Living in the Grace we Preach

“God…saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” (2 Tim. 1:8c-9)

Pastors Sin Alot

The other day I was talking with a good friend who senses God’s call to vocational ministry who said, “One reason I want to be a pastor is that if I have to teach I’ll be forced to study the Bible more, and studying more will help me live more holy.”

I can remember thinking things like that before I got into vocational ministry.  In fact, I had alot of misconceptions about ministry.  I remember having to call a friend who was my senior pastor at the church I attended prior to becoming a senior pastor myself and having to repent to him for being so opinionated about all the things he was doing when I sat under his ministry.  I realized only after actually being in his position that there are many things you just don’t understand about ministry until you’re in it yourself.

My friend’s perspective about holiness was one such misconception I had.  In some ways I guess I thought the same thing.  I thought that living for Christ, and overcoming temptation and sin would come more easily because of all I was doing for and with God. Man, was I wrong!  After being in the ministry to varying degrees for over six years I actually believe the battle with sin is harder in the ministry.  The fact is that if Satan can bring a pastor down, he can break an entire church apart.  For that reason, I believe he targets pastors with unique fury when it comes to temptation and spiritual warfare.

 

Attacks on all Fronts

Spiritual opposition in my life has felt more intense than ever as a pastor and church planter.  Sometimes it feels like the harder I study and teach and serve Christ, the more difficult personal holiness becomes.  I find myself still losing my temper, lusting, acting self-righteously, or being selfish.

 

Perfect Pastors Only!

The sad thing is that people don’t like to hear this kind of stuff about pastors.  They want to think pastors are perfect.  I heard someone once say, “I want my pastor to be an island.”  By this they meant they wanted a pastor who seemed untouchable by sin and failure.  The truth is, Jesus is the only island in that sense.  And I’m glad to rain on the parade of anyone who is making a functional Jesus out of their pastor.  That kind of perspective is idolatry in the life of the believer, and undue pressure in the life of the pastor.

 

God Still Uses Pastors

My own fight with sin causes a funny internal complication when God uses me.  The experience in my life is that God has used me in some of the greatest ways on Sunday, right after I’ve had some of my greatest failures on Saturday.  I’ve been a totally raving heathen in the morning toward people who love me, only to have God save someone from hell through my witness in the afternoon.  Experiences like that have often caused me to ask God, “Why?”  Why do you use me when I am what I am?  Sometimes they make me wonder if I will be able to complete the ministry God has called me to fulfill in this life.  I wonder how I’ll ever make it with this black heart.  And my guess is that if you’re in ministry in anyway that you’ve had these kinds of thoughts.

 

Saved and Serving by Grace

While all Christian ministers believe they are saved by grace, I think many (like me) at least emotionally believe they’re in the ministry by works.  As a result we see ourselves as saved by grace but serving by works.  The above verse is the antidote to this hint of legalism that I believe hides in the heart of most pastors.  When Paul the Apostle wanted to encourage Timothy to continue on in the ministry he’d been given at a time when he’d been a bit faithless, Paul reminded him of the idenity of the God they served: “God…who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus…”

 

Are we Approaching Ministry as if Our Calling is by Works?

If you’ve struggled with the kinds of questions I’ve presented in this post which I’ve dealt with in my life, I hope you’ll find some encouragement in that verse.  Paul told Timothy two things here:

1. He was saved by grace.  You need to know that.  You are righteous in Christ in spite of who you have been, are, and in spite of the sin you haven’t even got to yet.

2. He was called with a holy calling by grace.  You need to know that as well.  The reason that God continues to use sinful guys like myself for His great work in the world is because I’m not just saved by grace, but I’m also in the ministry by grace.  The same is true for you.  Remember that and give God glory for using you in spite of who you are.

 

Continue in Grace

The crazy thing is that the born again heart won’t take this kind of grace as a free pass to continue in sin.  But this kindness of God actually produces in us a deeper desire for and pursuit of practical holiness.  So remember, we are saved and serving by grace, and the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness!   Live in the grace you preach!

