What's the Mission, Pastor?

There's no question that engaging in social ministries is the hot thing for the evangelical church today. Some might even argue it's the line of demarcation for being missional or emerging or emergent...sorry, I tend to get it all mixed up. I've briefly posted on this issue before but ran across some great thinking in a little book I read over the Christmas holiday (thanks Jeff) which I believe is very germane to the discussion of what the church (specifically the pastor) is called to do with the Gospel. The book is Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy & Fairy Tale by Frederick Buechner.

What's also great about this book is that it was written in 1977 by a minister/author whose denomination (PCUSA) was learning to make waves in the "Social Gospel" waters and today could easily teach swimming lessons to other churches and denominations. C.S. Lewis once wrote, "Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books." While Lewis was calling us to read books outside our century, Buechner's work has had enough birthdays to put it outside the current circle of debate on what the church should be doing in order to be missional. With that being said, Buechner's thinking is insightful in word if not prophetic in spirit.

Read and ponder...

To speak the truth with love is to run the risk always of speaking only the truths that people love to hear you speak, and the preacher's temptation, among others, is to deal with those problems only to which there is, however complex and hard to arrive at, a solution. The pressure on the preacher is to be topical and contemporary, to speak out like the prophets against injustice and unrighteousness, and it is right that he should do so, crucial even, and if he does not goad to righteous action he fails both God and man. But he must remember the ones he is speaking to who beneath the clothes they wear are the poor, bare, forked animals who labor and are heavy laden under the burden of their own lives let along the world's tragic life...For the preacher to be relevant to the staggering problems of history is to risk being irrelevant to the staggering problems of the ones who sit there listening out of their own histories. To deal with the problems to which there is a possible solution can be a way of avoiding the problems to which humanly speaking there is no solution. (34-35)

It is not the great public issues that Jesus traded in but the great private issues, not the struggles of the world without but the struggles of the world within. (62)

I believe these are good words for preachers who feel the temptation tailor what they preach solely for the need to be seen as relevant by either their parishoners (maybe they'll think our church actually is making an impact, see us as culture current, like my sermons better because they are so practical, etc.) or other preachers (maybe the cool, "with it", hip pastors will see me as a [insert whatever aspirations of ego you have here] missional? emergent? emerging? "with it" leader too!).

May we, as pastors and those pastored, live for God's Kingdom by sharing with all the Good News of how Christ's work at the Cross has overcome their humanly hopeless condition of the soul.

Andreas Kostenberger's "God, Marriage, and Family": A Brief Review

This evening I finished Andreas Kostenberger's God, Marriage, and Family. It was a book I recommended to my congregation from the pulpit a few weeks ago and I try as much as I'm able to only do that with books I've actually perused myself. I'm glad I both recommended and read because Kostenberger's work is a biblically well-rounded piece on marriage, family and the pertinent issues surrounding them. It also has a section devoted to additional study resources, a discussion guide and answers to that very guide.

While not having the current literary characteristic of defending a position by shallow slogan-crafting or anecdotes full of pathos without a point, I deeply appreciated the author's interaction with the divergent views and interpretations which so often are at the heart of the matter for today's ethical and biblical struggle with culture. Time after time Kostenberger takes a refreshingly ad fontes approach to issues such as divorce, remarriage, and homosexuality by continually looking at the Scriptural testimony. It is for that primary reason I believe this book would be good for small groups who wanted to build a biblical foundation for marriage and family.

While some, looking for a book aiming to move them emotionally, might pass on GM&F due to its rather forthright and detailed exegesis and studied theological approach, I believe it is exactly those critical qualities that make it such a sterling choice for reading...and recommendation.

Piper on the Prosperity Gospel

I'm a huge John Piper fan. In fact I finished his "What Jesus Demands from the World" this past Wednesday - what a wonderful reflection on the words of Jesus in the Gospels. Piper's passion for Christ is inescapable and God uses his words, more times than not, as a salve for my soul...and at times a scalpel.

Also, in our nation where most think of one church (I'll let you guess...it's not hard) when Houston is mentioned, let it be known that most of us haven't swallowed the "Health & Wealth" Kool-Aid and have warned our flocks of this damning teaching. So while these words stand on their own, you could put my name (and a countless number of H-Town pastors) right there with Piper's.

