John the Baptist says about Jesus, “he must increase, but I must decrease” (v.30). I’d have to look at the Greek to see the correct word order, but in this English translation John focuses first on Jesus increasing. If I (ego) am going to decrease it will be because Christ is increasing in me. To put it bluntly, it is virtually impossible for me to decrease and be “crucified with Christ,” to borrow from Paul, without Christ increasing in me.
It took lots of humility for John to move over, in terms of his preaching and baptism ministry, to make room for Jesus to increase in ministry scope. Yet, the effective minister knows that she is most fruitful when ego is gone and Christ reigns in and through her.
So, I will lovingly obey Christ today by making sure that I don’t seek to outshine him (as if I really could). In other words, I will make sure that in my words, thoughts, and actions I invite him to be more prominent than me so that people come away more impressed with who he is than with who I am.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
21 Days of Love: John 2
Jesus goes ballistic in the Temple courts, chasing away those who were exchanging money and selling goods. The reasons for Jesus’ anger has more to do with injustice than buying/selling in the Temple. The people exchanging money were charging exorbitant exchange rates to people who had to use Jerusalem currency in order to buy an animal to be sacrificed at the Passover. To make matters worse, the people selling the animals to be sacrificed were marking up their prices dramatically. In short, the religious leaders (Sadducees) who ran the Temple were making it nearly impossible, financially speaking, for poor pilgrims to worship in the temple. Jesus’ anger is aimed toward those who are taking advantage of the poor.
Through this passage, I have learned that I can lovingly obey Christ today by challenging injustice, oppression, and greed. Today, I will seek to be a voice for those who experience the injustice of racism and exclusion, among other things. Today, I will drive out of the Temple (the church) anything that oppressively prevents all people from worshiping Christ freely. Lord, give me courageous love.
Through this passage, I have learned that I can lovingly obey Christ today by challenging injustice, oppression, and greed. Today, I will seek to be a voice for those who experience the injustice of racism and exclusion, among other things. Today, I will drive out of the Temple (the church) anything that oppressively prevents all people from worshiping Christ freely. Lord, give me courageous love.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
21 Days of Love: John 1
In verse 47, Jesus describes Nathaneal as a person “in whom there is no deceit.” Self-deceit is sometimes hard to detect. We are so good at fooling ourselves and others, but Jesus sees into us. Today, I am going to lovingly obey Jesus by recognizing my propensity for deceit and committing to being true to God and the people around me. I will love Christ by being who he has called me to be, without apology or regret. If an occasion surfaces today to be dishonest/deceitful or honest/true, I will choose truth.
Monday, November 8, 2010
What Makes the Church the Church?
As part of my Doctor of Ministry program, I travelled to Houston, TX with the nine other pastors in my cohort. This learning adventure was called “Church Immersion.” The goal of the trip was to explore as many diverse expressions of the local church in the Houston area as possible in only three days. Needless to say, by the end of the trip our heads were spinning with ideas and questions.
We visited a church focused on addiction recovery called Mercy Street, which was co-pastored by my friend Sean Gladding. During the service people stood up and shared how many days they were sober. People clapped and screamed in celebration. At times we couldn’t tell whether we were in an N/A (Narcotics Anonymous) meeting or a church service. The worship experience had a raw realness to it that moved me to tears then and now.
We visited the Lakewood Church, pastored by Joel Osteen. This was a very different kind of church that seemed to be reaching a very different group than Mercy Street was reaching. While Lakewood Church, for a variety of reasons, was not my “cup of tea,” the singing was as lively as I have ever experienced. Our cohort had a chance to visit for a few minutes with Joel and Victoria Osteen before heading off to another very different kind of church.
Our group arrived late to participate in the worship service of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church, led by Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell. Windsor Village is the largest African American United Methodist Church in the country. As you may have guessed, members of my cohort were the only Caucasians in attendance that day, so we sort of stuck out a bit as we’re hunting for seats about half-way through their service. We were met with warm hospitality and an excellent sermon preached by Kirbyjon in the African American style I have come to appreciate. I can still remember the mantra he used throughout his sermon “stay in your lane!” My cohort spent an hour with Pastor Caldwell hearing him describe the church’s missional heartbeat for community development.
