Hitting the Right Target

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...?