Dealing With The Numbers

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Everyone always says it’s not about the numbers. Let’s be honest, it is, at least partly, about the numbers. The reasons this is true are many. First off, each ‘number’ is a living soul created by God for His own good pleasure. Each person was created to worship God alone. The more of them that are assembled together, the better. Secondly, it’s really the only way to assess how a church plant is doing. When you begin a church and there are only a handful of people there, you’ll know if you are being effective if you see numerical growth. Thirdly, whatever organization you are involved with, when they want to know about the ministry you are involved in, if you don’t offer up the count, they will ask. Every group or organization will want to know the numbers. I could do this all day, but let’s move onto some more productive thoughts.

As a church planter, it is very easy to have your joy bound up in the number of people who come. This isn’t only true of church planters; this is true of all ministers in every context. Jesus speaks of this when the seventy-two returned from doing ministry and as they debriefed Jesus on what had transpired. “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!… Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”” (Luke 10:17, 20, ESV). Notice how Jesus reminds them that their joy and identity must not be bound up in their perceived success (or for some of us, our perceived lack of success), but solely in the completely gracious salvific work of Jesus Christ. We must begin by asking ourselves if our joy is bound up in the numbers of people who come. If it is, we must repent. We cannot serve two masters brothers.

At this point, what I’d like to do is give some random exhortations as to how we are to deal, within our own hearts and in our conversations, with numbers. I share these from very personal experiences. I imagine that not all of these exhortations with apply to all of us, but some will undoubtedly apply. In sharing these, I hope to encourage you all to learn from my misunderstandings and mischaracterizations.

Expect 40 people in 4 Years

I know, I know, that sounds horrible. Just 40 people in 4 years? Yes, 40 people in 4 years. I say that you should expect that. The reason that I encourage guys to expect this number is because 7 out of every 8 church plants fail. There are a great many reasons why the vast majority of church plants fail but one reason is that planters have unrealistic expectations. When a man feels called by the Lord to start a church, there tends to be an expectation that the Lord is going to blow the doors off of the place. We all expect that when we set the sign out in front of the building that the people are just going to pour in, climbing over one another to see the work of the Lord. But most often, especially if you are planting in the 21st century, this doesn’t happen. Many church plants close their doors within the first few years because there isn’t explosive growth. The Lord has many reasons for the slow and steady growth of the church (some of which include preparing and humbling the pastor, preparing the community, lessons in faithfulness and trust, the sovereign timing of God, etc). Not to mention that every area is different. Some areas have a lot of Christians, but they are mostly plugged into solid churches. Some areas have no solid churches and lots of unattached believers. Some areas have virtually no believers. Every area is unique and this will affect the growth possibilities. Statistics teach that if a church has 40 people after 4 years, then they are often sustainable. You have to remember that the 60% of churches in the United States are less then 100 people. Add to that the fact that only 2.5% have more than a thousand attendees. What this teaches us is that churches are a lot smaller than we tend to think. I would encourage you to set much more lofty goals than 40 in 4 years. But only expect that many.

Don’t Forget Attendance will Ebb and Flow

Most church plants begin very humbly so the changes in attendance are easily observable. Like waves crashing on the seashore, church plant attendance will come and go. Because of this, it is very common for a church plant to have 25 people. Then, seemingly all of a sudden, have 50 people. Then settle back to 35 people. Then swell to 70 people. Only then to pull back again to 50 people. This is very common. If you are given to joy at growth and despair at seeming decline, this phenomenon will put you on an emotional rollercoaster. One of the ways that the Lord has ministered to me in this process was to force myself to judge the numerical growth of the ministry on a year-by-year basis only. I acknowledge and expect the ebb and flow of attendance, but only make final declarations on growth based on year-to-year movements. Don’t forget that church attendance has a tendency to go down during the summer months then way up in the fall. Depending on where you live, the winter months can be sparse due to weather conditions. To give you an example, here at Calvary North Bay, Mill Valley, CA, which is two years old at the time of this writing, began with two families (3 adults and 3 children). At the end of our first year, we had about 40 steady attendees. At the end of our second year, we had about 80 regular attendees. That is quality growth when looked at on a year-by-year basis. But within the last year, we would have a few Sundays with 100 people and then two months later have 50 people for a few weeks. So for sanity’s sake, don’t forget that the attendance will ebb and flow. Try and enjoy the variations. Also don’t forget that like a little child, the most drastic changes will be in the first number of years. Scientists tell us that people grow more from one day to six years of age, than in any other span in their lifetime. Church plants are the same. Calvary North Bay doubled in size last year. My guess is that the average mega-church did not. But they are incalculably different and really cannot be compared.