Answers and Direction

Proverbs 16:1-9
1 The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits.
3 Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.
4 The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.
5 Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.
6 In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil.
7 When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
8 Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice.
9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

Reading this early this morning set me to thinking.
1) It is incumbent upon me to have my heart prepared, in the right place. Or, as one biblical orator phrases it, “Living in Communion with God and living in community with each other.” For that to be a possibility, my heart needs to be prepared. And if it is, then I have no place to worry about the words that will pass from my lips throughout the course of the day whether I am conversing, counseling or teaching.
2) Verse 9 encapsulates this thought from 1-9 in saying that it is responsible for me to have made my plans, but I must remain flexible, as in reality, it is Christ who is the One who will be directing my steps today…not me.
3) Verse 3 reminds me that as I have my heart prepared, and as I have made my plans for the day, the week, or the direction of the church I am a part of, I am to commit my works to the Lord Jesus and a glorious thing happens…He, in His condescension, establishes my thoughts. That is, He orders and prioritizes them, some may fall by the wayside, others take precedence.

Result?

The peace of God floods my mind which is often times troubled and so easily stirred up by the unrealistic expectations I place upon myself and those that are placed upon me by others.
I have gleaned great and precious things from my Pastor, things that are discussed frequently, for they are constant sources of sustenance, guidance, and satisfaction. One of these falling in line with this meditation…

“How do I know God is leading me in _____?”
“Do you have the desire to do it?”
“Yeah…”
“Do you see an opportunity (a door) to step out and put that into practice?”
“Yeah…”
“Then go and do it. Step out into the thing. And see what God will do.”

Philippians 4:6-8
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.

Q.1) If you could do anything in this life (as a disciple of Christ), anything at all, what would it be (take no thought of provision or resource)?
Q.2) What would it look like, cranking away on all cylinders, 10 years from now (what would be the ‘product’ coming out)?
Q.3) Who could come alongside you and help you do it?

Don’t Neglect the Shepherds Heart

One of the parts of my job that God has to continue to remind me that I love is that of shepherd. Being amongst the sheep, walking through life, listening to their hearts are all things that I enjoy doing the most. The problem is that I don’t spend nearly enough time doing it. I get caught up in sermon prep, meeting agendas, budgeting, vision casting, and almost anything else that comes through the door. What I don’t spend enough of my time doing is loving on my people.

Calvin Miller has written a book called “O Shepherd Where Art Thou.” It is done in story format and talks about the struggles of a Pastor who pastors a medium sized church. He is really good at shepherding his people but he struggles with the success factor, he feels his church should be bigger. Interwoven in the story is the relationship he has with two other pastors, one from a mega-church and the other from a Mainline denomination. Through their lunches together the main pastors problem is exacerbated even more. The mega-church pastor is all about appearances and speaking in catch phrases. He is always pounding the main pastor about vision and growth. The Mainline pastor is all about meditation and tradition, and is on the pastor about rejecting anything to do with growth. As the story progresses the main pastor comes to grips with how God has gifted him. He learns how to be comfortable in his role and not beat himself up over lacking in other areas.

This book really convicted me because I am a pastor at heart. I have beaten myself up for not being a dynamic enough leader or a deep enough teacher. The fact is I love going on pastor’s calls and praying for people. Although counseling isn’t my forte I enjoy when people come into my office for biblical advice. I wish my people let me do it more. If I could choose anything it would to be amongst the people of my church. The fact is that I am a recovering guilt addict. I was always feeling guilty for not spending enough time studying, not having a big enough vision, or being driven enough. What I need to remind myself is that God has equipped with a shepherds heart.

