Serving a Generation You’ll Never See

I don’t think I could cut it as an Old Testament prophet. I’ve eaten too much McDonald’s.

Read this from 1 Peter 1:10-12:

“…the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ was indicated when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have not been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look”.

These prophets saw the gospel. They knew that a Rescuer was coming that would suffer and then be brought to glory. They didn’t see it fully but they saw it. And they wanted to know when. 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Nope. A future generation that they will never see.

That’s why I say I couldn’t hack it. I’d have questioned my calling. My abilities as a prophet. My message. Everything.

A Prophets Death Story…

When I picture prophets I picture guys with long beards, dressed up dead camel, and eating weird food. And in my minds eye I see them preaching—hard. Sweat rolling off their brows as they call people to repent. Tears streaming down their face urging fellow Israelites to return to Yahweh and find refuge in Him alone.

And I picture people ignoring him. But only for a season. Eventually, towards the end of his life, he gets to tell an amazing story to his grandkids. He tells them about the time he told everybody what was going to happen but nobody listened to him. Then it happened. And everybody realized he was correct and now they’ve got a book with all of his writings in them. He’s a difference maker and he dies knowing it.

In reality he probably just died without an “I told you so”. Because the story was still not finished when he breathed his last. People were still rejecting his message and running from Yahweh. The Deliverer had not yet come. And the world went on mostly as it did before—but now with a dead prophet.

But he did die in hope. And that’s probably the story that he told his grandkids. Not of a completed mission but of a Rescuer that was still to come. One that would set all things right. As his eyes closed for the last time they died in hope that he’d be delivered into the hands of this Rescuer that he’d been waiting for. And someday…someday…people would get it…they’d see this suffering Servant and be included in His glory.

Comes to Life

He never saw that day when some 2500 years later a young man in rural Missouri bowed a knee to this suffering Servant. He never saw his life changed and transformed—him captivated by words long written down by this dead prophet. Words that somehow—miraculously—spoke the Living Word. And words that this young man would one day preach. Yes, he too would preach in the hope that someday, someone, somewhere, would get it, and they too would bow a knee to the Rescuer.

Maybe as a preacher of the risen Christ I’m not so different from the camel-clothed prophet that proclaimed the coming Rescuer. So may I preach and teach and lead in the same hope and humility that maybe the good news I preach will serve a generation that I’ll never see.

Review of The Pastor’s Justification by @JaredCWilson

“That was terrible. I totally blew that sermon. Nobody was paying attention. Heck, I almost fell asleep..and I was the one preaching.”

There I was wailing and moaning and discouraged by a sermon that didn’t go the way that I thought it should have.

Then my sweet wife lovingly rebuked me. I don’t think she meant to really rebuke me, but she did. She quietly said, “Mike, I wish you wouldn’t speak that way after a sermon. Because when you do it makes me not believe what you just preached. Nor do I think you really believe what you just said.”

Ouch.

She was right. I had probably been preaching on the sufficiency of Jesus, the benefits of the gospel, the power of the risen Christ, etc. etc. and I left the pulpit not believing a one of them—at least not applying them.

It’s not always that way. Sometimes I exit the pulpit floating on cloud nine. I know that I knocked it out of the park. Everything that I wanted to say, I said eloquently. No slip ups. I preached passionately. I did it the way that you are supposed to. (Minus the pride of course). Totally faithful to the text. Centered on Christ (except for that pride thing again).

For some reason fewer people seem to have been impacted—but it’s probably because they are just soaking up my awesome sermon.

Both of those episodes betray a heart of unbelief. A foolish heart of unbelief. And I could replace preaching with counseling, planning, living, leading, loving, and a host of other things and it would be the same. We pastors (we disciples) vacillate between moments of pride convinced of our awesomeness and moments of despair convinced of our complete unworthiness.

Enter the Pastor’s Justification

This is why a book like The Pastor’s Justification is so helpful. Jared Wilson is a good writer. One of the things that sets this book apart from the others is that Jared can just flat out write. But more than anything Wilson keeps the gospel front and center. That is important—no, that is vital.

It is vital because the same gospel that strengthens and encourages the discouraged pastor is the same gospel that rebukes and humbles the puffed up pastor. Both need the gospel. In both of these foolish responses we need the sufficient Christ to remind us of who we actually are—not awesome and not scum. We are His. The gospel brings the lofty low and exalts the humble—bringing both to the place of Christ.

Wilson writes as a pastor. This means that he is not afraid to speak in a prophetic voice, as when he speaks to younger pastors:

Young men, be teachable. You do not know everything. And your theology and your position are never licenses for authoritarianism. If you don’t want others to look down on your youth, don’t look down on their age.

Yet, Wilson also speaks with pastoral tenderness and encouragement. After listing a myriad of questions that bring to light our sinfulness, he writes this:

You and I both know that you have transgressed over and over and over again. And you’re going to stand before a holy God to be judged by these things, according to a stricter standard than all other because you are a pastor, and he will ask you to give an account. And looking back over the failures of your life and ministry, you will grasp at straws. What do you think he will say to you?

“Justified.”

In this book Jared does what a good pastor does, he points to Jesus at every corner. He uses the glaring holiness of Jesus to expose our pride, sinfulness, and foolish ways that we pastor. And He uses the wide mercy of Christ to comfort weary pastors.

