Big Church, Small Church = Same Church

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As many of you know, I am a blogging veteran. It dawned on me recently that I have been blogging for over 10 years at this point. But is also interesting is that I find myself interacting on them less and less (although ironically, this article is on a blog). Why? Well because I have little bandwidth these days for incessant arguments. When I think about some of the most common arguments about church on blogs (whether ministry-minded blogs like CrossConnection or other Christian blogs), it is the church size preference argument. Most of the arguing, as I have thought about it, is actually from people who prefer smaller churches and then vilify larger churches. Although I don’t know of any larger church pastor starting a blog argument over church size, it is far to common to hear a mega church pastor speak down about a smaller church. I once stood in horror as a large church pastor asked a faithful brother of a smaller church, “How is your little work going?”. The work of God in salvation and in His people is never little. It is always huge.

But, for me, I feel that I have a unique vantage point on this because of how the Lord has led me. I have been involved pastorally in 4 churches (3 as the church-planter and senior pastor). The three churches I planted were turned over to other pastors with less than 100 people. Now I pastor a very large church. Here’s what I have learned. Simply stated, the church is the church. Whether large or small, the church is the people of God together in community. Every church is flawed in some way, yet being grown up into her head, Jesus. All churches have budget problems, building (or lack thereof) issues, committed members and folks who just come and go. On every level, the church is the church.

This was brought into stark focus for me recently as someone asked me how it was to teach at a large church. I said simply, it’s exactly the same, just more people hear the message at one time. I haven’t changed, the only difference is that now, if I look to the left or the right when I’m teaching, I’ll see myself amplified on jumbo screens (a terrifying sight). I still study the same, deliver it the same, pray that God uses it the same. After service, just like in a smaller body, some folks head for the doors and other folks want to spend time and talk. There are all the same people issues. In any church, large or small, most people have 10 truly close friends. That doesn’t change. A large church is not any less intimate than a smaller church. Why? Because intimacy is a heart issue not a size issue. Again, it’s all the same church.

So why do I write this? Well maybe it is my hope that people will be okay with simply stating their preference for church size and dynamics instead of seeking to justify the preference by vilifying the other side. I also say this because as a church planter and smaller church pastor, I also tried to vilify larger churches. It don’t think I did it maliciously. I did it naively. But my experience has taught me that the church is the church, no matter how many people are gathered together. We are all one big family in Jesus. I, for one, am grateful for that.

The ‘One Another’

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Nehemiah 4:19

“Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall.”

There is the very tangible reality in our daily lives that we are separated far from one another “on the wall”.

There is no doubt that the “work” we are involved in as the Body of Christ is vast and extensive from our point of view. As we look at the “walls” that lie in disrepair and comprehend that its “breaches are many” (Isaiah 22:9), we begin to understand the scope of all that has been done, and begin to understand the reach that still has to be accomplished in our own communities, to the ends of the globe.

What greater thing is there than pouring our very lives that have been redeemed from the slimy pit and have now been washed clean, purged from the stains of our guilty consciences and shot-out lives, into the great and eternal “work” that we have been called to and given gifts by His Spirit which enable us to engage ourselves in this work effectively and profitably for the renown of Jesus’ name.

There are those that each of us know and love and care for in the Body of Christ that are fighting and laboring and toiling, expending spiritual and physical blood, sweat, and tears in this “work”. They are the ones that fill the seats on Wednesdays and Sundays, falling asleep, nodding off during our sermons, not making it to the discipleship classes, the home fellowship or mid-week study all the time, “‘cuz I’m just plumb wore out”.

They are the ones who are directly involved in the “front lines” work of the ministry. They are the ones forging ahead day in and day out into the vast hordes of men and women, young and old who don’t believe. And it is at those moments that we feel so separate from one another in the work that God has set before us to do.

And here in Nehemiah 4:16 we see the position of the leaders in the “impossible” work in Jerusalem…namely repairing the breaches, rebuilding the wall. The leaders are positioned squarely behind the “frontline”. Yes, they are also directly involved in the work themselves, fighting, laboring and toiling alongside.

But they are also functioning “behind the scenes”, watching, directing, re-directing, encouraging, equipping, etc.

With this picture in mind, one thought stands out. There is the necessity that we must teach, by our lives and by our words, that in the work of the Lord and in the service of the Lord, in desiring to accomplish the task that is before us, there is a needed balance, with which we will be able to be most effective in our watching and in our working.

We, as pastors, have been separated from “waiting on tables”, so to speak, and strive to be constant in our giving of ourselves, our entire lives, to the ministry of the word and to prayer. Our desire, our goal, our calling, if you will, is to excel in being the leaders that God has gifted us to be so that you might be the best equipped, as you each are laboring and toiling on the front lines, rebuilding the walls.

It is the Body working together, every part functioning in the role and giftings that the Lord has given each of us.

Ephesians 4:11-16

We have been given the grand opportunity to glorify God in coming alongside one another in this Great and Extensive work that He has called us to, gifted us for, and given leaders in His Body as He has seen fit to equip us for the work He has prepared beforehand for us to walk in.