In reality the role of shepherd is diminishing in churches. With churches emphasizing leadership, getting out into the community, and a whole host of other activities our people are starting to be left behind. Just the other day I was reading a blog from a pastor about being relevant. He said pastors become irrelevant if they all they have is Christian friends, don’t do ministry in the community, and don’t mow their neighbors lawn. If that is what it takes to be relevant then I am okay with being irrelevant. God called me to my church to minister to the people first and foremost.

I really feel that some pastors need to reconsider their calling if they bristle at the thought of having  deal with the people in their church. If you would rather be around non-Christians than the people in your church then go work for a non-profit. Don’t get me wrong outreach, teaching, and discipleship are important, and I spend most of my time on those, but they can be a lot easier than having to sit in the living room of a family who have just lost a loved one.

There isn’t a formula to better shepherd your people. Heck you can’t even schedule it. Last week I had ten counseling appointments and most of them were at the crisis stage. It left me on Saturday evening, after a city-wide outreach we had been planning for five months, finishing my message for Sunday. These are the moments that teach you the sufficiency of Christ. Please don’t take this as me pounding you if you aren’t strong in the area of shepherding. Work in your strengths and let God be strong in where you are weak. If you are strong in shepherding don’t beat yourself up for it and don’t let the guilt overwhelm you when you struggle in other areas. Go and minister to your people they need and most of all will thank you for it.

10 Things I Wish Someone Told Me About Church Planting

I often try and think about the things that I wish someone would have spoken to me about before I made a ton of mistakes. Yes, I grew from these mistakes and the Lord always brings beauty out of ashes, but if only someone would have told me certain things. Now that I think about it, it would be better aptly titled, ‘Things I Really Took to Heart Before Church Planting” as I’m sure some of these concepts I had heard about before planting.

These will be in no particular order. But here goes…

1. God is more concerned with the Minister than the Ministry.

I was shocked to realize that God was more concerned with the state of my heart than He was with the perceived success of the plant. I know a pastor who told me that the first five years was for the pastor’s growth, the next five years is for the fellowship’s growth. He even went so far to call his first church plant’s people ‘the poor practice sheep’. When God calls a man to go and plant a church, He loves that man enough to kill him. It often takes some time for us to realize, but God is more concerned with making the church planter like Jesus than He is in blessing the work. Don’t get me wrong, He’ll do an amazing work in the fellowship. But He’s more concerned with your growth, than the church’s growth.

2. Visit the Local Pastors, not the Local Churches.

It is important for a church planter to visit and meet the pastors in the area that he is moving into. I’ll speak in point 3 about the major pitfall of most church planters in this regard. But relationships with local pastors are invaluable. Those who have been in the area for awhile will have a unique perspective, an experiential perspective, about an area. You can learn from them. But don’t visit their churches. I would say even if they invite you, don’t go. Why? Because if you have a heart for people, you will build relationships with them and when they hear that you are going to plant in the area, some will want to come. And then the ‘sheep stealing’ discussion starts. Church planting is hard enough and the last thing you want is to get off on the wrong foot with people that you want to be close to. I made this mistake personally, so I know.

3. Don’t let your Calling Drive a Wedge between You and Other Pastors.

Almost all first time church planters make this mistake. I made a reference to this in my second point. Here’s how it happens… You sense God’s call to an area and you are rightfully excited. Upon your arrival, you are filled with ideas and vision. You meet with another local pastor and as you speak of your ideas, you make them feel as if they are in God’s doghouse. They will automatically resent you. An example of this is when a planter says something like, ‘God has called me here because He wants to see a Bible Church here’. That says to most people, ‘You are not a Bible teaching church.’ Humility is not learned, it is a consequence from being broken. Because He has broken you, you will be humble. So although you are just getting started, and you probably haven’t been broken much yet, try and respect your brothers who have been plowing the field that you are going to work in. Remember this, ‘You are not God’s gift to the area that you are called to! Jesus is. You are just an unprofitable servant doing what you were asked to do.’