(HT: Keystrokes of a Worship Pastor)

Church Planting - Lesson 3

One of the values we've cherished through our church’s lifetime is sanity. Most planters know all too well the slippery slope of doing way too much in too many areas for far too long. Do you see heavy rotation of “too” here? Often what is true of you is true of the volunteers in your young church. It’s not uncommon to see a sold-out parishioner move chairs and setup the coffee table on Sunday morning, lead music for the student ministry on Wednesdays and facilitate a small group on Monday evenings. The plate can quickly fill.

And isn’t that a great thing? I mean, church-planters need all the help they can get! While bigger, more established churches may have ministries that are “luxuries” which get staffed with all kinds of people, fledgling congregations usually only have ministries which are seen as necessities in beginning a church – and the bottom line is they need people to serve. Period!

However, more times than not, the sobering reality of burnout surfaces with many of your best and brightest volunteers. Far too long they ran the ministry race without a “restrictor plate” and pushing them to opt for no more laps around the track. I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t have names of people right now who fit this description running through your head. I've got a few.

This is where the moment of truth comes. You must decide early on if you want to shepherd people or use people. Using people may give you the illusion of helping get you where you want to go more quickly but in the end you likely wind up hurting their health, their family, even their faith. Choose to shepherd people. At time that means dialing back on the commitment of others to a level which helps them, and not just the church, grow.

The way we tried to help people see their over-commitment and our (hopefully) commitment to their spiritual, emotional and physical well being was what we call the “two sticky” rule. One evening when we had our core volunteers and leaders together we gave everyone two little Post-it notes with their names on them and displayed a huge whiteboard with all our ministries listed on it. Then we told them that, in the name of sanity and shepherding, they could choose which areas they wanted to serve – but they could only use their “stickies”. Yes, that meant they only could participate in two ministries. We didn’t hold a gun to anyone’s head who desired more (many wanted a third sticky), but we strongly held our ground, “Two stickies, that’s it. Two stickies, we love you. Two stickies, for your health…and the church’s.”

Some didn’t like what we did. It ticked them off. They kept arguing about how high capacity they were, how important it was to their spiritual growth that they do more. We held our ground – two stickies. Ironically, many of those same people came back to us after some time had passed and thanked us for making the hard call. While disappointed at first, they soon discovered how much their retooled involvement in serving positively impacted their life. They had more quality time with their families, there was less rush and hurry in their week and in the end, they had greater energy and enthusiasm in the two ministries they chose to serve. They clearly saw AND FELT cared for. It was a win for us in more ways that one!

Two stickies may sound like a leap of faith for a planter, especially when he continually feels under-resourced in so many areas, not the least of which is with people. But in the end you must ask the question, “Do I want to use people or shepherd people? Do I want my focus to be on growth or health? Will I be responsible for those God gives me early in our church’s life so that possibly he might grant me more to be faithful with in the future?”

If shepherding people, focusing on health and wanting to be responsible for those God has presently given you is important, consider introducing the “Two Sticky Rule”.

Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology": A Brief Review

I like studying theology. In fact, I've read a handful of systematic theologies throughout the years and liked every one of them. If theology simply means "the study of God" then it would figure that most Followers of Jesus should engage in theology at some level. So if you find yourself wanting to better ground your mind and heart theologically let me highly recommend Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology.

It is clear, accessible and sincere. When you read it you don't feel like you must have an interpreter with a seminary Ph.D next to you whispering what the text says in a layperson's language. And yet for all of its "down-to-earth" nature it is robustly comprehensive, fair-minded when presenting diverging views and saturated with Scripture (not just Scripture references). It is a serious theology for serious Christians.

Grudem is upfront about his perspective (biblically-based and defended) being Reformed. He is responsibly (and I stress responsibly) charismatic and follows a Baptist perspective on baptism. Yet along with these convictions he graciously highlights other views from the church on these issues leaving you with a corpus that feels both focused and ecumenical.

This fall I've led our church's Spiritual Formation Team through this book. I think I can say with confidence that each person thoroughly enjoyed his work. Even those who had never studied systematic theology before were greatly taken with Grudem's effort. His theology so well mirrors our church's that we've used his smaller Christian Beliefs as the doctrinal instruction for our small group leaders. Needless to say, we feel very blessed to have encountered Dr. Grudem's work.

This evening I finished the last two chapters (the entire book is around 1200 pages in length) and thought I'd give it a plug before putting it on the shelf (though I'm confident it will come down from it frequently).

Go pick yourself up a copy, read it in community and grow in the grace and knowledge of God.

UPDATE: Here is the reading schedule I put together for our team.