Focus on Incremental Benchmarks

I have found a great blessing in having an incremental perspective of church plant growth. It’s hard to tell when a church plant can shed the ‘plant’ moniker. Does a church plant become just a church after a certain amount of time or because of certain number of people or because of a certain sized leadership or because they own a building? This I really don’t know. Because of that, depending on your perspective, you can always be striving toward very aggressive goals to your own detriment. When I was involved in the first church plant (2002 in New Brunswick, NJ), I was blessed to have a person encourage me to have an incremental perspective on the numbers. When I started in New Jersey, I was single man and there was no core team to start the ministry with. So my first goal was to hit the ten-person mark. After that was attained, my next benchmark was twenty-five people. After that it was forty people. That same idea would then continue on and on. This was a blessing because when you are at ten people, one hundred people seems almost unattainable and can be very disheartening to be judged against. So set for yourself attainable incremental benchmarks.

Like the Apostle Paul, Learn in ALL Things to be Content

When a church planter tells me that there are 40 people coming, I know that there are really only 25. If he says 75, I figure that realistically there are only 50. The sin of exaggeration bites us all. Mostly this happens because we have learned that people will think we are more effective if we inflate the numbers a little bit. We need to rigorously resist this temptation. If the Lord has blessed you with 40 people at this point in your ministry, they are His 40 and they are to be rejoiced in as such. The Lord saw fit to entrust to you 40 of His precious little lambs! They are His sheep and He distributes them as He sees fit. It is not our job to exaggerate numbers to commend the praise of man. This demeans the work of God in your midst. Don’t feel that you need to apologize for the work that is His. Rejoice that He lets your care for any of His own!

Don’t Focus on Who Is NOT There, Love the Ones Who ARE There

It has been said that the church will not grow if you have a huge front door (where new people enter) and an equally huge back door (where established people leave). If you are completely numbers driven in your self valuation, you will always be focused on what you don’t have, rather than what you do. What good is it if 50 new people show up while the 50 that you have are on the way out the back door. A minister is called to love and feed the sheep. His task is to care for the sheep in his care, not to obsess about the sheep that he hoped would be there but weren’t. Brothers, love the people that the Lord has brought to you. Love them and labor for their joy in Christ. If there are 5 people there, proclaim the glories of God in the face of Jesus Christ with the same zeal and passion as if there we 5000. Let those people know the love of God as it flows from Him to and through you and onto them. If you are too busy focusing on the lack of attendance, you’ll miss out on the ministry that God has given you among those who are there.

Finally, Don’t Ever Forget that Numerical Growth is Solely Up to the Lord

This might seem like a given, but it is still worth it to mention. The Lord adds to His church those who are being saved. No sermon or altar call ever saved a man. People are saved by the sheer grace of God and His Spirit drawing them and working in them. Yes, the Lord may use a sermon or an altar call as the instrument, but the instrument can take no credit. The most amazing Stradivarius violin will not sound great if my four-year son was playing it. But an excellent instrument in the hands of a world-class musician will make beautiful music. The work of adding to church is God’s work. He loves to glorify Himself in using human vessels, but that is solely His prerogative. If you have planted a church and it grew like gangbusters, all the glory is His. If you planted a church and it hasn’t grown, all the glory is His.

Answers and Direction

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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?

Toddler Worship

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If you haven’t done it, you’ve seen it. Mom or dad can’t get one year old Billy to eat what’s good for him (strained carrots/baby cereal, etc.) and so they have to fake him out – they have to make him think that what he really hates is really good. And, of course, it is good for him – except it’s not good (at least on his palate – which is all he cares about). If he could talk, he would say it’s pooh-pooh.

To make little Billy open up and do what’s good for him we have developed some pretty impressive delivery methods. My specialty was the airplane buzz move where the lips were the runway which I would buzz a couple of times until my Billys would laugh and then I would shove in the offensive stuff. But my little Billys got wise pretty quick and developed immunities to my delivery methods which just forced me to be even more creative. I developed the itsy-bitsy-spider, the charging bull, and the hide-and-seek delivery method. (I was working on my black-belt in baby feeding.) Moms and dads sometimes have to fake out their little ones so that they will receive what is good for them. A lot of energy and imagination goes into the delivery systems which, if little Billy knew what was good for him, could be dispensed with.