1 Corinthians 12:27

“Now you are the body of Christ (corporately) , and members individually.”

The U.S. military…a useful analogy

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I’m sure I’m not the only pastor and/or teacher of the scripture that is constantly on the lookout for a good analogy or illustration that can help bring clarity to one or more of the truths contained in God’s word.

In my search for just the right analogy to describe the Christian life in general, especially in the way it contrasts with the way everyone else is living life, God has given me one that both believers and unbelievers have told me is the most understandable they’ve ever heard.  I’d like to pass it on to those of you who read this blog to see if it might be useful to you.

Before I continue though, please know that this analogy is most effective for those in a culture and a country that has a governmental and military structure somewhat similar to what is found in the U.S.A.

Here it is:  The all volunteer military– it’s characteristics and it’s members interaction with the government and other citizens not in the military.  This is what I mean:

1.  A person must choose to become a part of it, just as a person must make a conscious choice to surrender to Jesus as Lord and Savior.

2.  To choose to join, by necessity you must also choose to turn away from pretty much everything else that has been a priority in your life, which includes the right to do the work you want to do, the place you want to live, and many other things that you no longer have control over….because you’ve chosen to surrender to an authority higher than yourself.  Easy to make the connection to the follower of Jesus here, right?  Repentance.

3.  But, you don’t stop being a citizen of the U.S.A. or being governed by it’s laws and you’re still subject to the punishment that is the result of disobeying those laws.  Sort of like the dual citizenship and the responsibilities that go along with each citizenship that was clearly expressed by Jesus in response to whether taxes should be paid, and by Paul in Romans 13 and Phil 3:20….for example

4.  Instead, you not only must remain a good citizen of the U.S.A., you must also live obediently to the new government that you have chosen to live under.  That new government is called the Uniform Code of Military Justice, (UCMJ).  Certain actions will be a violation of the laws of both governments.  But other actions that you are free to do as a U.S.A. citizen without violating the law, are actually violations of the laws of the UCMJ and you will be held to that higher standard and punished if you violate them.  The followers of Jesus, although free to do things that the culture or the government doesn’t consider unlawful, nevertheless don’t participate in those things because they are living with an accountability to a higher law.  And when a follower of Jesus violates the principles of the kingdom, other members of the kingdom hold him accountable.

5.  Those who are not a part of the U.S. military, are free to choose what the ultimate goal of their life is.  Those in the military are not.  Everyone in the U.S. military shares one common, ultimate goal:  to obey the commander-in-chief as he makes decisions that have the best interests of the whole country in mind.  That obedience will at times require the individual soldier to surrender life itself for a cause greater than his own interests.  For the follower of Jesus, He is the commander-in-chief and His goal of glorifying God through self-less love does at times require His follower to give up his/her life too.

6.  Every person that voluntarily joins the U.S. Military is required to go through a basic training.  For Americans, basic training exists to destroy the individualism and independence that are at the top of our cultural mountain.  Individual identity in the military, although recognized, is subjugated to finding your identity as part of a group/community.  For a soldier to think and act independently and to place individual needs/wants above what is best for the group, cannot be tolerated.  To tolerate such behavior is to potentially cost the lives of others.  As followers of Jesus, we enter the kingdom as individuals, but we are actually newly born into a “body” that has many parts with many functions and all are interconnected.  We have a crucial role to fill, but never in a manner that is disconnected from other members of the body and the body itself.

7.  Although some war situations will cause a U.S. military member to only interact with other members of the military, that is generally only for short periods of time.  But at some point it will always be the case that every member of the military will have to interact daily with civilians–those not living under the UCMJ.  And regardless of how contrary civilians live in contrast with the standards of the UCMJ, the military person will willingly give up his life, if necessary, for those living so opposite of the standards he lives with.  The follower of Jesus won’t just die for other believers, he will be willing to die for those who hate Jesus and hate him because he loves Jesus.

Although there are other angles that can be extracted I think these are sufficient for now.

Let’s be thankful for the U.S. military…in perhaps more ways than we have in the past.

 

 

 

Organic vs. Artificial

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I was a little disturbed this week to find that my favorite cereal had genetic soybean in it instead of all natural soy. It was even more disturbing to find that the cereal company that I thought was grass roots was in fact a concoction of the conglomerate Kellog. When we find out something isn’t real but instead artificial it leaves us with bad taste in our mouth, kind of like Pepsi Next, all the bad stuff diet plus none of the taste of the real thing. But I digress.

Churches can be artificial as well. They have the appearance of being real but in fact they are full of artificial fillers. I don’t want to make this post about the personality of the church but about how our churches grow. Does your church grow organically or artificially? What I mean by that is does your church grow by transfer growth or by salvations and baptisms?

I have been convicted of this lately because to be honest my church is around 85% transfer growth. I understand that and for awhile have accepted that but something has been growing inside of me for more organic growth in our church. I want to see our church grow by reaching the unchurched and dechurched. Our staff has been in conversations about this since the beginning of the year on how best to do that.

