The Prophetic Pastor

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The prophet has a stern word, a severe word, a timely and tumultuous word which he speaks into spiritual confusion, moral compromise, and carnal indifference.   The pastor faithfully, systematically, and regularly expounds the timeless truths of the Bible week in and week out to a congregation of wheat and tares.  Are the roles of prophet and pastor mutually exclusive?  The OT says, “No.”

In the OT, the teaching office was the domain of the priests.  They were not only to officiate at the altar, they were also to teach the law of Moses and make its ordinances, statutes, commandments, warnings, penalties, and blessings known.  Consider the following-

 God speaking to Aaron, of his sons –

LEV 10:11  “… teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses.”

Speaking of the priests –

DT  3:10  “They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob, and Your law to Israel. They shall put incense before You, and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.”

Speaking to the priests –

MAL 2:7  “For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.”

The priest was to be both teacher and prophet – instructor and warner.  The priest could even receive supernatural direction that was not part of the law of Moses.  The Urim and the Thummim gave the priest access to revelation not included in the Torah.  But when the priest was faithless, he corrupted both his teaching office and prophetic role.

When the priests became corrupt and were no longer faithful to their calling and twisted the law of Moses, God would raise up prophets to do the work that the priests were not doing.  This is why, for the most part, there is always tension and hostility between priest and prophet.  The priest saw the prophet as competition as the prophet took upon himself the teaching office of the priest (but not his sacrificial role).  The prophet had one basic message: ‘return to the law of Moses or else.’  The forthtelling message of the prophet was ‘return to Moses.’  The foretelling message of the prophet was ‘or else.’  They fulfilled the teaching and warning ministry of the priest.

For the most part, whenever you see a prophet in Israel, you can assume one thing – something is wrong.  You can see this in the ministry of Samuel, who was judge/priest/prophet.

So Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “Do you come in peace?”1 Sam. 16:4

The elders of Bethlehem saw Samuel coming and thought, “Uh-oh.”   When the priests of Israel became morally corrupt, spiritually collapsed, and doctrinally compromised, in come the prophets.  The prophets were God’s mechanics – they fixed things.

Here’s the thesis I would like to explore with you: the NT pastor combines within his office the roles of both OT priest and prophet.  Obviously, the call to the pastorate is a call to the teaching ministry of the church.  Here, I would also like to suggest that, in addition to the priestly teaching role, there is a prophetic dimension of the pastor’s office.  (Even though there is a separate prophetic office in the NT, this doesn’t obviate the need for the prophetic dimension of the pastorate.  My sense is that the NT prophet doesn’t minister w/ the same regularity as does the pastor.  The NT prophet, as his OT counterpart, ministered occasionally – not w/ the rhythmic regularity of the pastor.)

Though there are significant differences in how the prophet and pastor prepare for ministry, there is sibling DNA in how the two go about ministry.  Contrasts between and comparisons with the prophet and the pastor are worth exploring.

The pastor has time constraints that the prophet didn’t/doesn’t.  The pastor works under the time constraint of Sunday and midweek while it seems the prophet does not have the same regularity of demand.   The pastor speaks a scheduled word while the prophet speaks an occasional word as he waits upon the initiative of God.  Yes, the pastor is to wait on God also, but consider the following –  Jeremiah, in C42 of his prophecy, waited ten days for the Word of the Lord to come to Him.  Elijah stood in the council chamber of the Lord, whereas Elisha received the Word of the Lord when the minstrel played.  Of course, as pastors, we can stand in the council chamber of the Lord and be stirred in our spirits by anointed music, but we can hardly wait ten days for the Lord to speak!

The pastor studies his Bible; the prophet waits on God.  There was no text in front of the prophet except that of the Torah.  Yet his calling wasn’t to systematically expound Torah; he waits for an immediate, unmediated Word.  He has no commentaries in front of him and does not concern himself with word studies.  Yes, he is part of a historical tradition and community, but this supplies him little grist for the mill.  His task isn’t to take the words of others and gain richer insight, follow paths of implication, or give contemporary application.