My head still spinning from the diversity of the churches we already visited, we met with Jim Herrington. Jim was the pastor of a mega-church who endured some inner angst over the question, “am I making disciples who are making disciples?” He left his large church, purchased a house in a rough section of Houston, and started a house church. We met with Jim in his living room for two hours as he described his new ecclesiological outlook. He leaves the lower level of his home unlocked so that prostitutes, runaways, transvestites, the homeless, and the addicted can have a warm place to sleep, food to eat, and a community to experience. He invites these “friends” to join them for worship in the upper level of the house.
We also toured Second Baptist Church, which sits on a very, very, very large campus with a full-service café and bookstore. The place was humongous. This church is led by Dr. Ed Young Sr., though you may be more familiar with his son by the same name who pastors Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX. We met with one of the staff pastors, another of Dr. Young’s sons, in a meeting room almost big enough to fit a football field (preacher’s exaggeration). Despite the size of the church, the sanctuary had maintained a traditional look with stained glass, altar, and a large pulpit. It was, oxymoronically, a traditional mega-church.
I think it was that evening when we visited Ecclesia, a well-known emergent church led by Pastor Chris Seay. This gathering took place in what felt like a Starbucks café. The room was packed with several hundred people, most of them in the 16-35 age range. As the preacher sat on a stool and spoke for about 35 minutes, artists were spread out all over the room painting to their heart’s delight. The room was dark, candles were lit, and the music was melancholic but worshipful.
The six churches I described above are extremely diverse in their approach to worship and discipleship. They are each reaching different segments of people. Mercy Street is connecting predominantly with addicts, while Second Baptist is reaching many of the wealthy elite of Houston. Windsor Village is reaching hundreds of African American families, while Ecclesia is connecting mostly with single white young adults.
While I have my preferences and ecclesiological convictions about what constitutes “church,” I am realizing more and more that when it comes to church, “one size does not fit all.” It really does take all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. Case in point, the church in which I cut my teeth in ministry back when I first came to Christ at the age of 18 is not the church I would likely attend today. At different points in my spiritual journey different churches appealed to me, mostly based upon the spiritual formation needs I had at the time. I am not a supporter of “church-hopping,” but simply pointing out that as we change so do our ecclesiological needs and preferences. This tendency only becomes detrimental when we allow our needs and preferences to become a non-negotiable “gospel.”
The “church immersion” education opened me up to the substantial diversity that exists within the Church of Jesus Christ, and we visited churches within 50 miles of each other! Not only did I learn to appreciate the diverse expressions of the Church, I was forced to really grapple with some major questions. What constitutes church? Beyond worship styles, architecture, and demographics, what makes the church truly the church? What, if anything, binds all of these diverse churches together?
These are some of the questions we hope our students at Wesley Seminary will be able to answer as they make their educational journey. Students will be exposed to and explore all kinds of models and methods for “doing church.” More importantly, however, students will learn to do this exploration girded with the wisdom of biblical exegesis, church history, and systematic theology. Our aim at Wesley Seminary, then, is not merely to develop students to be pragmatic cherry-pickers, applying to their ministries whatever model or method is effective in some other context. Our goal is higher- to develop ministers whose practice is wedded to and guided by the biblical, historical, and theological foundations that make the church the church. This goal has led Wesley Seminary to join together what has been traditionally torn apart, namely practice, bible, history, and theology. We believe our students will be better-prepared for ministry because of this re-wedding of disciplines that have too often been separated into silos.
We visited a church focused on addiction recovery called Mercy Street, which was co-pastored by my friend Sean Gladding. During the service people stood up and shared how many days they were sober. People clapped and screamed in celebration. At times we couldn’t tell whether we were in an N/A (Narcotics Anonymous) meeting or a church service. The worship experience had a raw realness to it that moved me to tears then and now.
We visited the Lakewood Church, pastored by Joel Osteen. This was a very different kind of church that seemed to be reaching a very different group than Mercy Street was reaching. While Lakewood Church, for a variety of reasons, was not my “cup of tea,” the singing was as lively as I have ever experienced. Our cohort had a chance to visit for a few minutes with Joel and Victoria Osteen before heading off to another very different kind of church.
Our group arrived late to participate in the worship service of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church, led by Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell. Windsor Village is the largest African American United Methodist Church in the country. As you may have guessed, members of my cohort were the only Caucasians in attendance that day, so we sort of stuck out a bit as we’re hunting for seats about half-way through their service. We were met with warm hospitality and an excellent sermon preached by Kirbyjon in the African American style I have come to appreciate. I can still remember the mantra he used throughout his sermon “stay in your lane!” My cohort spent an hour with Pastor Caldwell hearing him describe the church’s missional heartbeat for community development.