On one hand a big demographic in our area are single ladies in their 60’s & 70’s who golf twice a week at the country club. On the other hand our little Village is packed full of families barely squeaking by financially and exhausted from running their kids all over kingdom come for sports activities that are a big part of the reason they are so strapped. So how do you reach them when they would rather sleep in on Sunday then drag the family to church?

I don’t have any answers for you in this post but instead I hope to open up a discussion on how churches can be more organic in their communities. Let’s be honest people who are saved and disciple in your church have a tendency to stay longer, be more patient, and less demanding. We are taking steps to reach the lost and hurting in our area. We are not sure how that will end up looking but I know we are at the stage of wanting to try more.

The Moses Model?

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I was raised in the congregational rule of the Christian Church.  I later scuttled that model for the more Scriptural model of presbyterian rule – a collegial model.  I easily dismissed the Episcopal model as being too open to abuse by aberrant personalities.  I was dismayed when Pastor Chuck Smith outlined an episcopal ecclesiology (please note the small ‘e’).  It rattled me to hear him speak of the authority of the pastor as being superior to that of the elders.

Pastor Chuck did outline a positive role that elders play and the relationship between pastor and elders – and the Christlikeness that should govern that relationship.  But when push came to shove, no one could push and shove the pastor.

As I thought through the issues related to church government and the more I gave consideration to Pastor Chuck’s understanding of how authority is to be exercised in the context of the local church, the more I found myself comfortable with and coming into alignment with a Biblical view of episcopacy as related to the exercise of authority in the local church.  This is a huge question: Who has authority and how is this authority wielded?

Authority, and the hierarchy of authority, is built into the very fabric of the cosmos, from the Godhead to human government to business to sports to marriage to the church.  Anarchy, an attempt to destroy or escape hierarchy, is a rebellion against the very structure of the universe.  Hierarchy literally means ‘the rule of priests’, but it is used pragmatically for any organization that has established authority and lines of accountability.  Headship and authority are implicit within the structure of the created order because they are implicit within the structure of the Uncreated Order.  What follows are several lines of reasoning supporting the practice of episcopacy, i.e., pastoral authority within the Calvary Chapel family of churches.

There is hierarchy in the Trinity.  There is an economy within the Trinity whereby one member of the Godhead is submitted to another member of the Godhead for the purpose of accomplishing the intentions and plans They have jointly decreed.

He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.   John 14:24 

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  John 16:13 

We see the Son not doing anything apart from the command of the Father who sent Him.  The Holy Spirit is submitted to both the Father who sent Him and the Son whose ministry He applies to the hearts of humankind.

There is hierarchy in the home –

But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.  Eph 5:24 

There is order in the home and family.  This order is not established by the notion of equality, but through the notions of headship and submission.

There is hierarchy in the workplace.  If there is no headship in business, in government, in the home – order breaks down.  The plans and intentions of that business, government, home will never be realized apart from headship and submission implicit in hierarchy.

Many, at this point, will call attention to the fact that the terms “elder” (presbyter), “overseer” (episcopos), and ‘shepherd’ (pastor) are all used interchangeably with no hint of hierarchy within the servant leaders of the church.  See Acts 20:17 & 28; 1 Pet 5:1-2.

In these two passage we find that an elder is an overseer is a pastor.  A presbyteros is an episkopos is a poimainos.  If one is equal to another, from where do we cull the principle of hierarchy?  If, in the description of these offices there is no distinction between these offices, how does one rise above another?

Please note: along with the description of church government we also see the practice of church government in the NT Scripture.  In the application of authority to the life of the church there emerges a very real and defined hierarchy.  Consider the following situations as reported in Scripture –

  •  Paul gave decided leadership to his apostolic band – a very definite hierarchy.  The notion of a democratic approach would have struck Paul as odd.
  • In Acts 15, it was James, the brother of our Lord, who stood up after much debate and counsel among the elders and apostles and gave the definitive statement concerning the place of the law in the life of the Gentiles who had come to Christ.  The gathered leadership deferred to and agreed with him.
  •  Both Timothy/Titus exercised pastoral authority over the churches in which they were ministering.  They exampled hierarchy.

In the NT we have a picture of local churches/ministry teams where an explicit hierarchy emerges every time.  You cannot find one example in the NT of a collegial group of men where one does not emerge as the recognized leader to whom the others defer and follow.

The New Testament model of church government takes into consideration the full scope of both the descriptive passages and those detailing the practical application of these ministry offices in actual experience.

In further support of hierarchy as a pattern for church government we have the seven angels of the churches in Revelation 2-3.  The line of reasoning here is very simple.  John addresses each letter to a single individual, the angel of the church.  No doubt, this is the pastor of the church.  Without argument, the whole church is in view, yet only one individual is being addressed and singled out for the bulk of the warnings, promises, and exhortations.