4. Don’t even Think about Quitting for at Least 4 Years.

They say that 80% of church plants fail. Why? They fail for numerous reasons, I’m sure. I think one of the main reasons is that guys quit too soon. Before you even step out, you should be prepared to commit 5 years of your life to it. If God is calling you, what is 5 years anyway? As I said, you should not even think about throwing the towel in until you’ve been laboring for 4 years. It takes time for a church to get established (most people will say that a church is still a baby at 10 years old). God will work in His timing so be patient. I don’t have statistics to back it up, but I imagine of the 80% that fail, most of them shut the doors within the first few years.

5. The Attacks Will Come so Don’t Freak Out When They Do.

When the children of Israel left Egypt did they just coast to the Promised Land? Nope. They had attacks from the outside (the Egyptians and the Amalekites). They had attacks from the inside (Korah, the Golden Calf, the 10 scared spies, etc). The same holds true for the ministry of our Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul. The attacks will come. If you sign up for the front lines of a battle, don’t freak out when bullets start flying. When you are called to plant a church, you just signed up to be on the front lines, expect there to be issues. They will come from people on the outside and they will come from people on the inside. Expect them and when they arrive, don’t think it’s strange.

6. Before You Become the Senior (or Lead) Pastor, Be An Assistant Pastor.

I believe that this is so crucial and I am soo grateful for my training as an assistant pastor. In every field, you have to learn the ropes before you take the reins. As a doctor, you don’t just jump from Medical School into the Operating Room. First you do your residency. Same is true of business. The guy from the mail room never gets hired as the CEO. Never. Why? Because they first need to learn the ropes of business. I have found that the ministry is caught (much like a cold). I learned soo much from catching the ministry from my pastor. I learned things to avoid, ways to handle situations, how to gracefully let someone leave the church, how to handle a wounded sheep, etc. Most pastors who have never been Assistant Pastors normally hurt a lot of people because they need caught the ministry from another pastor. My advice would be, “If you want to be plant a church, get on staff at a church first.”

7. Get a Mentor, You’ll Need Him.

My pastor, John Henry Corcoran, told me before I left to plant the first church, that the next set of lessons that I need to learn can only be learned as the pastor. But once you step on out, you are in uncharted territory. You want and need someone who you can bounce ideas off of. You want to have someone who can say to you, ‘Whatever you do, don’t do that.’ I did that once and …’ You’ll also need someone who can support you personally. Once you step on out, the enemy will be gunning for you like never before. You need accountability as most church planters feel isolated from people. Make sure that you have someone who will ask you the hard questions and keep your struggles and issues before the Lord.

8. The Key to Church Planting – Discipleship

There are a small percentage of church plants that take off like wildfire. Most of them are slow going. Like Jesus, discipleship is the key to building the kingdom. Discipleship involves relationship and relationship takes time and energy. You need to pour into the people that God has brought to you. You need to be available and open with them. You need, like the apostle Paul, to be a poured out offering. Discipleship builds solid churches.

9. Beware of Friends and Family Who Want to Help with the Church Plant.

I know, this statement is a bit shocking. I have found from my own experiences and in talking with many other pastors that one of the biggest hindrances to a pastor’s joy is the well meaning friends and family members (extended) who want to be involved. I often tell men to discourage their close buddies and families members from being there at all in the early stages.

10. Make Sure That You Keep Feeding Your Soul.

For most church planters, they are used to going to church. Even if you are in service at the church, you are often hearing the Word taught a few times a week. Once you step out, you need to make sure that you are still sitting under the teaching of the Word. I have found that the best way to do this is to pick a ‘Pastor’ for the next three months. It can be anyone you want. But listen to a few Bible studies a week from a certain pastor. Maybe study through a book or sermon series with a certain pastor. As I am writing this, I am presently studying through the book of Colossians with Pastor Tim Brown of Calvary Chapel Fremont and am being absolutely blessed and convicted. If you let this lapse, you will sense the leanness of your soul.