You can take Billy out of toddlerhood, but sometimes toddlerhood doesn’t come out of Billy. Fast forward 25 years. Billy is exiting church on a Sunday morning and a friend going into the 2nd service asks, “How was the worship, Billy?” Billy replies, “Ah, not that good. They had no drummer and the bass was too loud and the keyboardist stayed on that mournful organ voice too long and they sang ‘Blessed be Your Name’ way too slow. Finally, I just gave up and stood there waiting for it to be over.”

Fast forward to the following Sunday. Billy emerges from the 1st service and the same friend says, “Hey, Billy, how was the worship today?” Billy responds, “It was an acoustic set w/ a percussionist. It didn’t rock. Too mellow for me. They said a couple of the songs were Maranatha choruses that were really big in their day. Whatever. I really wasn’t into it.”

Fast forward to the following Sunday. “Hey, Billy, how was the worship?” Billy, with excitement, “It was great! The lead guitarist was laying down some cool riffs and overlays. They set a floor mic right next to the bass drum – it was sick (meaning: good Laughing). They only did Tomlin and Hillsong. Oh man, I was so into it – I just closed my eyes and raised my hands. It’s so great to worship Jesus.”

OK, let’s analyze this. (I already know what your objections will be to my analysis. But we can’t analyze the analysis until we know the analysis – so the analysis first.)

Billy is a spiritual toddler. He has to be ‘faked out’ to worship God. He has to be coaxed into doing that which is healthy for his soul. Music poorly done and music not his liking leaves a bad taste in his mouth and he won’t open his mouth to worship Jesus unless the music is sweet to his palate. Unless worship, and all that accompanies it, is delivered in a package that suits him, he will stand there and cross his arms and close his mouth and Jesus won’t hear one peep of thanks from him. But if Billy gets his bass drum and electric guitar and his driving beat – he’s all about God. Billy is a spiritual toddler. (Please note – this is a multi-generational phenomena. If Sam and Peggy don’t get their piano and organ music and Fanny Crosby hymns and have to listen to those dab-nabbit guitars, they won’t worship God. “No, God, I will not worship You unless I can worship in a way that conforms to my preference and tastes.” This, too, is toddler worship.)

Yes, yes, I know – music poorly done can be (not necessarily is), but can be very distracting. And music not performed in the way that you have come to enjoy and therefore prefer can be (not necessarily is), but can be a dynamic that would keep you from fully participating in the worship of God.

OK, why am I so hard on Billy? Because I used to be Billy! Unless the music and the songs and the way they were performed fit my niche preferences, I would spend most of the time in a critical spirit toward those who were leading. I was at the place where if I had to listen to, let alone sing, “Open the Eyes of My Heart” or “Lord I Lift Your Name of High” one more time, I wouldn’t be responsible for what my actions. I was Billy.

Here’s where I am today. “Tim, how was the worship?” “Ah, the worship was awesome!” Even though the band was not hitting on all cylinders that day, even though the absence of the drummer threw off the bass and rhythm guitars, even though the melodies and harmonies of the singers were more maladies and harm-on-me, I worshipped God. I have purposed that wherever I go, whoever is leading, however it is led, I will lift my heart and voice (and maybe my hands) and worship God. My worship of God is independent of the music that is supposed to aid my worship.

When the question is asked, “How was the worship?”, I think what is meant is, “How was the worship band? Did they bring it? Were they hot? Did the music get you revved up and passionate and cause you to lose yourself in the experience of worship?” I don’t think I’m too far off the mark there. And, please don’t get me wrong – I want the music to be spot on. (A possible future blog is how performance music has manipulated the emotions and diluted the worship of the church.)

What I have done in order to keep my sanity in the worship service is to separate the music from the worship. I can say, “The music did not help me to worship, but I worshipped nonetheless.” I don’t want to participate in toddler worship. Even though the music, style, beat, and songs don’t please me, I am not going to stand there with arms folded, mouth closed, enduring the duration of this mediocre performance. My attitude now is, “It is what it is.” I am going to use this occasion to worship the mighty God who created and redeemed me. God is worthy of my worship wherever I am. If, in the middle of a mediocre musical presentation I open my mouth and worship my God, worship has taken place. God is glorified. My soul is open to that which is healthy and good and right and righteous. You don’t have to coax me or fake me out or pamper me to get me to worship God. The worship of God flows from me even though nothing may be flowing from the platform except noisy gongs and clanging cymbals. Though the instruments are out of tune, the singers are off key, the melody line is wrong – I will worship. (As a pastor, this doesn’t mean I won’t speak with the leader of the worship band about improvement. It means that, in the moment, it is what it is, God is who He is, and I will worship.)

