I want to share with you a quote from a book I have been reading, titled, “Deepening Your Effectiveness: Restructuring the Local Church for Life Transformation.”
“The primary role of a senior pastor in every church of any size, whether a new church plant or an established congregation, is vision caster and culture changer.” (p. 107)
What do you think about that? It might surprise you to know that this book was written by two United Methodists, one of whom is a former United Methodist pastor! I have been reading this book at the request of our Annual Conference so I can teach the material to other pastors and leaders in the conference.
It’s surprising because the unwritten practice for so many years in our denominational leaders has been in many ways the exact opposite of this. We have developed a culture where the senior pastor was supposed to come and accommodate the existing church culture and find out what the church wanted to do and help them do it. We have some church members who have been so immersed in this practice that often when a pastor arrives who has a vision different than what they are used to, they merely dig in their heels and announce, “I have been here longer than they have and I will be here long after they are gone!” Ouch!
If the Church’s role is to make disciples for Jesus, then part of the role of the senior pastor and other leaders is to define what a mature “disciple” looks like. Then we must focus all of what we do around the intentional building of these characteristics into as many people as we can. I began this process with our staff some time ago and I would like to share these thoughts here. These characteristics are not new with me, nor is this an exhaustive list, but I believe it will help all of us to have the right target in our minds as we think about where our lives are heading and what we are “aiming” for.
A mature follower (disciple) of Jesus is a person who….
• Puts Jesus before self. (Mark 8:34-35)
• Puts Jesus before others. (Luke 14:26)
• Puts Jesus before possessions. (Luke 14:33)
• Prays effectively. (Matthew 6:9-13)
• Honors the Word of God through study and obedience. (John 8:31-32)
• Makes other disciples. (Matthew 28:18-20)
• Loves brothers and sisters in Christ. (John 13:34-35)
• Lives in unity with brothers and sisters in Christ. (John 17:21-23)
• Lives under the authority of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8)
• Spurs on brothers and sisters in Christ. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
This is a humbling list! But what if we began to look at everything we are doing individually and corporately through this lens? What if we purposefully began to ask ourselves the tough questions about where we are effective and growing as disciples and disciplers, and where we need to make changes? What if...?
Friday, October 22, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Doing All Right
Sometimes I feel stuck in my spiritual growth. I find I get to certain “plateaus” of comfort and just stay there. My sins aren’t too bad and my struggles aren’t too hard. I’m not growing, but I am “doing all right.” The effort or obedience needed to move to the next level is more than I am willing to pay or that I know how to give. The world around me doesn’t help much with this. In the area of spiritual growth, we tend to be far too easy on ourselves: “Well, not everyone can be Mother Teresa, you know!”
I considered running in the House of Hope 5k this weekend. My exercise schedule is erratic at best, but I had said that I wanted to run in a 10k before I turned 50 (which is rapidly approaching). When we talk about sports or physical fitness goals, very few of us discourage each other. We know how to “spur one another on” in these areas. In fact, many of us hire personal trainers to help us move along in our journey. We have nutrition consultants, financial advisers, insurance agents and even relationship experts to help us attain bigger and better things. But who do we turn to for encouragement in our spiritual life? In the area of spiritual growth, far too many of us are going it alone. We quietly struggle and eventually find a spiritual comfort zone that keeps us satisfied but is no longer productive.
I am convinced that this is where small groups and one-on-one relationships come in. We tend to see small groups as places to feed our minds. We learn in fairly academic ways more stuff about God and the Bible. But rarely do we “get in the room” together and talk about where we are growing, where are not growing and what we can do to spur one another on. I am going to tell you a secret: The reason far too many of us are stuck spiritually is a lack of intimacy. It takes intimacy with God and intimacy with other people to continue to grow spiritually. This is why Jesus said that all of the commandments are summed up in two simple relational statements: Love God with all you have and love each other as you want to be loved.
When two or more people learn to trust each other, intimacy can develop. Intimacy leads to vulnerability and vulnerability allows for loving accountability. The enemy of this is fear. Fear of being rejected. Fear of exposure. And fear of what it would look like to be more like Jesus. I guess if I want to get unstuck, I am going to have to face my fears and learn how to love. After all, love casts out fear.
I considered running in the House of Hope 5k this weekend. My exercise schedule is erratic at best, but I had said that I wanted to run in a 10k before I turned 50 (which is rapidly approaching). When we talk about sports or physical fitness goals, very few of us discourage each other. We know how to “spur one another on” in these areas. In fact, many of us hire personal trainers to help us move along in our journey. We have nutrition consultants, financial advisers, insurance agents and even relationship experts to help us attain bigger and better things. But who do we turn to for encouragement in our spiritual life? In the area of spiritual growth, far too many of us are going it alone. We quietly struggle and eventually find a spiritual comfort zone that keeps us satisfied but is no longer productive.
I am convinced that this is where small groups and one-on-one relationships come in. We tend to see small groups as places to feed our minds. We learn in fairly academic ways more stuff about God and the Bible. But rarely do we “get in the room” together and talk about where we are growing, where are not growing and what we can do to spur one another on. I am going to tell you a secret: The reason far too many of us are stuck spiritually is a lack of intimacy. It takes intimacy with God and intimacy with other people to continue to grow spiritually. This is why Jesus said that all of the commandments are summed up in two simple relational statements: Love God with all you have and love each other as you want to be loved.
When two or more people learn to trust each other, intimacy can develop. Intimacy leads to vulnerability and vulnerability allows for loving accountability. The enemy of this is fear. Fear of being rejected. Fear of exposure. And fear of what it would look like to be more like Jesus. I guess if I want to get unstuck, I am going to have to face my fears and learn how to love. After all, love casts out fear.
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