My head still spinning from the diversity of the churches we already visited, we met with Jim Herrington. Jim was the pastor of a mega-church who endured some inner angst over the question, “am I making disciples who are making disciples?” He left his large church, purchased a house in a rough section of Houston, and started a house church. We met with Jim in his living room for two hours as he described his new ecclesiological outlook. He leaves the lower level of his home unlocked so that prostitutes, runaways, transvestites, the homeless, and the addicted can have a warm place to sleep, food to eat, and a community to experience. He invites these “friends” to join them for worship in the upper level of the house.
We also toured Second Baptist Church, which sits on a very, very, very large campus with a full-service café and bookstore. The place was humongous. This church is led by Dr. Ed Young Sr., though you may be more familiar with his son by the same name who pastors Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX. We met with one of the staff pastors, another of Dr. Young’s sons, in a meeting room almost big enough to fit a football field (preacher’s exaggeration). Despite the size of the church, the sanctuary had maintained a traditional look with stained glass, altar, and a large pulpit. It was, oxymoronically, a traditional mega-church.
I think it was that evening when we visited Ecclesia, a well-known emergent church led by Pastor Chris Seay. This gathering took place in what felt like a Starbucks café. The room was packed with several hundred people, most of them in the 16-35 age range. As the preacher sat on a stool and spoke for about 35 minutes, artists were spread out all over the room painting to their heart’s delight. The room was dark, candles were lit, and the music was melancholic but worshipful.
The six churches I described above are extremely diverse in their approach to worship and discipleship. They are each reaching different segments of people. Mercy Street is connecting predominantly with addicts, while Second Baptist is reaching many of the wealthy elite of Houston. Windsor Village is reaching hundreds of African American families, while Ecclesia is connecting mostly with single white young adults.
While I have my preferences and ecclesiological convictions about what constitutes “church,” I am realizing more and more that when it comes to church, “one size does not fit all.” It really does take all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. Case in point, the church in which I cut my teeth in ministry back when I first came to Christ at the age of 18 is not the church I would likely attend today. At different points in my spiritual journey different churches appealed to me, mostly based upon the spiritual formation needs I had at the time. I am not a supporter of “church-hopping,” but simply pointing out that as we change so do our ecclesiological needs and preferences. This tendency only becomes detrimental when we allow our needs and preferences to become a non-negotiable “gospel.”
The “church immersion” education opened me up to the substantial diversity that exists within the Church of Jesus Christ, and we visited churches within 50 miles of each other! Not only did I learn to appreciate the diverse expressions of the Church, I was forced to really grapple with some major questions. What constitutes church? Beyond worship styles, architecture, and demographics, what makes the church truly the church? What, if anything, binds all of these diverse churches together?
These are some of the questions we hope our students at Wesley Seminary will be able to answer as they make their educational journey. Students will be exposed to and explore all kinds of models and methods for “doing church.” More importantly, however, students will learn to do this exploration girded with the wisdom of biblical exegesis, church history, and systematic theology. Our aim at Wesley Seminary, then, is not merely to develop students to be pragmatic cherry-pickers, applying to their ministries whatever model or method is effective in some other context. Our goal is higher- to develop ministers whose practice is wedded to and guided by the biblical, historical, and theological foundations that make the church the church. This goal has led Wesley Seminary to join together what has been traditionally torn apart, namely practice, bible, history, and theology. We believe our students will be better-prepared for ministry because of this re-wedding of disciplines that have too often been separated into silos.
Monday, October 25, 2010
So, You're Thinking of Becoming a Pastor...
There are many people in churches across the world trying to discern whether or not God is calling them to serve as the pastor of a local congregation. This calling is not, in most cases, easy to discern. I remember struggling to figure out whether or not I was called to the pastoral vocation. In addition to praying, I sought the counsel of people who were seasoned pastors. Their advice was helpful to me as I discerned the call. Now that I have had fifteen years of experience as a pastor, those with a potential pastoral call are seeking my counsel. Here is what I tend to communicate to them and will share with you:
3 Reasons not to Become a Pastor
-Egotism: There will be times when our pastoral ego gets stroked. “Great sermon…you are so authentic…you are the best pastor ever” are, let’s be honest, nice to hear. However, if we begin to rely upon these comments to keep us going in ministry we will discover that no amount of affirmation is enough. Ironically, if we seek ego strokes we often find ourselves wanting more and more, even when we are receiving them. What is more, God is ultimately after the crucifixion, and not the stroking, of our ego. Pastoral ministry, in time, is divinely designed to strip us of egotism. And, if we don’t submit to this stripping we will either resign or become a pastoral monster. Resignation is the better choice. Simply put, do not become a pastor to have your ego stroked.