Church Planting - Lesson 2

No matter where you are on the church-model spectrum few would argue that growing a congregation is something most church planters keep their eyes on. From your initial “public service” to the attendance ebb and flow of the year, emotions (and unfortunately esteem and worth) can easily rise and fall with how many more plastic, “easily stackable” blue seats you’ve put out on the rented elementary school’s “cafetorium” floor than when you first began. Far from being unspiritual as some might have you believe (see book of Acts), growing numerically is a chief concern for a planter. That is if he desires to add staff, meet monthly church expenses, increase ministry resources, not to mention paying a home mortgage, supporting his family and continuing to eat. I’m sure there may be a few more reasons that have slipped my mind. Needless to say, having a newly planted church gaining in attendance is a big factor in said church staying in existence.

However a caution must be issued and a suggestion extended. Before you build a crowd you should first build an army.

Many planters know this but several dismiss it in pursuit of adding to their membership roll way too soon. The idea is simply that until you do anything to really promote or market your church, you first build into a core group who “lock, stock and barrel” buy into your vision, values and ministry model. These men and women will go to the wall for you. They’ll defend you even if they don’t have all the information. They’re loyal, committed and put their service where their mouth is. Usually armies like this aren’t assembled, they’re forged – with your blood, sweat and tears being the catalytic mixture. In other words, forging takes intensity and time…a lot of it. You can’t build an army at an “established church”-pastor’s pace. You’re a church planter which means an insanely inordinate amount of front-end work to get your core to where they need to be – a lot of dinners in the homes of others, grabbing breakfast with a different collection of guys at the local Denny’s every other day and a bunch of work in between. Tiring? Yes, but remember you’re building an army not a crowd.

Think of your core group as your church’s antibodies. The more you have the less exposed your congregation is to the illnesses of renegade lay leaders who want to change the church’s mission, pockets of “hobby horse” groups who bring disunity over what the pastor (and his team) haven’t done ministry-wise and a whole host of other malignant attacks church plants usually suffer. Remember that when you’re about to explode from eating out so much, or when you forget what day it is due to the breakneck pace of the last seven days (or was it the last fourteen?) or when you find yourself in a message-prep “cram session” on Saturday night because important meetings filled up most of the day, you are doing the hard work now so when potential congregation-destroying “germs” hit your church during its fragile infancy you’ll come out the other side intact and focused on your mission because you’ve given it a robust immunity system. Don’t worry, you’ll likely have enough examples of how church planters didn’t do this well – they’ll either painfully meander the ecclesiastical desert of strip malls with about 100 people for years, raise the white flag and merge with another church or just close up shop altogether.

I would also encourage the church’s first public service (and maybe even the next couple following weekends) to be dedicated to extolling and explaining the mission and vision of the church. Set the tone early for those who’ve just shone up and are wondering if they want to pitch in with the rest. Tell the people who you are AND who you are not. The message should both attract and repel - it should aim at inspiring the people who will stack hands on the church's mission and push away those who want something different from you and the church. This kind of sermon (or sermon series) will also galvanize your army even further as they see that all the leadership you’ve given to this point wasn’t just smoke and mirrors but truly the DNA of the lead pastor (and by association…the church he is beginning). By the way, I hope you like giving these kind of messages because you’ll be preaching them to the congregation for the rest of your life with the church. At least you will if you’re a good leader.

So remember, fight the idea of building a crowd in lieu of an army. It’s not worth it. The penalty may be far more congregational fires than you are willing, or even able, to put out. Don’t prematurely shoot the starting pistol until you’ve done all you can to forge a group who will be willing to cross the line in the sand for the church’s mission and your leadership in it.

Build an army before a crowd.

Church Planting - Lesson 1

One of the earliest lessons learned when starting a church is that while a lead pastor (and his staff) may have a big vision, usually the resources at the church’s disposal to match that vision aren’t quite so extensive. That hard truth rears its head quite early and often in the daily ins and outs of the church leader…

• “Man, what we really need is that HD video screen to run our Sunday morning slides. Can we get one?”
  
• “Hey Pastor, I think we need to do a Singles’ Outreach Concert. Don’t you think that’s a good idea?”
  
• “If we’re going to go to the next level as a children’s ministry we definitely need another staff person.”
  