Prep-time Verses People-time

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)

My greatest battle every week is over time spent between the study and with people.  I don’t know about you, but my week begins  on Monday morning and builds pressure until Sunday after I preach my last sermon.  Monday’s seem to consistently bring remorse over not studying the Word enough in preparing for the previous Sunday, or on the other end of the spectrum, feeling like I have not spent enough time out amongst the flock shepherding.  I don’t know that this tension can be resolved, but we must strike a balance in managing the tension between these two very importance responsibilities.

All of the Bible is important, but there is just something very relevant about Second Timothy for pastors.  Seriously, Paul is facing imminent death and these are his last words to the young pastor Timothy.  In the above passage Paul essentially charges Timothy in the presence of God to (1) preach the word and to (2) minister to people with patience.  I take this charge personally with great conviction and I would like to share how I try to apply this passage to my life from week to week.

Preaching the Word is priority number one for me.

I deeply believe it is the Word of God that changes lives.  The state of the pulpit worldwide is poor when it comes to preaching.  I don’t want to sound arrogant, or like my preaching is a finely oiled machine, but I attended a lot of church growing up and learned nothing from the Bible or about the Bible.  It wasn’t until I was an adult that I finally sat under men who taught the Bible with conviction and life did I come to know Jesus as Savior.  I was ultimately discipled in my walk with Christ through the expository preaching of these men.  This reality drives me each week to teach the Word faithfully, with clarity, and passionately.

Over the last few years, I have found some things that have been helpful for me in preparing to preach while shepherding the flock God has entrust to me:

1. Pray consistently about the message and text you are about to preach and teach.  I find myself constantly asking God, “What did this mean in context then?  What practical principles apply today? Lord, help me!”

2. Study, study, study.  You can not shortcut this step.  While this is not a post about how to study, I will say you need to study the language and grammar, the historical context, and the context of the text.  The text you are teaching on the next week and weeks ahead should so be in you that it invades your thought life almost nonstop throughout the week.  Without adequate study, you will not be able to handle the Word rightly.  This saying is so true, “Where there’s a mist in the pulpit, there’s a fog in the pew.”  The bottom line is you must understand the text through and through if you are going to teach others.

3.  Preach a book of the Bible at a time!  I am all about preaching in an expository manner as it provides spiritual food for those in your church.  It also helps that you don’t have to figure out what you are going to preach, you just have to figure out how to preach the text in front of you the coming week!  In many ways this frees up your time to focus on studying, rather than flipping through your Bible hoping you feel inspired to preach something.

4. Front load your studying in order to prepare for the inevitable crisis that will come.  Starting Sunday I start saturating my world with the Scripture I am about to preach on the following week.  Bible CD’s in my car, sermons from other men who have preached the text, Bibles and commentaries lying around all over my house.  Starting Sunday I intake as much of the text as I possibly can.  By front-loading my study I have it tinkering around in my mind and heart ultimately freeing me to respond and reach out to the people around me.

People should always be the priority!

I am chasing a deadline trying to get this post submitted.  “Stuff happened” last week that put me behind in the blogging category.  I have VBS this week and my routine is off kilter to say the least!  There are times when I want to shut off my cell phone, ignore my emails, and lock myself in my study all week long, but I don’t think this is what Jesus wants from me.  Because this week has required a lot of people time, I fear I am going to drop the ball on the las half of this post.

1.  Pastoring is about people.  My goal as a pastor is defined in Ephesians 4:11-13 and it is simple–to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.  When I look at the passage at the top of this list I am to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with great patience.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel comfortable reproving, rebuking, or exhorting total strangers, but I can do this with people I know and love.  I think the point is that we are to be deeply entrenched in the lives of those we serve.  It takes time…notice we are told to do these things with great patience, not with great frustration.