The Pastor’s Justification is a book that every pastor would do well to purchase. It has some of the same benefits as Paul Tripp’s, Dangerous Calling, and reads like Eswine’s Sensing Jesus. Those were two books that really benefited me in 2012. This book stands toe to toe with those immensely helpful books. But Jared’s writing has a tendency to stick in my brain and rattle around in my soul better than many other books on pastoral ministry.

You can buy it here. And you probably should.

Jesus and Millennial Wants

There was an article that appeared a couple of times on my Facebook feed over the weekend. It’s an article by Rachel Held Evans on Why millennials are leaving the church. There is so much about this article that I celebrate. I appreciate her encouragement to drop the “church-as-performance” model. Furthermore, I think she’s largely correct about why millennials are leaving the church.

Yet at the same time that I celebrate much of the article I remain a tad befuddled. At one point the author states, “we millennials have highly sensitive BS meters, and we’re not easily impressed with consumerism or performances”. And she then makes the argument that “what millennials want is a change in substance”. After this she lists several things that this generation wants from church.

Her striking conclusion—the point that the whole article is driving towards—is that “we’re leaving the church because we don’t find Jesus there.” And that is what confuses me.

Why I’m befuddled

If what she means is that churches aren’t preaching Jesus then I think millennials ought to leave. But it isn’t the church that millennials are leaving its a social club with a cross hanging on the side of the building. Maybe a mass exodus out of social clubs calling themselves a church isn’t such a bad thing. 

But I don’t think that is the whole story. I wonder if maybe we millennials are the very thing that we say that we hate. On one hand we say that we want Jesus. But I wonder if it’s really Jesus that we want.

If what we really want is Jesus, then we ought to drop our “wants” and come running—not only to Jesus but to the messy church that he bought with His blood. Listen, the second that we come to Jesus with a list of our wants we’ve moved away from being a disciple and we’ve become a consumer. Which, again, is the very thing that Evans says millennials dislike about the church.

If you leave when you don’t like something that is the mentality of a consumer, not of a disciple.

Jesus and Millennial Wants

As I scan through the Gospels, I’m thinking about how Jesus responded to those that approached him as consumers. On one hand our Lord is always stooping. He reaches people where they are. And if this happens to be as a consumer—the Lord stoops and speaks to them on that level. But he always challenges them.

I think of the Rich Young Ruler that viewed Jesus as a good teacher that could nail down this question that has been nagging him. He left sorrowful because Jesus wasn’t a product to be consumed but a King to be followed.

I consider the throng of people that wanted to make Jesus a king because of his culinary skills. They left that day without their king because Jesus isn’t merely an earthly king to be hoisted onto a temporary throne, He’s the eternal ruler and sustainer of the universe.

I’m left to wonder whether or not millennials really want Jesus. Because if we do then we’re probably going to look more like Paul who gave himself to the church for the sake of Jesus’ sheep. And that doesn’t look much like leaving a church because it doesn’t look like what you want. It looks like staying, and pleading, and praying, and surrendering, and repenting, and changing, and growing, and messing up, and being involved in the yuck of church until the day Jesus returns and we’re all transformed.

So yeah, I’ve got to be honest and say I’m not really concerned with asking a group of millennials what they want out of church. I’ll talk. I’ll listen. But at the end of the day I hope that we both begin to ask what is it that Jesus wants out of the church. And I just bet it will be a little more than a fickle and consumerist commitment to the Bride of His affection.

Putting Online Shepherding In Its Place

“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you…”

When Al Gore invented the internet* a new opportunity for “pastoring” was also invented. With a few strokes on my keyboard and a click of the mouse I can sit under teaching from all around the world. I can be “pastored” by a guy that I’ve never met and live in a “community” filled with people I’ve never actually seen. 

I believe God inspired Peter to add those little words, “that is among you”, for a reason. You cannot rightly “exercise oversight” if you’ve never actually sat across from a person. That is why Peter exhorts the elders to shepherd the flock that God has placed before them…not some other dudes flock, and not the one that is in your imaginary dream world. The flock that actually exists, right under your nose.

1 Peter 5:2 is an important word for those of us that have an online writing ministry. Our audience (oh, how I dislike that word), is not our flock. We aren’t their shepherd. They are not our sheep to tend. As much as I love the people that read this blog and appreciate their readership I have to remember that unless they are also members of FB Jasper, I’m not their primary under-shepherd.

Why do people seek online shepherds?

There are three major reasons that I believe people are drawn to an online “pastor” and community instead of the real thing.

The first reason is that there really are bad shepherds out there that are starving their sheep. Not everybody can just move to a new church—as some may not have a biblical shepherd for hundreds of miles. Hungry sheep desire food and so they go to the internet to be satiated.

Secondly, some sheep are discontented and shouldn’t be. Their pastor won’t be speaking at any conferences, writing any books, or much else that would make him a Christian celebrity. He loves Jesus, is as faithful as he knows how to be, but Joe Pewsitter isn’t satisfied with him or his teaching so he goes to the internet to listen to his favorite celebrity. He’d likes the way that Pastor Superstar preaches and teaches so he’ll follow him instead.

Lastly, it’s easier to hide. You can get what you want online. You don’t have to deal with the messy of actual relationships. If you don’t like what somebody says just click on another link. If you don’t want to be confronted on sin then don’t type your sin into a search engine. Just follow the speakers that you like, read the articles that agree with you, and keep yourself safe. You can’t do that in a real community.