Even the NT prophet, as I understand this office, does not ‘study’ as the pastor studies.  He listens for the Lord as he discerns the times and discerns the people.  He may minister with regularity, but not in the same place.  Again, my sense is that the ministry of the NT prophet is extra-local.  He can have one message that he then brings in 20 places.  The pastor has a local ministry, he is in one place, and therefore needs to bring forth many messages.

The Word we pastors study is a mediated Word – it has already come through someone else.  Yes, it is the Word of God as much as it was for the prophets, but it is not an immediate Word.  The prophet is given bread; the pastor is given grain to make bread.  The prophet’s bread is the pastor’s grain.  The prophet is given a fully cooked meal; the pastor is given all the ingredients to serve-up a healthy dinner.   The pastor expounds the timeless Word; the prophet proclaims a timely word.  The pastor develops a text and brings an exposition of the information found in the text whereas the prophet seeks the burden of the Lord.

OK – so what?

The Prophetic Pastor

The prophetic pastor will develop the Biblical text and seek the burden of the heart of God.  The prophetic pastor will labor to bring forth the timeless truth of the Bible and proclaim the timely word of the Lord.  The prophetic pastor will exegete the Bible and exegete the people and the times in which he lives.  The prophetic pastor will bring forth a stern word, a severe word, a timely and tumultuous word which he speaks into spiritual confusion, moral compromise, and carnal indifference.  The prophetic pastor faithfully, systematically, and regularly expounds the timeless truths of the Bible week in and week out to a congregation of wheat and tares.

Many pastors avoid bringing forth a stern word for fear of being condemning.  Many pastors avoid bringing forth a severe word for fear of hitting a note of harshness that could be interpreted as undermining grace. Discipline for sin, the destructive consequences of irresponsible decisions, the anger of God at the sin of individuals and the sin of the church, etc. are not common or popular themes in today’s pulpits.  Because the prophetic dimension of the pastorate is at low ebb, many pastors, in the systematic and regular teaching of the Bible, rise no higher than giving theological lectures.  The click and paste method of sermon preparation has hobbled the pulpit and turned it into a lectern.  The sermon has lost its prophetic edge and has become an information dump.  Cultural/linguistic/historic/theological background fills the sermon, leaving no ground for the voice of the living God.  Biblical information is a means to an end – the revelation of God.  The sermon, as the exposition of Biblical information, is meant to translate into the spiritual revelation of God in the heart of the hearer.  The prophetic pastor will seek the burden of the Lord as he labors in his study of the cultural/linguistic/historic/theological background of the text for that week.  I want the people not only to know what the Bible says, I want them to encounter the living God!

(I am not making the neo-orthodox claim that Biblical information becomes spiritual revelation in an existential moment.  I am not saying that the Bible is not revelation, but contains revelation.  I am not saying that Biblical information is not revelation in and of itself.  I am not talking about the Bible – I am talking about the pulpit and the man who stands in it.  I am talking about sermons and what they are meant to accomplish.  The Bible is always revelatory – some sermons aren’t.)

Let me hasten to add that I have driven home many Sundays stinging in my spirit because I had failed to deliver the severe word, the stern word, because I thought it wasn’t the loving pastoral thing to do.  I have also been guilty of using the pulpit as an information dump.  I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit continues to use my poor attempts at preaching to reveal Himself to the people.  I am amazed.

OK – that’s enough.  This article was painted in broad brush strokes.  If I painted outside the lines you are comfortable with, please let me know how you understand the roles, callings, ministries, and offices touched upon in this article.  What is the role of the NT prophet?  Do you know of any?  What does their ministry look like?  Has too much information made the sermon anemic?

Flash in the Pan, not for Me!

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I am not a fan of the emphasis that seems to be encouraged, or rewarded in many church-planting circles today.  We love numbers…big numbers that is.  When they’re up–we rejoice.  When they’re down–we feel like incompetent failures.  We are encouraged to chase programs and events that draw a huge crowd.  I have seen many church-planters who get a huge flash in the pan with big numbers and they stick around between 1-3 years before moving on claiming they are “Paul’s” who plant and move on.  These types love numbers that show many people came, many professed, and many were dunked–regardless of how shallow any of these events were in reality.  Sorry if I seem critical, I know their are people who do this well, but I just don’t think this is a model we should strive for.