Revelation 2:2-4 is a representative passage illustrating this fact:

I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;  and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.  But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

The bolded words ‘your’ and ‘you’ in the foregoing reflect 2nd person singular verbs and pronouns.  This pattern is followed in each of the letters to the seven churches.  The Lord is holding the pastor responsible for the spiritual condition of the church.  In contrast to this, please note the grammar of Revelation 2:24

But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them–I place no other burden on you.

The bolded ‘you’ in the foregoing translates the 2nd person plural pronoun.  The Lord is speaking to a single individual, the pastor, and then, when He intends to address the larger church, the grammar itself reflects this change of address.

If exegesis means anything, we have to account for the alternation of grammar in the passage under study.  The use of person in the verbs and pronouns in the seven letters to the churches in Revelation support the hierarchy of episcopacy in church government.

God holds the pastor accountable for the spiritual health and direction of the church because the pastor holds the responsibility for these things.

It is noteworthy that the early church immediately following the generation of the apostles found themselves gathering around the bishops of the church.  Hierarchy is an inescapable principle in the cosmos.  We see it in the Uncreated Order, in the created order, and in the redemptive order – in the church.  Yes, hierarchy can be abused and has been abused – but so have the congregational and presbyterial models.  The weakness isn’t with the model, but with ungodly men who will corrupt any model. Though many practice collegial and congregational forms of church polity, hierarchy as episcopacy has impressive Biblical credentials.

The practice of this episcopacy is not expressed in arbitrary, oppressive, abusive, unaccountable leadership.  New Testament episcopacy is not opposed to collegiality, mutual submission, and team wisdom – but that is matter for another article.

Get S.M.A.R.T.

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About a month ago a friend challenged me with the question, “How do you gauge your spiritual growth?” This friend is an associate pastor within a very large church that requires their staff to chart out spiritual growth goals every 6 months. And these goals are not ambiguous or undefined. In fact, each pastor is accountable to someone within the pastoral team as to how well they are accomplishing their growth goals. To be very honest, it’s been awhile since I wrote out specific goals for growth. Unfortunately we [pastors] sometimes assume growth as a given, as if it were growth by osmosis via proximity to the “Church.”

The numbers don’t lie. Both Barna and the Schaeffer Institute have found that more than 70% of pastors only study the Bible when they are preparing for sermons or lessons. Only 26% “of pastors said they regularly had personal devotions and felt they were adequately fed spirituality.” Not only do the numbers not lie, they’re incredibly challenging. Perhaps such apathy and atrophy in the pastorate is why the profession of “Pastor” is near the bottom of a survey of the most-respected professions, just above “car salesman.”

I certainly didn’t realize it when I stepped into the pastorate, but this is a profession that chews up and spits out many who occupy it. The average pastor lasts only five yeas, which is startling, considering that I just began—last week—my 5th year pastoring Cross Connection Escondido. Peter Drucker once stated that the four hardest jobs in America are the President of the United States, a university president, a CEO of a hospital and… a pastor. I don’t know if that is true, but I do know that if you are to survive in pastoral ministry, you’d better be proactive about your spiritual life, which I believe holistically involves every other aspect of your being too (i.e. physical, mental, emotional, etc…).

When I first began in the ministry as a youth pastor, the theme verse for our youth group was 1 Timothy 4:12…

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Over the last several months I’ve been brought back to 1 Timothy 4 a number of times. Another verse of the same chapter says…

For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

– 1 Timothy 4:8

This verse is often jokingly put forth as a reason to abandon physical exercise, which is an obvious misapplication. But the glibness with which it is often thrown about in some ways lessens the impact and importance of what is being said. We need to be physically and spiritually well exercised, especially pastors.  Most certainly spiritual exercise, or godliness, has longer lasting benefits (in this life and eternity).  If we are to be exemplary in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith and purity, then we need to make sure that we exercise ourselves toward godliness. Thus, I’ve been challenged to more diligently set some S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific • Measurable • Achievable • Reliable/Realistic • Timely) about my spiritual and physical disciplines; because there are far too many in my “profession” that do not finish well.

Pronouncing Blessing – A Lost Art?

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For about the last five years, I have ended nearly every worship gathering that I have had the pleasure of leading by doing a Benediction.

May the LORD bless you and keep you
May the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you
May the LORD lift His countenance upon you and give you peace.

And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
And the love of God
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
Be with us all now and forevermore.

This benediction is simply the Priestly Blessing of Numbers 6:24-26 with 2 Corinthians 13:14 added to the end of it. I have always enjoyed putting these two Scriptures together as the Blessing of Numbers 6 is focused on the Yahweh, the true and living God. Those capital letters show that LORD is God’s personal name, in the Hebrew, YHWH. By adding 2 Corinthians 13:14 to it, we get the full Biblical revelation of who YHWH is: Father, Son and Spirit, the blessed and glorious triune God.

It is simply the speaking forth of two Scriptures. But for some reason there is tremendous power and comfort in hearing the God’s blessing proclaimed on and over a group of people. In many ways, this speaking of blessing is a lost art in post-liturgical Protestantism, as this practice is often not the norm. We often forget that words are creative (both in Genesis 1 and James 2). Yes, we believe in the priesthood of all believers, but there is also something powerful and special when the pastor of a congregation will stand in the midst of the assembly and pronounce God’s blessing.