What 1 Peter encourages me to do in response

As one of those online writers I feel that I have responsibility. If someone is following me because he/she is surrounded by unfaithful shepherds then I’m truly thankful to the Lord for using me to feed His sheep. At the same time I readily acknowledge that I’m not the ideal pastor for this person. I will encourage him/her to pray that God would give him/her a faithful shepherd. Either through changing the hear to the current pastor(s) or bringing new ones. I’m thankful that God uses me in the interim but I have to remember that is exactly what it is.

If somebody is following me simply because they are discontent with their pastor I need to be careful. That can really stroke my ego. I can go off thinking that I’m doing a better job than Pastor X at shepherding his flock. Even if that were true (and it probably isn’t) God has called someone else to be their shepherd. My responsibility is to help them love the shepherd(s) that God has given them.

I also need to be aware that people like the comfort of an online community and pastor over the real thing. This will help me to encourage people that I “counsel” online to actually pursue a local church.

If you have an online writing ministry you need to make certain that you keep it in it’s proper place. You are not a replacement pastor. You are a supplement, a help, a voice, to encourage people to love Jesus more. And as such you know that one of the best ways that people grow in loving Jesus more is by growing in their love for the under-shepherd(s) that God has already given to them.

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*I’m sorry, I can’t stop making that joke no matter how old it gets.

7 Reasons Preachers Should Spend Time Preaching to Teenagers

I have been preaching to teenagers for about ten years now. Truthfully, I’m probably more suited to teaching/preaching to adults that teens. I am not your typical youth pastor. But I love teens and I love preaching the gospel to them. I believe that my time spent with teenagers helps me to better preach to adults*.

Here are seven reasons why preachers should spend some time preaching to teenagers:

1. It forces simplicity. In sermon prep I constantly ask myself if I can say something more simply. This helps me to give any audience the fruit of my labor and not the sweat.
2. It helps with illustrations. I am terrible at illustrations. Working with teenagers has helped me to only be terrible and not abysmal.
3. It prepares me for questions. Teens will ask silly questions. And teens will ask amazing questions. I consider inquisitive teenagers with every sermon I preach.
4. It keeps me from assuming an audience. It has been said that people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. This is very true with teenagers. You have to win their hearts before their ears. I never assume that I have an audience and this forces me to spend time thinking about a “hook” every week.
5. It forces focus. When preaching through a difficult passage of Scripture it can be tempting to get lost in all the debates. Preaching to youth reminds me to focus on what really matters and save the intellectual debates for scholars.
6. It is fun. When teenagers know that you love them they are quick to listen. Their questions and their vigor makes for a ton of fun.
7. They respond and often awkwardly. Teenagers will often immediately respond to a sermon. And they often respond awkwardly. This forces me to be intentional in the way that I aim for response. I don’t ever assume that they will apply the sermon in a fitting way.

I would encourage every preacher of the gospel to spend some time preaching to teenagers—at least a few times every year. Few things will hone your preaching skills like ministering to teens.

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*I want to say here that I do not—nor have I ever—viewed ministering to teenagers as a stepping stone to the “big show”. If you view preaching to teens as merely a means to an end they will see right through it, and frankly such a view is dishonoring to Jesus. Having said that, preaching to teens is great preparation for preaching to adults.

The Stooping Christ and Social Media

“…their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.” –Nehemiah 3:5

All of the returning exiles were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Everybody is wearing a tool belt and getting their hands dirty. Nobody is immune from serving…except for the nobles of the Tekoites. Not these guys. These guys are leaders. Leaders lead, they don’t stoop.

Nehemiah is already leading this gig, so the only position left along the wall is to strap on a tool belt and get to work. The nobles are obviously above doing such a menial job. They remind me of Michael Scott, from The Office.

In an early episode, a sensitivity trainer (Mr. Brown) has to come to the office because of an offensive Chris Rock joke that Michael retold. Mr. Brown very kindly puts the entire office through the training so as not to single out Michael. Towards the end of the episode we are informed that the only signature needed is that of Michael Scott, yet he refuses to sign. His reason?

“I can’t sign this because I didn’t learn anything. I could maybe sign something that says that I taught something”.

Michael Scott couldn’t stoop.

Jesus does.

One of the most astonishing claims of the Bible is that God Himself took upon human flesh. He not only “made himself nothing” by taking on human flesh, but he also “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death”. And this was no ordinary death, this was “even death on a cross”. Jesus, the King of all kings, the most noble of all nobles, would stoop to any depth to serve the Father.

Do we?

There is a common theme that I observe on Twitter that bothers me. I fear that some pastors today are following the way of the Tekoite nobles instead of the way of Jesus. They appear to be more concerned with being epic than with stooping to serve.

Everyday Twitter dutifully informs me that I have new “followers”. Almost every day I am followed by a leader-man that is obviously destined to be epic. He’s got a rockin’ ministry name. His hair is amazing. His smile could win a beauty pageant. Everything about this guy screams out that he is put together. His bio reads something like this:

Pastor. Disciple of Jesus. A leader that leads other leaders to lead others into Awesomeness. I’m a leader. I encourage others. Check out my website: awesomeleadershelpingawesomeleaders.com

I’m expected to follow Captain Awesome. When I don’t (and I seldom do) then I am quickly unfollowed. I’m not cheesed by them dropping me; I’ve learned to grow content with whatever audience the Lord gives me. But this pattern bothers me still.

For one, it bothers me because I see my own heart in these descriptions. I write so much against “being epic” because deep within me is a drive to be a difference maker. This is an idol that the Lord is uprooting from my heart. So, I’m sensitive to this.

