Lessons from a wise old man that I originally thought was bitter, cynical and just plain wrong (Part 3)

A former professor that I once dismissed as a bitter, cynical, and just plain wrong and angry old man actually turned into one of my favorite teachers.  What changed wasn’t him.  It was me.

This has taught me a few things about ministry: one thing is that If they are “bored” maybe they aren’t doing missions.  One other thing it has taught me is that Maybe missions should go before (or simultaneously with) training.

I was once of the opinion that people should very cautiously engage in missions/ministry until they have spent a good amount of time being “fed”.  (E.g. people should attend evangelism seminar’s and such to get a good grasp on the gospel before they go out and share it). 

My thinking in this was that the last thing we want is for our people to go out and “botch” the gospel message.  Furthermore, why would we want new believers to get “eaten up” by ministry to broken and sinful people?  Wouldn’t it be more wise to have them take about a year worth of training and classes before sending them out to the wolves?  Maybe we can let them hang out in the preschool department for awhile, or be a trustee, or run the sound…you know something they can’t screw up too majorly. 

I’ve changed my opinion. 

Instead of people sitting on the sidelines they should be actively engaged in missions/ministry the second they become followers of Jesus.  There are so many good reasons for this but here are my top 3:

1. Missions creates hunger

What drove me to Scripture early on in my walk with Jesus were teenagers that asked difficult questions.  The more I did missions/ministry the more I realized how vital prayer is to the Christian life.  As the pressure of being an example tended to increase in my life I became more desperate and hungry for Jesus. 

I was no longer bored in sermons, classes, or lectures because I was hungry for information that I could pass on to others.  Rather than sitting in a chair being “fed” to the point of being fat, I was engaged in the field and pouring out so much that I was making myself hungry.  THEN when I came to sit under the Word I was starving and needed fed.  Missions has a way of creating hunger.  Hunger creates desperate Bible students, prayer warriors, etc.

2. Web of Relationships

As believers grow more in their relationship with Jesus and other believers we have a tendency to know less and less lost people.  Our friendships begin to change.  And as our hearts change we find that some relationships are more difficult to sustain given our new found love for Jesus.  This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

It is good that our love for believers is increasing.  But it is bad that often we make ourselves into bubble communities that shield ourselves from sinners.  Though this is bad it seems to be a painful reality.  So, why not take advantage of this web of relationships early on—by encouraging new believers to engaged in ministry/missions with those in their web of relationships? 

3. Seminary

This is going to sound really arrogant and jerky of me, so I’ll warn you in advance.  Forgive me. 

I get really bothered sometimes in my seminary classes.  You can usually tell the guys that are actively engaged in missions/ministry and those that are using this as a time of being “fed”.  The guys that are using this as a season of getting fat on truth and knowledge tend to be the ones in class that see gray issues as only black and white. 

I sit in class many times and just shake my head; knowing that some of these guys are going to get chewed up once they get into a church.  They have various ideas or way that they say things that I know from experience will probably not work in a local church.  They may be doctrinally sound but they haven’t been seasoned.  (And I say this as a 30 year old that has only been doing ministry for about 10 years—I’m sure wiser people than me say the same thing about my ideas, etc.)

Seminary is a weird culture and if it is not tempered by missions/ministry then we spend a good amount of our time arguing about secondary issues.  I’m convinced that the church culture can sometimes be the exact same way.  A church that fights about carpet, clocks, and church signs is probably not actively involved in missions. 

Missions/Ministry has a way of displaying what is really important.  It also has a way of making the theoretical reality.  And those theories, doctrines, etc. either get blown up quickly or they are wisely and deeply embraced for a lifetime. 

Conclusion:

I am all for training people while they are doing missions.  But I’m beginning to think it may not be wise to have seasons where we are simply getting fat on knowledge. 

The fatter the people get at the beginning the harder it will be later to get them to move.

Your church should be hated…BUT for the right reasons

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets”  (Luke 6:26)

“Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”  (1 Timothy 3:7)

These two verses are not in contradiction.  In fact they are meant to compliment one another.  A Luke 6:26 church (to the exclusion of 1 Timothy 3:7) is not healthy.  Neither is a 1 Timothy 3:7 church (to the exclusion of Luke 6:26) a healthy church. 

Some churches believe that being persecuted (no matter what reason) is the mark of a true church.  After all Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil”.  Westboro Baptist Church fits that bill.  So does this mean that they are “Blessed” according to Jesus?

Other churches believe that being thought of well by outsiders is the mark of a true church.  After all the world is watching us and we may be the only Jesus that some people ever see.  That means if they hate us then they also hate Jesus—and we certainly do not want them to hate Jesus.  This is why Paul wants the overseers to be thought of well by outsiders.  If they like the pastor then they probably will want to come to church.  But what do we do with what Jesus said in Luke 6:26?