2.  Your life is the most powerful message you preach.  My philosophy as a pastor is to preach with transparency.  I air my dirty laundry on a regular basis.  This is intentional.  I am not up on a pedistal, but am walking this life as a “sinner saved by grace” just like everyone else in my church.  I love walking alongside the people God has called me to minister as it exposes my life with Jesus–my victories and struggles alike.  Paul the apostle preached a lot, but I think his life was his most powerful message.  My desire is to say the same thing to my people as Paul said to his, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NASB).  I think Paul could say this to them because his people knew him…just like I want mine to know me.

3. “Good things happen when you’re out.”  This a saying we had at my last church.  The point is simple.  When you are out in the community amongst your culture good things happen.  As a pastor you should know your culture and community around you.  It is all too easy for us to get sucked into our little Christian bubble and to loose connection with reality around us.  To guard myself from isolation am intentional about being out through a variety of avenues like the local Kiwanis, law enforcement chaplaincy, serving on the local cemetary board of directors, and meeting people from the church at Starbucks instead of my office.  It is hard to quantify the benefits that come to you, your preaching, your church, and your community when you as the pastor make time to be out amongst the community, but the fruit in my ministry from this has been great.

The tug-o-war where both sides must win.

We pastors do not punch in on time clocks.  For the most part we control how our time is used or wasted.  We must study to deliever sound relavant biblical messages that impact lives.  We must be out amongst the flock if we are indeed shepherds.  We must finish well with both these priorities.  I have shared what works for me for know.  I would love to hear what things work well for you in juggling these two priorities!

 

 

Guest Contributor – David Guzik “We gain far more in Christ than we lost in Adam”

This post is a response to a question that I posed to David Guzik. He graciously allowed me to post it as it was a great response.

I sent David a question based on something I saw tweeted that he had said.
“We gain far more in Christ than we lost in Adam.”

I asked David, “Is this true? Can you riff on this a bit for me?”

Here is David’s response-

Most of us think that the ideal world is the world of innocence, where sin or even have never been experienced. But God seems to place a greater value on the world of redemption.

Adam was certainly innocent, in the sense of not knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:22). But he was not righteous, in the sense of having fulfilled all of God’s law. Jesus came as the second Adam (Romans 5:12-21), and perfectly fulfilled the will and law of God with His obedient life. This positive righteousness of Jesus is credited to the believer by faith (Romans 3:21-22, Philippians 3:9). This is something greater in Jesus than Adam never had.

We also don’t have any evidence that Adam was regarded as an adopted son of God, but the believer is in Jesus (Ephesians 1:5, Galatians 4:5).

We are named kings and priests before God (Revelation 1:6, 5:10) – Adam never was.

We are part of a glorious community that Adam never knew, a community that will be consummated in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-3). Man has never known a community unmarred by sin. Adam and Eve only knew a limited community, and community in a larger context only came long after the Fall. Here, in the New Jerusalem, we have something totally unique: a sinless, pure, community of righteousness, a holy city.

In Ephesians 1:9-12, Paul wrote of the mystery of His will that has been made known to us. What is it? That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ. A critical aspect of God’s plan of the ages is to “sum up” or resolve everything in Jesus. In a sense, we could say that God glorifies Himself by allowing a problem and showing His wisdom in not only solving the problem, but in making the end result greater that the prior condition.

I see a wonderful consummation of all this in Revelation 21:5: Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

This is an authoritative announcement, coming from the throne of God itself: He who sat on the throne said. In this announcement, He says: “Behold, I make all things new.” This statement is in the present tense, “I am making everything new.” Revelation 21:5 marks the consummation of God’s work of renewal and redemption, having begun here and now in our present time.

The words “All things new” connect with the thinking behind God’s eternal plan – to allow sin and its destruction in order to do a greater work of making all things new. At this point in His plan of the ages, the plan is complete. All things are new.

Our instinct is to romantically consider innocence as man’s perfect state, and wish Adam would have never done what he did. But we fail to realize that redeemed man is greater than innocent man; that we gain more in Jesus than we ever lost in Adam. God’s perfect state is one of redemption, not innocence.