Secondly, it makes me throw up in my mouth a little because it is so opposite the way of Jesus. Doing things like following a ton of people so as to get re-followed might be winning the social media game, but I’m convinced that it’s a wrong-hearted focus that looks more like a Tekoite noble than our humble Messiah. 

It is my prayer that we might use social media to help us become more like Christ and not less. I pray that pastors, ministers, and disciples of every ilk increasingly become more like Christ and less like nobles that refuse to stoop.

The Trembling Hands of an African Blasphemer

I found myself deeply moved earlier this week upon reading the diary of John Newton. Newton has become a dear friend of mine and there was something deeply moving about reading his diary, from his own pen, near the end of his life. Here is a selection:

That is barely legible. By this time Newton has almost totally lost his eye sight and his memory is quickly fading. If one reads his diary from the the 1770’s you see the diary of a man with good penmanship, able to express deep and poetic thoughts. It is everything but this in 1804.

Why bother with journaling when you are nearly blind?

The answer is found in piecing together the scribbling of Newton in the above selection. His first line reads: “Though I cannot write, I can pray and praise”. This was (I believe) his birthday. Towards the end of the his life he only wrote in this diary on special anniversaries: the anniversary of his physical birthday, his spiritual birthday, and his wedding anniversary. And every time Newton praises. He kept writing because he believed that while the lips of the “African blasphemer” could still move he was to praise the Lord for His goodness.

Secondly, Newton wrote in the above selection, “I hope some may be benefited by my lispings”. Until the day of his death Newton wanted to praise God and help people. Perhaps this is why some 200 years later an associate pastor in Indiana is still benefiting from his life and labors.

This is why I found myself deeply moved. I can picture Newton with faint eyes and trembling hands dipping his pen in ink because whatever energy he had left he wanted it to be spent on praising God and helping people. I want to be this type of pastor. This type of man.

May I never stop being enamored at what the Lord has done for me. If the Lord tarries and I’m granted old age, I pray that my trembling hands are used to praise God and help people.

My Thoughts on James MacDonald’s “Resignation”

Last week James MacDonald resigned. Not as pastor or anything like that. He resigned his post as “fixer”:

No more setting people straight, helping others see the light. No more putting people on a program or convincing them to look in the mirror and see what they refuse to believe. Helping? Yes. Praying? For sure! Preaching? Always and with increased power, I pray. But fixing people individually? I’m done!

I first read MacDonald’s article after reading the response from Dan Phillips. Others on Twitter expressed concern over MacDonald’s words. Personally, I think this could serve to spur us on towards a helpful conversation.

The first time that I read through the article I was put off by what MacDonald was saying. I wondered if he was completely resigning from doing the messy stuff of pastoral ministry. It seemed to me that he was essentially saying, “I’m not going to be in the business of trying to help people anymore, nobody appreciates me anyways”. It sounded like an angry tirade.

Then I read it again and realized that MacDonald’s central point is that he is no longer going to try to fix people that don’t ask for it. Some of the anger that I had picked up was directed towards his old way of doing things. So now he is resolved to not offer counsel unless asked. As MacDonald says,

“Where the fixer is uninvited and the receiving heart is unreceptive, it’s far better to pull up and kneel down—interceding for a better reception, a more timely time, or a more worthy messenger.”

What I take from MacDonald is that he is going to stop initiating “fix you” conversations. He’s going to be more concerned about the things that he is called to do and less concerned about other people—unless they ask him for assistance.

Where I Agree

As I read through MacDonald’s post I think he actually has a solid point. We are prone to worry about taking the speck of dust out of our brothers eyes without looking at the log in our own. There is a certain type of person that goes about trying to fix everyone as if he/she is helping along the Holy Spirit. I believe MacDonald is saying that he no longer wants to be this guy.

This is good. We shouldn’t be that guy. If this is all MacDonald says, then I’m in agreement with him. I wish he would have been a little more careful with his words and tried making the point in a little less shocking way—but that’s forgivable. I know there have been times when I’ve let art get in the way of clarity.

Where I Might Disagree…

While I find some agreement with Macdonald, his post still causes me to be unsettled. There is some truth in saying “if people don’t want to change there is no use trying to help”. But it’s also an incomplete truth because God’s Word is more powerful than our foolish resistance. The powerful word of God is the means that God uses to “fix” people.  

As ministers of the Word of God occasionally we are called to bang our head against a wall that probably shouldn’t budge. We do so because we know that there is power in the Word of God. Worldly wisdom says that the heart of kings isn’t supposed to turn, yet Nathan boldly proclaimed truth to a King that didn’t want to face his sin. In the same way it’s a solid axiom that you cannot help people that do not want to help themselves. But isn’t the Word more powerful than this axiom?

We must proclaim God’s Word humbly and lovingly. Yes, as we attempt to restore those that are “caught in transgression” we must do it with a “spirit of gentleness” while also “keeping watch on ourselves”. But simply being prone to hypocrisy and having a tendency to botch “pulling specks out of our brothers eyes” doesn’t necessitate the pendulum needs to swing to silence.

Yes, there might be a time to “shake the dust off our feet” but that should not be our default position. And this is what still has me unsettled about MacDonald’s “resignation”. It seems as if his default position goes against the Scriptural admonitions to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching”. That charge doesn’t seem to be something reserved for a Sunday morning sermon. And if you keep reading in that passage in 2 Timothy he is charged to do those things in the context of those that “will not endure sound teaching”.