It is my hope and prayer that we will all grab hold of the tremendous opportunity to pronounce blessing upon people. I pray that pastors would bless their congregations publicly and often in Jesus’ name. Would to God that husbands will share the benediction with their wives and vice versa. Would to God that parents would share it with their children. Would to God that brothers would bless their sisters and vice versa. That employers would bless their employees and the employees would return suit. That blessing would be proclaimed across party lines, denominational lines, socio-economic lines, across international boundaries and unto the ends of the earth.

BIBLICAL INSTRUCTION: Monologue or Dialogue?

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Natural Extremists

We are prone to extremes.  One issue we tend to go to one extreme or the other on in the church is that of biblical learning.  On the one hand, there are those who are committed to preaching the Bible in the form of monologue.  When they think of Christians learning the Bible, they envision a lone preacher standing before a crowd, delivering a studied and crafted sermon in the power of the Holy Spirit, spitting presuppositions and propositional truth.

On the other hand, there are those who are committed to learning the Bible through sharing and dialogue.  When they think of Christians learning the Bible they picture a group of friends sitting down together to share how the Bible impacts them personally.  They see themselves sitting with friends over lattes in a coffee shop, or over dinner in a home, informally discussing what a portion of scripture means to each person in the group.   They value the contributions and interpretations of each person who is present.

I’ve seen some people who are so committed to teaching and preaching the Bible in monologue, that they are skeptical of any kind of sharing context where multiple people contribute opinions and perspectives on the meaning or relevance of the Bible.  Still I’ve seen other people who are so committed to the truth that “God can and wants to speak through all believers” come to a place where there is no room in their thinking for monologue preaching, or designated pastors who serve as primary Bible communicators for a specific community of believers.

Both/And

My contention is that both extremes are wrong, and that this is one of many areas Christians need to have a Both/And way of thinking.  I believe the reasons the monologue crowd values their preferred method are generally biblical, and that the reasons the dialogue crowd values their preferred method are generally biblical as well.  I believe that helpful leaders will help those entrusted to them by God to see the value and place of both monologue and dialogue in growing the church in the knowledge of God through His Word.

A Small Case for Monologue

1 Corinthians 12:29- “Are all apostles?  Are all prophets?  Are all teachers?”  These are rhetorical questions in context.  The apostle Paul is arguing for the unity of the body through the diversity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Because we all have different gifts, we all need each other.  God has designed the body to be dependent upon Him by being codependent upon what He’s doing in each other.  Not all have a Spirit-given gifting to teach God’s truth in the same way, or at the same level.

Ephesians 4:11-12: “And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”  Each of the gifts described here are Bible communicating gifts at their core.  Apostles preach the gospel and plant churches.  Evangelists major in preaching the gospel and equipping Christians to do effectively do the same.  Prophets have a teaching ministry that is trans-movement/denomination, and a ministry which applies biblical truth to timely issues under the spontaneous leading and enablement of the Holy Spirit.  Pastors and teachers give biblical counsel and didactic instruction of the Word to God’s people.  But four times we are told that only “some” are given by God to perform these functions in the ways these men do.  Only “some” are to build the body in these particular ways.

1 Timothy 3:2 tells us that an overseer must be “able to teach.”  This is not a requirement for deacons.  This implies a unique teaching ministry for those called to serve as the governing body of the church.  We can add to this verse 1 Timothy 5:17-18: “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.  For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘the laborer is worthy of his wages.’”  The Bible is to be our method for determining how to think about these issues.  That’s why Paul built his case from “Scripture.”  And what Scripture demands, according to Paul, is that some of the governing leadership work hard at teaching the Bible more than any other Christian or leader in the church.  Their job is so important that they are to be paid to fulfill that role as they do it well.

We could go on, but these texts amply demonstrate that God intends there to be monologue-style Bible preaching and teaching in the church.  He has not gifted all to teach the same way.  He does not gift all to deduce the meaning of Scripture the same way.  Specifically, men who are called to be the leader of the leaders in the church are Spirit-gifted to preach the Word, and be the doctrine-setting authority in the local church.

A Small Case for Dialogue

But I’m not just for monologue in the church, but for dialogue as well, and so is the Bible.

Colossians 3:16- “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”  This exhortation was given to all the members of the Colossian church.  They were all to play a part in “teaching and admonishing one another.”

Hebrews 10:24-25: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  If there are a couple verses that support the idea of believers encouraging each other in small group community over lattes, these are them.  Considerately stirring each other up to love God and people, and serve God people as we “gather,” is the job of “us” as believers, not just “me” as a pastor.

