In my last blog post, I mentioned some thoughts and reflections I had gleaned upon reading Philip Yancey’s book, “The Jesus I Never Knew” which prompted a thoughtful response. One danger that I have found as a writer (and it is one I should have known) is that those who are close to you can read your work and think it is directed at a specific individual or group. So with that being said, let me offer a few disclaimers.
1) Throughout these postings, it is never my intention to press hot buttons (Jesus does enough of that already to all of us and frankly does not need my help). I always advise believers, don’t be controversial just for its own sake. If you are living the life of a disciple in the world, controversy will provably find you, but relax and take courage; it found Jesus too.
2) I am a pastor, Bible scholar, and theologian, and although the three of those intermingle when I am acting as the pastor in service to the church, they do not when I write this blog or anything else dealing with technology. In other words, I strive to never log on to here, Facebook, or any other social media outlets and “vent” about church, life, my fellow Christians in my church or anything else; it is cowardly and does nothing to help at conflict mediation or resolution. Take it from this former youth pastor, if you want to stoke fires, call someone out over the internet.
I only write these posts to get people thinking about how we as Christians live as faithful disciples (in other words “do church”) in a way both faithful to Scripture and engaging in culture. So with that as an intro, let me share with you some insights that were given to me in relation to my former post that can keep this conversation going.
Pastors keep telling us to go log hours on the streets of inner cities, but I don’t believe God is calling me there, and besides I don’t even live near a city!The concern is certainly valid. Inner city poverty is given more coverage than most instances of rural poverty (or many other rural needs for that matter). So the trap several pastors including myself fall into is thinking those who are hurting physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually are only in the inner cities. What we forget is that local church impact starts on the local level. It often starts with building relationships with our neighbors and being intentional disciples with our friends. I have seen many churches put into practice Jesus’ words which say that, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem (local), Judea and Samaria (a bit less local) and all the ends of the earth” (global). These churches first start off with missions in their local communities and families and then begin to move outward from there. We may not all be called to inner-city work, but my thrust-point is that we are all ministers, and we may be called by God to look at our own local communities as our mission field.
I invited a family to church and yet the pastor preaches about going outside a social circle when doing evangelism and finding people you aren’t comfortable with. I mean I am bringing people in my social circle. I know they may not look like your typical “undesirable”, but I know they need Jesus! I agree with this sentiment also, there is much more I could say here, giving both the pastor’s and congregation members’ respective viewpoints, but let me be succinct. The statement has merit. We all need the savior daily in our lives whether you have been saved for nine seconds or ninety years. It is easy to pigeonhole people we view as “undesirables” (a.k.a. “the down and outers”) and specifically go after them while ignoring the secret hurts, brokenness, and wrongdoings of our neighbors, friends, or colleagues. Whether we speak of ourselves, our neighbors in need, or our jet-setting affluent best married friend with a hidden gambling addiction or a secret mistress, we all need to humbly come to the cross of Christ to find life.
From the pastor’s side, I don’t think it is a requirement to always go outside your comfort bubble while ignoring those closer to you who still need Jesus. Rather, my encouragement is that of caution to all of us including myself) never to “rest on our hands” or think “well witnessing, sharing Jesus, and inviting others to church is someone else’s responsibility”. No, rather it is a joy all of us have the privilege to do because we are all Christians.
My pastor comes off as saying I should be always welcoming strangers and visitors in my church into my home, to eat with me, but there are scary people in this world, and I have a family with small children to protect. Now, in all fairness, this individual also added, “the world has hardened me and I need prayer for that”. I appreciate the honesty, and I think we all do. So because they were humble yet bold, allow me to return the favor by meeting them halfway.
I am a single man with no family living with me and very little in my home even worth stealing, so it is very easy for me to make the mistake of “pointing out the speck before pulling out the plank” (Matt. 7:1-5). My purpose in encouraging others in this regard is not to put loved ones or families in a position to be victimized. Far from it! Rather it is meant to call for creative ways to look at “the stranger in our midst” and to say “you matter to us”.
I did not go to church for a month to see if anyone noticed, they didn’t. All I can say in response to this is on behalf of all pastors everywhere, “I’m sorry and you do matter.”
My focus in ministry as a pastor, writer, theologian, etc. has always been within two categories: evangelism and discipleship. Evangelism that is led by the Holy Spirit tells us to “go forth and make” by looking outside the local church body to seek and find and bring them into salvation through Christ. Once they are in, discipleship builds them up and equipage them to then turn around to do evangelism, bring in, disciple, send out, and the cycle repeats.
As a pastor with a heart of evangelism, I confess that it is easy for me to get “tunnel vision” when I focus more on the former (evangelism) at the expense of the later (discipleship). I as a pastor along with fellow Christians have a responsibility to do both. The best model I have seen to do church growth has been that of an upside-down pyramid. It starts at the bottom with the point of the pyramid (one person) discipling two who then turn around and disciple two more each who in turn do two more and it grows exponentially.
There are many advantages to this method:
1) It is built on heat and not just light meaning there are deep roots cultivated by relationships that last.
2) It obliges us to be genuine with each other and the world to whom we witness by reminding us that we too depend on the Holy Spirit.
3) The pyramid-relationship model takes the burden off the shoulders of a few and rather than force it as an obligation, it becomes a joy in which we ALL participate
4) It keeps relationships strong so we are seeking the lost without forgetting each other in the local church. Evangelism meets discipleship.
Finally, the insights that we shared came from a perspective of frustration that the pastors of those churches came across as too harsh, judgmental, or with a haughty attitude from the pulpit of “you’re not doing enough for this church”. All I can do here is offer a few tips I have tried to remember and incorporate into my own life.
1) Pastors do discern truth through God’s Word, but rather than present only a checklist of wrongs and shortcomings, instead they are teachers and witnesses of God’s power to give new life in dead places, even within the human heart and mind. The joyful responsibility of a pastor is to cast God’s vision for their local church and then encourage, challenge, and invite others to join in making the vision a reality.
2) A way to ease frustrations from congregations geared toward pastors is for the pastor to be humble, recognizing I too am a beloved mess, a broken son redeemed by the one true King. It reminds the church that the pastor is human as much as they are, and it reminds the pastor to have the heart of a servant instead of a tyrant. (Even Peter, as prominent as he was, still addressed the church he wrote to as “your fellow elder”).
3) Finally, I as the pastor must be willing to match words with action, setting the example to the best of my ability, for the church to follow. In other words (no pun intended) to “practice what I preach”. The Holy Spirit has convicted me in the last year to do a few tactics when I preach a sermon. First, rather than saying “you, you, you”, address the congregation as “we” because it stresses that we are a body, a family, and that we are all in this together. Second, do not ever preach for them to do something without being willing to do it yourself, and if you are going to preach to them about that something, confess your struggles to them to live it out. Third, be Jesus to them.
A story I continually come back to again and again is when Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus willingly submits to His Father’s plan, yet Peter (thinking he was doing God’s will) pulls out his sword and strikes the ear of the high priest’s servant. Jesus heals the man, and turns around and rebukes Peter (His “church”) and says strongly “put it away, we are not doing things that way!”. Often I have had to examine myself and ask, “When have I been Peter?”
Rest assured something if you read this (and if you have made it this far after such a long post, my hat’s off to you)…Jesus can heal people that even his church (and yes even His pastors) have wounded. Remember, we all bow the knee.