“But, Tim, if we are going to reach the (fill in the blank) generation we have to reach them where they are.” I get that, I really do. Be the best, strive for the best, put on the best you can. But let’s make sure we’re not creating little Billys who won’t worship our awesome God unless the context, style, song selection, instruments, melody, mood, and beat are exactly to their preference.

Yes, music greases the wheels of worship and when the wheels are turning and there is no grease, things can screech. I have purposed to worship when things screech. Instead of coaxing Billy,

Come on, Billy – here’s a Tomlin song, will you worship now? Come on Billy – here’s a class A lead guitar riff, will you worship God now? Come one Billy – here are people you think are cool, wearing stressed jeans and untucked shirts, playing music the way you like it, will you worship now? If I throw in a power point presentation with a dynamic moving background showing scenes of creation care, will you worship?

Instead, I want to teach all the Billys that worship music is important and it should be done well. But more important than the worship music is the God we are worshipping. When worship music overshadows worship, we are in danger of toddler worship.

God is worthy even when the music is not. The motive to worship has to be greater than the music of worship. It is easy to get to the place where we depend on the music to supply the motive of worship. Music is to be a handmaiden to worship, but for many, she has become queen and worship is the handmaiden. Music should be the grease on the wheels of worship. (Yes, I know, music is worship, too – at least for those who make it.) But I wonder if we are depending on the music to be the motor that turns the wheels. My love for God should be my motive to worship God. Music should assist my worship, not be the motor that drives it. When all is said and done, if I am depending on the music to get Billy to worship, to get Billy to open his mouth and do the healthy thing, I am aiding and abetting toddler worship.

Saturday is for Silly – Every Public Speakers Worst Nightmare

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An honest mistake.
If you’ve ever spoken in public, my guess is that you have never had this happen.
Just a misplaced ‘n’

Cultural Shift – Part 3; Implications For Western Christianity

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[dropcap3]A[/dropcap3]s I’ve studied church history, I think it no stretch to conclude that local churches, over the last 2 millennia, have experienced an average attendance of about 75 adults. Enter, 20th century American Christianity. Or, as I like to call it, Consumeranity.

The average church size in America at present hovers at a little more than 180 adult members, roughly 2.5x larger than historical averages. While nearly 60% of American churches are 100 or less, and around 90% are under 400; more than half of all churchgoers in America attend a church of 400 or more adults.(1) Most congregations are small but most people are apart of large congregations. Such large [Consumeranity] congregations skew the numbers, and [unfortunately] this abnormality is normal for the majority of American Christians.

This anomaly is a relatively recent phenomena (the last 50 years or less), and I believe that the cultural shift taking place in America today will – in the next generation – bring the church back to normal in terms of congregational size and makeup. But what happens when abnormal, which has become normal, reverts back to true normal?

As a result of this shift, some will feel real pain. Many (especially the “movers and shakers” of mega-church evangelicalism) will fight against it. We tend to oppose change, as change is painful. But change is an essential part of life. Alistair Begg once said, “Where there’s life, there’s change. You want no change, live in a cemetery. [There’s no change there], accept for decay.” Therefore, if the church is to experience vitality and life, it will be faced with regular change, or it will decay.

What then does normal Christianity look like in the context of 21st century America? I think it looks like church has for 2,000 years. The gatherings of believers are smaller in size, community oriented, or people-group centered fellowships. For lack of a better word, they are tribal. This being the case, I’m not necessarily sure that multi-cultural, multi-ethnic churches are the norm. That’s not to say that there are not beautiful things that take place in such settings, they’re just not the norm.

Frontline missions has sought for generations to establish self-replicating, indigenous church planting movements. But in our own backyard we constantly seek for an American (or western) multiculturalism within the local body. Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not advocating segregation, only setting forth for consideration the idea that congregations have an established cultural identity from which they worship and express Christian love and character in a way that is relevant to the cultural makeup of the gathered believers.