Now if MacDonald is simply saying that he will continue to exhort, reprove, and rebuke but not try to play the role of the Holy Spirit, I agree. And it’s a good point—that I believe he made somewhat poorly. But my concern is that in embracing something good (not thinking you are deity) MacDonald is adopting something that is not good (being silent when we ought to speak).

What are your thoughts? At one point do we “resign”? Can we?

A Word From an Inadequate Preacher

All genuine preaching is rooted in a feeling of desperation. You wake up on Sunday morning and you can smell the smoke of hell on one side and feel the crisp breezes of heaven on the other. You go to your study and look down at your pitiful manuscript, and you kneel down and cry, ‘O God, this is so weak! Who do I think I am? What audacity to think that in three hours my words will be the odor of death to death and the fragrance of life to life (2 Cor. 2:16). My God, who is sufficient for these things?”  -John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, 41-42

If a pastor is not convinced that he is weak and inadequate for the task he is blind. Paul came to the Corinthians with fear and trembling. Our knees shouldn’t be more sturdy than Paul’s.

But…

That’s not the whole story.

If I’m not careful my self-obsessed heart will take this truth and use it to turn the spotlight on me, the preacher. Not for my awesomeness of course; I’m Reformed, after all. I know that God is glorified in my weakness. And so, I’ll make sure everyone knows how weak and inadequate of a preacher I am. That’ll get me the thumbs up that I desire.

It is true that I’m weak and inadequate. But this shouldn’t be the truth that shines the brightest. If it does, then the clay gets the attention. There is a reason why Spurgeon ascended the stairs into his pulpit saying, “I believe in the Holy Spirit…I believe in the Holy Spirit…” and not, “I’m weak and inadequate…I’m weak and inadequate”.

A knowledge of my inadequacy and insufficiency in the pulpit is only a good and helpful truth if it is married to the incontrovertible truth that the Spirit is powerful and does shine forth His glory through insufficient jars of clay.

Therefore, I keep before me the knowledge that I’m weak, insufficient, and that my manuscript is usually quite pitiful. But I proclaim that pitiful manuscript with all the boldness and force that this weak and insufficient jar of clay can muster. I do this knowing that the Holy Spirit actually does accompany the preaching of His Word and He truly does delight in shining a light on Jesus.

Yeah, I’m weak and inadequate. But He’s not! And I want that to be the truth that drives every sermon that I preach.

How Does a Teenager Share the Gospel with Her Unbelieving Parents?

One of the greatest joys (and at times pains) of working with teenagers is whenever students with unbelieving parents come to know Jesus. After only a short time of becoming followers of Jesus, these dear students begin aching for the lostness of their parents. And so they share the gospel with them.

And it gets really ugly.

The gospel is an offense. Period. But it’s perhaps even more of an offense when your arrogant 15 year old is telling her mom how wrong she is about life, the Bible, and her eternal soul. To her this new found “knowledge” doesn’t feel much different than her daughter trying to set her straight in a million other areas in life.

That’s when I get a teenager at my house at 12:30am because she’s convinced that her mom and dad aregoing to hell because they reject the gospel. My heart is grieved for this student. No matter how hard she tries she cannot get her mom to come to know Jesus. She wants to give eternal life to the one that gave her physical life. And so she weeps because mom and dad only gets angry with her when he shares the gospel.

So, how should a teenager share the gospel with her unbelieving parents?

If I am reading my Bible correctly faithful gospel proclamation includes both our life and our lips. It must be spoken (Romans 10) and it must be lived (1 Timothy 4). But that doesn’t have to mean that those two need to be totally balanced.

If you are on a mission trip to the Honduras and you will only see these people for about 10-15 minutes then it probably needs to look like this:

Your lifespan before these people is about as long as a moth in a refrigerator. It isn’t going to last very long. So while you can do little things in that 10-15 minutes to show the gospel, a larger portion of your time ought to be spent in speaking the gospel.

For a teenager it probably needs to look like this:

That means that you share the gospel more with your life and slide the proclamation in there whenever you can. Joyously doing chores might do more for your parents seeing Christ than you sharing John 3:16. That’s not to demean a teenager sharing Jesus from John 3:16. That is necessary and it needs to be done. But for a teenager your changed life will speak far louder than your new found theological words.

So, how does a teenager share the gospel with her unbelieving parents?

Joyously take out the trash in Jesus’ name.

Knowing the Creep’s Name…Two Years Later

Our sermon this morning was on Romans 8:12-17. Tonight in our Life Groups we will talk even more about the beauty of adoption. All of this reminded me of something amazing the Lord was doing in my life a couple years ago.

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Driving to class this morning I was rocking out to 100.5 Gen-X (Hopefully, it’s okay that I listen to secular music on my way to seminary).  One of my favorite songs from my teenage years came on, Creep by Radiohead:

When you were here before
Couldn't look you in the eye
You're just like an angel
Your skin makes me cry

You float like a feather
In a beautiful world
I wish I was special
You're so very special

Chorus:

But I 'm a creep
I 'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here

I don't care if it hurts
I want to have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul

I want you to notice
When I'm not around
You're so very special
I wish I was special

CHORUS

She's running out again
She's running out
She run, run, run run
Run

Whatever makes you happy
Whatever you want
You're so very special
I wish I was special

CHORUS

In the original version of this song the word “very” is replaced by the F-bomb.  This is an angry song about a young man that has a crush on a girl but he really does not feel like he is good enough for her.  At the end of the day he wishes that he was special like her.  “I want you to notice when I’m not around” is perhaps the most telling lyric.  This young man feels insignificant and unnoticed.  He would sacrifice his own identity just to be someone that would be liked. 