A few days later, David added this quotation to an email

Today I was reading some Spurgeon, and methinks I have a great quote from him about this very topic:
“You have been a gainer by Adam’s fall. You might almost say, as one of the fathers did, O beata culpa, ‘O happy fault,’ which put me into the position to be so richly endowed as now I am! Had you stood in Adam, you had never been able to call Jesus “Brother,” for there had been no need for him to become incarnate; you had never been washed in the precious blood, for then it had no need to be shed. Jesus has restored that to you which he took not away. He has not merely lifted you from the dunghill to set you among men, but to set you among princes, even the princes of his people. Think of the bright roll of promises, of the rich treasure of covenant provision, of all that you have already had and all that Christ has guaranteed to you of honor, and glory, and immortality, and will you not in the midst of the congregation praise the Lord?” (Jesus, the Example of Holy Praise)

Wow. I love that: You have been a gainer by Adam’s fall …. O beata culpa …. Jesus has restored that to you which he took not away.

No wonder that God had to tell John, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” John was probably so astounded by these words that he forgot to write – and must be told to do so.

That’s how it runs through my mind. To me, it is just plain glorious.

Initial Leadership For Your New Church – Part III

 INITIAL LEADERSHIP FOR YOUR NEW CHURCH – Part III

TIME FOR CHANGE

When the church you’ve planted becomes established and new leaders are being called to serve by the Holy Spirit you will need to start looking at leadership transitions.  In part three of this series I want provide a biblical basis for training local leadership, as well as address some practical issues that come up when transitioning from a non-local board to a primarily local board of elders.

 TRAINING AND EMPOWERING LOCAL ELDERS IS BIBLICAL

There are some pastors who establish boards when they plant a church that are entirely comprised of senior pastors from other churches, who never decide to train up and empower men to be elders from within their local church.  While I would never say that’s a sin, I personally don’t believe that Scripture sets that example.  The Bible seems to encourage the training and placing of elders that rise up from within local congregations to serve as overseers over the local church. Paul told Timothy that it was part of his job as a lead pastor to evaluate the desires for leadership,[1] home-life and character,[2] teaching gifts,[3] spiritual maturity,[4] and reputation amongst non-Christians of the men in his local church for the purpose of establishing a local team of elders. He told Titus that it was his job as a lead pastor to do the same work of evaluating and establishing potential elders in the churches in Crete.[5] Paul was only calling these pastors to do what he had done in the churches he’d planted.[6]

A LONGTERM NON-LOCAL ELDER CAN STILL BE HELPFUL

I don’t think the example of the New Testament encourages us to have only outside elders helping us oversee the churches Jesus calls us to plant for the long-haul.  But that isn’t to say that you cannot have any outside elders after you’ve raised up some men locally.  In a sense, Paul was an outside elder to the churches he established after leaving guys like Timothy and Titus to lead and further establish leadership teams in some of those same churches.

At both churches where I’ve served as the lead pastor I have always had one long-term outside elder.  The main role of this elder is to be a man who can simply offer a fresh perspective in the event that the local guys are too at odds over something to be able to move forward. Thankfully I’ve never had to call on the services of these men to help deal with negative situations, but I’m glad they’re there.

 REPLACE THE LEAST HELPFUL BOARD MEMBERS FIRST

When it does come time to begin replacing outside elders with local elders I would encourage you to replace them in order from least helpful to the most helpful.  That sounds rude, but it’s simply honest.  I discovered that while none of my outside accountability elders were totally unhelpful through the process of planting Refuge, not all of them were equally helpful.  You’ll discover who fills these roles over time.  Some guys might be less accessible or less insightful than others.  Make sure you replace them first with local guys while still keeping the extra helpful guys around.  Of course, as in all things, I would encourage you to soak your decisions in prayer in this area and not merely be pragmatic.