What should a church-planter, church-restarter, or leading pastor focus on in His journey?  I don’t know that I have the answers, but I have a few principles that have guided me along this journey.

1.  Plan on plowing this hard path for the long haul.  I have read a number of church-planting books that suggest the planter buy a cemetery plot in the town he is pastoring.  This shows himself and the community that he isn’t just passing through, but he is committed to sticking it out for the long haul.  While I haven’t bought a plot in Valley Center, I have taken this principle to heart by trying to make decisions that reflect a person who is sticking around.

2.  Preach the Word faithfully and a book at a time.  I think I apply this point to just about everything relating to pastoring because this is the critical element in all that we do.  I don’t do altar calls (not that I am against them), I don’t lead “the sinners prayer” after every sermon.  But I try to convey a biblical worldview through the preaching that ultimately changes the person’s worldview with one that corresponds to that of the Bible.  I often don’t know when, or how many people, have accepted Christ as Savior.  But what I do notice after four years of preaching like this, there is a large crowd of people who love Jesus, take His Word seriously, and about 30% of the body have been baptized at the church over the last four years.  I prefer people to process and wrestle through the text and then follow Jesus, rather then “follow Him” after an emotional response.

3.  Prefer slow growth with lasting results over flashy results that fade over night.  I think many planters feel rushed to push and force things to happen quickly because they are chasing the clock with support.  Money should never be a motivator, but money will always be tight for the life of the pastor in the early stages when he is trying to create something out of nothing, or something from something that is broken.  Therefore get your financial life in order.  Get out of debt, save, spend less than you make.  Do whatever you can to remove money from being a driving factor in your decision making process.

4.  Invest in people.  This is sort of a sub-point of the previous paragraph.  Get to know people, invest in their lives, live out Christ before them.  This takes time.  If your goal is to change a person’s world view from that of humanism to that of a biblical model it will take years, not in one message.  Don’t fall for false expectations that you are going to roll into town, preach a few messages, and then see radical life change.  Sure it can happen, but the reality is that it takes time to see change.  I think this is why Paul tells Timothy to serve “with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2).

Hopefully this makes sense as these are just some ramblings I am feeling in my heart at this moment.

 

Random Thoughts

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I love when people pray publicly, and actually pray to God.  Sometimes preachers finish up their sermons under the guise of prayer, instead of actually praying.  Sometimes people explain situations to humans, and call it prayer.  Sometimes we make excuses for ourselves and others, or politely but inappropriately consider the people around us too much. Sometimes we do everything BUT actually speak to God, almost as if no one was there.  The prayers that impact me the most seem to be spoken in such a way, that the pray-er isn’t even mindful that any other human is in the room.  Those kinds of prayers rock me in a good way.

A few of you guys have heard me say this before, but I wish we could reserve the word “awesome” to be used only of God, instead of using it as a common word for everything from lattes to the good eq of a snare drum.  Anybody with me?

At the Pastor’s conference at Murietta last June, one particular main speaker was very powerful.  A colleague of mine said of this pastor, “It was like he just came out of his prayer closet”.  There was a power and authority that flowed forth from his life in a magnificent way.  Paul tells Titus in 2:10 that we ought to “adorn the doctrine of God our savior in all things”.  The power that flowed forth adorned the doctrine of God, and I had a holy jealousy of it. It reflected a life of quiet discipline and obvious power.

I need to remember to tell people “thank you”.

I need to “follow the peace”.

There is a healthy and holy way to not care what other people think.  That is probably a good mindset to maintain, and I think it can only be found from being in deep and regular fellowship with Jesus.  I think “freedom from the burden of self awareness” is a great need for pastors.  I think I am probably doing my best work when I am totally unaware of myself.

I have found that in foreign missions, focusing on one area year after year can really be rewarding, both on a personal level, and for the kingdom of God.  Relationships, trust, love, cultural understanding, learning the nuances of a community….all these things take time and repetition.  As a pastor who travels a lot to a certain area, I have been very blessed to limit my travels to one region, as opposed to a more diverse approach (which isn’t wrong, just different).

Jesus is our perfect example in the balance between being people oriented and task oriented.  Sometimes it is hard to slow down and love people.

I am more impressed with a man’s heart than with his gifts.