This song is the cry of my generation.  At least it is the cry of my own heart.  Growing up I always felt this way.  Maybe it was the necessary result of being a short kid with big ears and glasses.  Maybe it has deeper familial issues at the core.  I feel this song.  Check that, I felt this song. 

Actually my wife and I had a conversation about this last night.  Since my identity is being rocked to the core right now—rewind about 6 months and you will see why—we have these conversations often. 

For most of my life I have had a deep desire to be noticed.  Not necessarily in a “look at me, I’m the center of attention” type of way.  More so in a, “Hi, Mike I’m glad that you exist” type of way.  For years I killed parts of me that were “unacceptable”.  I became whatever people wanted me to be.  “Whatever makes you happy, whatever you want”.

Thankfully, God is healing me.  Last night I wept after reflecting upon a different song.  It’s a song that has grabbed my attention before.  But last night I realized why it ministers to me so much:

I hope that this ministers to you.  I pray that the way the Lord is comforting me will be a comfort to you.  It’s my prayer that as the Lord continues to heal my brokenness that he may also use it. 

If you read through this and cannot relate then that’s awesome.  Please allow me to give you a ministry tip.  You don’t heal a “creep” by convincing him you think he’s special.  You heal a “creep” by letting him know that the One who lifts up the sun, hangs the stars, and holds the universe lovingly knows the number of his hairs.  That heals brokenness. 

Originally posted here.

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Two years later I’m continuing to uncover even more about myself. And I’m finding that in every spot where there is brokenness the Lord is pushing through with His holiness and redemption.

All of this because I’m his adopted son. He won’t leave me reflecting my fallen identity. He won’t stop until I’m truly living in my new name.

Why Ministers Need the Wilderness

“It takes a crucified man to preach a crucified Savior.” –Alexander Maclaren

“I abhor the thought of God being robbed of his glory…” That was part of the response that a young man was giving in one of my seminary classes. I shudder as I type the latter part of his comment. “…and if that means the damnation of infants then so be it”.

It’s not my concern to throw this dude under the bus. Truthfully, I see some of myself in him. Getting so wrapped in theology, idealism, and the way things ought to be that I forget the way that things actually are. Grace will likely grab hold of this young man and transform him. Jesus has a way of doing that. While we roll our eyes at statements like this (and maybe rightly so) Jesus moves in and administers grace. Grace that crushes…but grace still.

I was concerned that day as I thought about this young man pastoring a church. I was worried for him and for his congregation. Mostly because broken men don’t say things like that. Even if it were theologically true, broken men just don’t speak like that. As I’ve gone through seminary for a few years now I am becoming convinced that students should have to spend at least one semester in the furnace of suffering before we can graduate.

Jesus was 30…

And he didn’t start his public ministry until he was in the wilderness. The wilderness is necessary. As are the wilderness temptations. There in his, dare I say, weakness, Jesus was confronted with the full onslaught of hell.

• Would he trust in God’s sufficient Word or would he rely on a quicker fix?
• Would he plod along God’s redemptive (though rocky) road or would he sell-out to the flash?
• Would he remain faithful to serving the Lord, careful to follow the God-ordained means or would he take the shortcut with no suffering?

Jesus conquered Gethsemane and embraced the Cross because he had already won that victory in the wilderness. The same applies to ministers today. It is in the wilderness that we learn to rely upon the Lord, to trust His narrow and often frightening path.

A broken minister

When the Lord bruises a man in the wilderness he doesn’t hide behind “correct theology” and call it “just speaking the truth”. He, with dust in his throat, simply holds the hand of the mother who lost her infant. He weeps with her. With nothing to say. No sermon to give. No lesson to be learned. No pontificating about the Lord’s glory. A broken man knows how to be silent and speak with only his empathetic brokenness.

Seminaries and churches that are training ministers ought to be careful about unleashing an unbroken man onto a congregation. Put him in the wilderness for awhile. Ministers need the wilderness.

A Leadership Lesson From @JohnPiper

In preparing a training session on hospitality I found myself wading through a few older John Piper sermons. In one particular sermon from 1985 I read this quote:

“When I am dead and gone and another man stands in this pulpit to candidate as your pastor, O how I pray that you will ask: Does he relate everything to God? Or is he content to simply promote morals? Is there distinctively Christian theology in all he says? Or could his messages be spoken by a tender-hearted secular psychologist with keen insight into how to get along better?”  -John Piper, sermon from 1985

That was 1985. Fast forward to 2012/13. The day has arrived when “another man stands in the pulpit” of Bethlehem Baptist Church. That man is Jason Meyer. Of whom Piper has said:

I joyfully and expectantly commend him to you with all my heart. Not only because of a long list of gifts and graces and competencies, but also because I believe God has chosen him and anointed him for this role. May the Lord confirm this with a hope-filled, happy, unified vote of the Bethlehem family.

It is because of the mercy and goodness of God that Bethlehem Baptist Church is supplied with a godly pastor. The means that God used to accomplish that purpose can be found in Piper’s statements from 1985. For 30 years he gave his flock a vision of what his successor should look like. It was not by accident that Piper could say, “I joyfully and expectantly commend him to you with all my heart”. Piper had labored for that moment for three decades.

The lesson for us?

The second that you step into the pastorate begin preparing the congregation for your successor and being praying for him.

