go to church most Sunday mornings while they sleep in)?


When we resist the influence of Jesus and do not change, we are denying the power of God to change lives. We are telling the world around us that Christ does not offer us a better life because ours has not changed. 


For your own sake and the sake of those around you who do not yet know Jesus, let me encourage you to let God change you - take the lessons you hear in church and the things you read in the Bible challenge you to change and become more like Jesus. Demonstrate his power through the change in your own life rather than denying it by the lack of change. Don't be one more member of the Judas Generation!

Why Churches Fail

Every church, and every denomination, began with a group of excited and committed people. No matter how old your church is, or how far removed from that initial passion, somewhere in its past is the passion and conviction that it takes to start a church. No one ever starts out to fail, no one thinks they will loose their passion, but yet so many do. Everyone thinks their church will change the world but so few really make a real and lasting impact on the world around them.


So what happens between the passion and commitment that started the church and the dead or dying church we too often see today? Why do so many churches (and even entire denominations) fail? Something happens along the way that turns that group of excited people in a group of people who are just trying to hold on to the few people they have left.


I am sure people have written hundreds of books about why churches fail, but I think the bottom line is this - church fail when they loose site of what they were trying to do when the church first started - when they loose sight of what a church should be. Somewhere along the way the leadership of a church goes from wanting to change the world to trying to meet the budget. Their focus changes from the people they are trying to reach to the people they are trying to keep.


It is a difficult balance that so many churches find themselves in at some point (or maybe even several points in time), when the organization of the church starts to get in the way of the mission. It is hard to keep your eyes on the mission of reaching the world and making disciples when there are bills to be paid, buildings to build and meetings to schedule and plan. The hardest part though is trying to keep people coming back. And when we get into the trap of just trying to keep people happy so they will come back, that is the beginning of the end for the church. 


In some ways I guess you could say that many churches fail because they become victims of their success. Growth is good - we start churches to grow churches and fill them with people who need God. The problem is that keeping them full eventually becomes our focus and everything we do is just about keeping people and not about really reaching them. Then we stop taking risks and stepping out into the things God has for us, and we stop preaching the truth that might sting so that we don't offend anyone. These things are signs of a church in decline, and often the church is not aware that it;s best days are behind it.


So what is the answer? If you are a pastor reading this, then your job is to rediscover the reason your church exists - what is the unique mission that God has for your congregation that no other church can do? You and the leaders who assist you must find the balance in reaching people and keeping people. You must keep your focus pointed outward. Remember that we are to be fishers of men, not just keepers of the aquarium!


For church members - it is your job to give your pastor the freedom not to worry about loosing you. You must remember that it is not the mission of your church to keep you happy and meet all of your spiritual needs. You must pursue God on your own and serve him in his church, asking not what your church can do for you but what you can do for your church (yea I know, but it's true).


There is nothing worse than to see a church fail because of all of the people who will not be reached and all of the work that will not get done. We must do something about this and reverse the trend, and we will do it by remembering that church is not about getting what we want, but doing what God wants.

Don't Just Sit There!

If you are reading along, last time I was writing that the "Primary Purpose" of church, as I see in scripture, is to disciple people by teaching them to obey everything Christ commands. I am convinced that discipleship is the most important work a church can do, even if in reality we are not currently doing a very good job of it. But there are two sides to discipleship - the church must be about the work of making disciples, but every professing Christian must also be a willing participant in that process.


I was so shocked in church recently by something our pastor said. The church is growing and each of the three Sunday services are full, so space is an issue. So to free up space our lead pastor actually  asked some people to consider attending a different church! The people he was talking to were the ones who only come to church because it is Sunday, or because they want the social experience. He was talking to the people who claim to be Christians but are in no way followers of Christ. He asked if these people would be willing to give up their seats to people who want to be disciples because this church really believes that discipleship should be the goal of every believer.


It's not that I have never thought the same thing about people who attend church for the wrong reason, but I admit I did not have the courage to say it out load, and especially not to ask them to consider attending somewhere else!!


The difficult question for every professing Christian is this - if we are not willing to become true disciples of Christ, to allow him to change us until we become like him, then why are we following him? Is it just to get a ticket into heaven? Is it just to feel better about ourselves? Why? 


Listen to the words of Paul to the Philippians: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you." Phil. 3:10-15


Paul reveals the point of following Christ - to know him, to become like him, and that it is a process that we must be actively involved in until our life on this earth is over and we are see him face to face. It is an exciting process that is often difficult and always rewarding. It is and should be a process that every Christian in committed to - to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.


So the next time you are in church ask yourself "why am i sitting here" - are you there because it is Sunday and you need a God fix, or is it because you want to be trained to obey everything that Christ has commanded. And if you find yourself in a church that working to make disciples, find one that is!!

Primary Purpose

Attending a new church, especially one in which I have no responsibility, has given me such a better perspective on church in general. For so many years I have been in the middle of all things related to church that it has been hard to see the big picture and easy to loose sight of what church is supposed to be all about. For most pastors, ministry becomes so much about meeting the needs of the congregation that we can be fooled into thinking that this is primary purpose of the church. While a noble endeavor, keeping the congregation happy is not the primary purpose of a church. 


So if the purpose of church is not about keeping people happy and keeping them coming back, then what is it all about? Well that is a big question but it actually has a simple answer. And as with any question worth asking, Jesus has given us the answer.


In Matthew 28, Jesus spells out the ongoing work of the disciples right before he leaves the earth and descends into heaven: "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matt. 28:20


"Go ... to all nations..." Well that doesn't seem to be about church, but it's a good reminder for those of us who think that the role of church is to meet our needs as we sit in our favorite seat week after week. 


"Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." I can tell you from experience that you don't need a church to baptize people either, if you have enough water you can do that just about anywhere!


So that just leaves making disciples by teaching people to obey everything that God has commanded - that is something you need a church to accomplish, in fact it is the most important thing a church can do - it is the primary purpose for having church in the first place.


Making disciples - that is what church should be all about - that is the mandate from Jesus for the church 2,000 years ago, and for every church today. There are many great things that a church can do, but this is what we should do because it is the very instruction of Christ as to how we should be spending our time, energy and resources. 


The church I attend now, Vine Community Church of Carbondale, has reminded me of this primary purpose. Discipleship is at the heart of everything they do, it is seen in every ministry decision and heard in every message, and it is really refreshing. I can't help but think that if every church was to really focus on the job of making disciples of all people, the church would be so much stronger, more Godly, and greater equipped to take the great news of Christ to the ends of the earth.


Discipleship is a two way street though: There is the role of the church to make disciples, but each individual believer must be a willing participant in that process. I will write more about that side of things next time. But for now, ask yourself if your church is fulfilling it's primary purpose - are you making disciples?

From Expectation to Demand

Don't you wish that you could travel back in time and visit events in the Bible as they happened? I know there are so many amazing moments that I wish I could I witness first hand. If I ever get that time machine, on my list of places and times to visit would be the upper room on the day of Pentecost. This might be an unusual place to choose, but when I read the account of that day in Acts 2 I can sense the anticipation in the hearts and prayers of the believers. Can you imagine the expectation in the room as they prayed in total unity? Jesus had promised them that something very important was going to happen in that room if they would wait and pray. This gift was so important that Jesus said it was better for him to leave so the promise could come! That promise was the Holy Spirit and he came in a dramatic demonstration of power and glory at Pentecost. This moment was life-changing for all who were there, and it was the very moment that the New Testament Church was born.


The disciples and followers of Jesus had great expectation of what God was going to do, and they experienced something amazing! However, I wonder how long it was before that expectation turned to demand.


There are only a couple of times mentioned in Acts when the Holy Spirit came with that kind of power and visual evidence. So I wonder what happened at the other meetings where people were praying for the Holy Spirit and there was no rushing wind and no tongues of fire as in the upper room. How long did it take before people began to pray "God send the Holy Spirit in fire and wind as you did in the upper room"? And how long before people began to complain because the Holy Spirit wasn't cooperating with them and doing what they wanted him to do? I know human nature, so I don't think it took very long for any of that to happen.


As followers of Christ we must always remember that, while we pray for God to move, we do not get to tell him how he should do it. We don't get to give the Holy Spirit directions on how, where, and when he should show up. We are followers of Christ, not leaders. We pray and he responds to our prayers in the way that he knows best.


There can be a fine line between expectation and demand, but that line is crossed in our hearts and minds when we start telling God what to do. 


How many times have you left a service disappointed because God didn't show up in the way you wanted him to? Could it be that did show up, he just  didn't do it according to your plan but his? 


It is great to expect God to do great things, and to pray for exactly that, we just need to be careful that our expectation does not turn into demand. Since God knows you better than you know yourself, you can always expect him to move in the way you need him to the most. Just enjoy it!

Your Pastor is Not God!!

You may have seen in the news recently that many pastors are choosing to leave the ministry. Some take a little time off but so many are turning their backs on ministry all together. Even the secular media is picking up on how difficult it has become to be a pastor in America today. Stress, burnout, and all the medical conditions that come along with those things - there is no way that this is what God had in mind for his shepherds!


We really need to take a serious look at what we are expecting from our pastors if we want to break this cycle and help pastors thrive and succeed in ministry instead of crashing and burning. 


I'm sure we all think we love our pastors and treat them well - but consider what we expect them to be:


- All Seeing: We often expect our pastor to know everything that is going on in our lives even when we don't tell them. We may be missing from church for weeks or months and have no contact with the staff, but we still expect the pastor to be informed about what we are going through and we get mad and upset when we find out they had no idea what is going on in our lives!


- All Knowing: Even though we would never admit it, we expect our pastors to know the right thing to do all of the time. I know that because I have experienced what happens when the pastor makes what we consider to be the wrong decision. We would say that don't expect our pastor to be perfect, but we do expect their decisions to be perfect. (Of course a perfect decision is one we agree with!).


- All Doing: They say that in church 20% of the people do 80% of the work, but in many churches the pastor is about 80% of the 20% of people who do everything! Why do we expect that? Because we pay him! Every Sunday there are so many people who show up to church expecting a life changing service with no idea about all of the things that have to happen to make that service perfect. Most church members would be shocked to see just how much goes on behind the scenes at church, but as long as it gets done why worry! 


- An Ever Present Help: When you have a crisis in life you want certain people around you - your family, your closest friend, and your pastor! If you are fortunate there will only be two or three times a year when a situation like this comes along, but what we forget is that there are many other people in your church - people who also have two or three of those events a year. People who also want their family, friends, and pastor to be with them. So do the math and you will realize that your pastor will never have time for his own family or friends. I can't count how many pastors I know who were forced out of their church because they were not able to be with someone who wanted them to be somewhere.


Are you starting to get the picture?


All seeing, all knowing, all doing. An ever present help. Is it just me or does that sound like someone? Scripture describes God in these exact terms, and I don't care how great he is, your pastor is not God! 


So please remember that your pastor is a human person just like you. He has a family, he likely even has a house and a mortgage and stuff to remember to pick up at the store. He even has two or three of his own difficult situations to deal with every year. If we would remember they are people just like us, we might take some of the pressure off some of these wonderful people who really do love us and want to help us as often as they can.


One more thing - please don't wait until October to show your pastor some appreciation!