Surprisingly, we are getting more 20 and 30 somethings in our church, and all that without an overly deliberate attempt to do so.  That is a pleasant surprise.

Some people in our churches are really intimidated by us pastors, and we feel the emotional and social strain of that.  Sometimes it is hard to identify that this is happening, much less believe.  I need to continue realizing that by virtue of my position in the Body of Christ, some people will treat me like a school principal, or like a dad, or like a policeman.  I don’t want to be seen in those ways, but I am and will be.  I need to be OK with the fact that their mindset of me may force me to work harder to have relationship with them, but that is OK.

I am sure that Jesus must be much more pleased with me and our church than I am.

Sunday Stuff

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Practicing Tough Love

2 Thessalonians 3:6-18

http://vimeo.com/27927225

 

 

 

Total Wellness #6 – Loving Yourself – Daniel Fusco @ Calvary North Bay

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Click To Download Audio

Saturday Reflection – Dr. Tim Keller speaking at Google on “The Reason for God”

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¿ Apostolic ?

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I recently heard a Christian leader say that “church planters” hold an apostolic role in the church, and that they ought to recognize their call as apostles. Yes, he made a distinction between “the 12” foundational apostles of the church, and explained that an apostle, according to mere definition, is [essentially] one who is sent. A modern day missionary. A “church planter.”

I don’t necessarily have a problem with the title of “apostle” being used for a “church planter.” I think we all recognize the difference between modern day missional pioneers and say, the Apostle John. My concern is that some, who are giving counsel and advice to up and coming planters, are painting a picture of the “church planter” as being some sort of rogue lone ranger, on a mission to which all else refuse to embark.

As I listened to the remainder of the exhortation, seeking to keep an open mind, I found myself thinking, “every true apostle must always begin as a servant.” The reality is that an apostle leads as a servant throughout their ministry. I’m not sure where this splinter cell mindset is coming from, but I don’t think we observe it in the scriptures.

Without a doubt, the church planting, missional, total abandoned, standout apostle of the New Testament is, Paul. Nearly two-thirds of the book of Acts is dedicated to the ministry God wrought through the converted Pharisee. The majority of the New Testament epistles are attributed to the Roman born, Hebrew of Hebrews, and aside from Christ Himself, Paul is perhaps the most well known figure of the first century. But lone ranger, he was not.

Paul’s calling and ordination to the task of an apostle was of God and not of men (Galatians 1:1). Be that as it may, it was not until he was sent out with the blessing of a church that he actually went; and when that day came, he was not alone. The thirteenth chapter of Acts gives a brief summation of the commission. Paul and Barnabas, assembled with the three other leading teachers at Antioch, were ministering to the Lord when He, by His Holy Spirit said, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” Following the call they fasted, prayed, laid hands on them and sent them away.

Nowhere do we see Paul or Barnabas giving Simon, Lucius and Manaen an earful about the greater work they had lost sight of or were missing, out on the frontier. Paul did not leave as a misunderstood pioneer without a gracious blessing from his sending church. As often as he declares his apostleship in the New Testament, he bears witness to his servanthood. Was Paul the apostle uncomfortable around other pastors, or something of a misfit? I think not. He recognized and wrote that those called to leadership within the church, whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors or teachers (or pastor-teachers if you read it that way), are all called to the same work; equipping the saints for the further work of the ministry and building up of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12).

A renewed fervor in church planting is praiseworthy. A desire to see people brought into the kingdom and bearing much fruit is right. But an unwillingness to submit to the leaders of a local church and serve an established body, because of a pressing desire to be the pioneering apostle is, I believe, a mark of immaturity.

I have not planted a church, but would go in a second, were God to call me to do so. But as a pastor of a church I am ready and willing to fast with, pray for and lay hands on those that have proven themselves faithful stewards, as servants among the gathering of God’s people. Hasty, impetuous individuals who push their way out into the field to lay claim to a plot of ground upon which to build a pulpit, prove themselves often times to be no more than self-willed children, unwilling to wait in the proving-ground of ministry for the sincere endorsement of those whom God has made overseers for their souls.

Your leaders understand you far more than you realize. Learn to submit, and let them serve with joy and not grief; it will profit you greatly.

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.