Conclusion

Preaching the word in monologue is biblical and necessary.  If a Spirit-gifted man isn’t at the helm, preaching the Bible faithfully in collaboration with other Spirit-given leaders in the local church community, heresy abounds, and the church becomes a pool of ignorance.  Men who are specifically called to fill such a “leader of the leaders” function are not allowed to function in their gift.  Frankly, some need to repent of their radical commitment to the autonomy of the individual in the church.  Some would reduce the church to a leaderless weak state in the name of all believers being “equal” and “usable by God.”  We are all equal.  God does use us all.  But the question is how does God use us?  For some, they are called to be primary teachers and preachers in the church in ways others are not.  Let them do their job for the health of the church and the glory of God.

Additionally, God really can and does speak through every believer.  God wants to display how He has changed His kids through sharing in dialogue in small group type contexts and house churches.   The Holy Spirit wants to manifest Himself, and His edifying work, through every Christian.  This means that while pastors need to uncompromisingly engage in the monologue preaching of God’s Word with authority, they also need to help the local church develop contexts of dialogue and sharing.  We need to get over our need to control everything that is thought and said, and remember that Jesus is the real senior pastor of His people.  To be sure, you are His instrument in a unique way when it comes to teaching His truth.  But the goal of your ministry is to enable the body to do “the work of the ministry” which includes “teaching and admonishing one another” without you standing over peoples shoulder all the time.  As pastor James Macdonald said recently, “The biblical picture isn’t that the pastor ministers to the body, but that the body ministers to the body.”

So, pastors, lets preach the Word like crazy, and take no guff for doing our God-given job.  But let’s also make sure we don’t quench what the Holy Spirit wants to do by not developing and encouraging contexts of sharing, where each member of the body of Christ can have a voice and be used.  I don’t do this perfectly, but I’m working on it.  Join me.

R U, Am I Bearing Fruit?

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When life changes occur, and when the years ahead of us are fewer than the years behind us, we tend to grow a bit more philosophical about pretty much everything. I know for many, this sort of philosophizing is a good thing… especially when it results in the kinds of adjustments that glorify God.

I’ve been in that stage of life for the past six years or more. I’m learning things now that I wish I’d known when I was in my 20s. Here are some thoughts that have been either in the back or front of my mind for a while now. Thoughts about bearing fruit, which have to do with the meaning of life. I’m coming from John 15, which contains one of Jesus’ eight “I AM” statements in that gospel.

First, the John 15 scenario.

“I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser,” Jesus told His men the night before He went to Calvary. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:1, 2)

Here Jesus introduces two possibilities. One is the possibility of the person in Him that does not bear fruit. The other is the possibility of the person in Him that does bear fruit. Later in the passage, Jesus describes the bearing of more fruit, and then much fruit.

Fruit … the New Testament has a lot to say about it. In some passages, fruit is equated with good works. In other passages, fruit is described as Spirit enabled qualities that show up in and through one’s life… qualities like love (agape), joy, peace, etc. In other passages, fruit is what shows up when someone repents. The new repentant one is now different. A noticeable change has occurred. It (fruit) can refer to a person’s behavior, which indicates what he/she is inside. Fruit is descriptive of soul-winning in John chapter 4. Sanctified worship is even called “fruit,” when we, with the fruit of our lips, give thanks to His name.

However we might describe fruit and what it actually is, it’s very clear that the Lord is looking for it in our lives. He expects it, and rightly so. After all, “it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3). Since He made us, it’s His obvious right to expect whatever He might desire from us. According to Jesus, those who bear fruit will bear it with in varying degrees—“some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 21:19).

So there are branches in Christ that bear no fruit, those that bear some fruit, those that bear more fruit, and those that bear much fruit. Of course, Jesus Himself is the One that originates this fruit, just as the vine originates the fruit of each of its branches. It’s our live in Him, and His life in us, that gets it done.

No Fruit

Unfortunately, many believers in Christ don’t act like it, and don’t live like it. Notice from the passage in John 15 that these are clearly believers. They are “in Him,” which can only describe true children of God. Yet at a certain time and for whatever reasons, believers sometimes bear no fruit. Is it sin in their lives that’s the problem? Is it because they’ve set aside the Word of God and are walking with their own limited wisdom?

In any case, what the Lord does with this kind of believer is take it away. The Greek word used by Jesus is airo, which Strong’s defines as meaning “to lift; by implication to take up or away; fig. to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind); spec. to sail away (i.e. weigh anchor);:—away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).

I greatly favor and agree with Bruce Wilkinson’s interpretation of this verse from his classic little book The Secrets of the Vine. In that book Wilkinson translates airo as meaning to lift up, in the same way that a vineyard owner lifts up the branches that are hanging low and too close to the ground. When that happens, these branches are subject to dirt, mold, and disease. So the grape farmer comes by and literally lifts up these branches, cleans them off with water, and then attaches them securely to the trellis. In practically no time at all, life returns to the branch, and eventually fruit is the result.

This “lifting up” of a branch that’s too close to the earth (i.e., carnality and worldliness) takes place through the twin processes of conviction and discipline. The Lord convinces us of the bad place we’re in, and He also may bring circumstances into our lives which give us a good spanking. This is done because He loves us and has our absolute best in mind (see Hebrews 12:5-11).