It is not that you do not intend to have staying power. You prepare for your successor because you are not in control of your stay. Unless the Lord returns, the church you now serve will someday have someone else as their shepherd. A faithful shepherd prays that his sheep are fed for their entire life—not just for the season in which he has the title of her pastor.

How Would You Spend $100 on Pastoral Ministry Resources

I’m a new pastor. I’ve got about $100 and not much of any library. I want hard copies—non of that e-reader stuff. When I was ordained last week a former professor bought me 5 books from your preaching list. Now I need to focus on building a few resources to help me with pastoral ministry. What do you suggest?

Here is my answer:

1. Dangerous Calling by Paul Tripp for $12 
2. The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter $8
3. 9 Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever $11
4. The Conviction to Lead by Albert Mohler $15
5. Brothers We Are Not Professionals by John Piper $10
6. Instruments in the Redeemers Hands by Paul Tripp  $12
7. Download this letter from John Newton $FREE

That’s about 70 bucks. Take the next $30 and take your wife out on a date.

Also there are a couple of books that you can get online for free that are great classics. I know you like hard copies so maybe you can save up a little money and print these off somewhere. Lectures to My Students by Spurgeon is an invaluable resource as is Charles Bridges’ The Christian Ministry.

I would also advise you to find an older pastor that is willing to mentor you. He’ll be really helpful also when you have questions about how to do a baptism, how to train a Sunday school teacher, etc. And he will talk you off the ledge when you want to give up after a few Monday’s on the job.

Lastly, find another pastor from history and make it your life ambition to follow him as he follows Christ. I’ve begun a lifelong friendship with John Newton—I just wish he knew it. You can get his 6 Volume works online for about $100.

How would you answer this question?

How Hospitality Reflects Your Grasp of the Gospel

You want to grow your church?

Practice hospitality. (And that means more than serving awesome fried chicken)

I’ve read about 50 articles today that begin a similar way. They promise us church growth and then give us a few steps to implement hospitality. Tips like making sure that the word of life doesn’t come with the breath of death—in other words tell your greeters to try some breath mints.

Now don’t get me wrong. These articles have been really helpful. And I really do believe that healthy churches are also hospitable churches. But when I read these articles something in my stomach starts to churn.

What’s the Problem?

Hospitality is not a means to grow your church. It is fundamental to a churches identity. It is who you are. If we’ve botched hospitality it is because in some way we have botched the gospel.

Consider the story of Simon the Pharisee. This dude was a terrible host. There are certain things that a host does for his guest. Or at least he has a servant or somebody do them. But not Simon. Simon’s hospitality stinks. And Jesus tells us why, “…he who is forgiven little, loves little”. Our hospitality reflects our grasp of the gospel.

Furthermore, hospitality is a reminder of our alien status. Show me a church that does not practice hospitality and I will show you a church that is comfortably living the American dream. They’ve started thinking that they are home and so they’ve lost their sojourner impulse.

Throughout the narrative of Scripture God’s people are portrayed as sojourners. They are slaves in Egypt. Exiles in Babylon and Assyria. This doesn’t change in the New Testament. Our Master didn’t have a place to lay his head. We are strangers. Aliens. Sojourners.

When we embrace this it isn’t hard for us to associate with the bewildered single mom trying to get her three scraggly-headed kids through the door. The fact that she’s a stranger here on a Sunday morning is obvious to all. And so the alien in us begins to emerge. We remember what it was like when the Lord picked us up out of a pit so we greet her with warmth instead of apathy.

Yes, we need to train our greeters. Breath mints are helpful. But before we get into the 10 steps for greeting somebody with a smile, we should first remind them what it was like to be a foreigner brought into the family of God.

How to Read this as a Mr. Leader-Man

Some of my readers are leaders. You get stuff done. Your kind of a big deal. You know that your fundamental task in the church as a leader is to help other people use their gifts. You build up the body this way. (I’m not disparaging that. It’s true. That is often how you serve).

And you hear something like this and you start thinking about ways that you can train people to have a theological basis for hospitality. You think of all the people that you need to teach to be hospitable.

And do that.

But be careful…

Be careful that while everyone else is getting their hands dirty you aren’t sitting down eating some of that pie that you delegated to be made. Don’t forget that when Abraham entertained angels in Genesis 18 that it wasn’t his servants that showed hospitality. It was Father Abraham getting his hands dirty.

You’ve read in all your leadership training books that there are some things that simply cannot be delegated. Maybe hospitality and service is one of them. (See 1 Timothy 3:1-3 and note that “be hospitable” is as important to your elder qualification as “don’t be a drunkard" is).

A Word to Weary Pastors

“75% of pastors report severe stress causing anguish, worry, bewilderment, anger, depression, fear, and alienation.” –Pastor Burnout

In the loneliness of the pastors office, with the walls closing in around him, the pastor mumbles to himself. “Why do I even do this?” With complaints and unhelpful criticism assaulting his fraying mind he stares at a stack of papers and books that cry for his attention. As he sits down on Friday afternoon to begin sermon preparation, his mind wanders to all of the ministers that are faltering, marriages crashing, teenagers rebelling. It’s no wonder that he asks the question—“Why am I doing this”.

Isaiah 50:4 tells this weary pastor why:

“The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary”.

Sustaining the weary with a word from Yahweh is why this weary pastor will press on. The labor of study, pouring over Greek texts, boring commentaries, and difficult verses has a purpose. The pastor sweats in his office so that he might have “the tongue of those who are taught”. He does this because he knows that weary sheep need fed.