What then does it practically look like? In all honesty it is quite hard to say, as I have no rhyme or reason for my belief, other than a hunch. I do however think that over the next 30 years the larger congregations in America will fracture along tribal fault-lines as the charismatic executive leaders move on. The churches will become multifarious. They would therefore do well to be proactive in their planning now, if they are to have influence then. I suggest that the best thing the larger traditional church can do is not to scrap it all in favor of a “home church movement” (as one home church movement leader once exhorted me to do) or fight against the shift to prop up the establishment, but to embrace the reality of a smaller community church model by taking what I believe is an Antioch approach.

The Church of Antioch was the first thriving “uttermost parts” church mentioned in the book of Acts. It was the first Gentile church, and the first at which the followers of Christ were referred to as “Christians.” Little is said in the book of Acts about the makeup of the Antioch church, but my gut tells me that it was a fairly large fellowship with multiple meeting places throughout the region.  They were one church, composed of many congregations, superintend by a plurality of overseers (I have purposefully chosen not to use “plurality of elders,” as it means something more than what I’m saying here). The core leadership of Antioch consisted of five apostolic, teaching leaders; Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, Saul (Paul). Antioch thrived for several centuries and was known as a charitable, missional and evangelical church.

As large western churches navigate the current cultural shift, and more and more church planters step forth to birth new works; I propose (as possible first steps) that they/we maintain established church structures to raise up a multiplicity of lay pastors to oversee small community fellowships throughout a city, county or region. Furthermore, churches ought to establish an apostolic core of leadership dedicated to discipleship, for equipping an ever increasing population of overseeing pastors and missionaries.

Ideally, for our fellowship (Calvary Escondido), I’d love to see us get to a point where we have 30+ lay pastors, overseeing small gatherings (under 75) in homes, community centers and other well-suited venues throughout our city and the surrounding region. I would expect we would maintain the structure we currently have for regular corporate worship gatherings as well as a central meeting place for equipping and training. Such a body incorporates the strengths of smaller fellowships (self-care of benevolence, discipline, counsel and other pastoral care needs) as well as the accountability and enabling resources of a larger congregation.

I am quite sure that I’ve overlooked several blind-spots in my consideration of where ecclesiology is headed in 21st century western culture, but as I’m certain it is experiencing a course correction, I want to be at least hypothesizing what that may look like. At the end of the day, I know one thing for sure… God builds his church, I tend to be just “along for the ride.”

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(1) National Congregations Study – 2006-07

The Indestructibility of Christian Marriage

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DATA

Quoting:  After months of revived debate over divorce and its increasing acceptance among Americans, a new study affirmed born-again Christians are just as likely as the average American couple to divorce.

The Barna Group found in its latest study that born-again Christians who are not evangelical were indistinguishable from the national average on the matter of divorce with 33 percent having married and divorced at least once. Among all born-again Christians, which includes evangelicals, the divorce figure is 32 percent, which is statistically identical to the 33 percent figure among non born-again adults, the research group noted.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/study-christian-divorce-rate-identical-to-national-average-31815/

The article at this website http://sapphiresky.org/2010/03/04/christian-divorce-rates/ takes issue with the popular interpretation of the Barna poll cited above and the author concludes that the divorce rate among born-again evangelical Christians is 26%, seven points beneath the national average of 33%.

FRUSTRATION

I am inclined to follow the analysis of the 2nd website and place the divorce rate among born-again evangelical Christians at 26%.  Along with this author I, too, am dismayed that the level of divorce among self-proclaimed followers of Jesus is so high.  (Breathe easy, this is not a bash piece on those who have been divorced.  Like you, I’m a pastor and I’ve seen how life can go south and leave people broken/weeping.)

My response to the divorce rate hasn’t been one of condemnation, but one of frustration.  I have a hard time wrapping my mind around how Christ centered/Bible taught/Spirit filled Christians could abandon the covenant they so solemnly entered into before God and witnesses.

My frustration also had to do with the testimony of the church to the power of the risen Christ.  If the power of Jesus is not enough to keep two born-again evangelical Christians together, what else can the power of God not accomplish?  If the church is bearing witness to the reality of changed lives and all the world sees is us changing partners, if we bear witness to covenant marriage and all the world sees is the practice of serial monogamy, a very powerful dimension of Christian witness/ministry is compromised.

I was frustrated/flummoxed at the broken lives of believers and the broken witness of the church.