Fruit

This condition generally describes the believer that is not currently under discipline or conviction, at least not to any large degree. The Word of God within him is doing its work, and fruit is the result. It’s not more fruit, and it’s not much fruit, but it’s still fruit… a very good thing. It’s been produced by Christ Himself, who is the Vine. The branch is somewhat healthy, lifted up from the earth/world, and is receiving His life.

More Fruit

The process of producing more fruit has to do with pruning. Have you ever seen a vineyard after it’s been pruned? It looks like there’s nothing there, like it could never again produce a single grape!

Of course, pruning has to do with removal. Removal of the unnecessary. Removal of that which is using up too much of the Vine’s life, and wasting it. Removal of hindrances and barriers to greater fruitfulness.

Ouch. Naturally, we don’t like to be pruned, but it has to happen. This attitude must go and be replaced by a new one. That habit must go. This character flaw must be severely adjusted. That possession/toy/recreational pursuit/business interest/hobby is sapping my spiritual strength and diverting the Vine’s power from the core of my being. The Vinedresser cuts it off. He prunes it away. At first, we object. We don’t understand what’s happening. But eventually, we experience another level of life, freedom, and fruitfulness. We didn’t need that thing after all. It was just dead wood. It needed to be lopped off, although we didn’t know it at the time.

This, of course, is the work of our Eternally Wise Heavenly Father. Father knows best, and He loves us. When He takes out His pruning shears and saw, He is not trying to hurt us. He is zealous to get more of the life of His Son flowing through our lives. Therefore, He cuts away. But in the cutting, He knows exactly how much and when to cut. Again, He is our Eternally Wise Heavenly Father. He does not cut randomly or carelessly. He knows which parts of us have to go. He does all things well.

Our part in this is to cooperate and not try to wiggle out from under His shears. We also need to recognize this process, because that will help us endure it. We will eventually say to ourselves, as we obtain more experience being under the Vinedresser’s masterful care, that we need this.

The lovely result is “more fruit.” At this point, we’re closer to fulfilling the purpose for which we’ve been created than ever. We are starting to be like Joseph, described in the following passage:

“Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; his branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel)…” (Genesis 49:22-24)

Much Fruit

There is a way to go from “more” fruit to “much” fruit, but it’s sort of a tricky thing. It runs counter to our natures. In our way of thinking, “much” fruit must be the result of trying harder to produce “more” fruit. We just ramp things up a bit, and much fruit will be the result.

Not so. Going from more fruit to much fruit happens through an unexpected process called abiding. It’s not a step forward in the sense of more activity and human inertia, but rather a step backward perhaps. It may even be a “less is more” sort of thing. Less work, less effort, less anxiety, less striving, maybe even less planning. In the place of these things is this mysterious, elusive, yet wonderful thing called abiding. Remaining. Resting. Living. Being at home with. Resting comfortably in the presence of. Dwelling in. Being present with. That’s the key, according to Jesus.

Abiding is a two way deal. The believer abides in the Vine, and the Vine abides in the believer. The believer learns to remain in, rest in, live in, be at home with, rest comfortably in the presence of, and dwell with Christ Himself. Conversely, the believer learns to allow Christ to remain in, rest in, live in, be at home with, rest comfortably in the presence of, and dwell with him/her. Paul tells us that this part of the relationship happens by faith:

“…That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…” (Ephesians 3:17a).

In this stage of fruit-bearing, there is a conscious attempt to let go and let God. It’s the New Covenant as Paul described it in 2 Corinthians 3:5:

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God…”

“Everything coming from God, nothing coming from me” (as Ray Stedman phrased it in his great book Authentic Christianity).

I have to ask myself the question, which measure of fruitfulness describes my life?

Am I in the fruitless stage, where I need the conviction of the Holy Spirit and discipline of my Father to free me from self and worldliness? Have I allowed the world to squeeze me into its mold? To put it another way, do I need a spiritual spanking from the Lord?

Or is my life bearing some measure of fruit. If so, then I must expect pruning. No vinedresser would ever let his vines grow wild year after year. They must be pruned, or eventually they’ll be incapable of bearing any fruit at all. Are you going through a time of pruning in your life right now? If so, rejoice! The good news is that you must have been doing something right. Now it’s time for more work to be done, usually inside of the heart.

Finally, there is the possibility that pruning has been taking place for many years. Now the Lord is asking for me. He wants my heart, my love, my devotion, my very life. He wants to produce fruit, more fruit, and much fruit, true… but He also wants me. He wants that kind of closeness that John the apostle knew with Him, leaning upon His breast. What a wonderful picture that is! A grown man leaning on the breast of the Savior. John would refer to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” John knew about abiding, that’s for sure. It’s no wonder to me that he was also known as the apostle of love. Fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is love.

Personally, I’m aware of the fact that I’m currently going through a very challenging period of life. I know the Lord will work it all out for good in the end, I’m confident of that. I’m also very blessed to know that the Vinedresser and the Vine are active in my life. He is working a work that will last and that is real.