• I could go on ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
  

A good leader should constantly be mindful of two circles (one inside the other) – the vision circle and the resources circle – and how your vision should always determine the focus and intensity of the resources circle. Vision is always larger. Pastors usually have tons of vision. Ask them about their vision and they should be able to spout “vision” all day and night. The needle for vision is often past the F on the tank of a pastor’s heart. But vision is also cheap. It doesn’t cost anything to think of what you want to be, where you want to go or what you want to do. Resources? Well, that’s another story.

Resources by definition are limited. And for some who are beginning a new congregation, “limited” can be putting it modestly. I would guess planters are limited in time, money and people probably more in the seminal years of the church than any other season. That’s why it’s critical to understand the two circles very early in the game.

Think of your vision as the bigger outer circle (and really the furthest edge of the circle is our concern) and your current resources as the inner circle. [See fig. 1] In a perfect world our resource circle matches, if not exceeds, the size of the vision circle. If we see it we can do it. Ah, what a nice world in which to live! When you arrive tell me how it feels because I’m nowhere close. I don’t think any of us are. Most of us have ever-increasing vision. Our resources, on the other hand, for the most part are fixed in size. Yes, we want them to grow and hopefully they will but it’s so incremental that for all intents and purposes the inner circle we draw is normally much smaller.

Question: What happens to your resources as you try to move them toward your vision? The circle flattens out a bit – more oval than circle.


This should help us see that in order for us to “resource the vision” other things which don’t serve your particular vision (possibly new ministries, additional but not essential staff, etc.) may need to be taken off the table financially speaking. This sometimes tough leadership call is critical or you’ll find yourself throwing time, money and people at distracting endeavors that will keep you from meeting your vision. You may be doing a lot of things as a result, but rarely will you be doing the best things – things that move you down the road toward your vision. In the end you wind up with the same circle you began with because it's stretching toward every direction trying to meet everyone else’s passion, focus and vision.

The most effective churches I know are led by those who work hard at moving the resource circle to the right vision and fighting off attempts to do anything less.

So how do you best stretch the resource circle? Here are a few ideas:

1. Know your vision. Know your vision. Know your vision. If you can’t articulate your vision in a heart-inspiring, troop-rallying, dig-in-for-the-long-haul fashion, you better fix that quickly! If you didn't learn this in Church Planting 101 you may need to go back to school. Seriously, if you need help you might check out Acts 29 Network. These guys are solid.
   
2. Learn to say “No” early and often. You don’t have to be a jerk but you do have to be “graciously tenacious” in redirecting the gaze of those you lead to better paths. This is where your ability to communicate the vision will come in handy! It takes hard work to shepherd (and not manipulate or domineer, cf., 2 Cor. 1:24) people to your spot on the vision circle.
   
3. Work at enlarging the resource circle. Teach giving early and with regularity. Don’t be apologetic or embarrassed when you’re in the pulpit. It’s biblical. Get over it. If you can’t muster the courage, don’t complain when your resource circle hasn’t kept up with the congregation’s spiritual growth in other areas. I appeal to you that it is for Western Christians just as much about discipleship as anything else.
4. Regularly evaluate how you’ve done. Does your spending overlap well with your vision? Have the financial, staffing and other leadership decisions you’ve made recently stretched the resource circle or pulled it back to its ineffective roundness in an attempt to meet additional (read:lesser) visions? Ask the hard questions. Get the brutal facts. Then, like a great football team at halftime, make the right adjustments.

Lessons Learned on Church-Planting

I'm not a church planter. I came to the church I presently serve when it was 4 1/2 years old. It is now 14 years old. While I did contemplate planting a church prior to coming, the young age of the church was motivation enough for me to join the team as Teaching Pastor. I knew I could still be someone who could influence the direction of the church in a strategically foundational way - something which for me was a deep thirst whose slaking was non-negotiable.

To keep the story short, let me just say that's exactly what happened (and by God's grace continues to happen).

Over the next few posts I'd like to share some lessons learned about being a part of a church plant. I don't promise anything earth-shattering or even insightful. These are ideas and thoughts that helped me and my team. With that being said, please know I'm not sure how many of these lessons are mine and how many belong to others on our team. Time and teamwork have wonderfully blurred the lines. No matter where they originated (as if anything is original) they are beliefs, ideas and insights that have shaped our church, honed the leadership quotient of our team - one which I believe rivals any around - and continue to guide us in many respects.

As I have the opportunity to counsel (and be counseled) by those who, like me, have been given the great honor and responsibility to shepherd relatively new congregations, these lessons continue to resurface in my conversations. So I thought I'd put them down...for better or worse.

Stay tuned...