 PRAYERFULLY DEVELOP A SYSTEM FOR TRAINING NEW LEADERS

So how in the world do you go about identifying and training the men the Holy Spirit has called to be part of the local leadership team in your new church?  The fact is that identifying and training elders doesn’t happen by osmosis!  Pastor, God commands you to do the work of training up the men He will call into leadership in your church plant.  God’s exhortation to those of us who serve as lead pastors is seen in another command Paul gave to Timothy: “And the things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”[7]

That is a command of God to lead planters and pastors. What this means is that you need to prayerfully develop a system for evaluating the character, family life, gifts, calling, and theology of men before empowering them as your board.  It takes more time to do this with some men than others.[8]  There’s never a way to do this perfectly without making mistakes. You will simply have to be led by the Spirit, and be courageous as He guides you.

 LOOK FOR LEADERS WHO ARE GIFTED DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU

Recently I asked another local pastor I was out to lunch with if he had any main points of advice for a young guy like me who has been in ministry for a far shorter time than he has.  One of three valuable exhortations he gave me was this: “Figure out the things that only you can do, and do those.  Delegate and empower others to do the rest.”[9]  That’s really great practical wisdom.

I have the privilege of having one of my best friends as my assistant pastor.  Our relationship has proven the above pastor’s statement to be true over and over again.  As we work together we keep discovering that while we are both called to be pastors, the Lord has given us different kinds of giftedness as pastors.  My assistant pastor Jeremy is very priestly.  He loves meeting one on one with people and focusing on shepherding ministry.  I love to see and move people toward the big picture of what our church is supposed to be as Jesus leads us.  In some ways my gifts are more suited to working on the church while Jeremy’s are more suited for working in the church.

My encouragement to you would be to look for leaders who are biblically qualified to be pastors, but who have different emphases in their gift makeup.  If you are more of a visionary leader or a missiologist look for guys with a priestly heart who can help care for the personal needs of the people. Hire and empower to your weaknesses when it comes to creating your formal leadership team of local elders. Just like the wider church body, as you each fill your different but vital pastoral roles, your leadership of the church as a team will flow well and the people will be served well.  If you hire and empower guys who are just like you, critical needs in the ministry will probably not be met.

FIGHT TO MAKE IDENTIFYING AND TRAINING NEW LEADERS A PRIORITY

For whatever it’s worth, I would recommend that you as the lead planter start praying about crafting a sort of internship style system that will enable you to spend the needed time with prospective leaders, evaluating the necessary areas in their lives, and testing their call. The issue of training up local leaders is so important![10] Many things you do are important.  But if you allow meeting with people one-on-one, and all the other duties you have to prevent you from training up other elders, in the end you will end up burned out and the people won’t get the attention they need because there’s not enough leaders to help them as your church grows.[11]

At the time of this writing I am meeting with twelve men on Saturday mornings for an hour and a half each week.  On Saturdays we are praying together, learning theology, and practicing accountability.  During the week each man is serving in practical opportunities we’ve designed for them to be able to test their spiritual gifts and call from God. God has blessed it astronomically! You don’t have to be flashy.  You just need to be available to train God’s men and He will do the rest.  Pray for your initial team.  Pray for your replacement local team.

Kellen Criswell

Lead Pastor, Refuge Church

www.refugeutah.org

www.refugeutah.tumblr.com

www.calvarychurchplanting.org


[1] 1 Tim. 3:1

[2] 1 Tim. 3:2-5

[3] 1 Tim. 3:2

[4] 1 Tim. 3:6

[5] Titus 1:5-9

[6] Acts 14:23

[7] 2 Tim. 2 NKJV

[8] 1 Tim. 5:22

[9] Roy Gruber is the senior
pastor of Washington Heights Church in South Ogden, Utah

[10] See Exodus 18 for an Old
Testament example.

[11] Exodus 18 and Acts 6

Saturday Reflection #2 – Michael Frost – The Purpose of the Church

 

Michael Frost can be controversial. What do you think? Is he correct?