Thanks for reading.

 

Bill Holdridge

 

Senior Pastors AND Missionaries: Unique stresses Unique needs

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In a few weeks I’ll be transitioning my church in Phoenix over to a younger man that in many ways is a better fit for the neighborhood where our church building sits.  My wife and I will then relocate to the San Diego area which will make it possible for me to be nearby my mom and dad as my dad’s health is failing fast.  We will also be living near our two daughters and 3 of our grandchildren, which is really the icing on the cake of Grace that God is serving us once yet again.

Ministry-wise, I’ll be rejoining Shepherd’s Staff Mission Facilitators full-time and serving as the Director of Church Relations and Missionary Care.  Although I’ve been consistently involved in pastoral-type care of missionaries and encouraging and training church leaders to care for their missionaries since my return from the mission field in 1993, having the opportunity to concentrate on doing so in a full time capacity is extremely exciting.  And needless to say, the machinery of my mind has been humming at warp speed as I think and pray about the needs and the possibilities that are ahead.

With that as a backdrop and at the risk of being misunderstood, I’d like to use the following questions and a few observations to provoke everyone, but ESPECIALLY Senior Pastors regarding ministry to missionaries:

Why do “Senior Pastors” conferences exist?

Why does the “Senior Pastor List Server” exist?

Why do a large percentage of Senior Pastors have as board members of their local church, Senior Pastors that are pastoring in other cities or even in other states?

Why, when a Senior Pastor needs wisdom and seeks out counsel regarding an aspect of leadership or a major challenge within their church, does he usually make a call to someone else who is now or has been a Senior Pastor at some time in the past?

Why does a Senior Pastor usually let loose with a little chuckle and a grin when one of his Assistant Pastors has filled in for him during the week and on a Sunday morning, and then says that he “knows what it’s like to be a Senior Pastor now”?

Obviously, the underlying answer to all of the above questions is that being a Senior Pastor is a unique calling that brings with it unique challenges and stresses that it’s hard for someone who hasn’t been a Senior Pastor to understand or relate to.  No Senior Pastor that I’m aware of is ashamed of being convinced of that in any way, nor should they be.

And even though we’re open to God using other brothers and sisters to speak into many areas of our lives, when it comes to ministry issues or family issues that are tightly connected to ministry, we know that usually only someone else who is or has been a Senior Pastor will really be able to grasp what we are dealing with and perhaps give us some good Godly counsel.

If the questions and observations that I’ve written above have any credence, (and I believe they do), then I believe what I’m about to write is worthy of at least some consideration.  Here then, are a few more questions:

Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about a person receiving and sharing the vision God has given them to represent Him in a different country to people of a different language and with radically different culture?

Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about having to trust that God will provide the money to do that through churches or brothers and sisters in Jesus that you may or may not have relationship with?

Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about liquidating pretty much every one of your belongings in order to fulfill the vision that God has given you?

Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about disconnecting yourself, your wife, and your children from anything or anyone that is familiar and then resettling them in a foreign country?

Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about the reality that once you begin living in this other country that if you or your family members need things like medical care or dental care, it is difficult to obtain and is probably of a different quality than what you’ve had access to in the U.S.?

And finally….

Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about learning to live in a completely new culture and environment and learning a new language at the same time your trying to help your family adjust AND engaging in the “ministry” that you’re convinced God called you to?

Here’s where I’m going with this:

If we can justify specialized ministry for ourselves as Senior Pastors and encourage and even make it possible for other Senior Pastors to do the same, then might it not also be possible that missionaries also deserve some type of specialized ministry and that we should encourage and make it possible for them to obtain it, especially if they are members of our church that we have commissioned and sent to the mission field?

Having been both a missionary AND a Senior Pastor at the same time overseas, and a Senior Pastor of two different churches in the U.S., I can tell you by experience that the unique challenges and stresses of being a Senior Pastor in the U.S., as real as they are, do not compare with the unique challenges and stresses of living and ministering in a cross-cultural environment outside of the U.S!

If you’re tracking with what I’m saying, (and even if you’re not), and especially if you’re a Senior Pastor, here are a few things you might consider doing:

1.  Begin viewing the missionaries you know with the same level of regard for their unique situation as you do your own unique situation as a Senior Pastor.

2.  Increase your personal inventory of understanding of what missionaries experience by doing some specific reading about the subject and pray about having your church leadership do the same.

3.  Whenever possible, set up a meeting with someone who has lived on the foreign mission field and ask them to share with you the unique challenges and stresses they faced or are facing.

4.  Encourage, and possibly even pay for your missionaries or other missionaries you know to attend missions conferences.

5.  Even more importantly, encourage or pay for a missionary to attend one of the many specialized missionary retreats that take place in various parts of our country and around the world.

I could go on and on with things to consider but I’ll leave it alone for now.

The bottom-line is that if we unashamedly recognize the unique challenges and stresses involved with being a Senior Pastor and we seize what’s available to assist and encourage ourselves, shouldn’t we seriously consider encouraging and maybe even empowering missionaries to do the same?