But what does the pastor do when he is weary?

Sometimes a pastor simply needs to buck up, stop whining, and get to the business of feeding the sheep. At other times the darkness is too deep. In either case what the weary pastor needs is a word from the Suffering Servant.

Pastor, Isaiah 50 is not fundamentally your song. It is the song of Another, known as the Suffering Servant. You and I are the weary in this song. The one who sings this song has already given his beard to be plucked and his cheeks to be struck. He has already set his face like a flint and climbed upon a Roman cross. And He has already been vindicated by the Lord. You and I need the finished work of the Suffering Servant in order to be faithful servants that suffer well.

As weary pastors we can press on because Christ has secured not only His own vindication but ours as well. Because of His work we too can “set our face like a flint” and get about our work of “sustaining with a word him who is weary.”

Pastor, you can endure because He already has. You know weariness. So also do the sheep under your care. Heal them with the words that have healed you. “The tongue of those who are taught” is crafted in the kiln of affliction.

May he “awaken our ears to hear as those who are taught”.

4 Foundational Principles for Ministry

I have been reading Iain Murray’s book, A Scottish Christian Heritage. I have especially enjoyed the biography of Thomas Chalmers. In that section Murray looks at the “favorite ideas” of Chalmers concerning the work of ministry. I found them helpful:

1. The governing principle upon which the strength of all ministerial duties depends is regard for the approval of God.
2. Ministers should never rest satisfied without growth in personal holiness of life.
3. Ministers must give themselves wholly to their true work. (Not being entangled in civilian affairs).
4. A minister must deal directly with men concerning their need of salvation.

To simplify: make pleasing God your aim, pursue personal holiness, be dedicated, be intentional in evangelism.

What would you add?

Lord, Give Me Conviction to Lead Well

I have been greatly benefiting from Albert Mohler’s book, 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters. At the end of almost every chapter I find myself crying out to God to shape me into a better leader. I figure I’m not the only one. So I thought that you might benefit from reading the prayer that I wrote in response to each chapter.

Chapter One: The Conviction to Lead

Lord, even though there is a no scarcity of leadership materials there is a dearth in leadership in our land and in our churches. Stir in my heart a passion that is proportionate to the convictions that I hold. You have called me to lead. I pray that our generation will “lead with conviction and “have the conviction to lead”.

I know that in Your Word an absence of leadership is often a sign of your judgment. Lord, would you meet us with grace? Would you transform our world through the powerful gospel? Would you set the world on fire with passionate worshippers that passionately proclaim that your kingdom comes. May I be obedient to you. Make me a leader after your heart. Amen.

7 Reasons Pastors Should Be Writers

“You need to stop writing so much and start doing more ministry”.

I’ve heard that criticism several times. And it always comes from the same place. Myself. I’m not alone in that criticism, though. I hear the rumbling throughout evangelicalism. (See here for an example). “Writing isn’t doing”.

To fight this voice of discouragement I’ve come up with seven reason why pastors ought to be writers. In fact I believe that writing is one of the most important things that a pastor can do with his ministry. Here is why:

1. Writing assists thinking. Forcing yourself to put thoughts to paper will assist in bringing clarity to all the ideas floating around in your head.
2. Writing makes for better communicators. Being an intentional in writing will hone the way you use words. This will make you a far better communicator in the pulpit and elsewhere.
3. Writing leads to more thoughtful reading. If you intend to interact and write about, review, or recommend something you are reading then it will make your reading that much better.
4. Writing gives you an outlet. Pastors often have an overflow of content in sermon preparation. We also need an outlet for the many things we deal with each day. Writing (even if it’s not intended for publication) will create an outlet.
5. Writing makes your blood visible. What I mean by this is that writing often helps you to know what you are passionate about. It shows you what gives you life. Often you have things bubbling inside of you that you aren’t even aware of until you connect your heart to a pen.
6. Writing will last. I have a library filled with books that I access all the time. Even though I can access a ton of sermons online I seldom do. Writing lasts in a way that the spoken word does not.
7. Writing demands attention. Al Mohler says that “the written word can do what the spoken word simply cannot do—sit flat on a page and demand attention”. It’s hard to ignore the written word, which you can read over and over again without it changing forms.

For these reasons I believe writing not only assist my wider ministry but it is a vital part.

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Daniel Darling has given 5 Reasons Why Pastors Should Write
The DG Staff has given 6 Reasons Why Pastors Should Blog

Is It Enough to Just Speak the Truth?

On the day of his first public service at St. Mary Woolnoth, John Newton explained to his hearers the truths that would inform his gospel ministry. They are evangelical and gospel-centered as to be expected with on like Newton. One thing, however, that I believe sets Newton apart as an exemplary example for us to follow. He believed that just speaking truth was not the whole of his duty:

But the cause of truth itself may be discredited by improper management; and, therefore, the Scripture which furnishes us with subject-matter for our ministry, and teaches us what we are to say, is equally explicit as to temper and spirit in which we are to speak. Though I had the knowledge of all mysteries, and the tongue of an angel to declare them, I could hope for little acceptance or usefulness, unless I was to speak “in love”.

I believe Newton is correct. Just speaking truthfully—even eloquently--about the great mysteries of our faith is not sufficient. Certainly the Lord is powerful and convert sinners using even the weakest means. But the apostolic method of preaching/pastoring/leading/living is to speak the truth in love. Both are necessary.

“Loving” people without speaking truth is a sham. At the same time, speaking truth without loving people is a mockery of Christ our example.