Why did they love the false prophets?

In Luke 6:26 Jesus is contrasting the true prophets (Luke 6:22) that were hated, excluded, reviled, and spurned as evil.  Now after Christ true prophets are regarded in such a way “on account of Christ”.  But false prophets tell the people exactly what they want to hear. 

False prophets are described by Paul in 2 Timothy 4.  They are the ones that draw a crowd because they reject the truth and instead “teach to suit their own passions” and “wander off into myths”.  People will flock to a church that tells them everything they want to hear about themselves.

I’d be really cautious if everyone loved our church.  In fact I’d be a little wary if those that actively reject the gospel feel right at home in your church.  Jesus seems to be saying that true prophets will be hated, excluded, reviled, and spurned as evil.  And Paul said that godliness will be persecuted. 

So then it is good to have everyone hate you?

There is a little phrase that I have thus far left off of my quotation of Luke 6:26.  Yes, true prophets will be hated, excluded, reviled, and spurned as evil but they will be “on account of the Son of Man”. 

The folks at Westboro Baptist aren’t being persecuted because they are following Jesus.  They are being persecuted, reviled, hated, excluded, and spurned as evil because frankly they deserve it.  They are evil.  They twist Scripture to suit their own hateful impulses and they hide behind passages like this to make themselves think they are being persecuted for the sake of righteousness. 

This I believe is what Paul is saying in 1 Timothy 3.  An overseer (and I believe this would in many ways extend to the church as a whole) should be well thought of by outsiders; namely, they should not be able to rightly point a finger and say, “this man is a swindler, a liar, a cheat, a hatemonger, etc.” 

Conclusion:

I love what Ed Stetzer says, “The cross should be the only stumbling block any “outsider” would ever face when entering our churches.”  Of coure by “the cross” is a reference to Christ and everything upon which he stands.  And I believe Stetzer would agree that the cross should be so illuminated that those who hate Jesus also have a tendency towards hating those who are magnifying Christ. 

Your church should be hated…but only because of the offensiveness of Jesus (and our fidelity to Him), and not because you’re an idiot. 

One more thing to consider…

Christmas in July Wishlist for a Browns Fan

The lockout was a sad time for Browns fans.  It was sad because our playoffs and Super Bowl were cut short and dampened by the impending lockout.  For us Browns fans the best part of the season is the off-season.  It is a time for delusional hope.  So here is a little more:

1. Nnamdi Asomugha agrees to play for the Browns at league minimum just for the challenge of it
2. A healthy Sidney Rice
3. James Jones (seriously, if I were making a for real list he would be #1)
4. A DL (defensive lineman) that doesn’t wind up on the DL (disabled list)
5. The Steelers sign Matt Leinart to replace a retired Ben Roethlisberger (who hangs up his cleats shortly after his wedding)
6. Hines Ward and Braylon Edwards get suspended for the season by Roger Goodell
7. For the entire 2011 season everyone is required to wear a Holmgren- stache

Lessons from a wise old man that I originally thought was bitter, cynical, and just plain wrong (Part 2)

A former professor that I once dismissed as a bitter, cynical, and just plain wrong and angry old man actually turned into one of my favorite teachers.  What changed wasn’t him.  It was me. 

This has taught me a few things about ministry: one thing is that If they are “bored” maybe they aren’t doing missions

Soldiers may get bored during peace time.  But they certainly are not bored when they are on the front line of battle with bullets whizzing, rockets soaring, and bombs exploding around them. 

Christians may get bored reading their Bibles, listening to sermons, praying, fellowshipping with other believers, or doing any other necessary disciplines.  But these disciplines are not boring when they are on the front line of battle with persecution, pain, and the ever present reality of sin. 

When I think that Scripture (or hearing a sermon) is something that I do to check off a list then I get bored with it.  But if I see it as vital to my growth in Jesus, absolutely necessary to my effectiveness in ministry, and a shield from the enemies fiery darts, then I cannot afford to let it be a dust collector or a prop for my coffee table.  The same thing can be said of prayer and any other spiritual discipline.

It is possible that the congregation is plagued with narcolepsy at 10:30 every Sunday morning simply because of a boring preacher.  That is possible. 

But it is also possible that “boredom” in listeners may not be a preacher problem as much as it could be that the listeners are not actively listening because they are not being shaken up out in the field.  They aren’t hungry for the word.  And that hunger hasn’t been created because they aren’t being challenged by doing ministry amongst broken and sinful people. 

This leads to Part 3…

By Name

“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out”. 

I was struck by this verse today.  It is not as if Jesus just says, “church” or “elect” and all those that are His come running.  No, he says, “Mike” and I come running. 

For someone that is a pastor and I still struggle to remember all the names of the people that attend our church, I’m humbled and impressed.  Jesus calls me by name and leads me out. 

We have a Good Shepherd.