REVELATION

I was thinking about this one day and had a very liberating thought that has allowed me to frame the matter differently.  Here it is – just because two Christians are married doesn’t mean that they have a Christian marriage.  Read that again.  Or, put it this way – two Christians being married doesn’t guarantee a Biblical marriage.  The name of Christ doesn’t guarantee the character of Christ.

Let me illustrate.  Two Christians in business doesn’t necessarily result in a Christian business.   What is a Christian business?  One with a quality product, fair prices, and just employee practices.  (Oh, and they’re green, too.  Laughing)  But can two Christians in business together offer a shoddy product with inflated prices and practice unjust employment policies (and not recycle)?  Have you ever been ripped off by someone who had a fish on their business card?  Laughing  The name of Christ doesn’t guarantee the character of Christ.

Two Christians in business together doesn’t guarantee a Christian business and two Christians married to one another doesn’t automatically give them a Christian marriage.  The name of Christ doesn’t guarantee the character of Christ.

EXPLANATION

So, what is a Christian marriage, a Biblically formed marriage?  No new stuff here.  A Christian marriage is where the husband loves his wife more than himself and where the wife submits to her husband as unto the Lord.  A Christian marriage is one where mutual submission and respect form the basis of all that is done.  A Christian marriage is where the husband regards his wife as more important than himself and she regards him as more important than herself (and the Lord is of supreme importance!).  It is where both love Jesus more than themselves and more than their spouses.  It is a marriage marked by obedience to Christ.  A Christian marriage is one where the husband is seeking to out-love his wife and the wife is seeking to out-love her husband.

In my wedding ceremonies I take note that God didn’t bring Eve to Adam so that she might serve him – cook his breakfast/iron his clothes/find the remote in the couch where he lost it.  God brought Eve to Adam so that he might serve her.  I tell the groom that he will not be fulfilled in his marriage as his wife serves him, he will only find fulfillment as he serves her and pours out of himself into her and makes her more important than himself.  And vice-versa.

During the ring ceremony I tell the husband that this ring made of most precious metal and most precious gem is a work of beauty and of great value.  He is taking this work of beauty/value and placing it on the weakest finger of his wife.  What he is pledging is essentially this: Where you are weak, I will be your strength; where I find ugliness in you, I will cover it with beauty; where I find sin in you, I will cover you with forgiveness.  I will be a refuge for you, a shelter – I will never expose you or leave you.  You are safe with me.  (And much the same for the bride).

This is Christian marriage – a mutual giving/surrender/covering.

OK – what is the divorce rate in a Christian marriage?  0%.  Read that again.  Christian, in the phrase ‘Christian marriage’ is an adjective and speaks of character.  Christian marriage, one that truly possesses the character of Christ, is indestructible.  Christians are failing in their marriages, but a Christian marriage is marked by the unbreakable love of Christ.  We know from I Corinthians 13 that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails…  One of the most enduringly sweet things I have ever read was someone’s comment (I can’t remember who) on this passage.  It has relevance here.

Love bears all things.  And when love can no longer bear all things, it believes all things.  And when love can no longer believe all things, it hopes all things.  And when love can no longer hope all things, it endures all things.  When love can no longer endure all things, lover never fails.  

This is the indestructible, unbreakable, unfailing love of God!

Please note that I didn’t define a Christian marriage as reading the Bible, praying, and attending church together.  These are the practices of a Biblical marriage, but not the essence of one.  These things are not the essence of Biblical marriage, they shepherd a couple to the essence of Christian marriage.  They are the doorway, not the house.

CHALLENGE

The challenge for the ministry is to example and teach the essence of Christian marriage.  Even among the wreckage of so many lives which are the result of so much marital failure, the banner and standard of Christian marriage can be raised without condemnation.  Your people are longing to see an example of mutual sacrifice and unbreakable love.  In August, Fran and I will be married 35 years.  I believe (and this isn’t sermonic hyperbole) that when marriage is done right, it is the closest thing to heaven on earth.   I also believe that when marriage is done wrong, it is the closest thing to hell on earth.  We’ve tasted both.

A Christian marriage, where the character of Christ is in every crease and fold, is an indestructible marriage.  The name of Christ doesn’t guarantee the character of Christ, but the character of Christ that is growing and stretching and flourishing in each spouse results in an indestructible marriage.

Prep-time Verses People-time

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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!

 

 

Cultural Shift – Part 2

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[dropcap3]M[/dropcap3]inistering in a theistic environment is relatively easy. Relatively easy in the sense that the you, and the person to whom you are ministering, are playing from the same deck. When you ask, “Can I pray for you?” there’s likely a common understanding about prayer. When you speak about God you can assume that your hearer has a similar concept of God. Religious people with a similar [theistic] worldview are generally more receptive to the gospel, thus “large-scale” evangelism can be effective.

Evangelism in America for several generations had been anything but cross-cultural. For many, “cross-cultural evangelism” has been the equivalent of “foreign missions.” That is simply no longer the case, and contextualization of the gospel is now commonplace for evangelism in our own backyard. There are however some problems. “Contextualization” seems foreign to most ministers over 40. The mainline church is still [largely] relying on evangelistic tactics that are oriented toward a theistic worldview, and expecting receptiveness to the gospel like what you’d hope for among theistics (if I can make up a word).

At the close of 2008 I began teaching through the book of Acts at Calvary Escondido. Six months later, as we came to chapters 10 & 11, I was struck by how the move of the gospel from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, to the “uttermost parts” – or the Hellenistic Roman world – mirrored the shift of culture the church is now facing in 21st century America. In many ways we’ve reverted to a 1st century mindset and culture in the west. How’s that for progress? This is incredibly foreign for the western church, as it has not experienced such an environment for centuries. This epic shift has given rise to the term “Post-Christian,” which strikes great fear into the hearts of masses of evangelicals.

The first week of April, 2009, Newsweek’s cover featured the headline “The Decline and Fall of Christian America.” John Meacham’s provocative article “The End of Christian America” got more than a little rise out of many in the Christian community. A year prior, in February, 2008, The Pew Forum released it’s nearly 150 page “Religious Landscape Survey.” Pew’s survey of more than 35,000 Americans explored this religious and cultural shift; it was, in many ways, the catalyst for Meacham’s article and Newsweek’s cover.

Post-Christian. This is the cultural landscape of 21st century America; and Western Europe for that matter (Europe is actually far further down the path). Christianity and the “Christian worldview” are no longer the default in America. Some staunchly hold that America is a Christian nation and consider it their call to defend [politically] “Christian America.” Every time I am confronted by this mindset, I am reminded of Jesus’ words to Pilate, “If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight… My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36, emphasis mine) Perhaps we’d do well to actually read those bumper-stickers that are so trendy among evangelicals today.

Why does this reality seem to frighten us so much? Have we totally forgotten that the world in which Peter, John, Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Titus and many others ministered was wholly non-Christian by the very fact that it was pre-Christian? Do we honestly [and arrogantly] believe that America is the last hope for the Christian faith? Look at the statistics, Christianity is not slowing it’s pace of growth in the least. Sure, it may be growing fastest in places other than America and Western Europe, but the Christian faith is not in decline, even in the west.

What then is in decline? To answer that we’d have to ask, “What exactly is “Christian America?”” I believe that “Christian America” has actually meant “Christian Consumerism,” or if I can make up another word, “Consumeranity.” If that is dead or dying, may it be that the DNR is signed and notarized.

Certainly the long way about it, but what exactly is the point for 21st century evangelism in America? Clearly it’s going to look different than it has, but it’s going to be more like it was, as in the days of Paul.

Large scale “crusade evangelism” may still have a place [for a time]. However, most who attend crusades are already theistically minded. They are, for lack of a better analogy, the low hanging fruit. Paul did seek such individuals in his evangelism. Always when he entered a new city he searched for the synagogue; he first desired audience with the Jews and gentile god-fearers. Ultimately he would endeavor to reach the unreached; the paganistic, polytheistic, pluralistic Roman mind.

Evangelism with Romans involved contextualization and more explanation; and uptake, or receptiveness to the gospel was on a much smaller scale. Roman’s were skeptical and suspicious. At Athens in Acts 17 there were a few who were open, but most mocked and dismissed Paul’s defense. This is what I believe awaits the evangelist of our day; skepticism, suspicion, mocking and dismissiveness. Add to this, they, the modern day lost, are not going to come to us; we must meet them in the marketplace, outside the structure of the church.

These may be changes from the norm of Christianity in America, but the reality is that what we’ve experienced in America has not been normal to Christianity. American Christianity for the last hundred years (or more) has made abnormal, normal. So much so that we’ve lost sight of the fact that every Christian is called to be an evangelist on mission. We have exalted a few key leaders as evangelists and cast on their shoulder the burden of the task. The harvest is white and the few laborers are bound to grow weary unless we reengage the body as a whole.