Ease: Lay people sometimes say to their pastor, “it must be wonderful to have a job where you just work on Sundays.” I always shot back, “and don’t forget about Wednesdays too!” Lay people don’t say this to hurt us, but the fact is there are some pastors who do get into this racket for ease. Let’s face it, lazy people can hide out in pastoral ministry for a long time in some churches. However, the pastors who seem to most effectively lead their congregation to embody the values of God’s kingdom in the world are among the hardest workers I know. They care deeply about the local church living up to its calling to make disciples who make disciples. They care about resourcing not just the stuff that happens on the church campus but community development as well. These hardworking pastors lose sleep over these concerns. Some of them get ulcers. Every one of them will be called to go into challenging ministry situations at the most inopportune times, usually after they finally fall asleep at 1:00 am. While pastors must seek to live balanced lives, most long-term effective pastors will admit that leading a local church is anything but easy.
Equity: Do not become a pastor to get rich. In most cases, it is not the most lucrative career choice you can make. Pastoral ministry is a calling and not a career. A calling is chosen for you and a career is chosen by you. Most of us, if we were making the call, would choose a lucrative career. Why not? This is not to suggest that pastors should not be paid for their work; they should be paid a livable wage. But, if making lots of money is your goal, don’t become a pastor. I recently spoke to a pastor friend who said he hasn’t had a raise in seven years and has only had four raises in the twenty years he has served his congregation. What an outrage! My friend is among many pastors who have had similar experiences. The point is, don’t become a pastor to get rich. However, if any local church lay leaders are reading this article, for the love of God and your pastor pay a generous wage to your pastoral leaders.
3 Reasons to Become a Pastor
Commitment: If you are the kind of person who has a hard time making or keeping commitments, I would advise you not to become a pastor. If you do, you will quickly quit and seek out a safer kind of job. There are so many joys in this pastoral line of work to keep us going, but there are also overwhelming challenges. People who lack commitment will quit during the intense challenges and, therefore, miss out on some immense joys of pastoral work. In the apparently non-committal culture many of us live within, “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully committed to Him [and his work]” (2 Chron. 16:9). To borrow from the recruitment phrase of the Marines, God is looking for a few good women and men with the commitment to be pastors. Similar to marriage, pastoral ministry requires a “for better or worse” level of commitment. If you are not completely committed, when the going gets tough, you’ll quit.
Compassion: Several times in the Gospels we read “Jesus was filled with compassion.” The Greek word for compassion is splagchnizomai. The word does not mean sappy love. Instead, it is a deep pain in the bowels that results from empathy toward another person and causes one to act on behalf of that person in need. If you are considering becoming a pastor you must have the capacity to be moved with compassion for people. You might say, “well, I’m just not an affectionate and tender-hearted kind of person.” Compassion for people has nothing to do with personality type. Whether you are more of a thinker than a feeler or more introverted than extroverted, if you are called to be a pastor you are called to feel such deep compassion for people that you are moved to act on their behalf. If you become a pastor you can expect to experience, to some extent, the heartaches, frustrations, and disappointments of the people you lovingly lead. In other words, be prepared for some pain in your bowels!
Courage: Leading a local church through the wilderness of status quo and into the promised land of their potential for missional impact takes lots of moxie. Think about some of the tasks of the pastoral minister. The pastor is expected to go into a hospital room and comfort parents who are watching their six year old son die of cancer. A couple you married comes to your office, without appointment, broken by marital infidelity and seeking your help. Every week on Sunday morning people gather desperately hopeful that you will have the courage to invite God to speak a word to them through you. An influential lay leader is trying to lead the congregation back to “Egypt” and away from the “Promised Land” of missional fulfillment. It will take a significant amount of courage to confront this person in love. Pastoral leadership is not for pansies!
So much more could be said. Faithful pastoral practice is not simply the avoidance of three E’s (egotism, ease, equity) and the embodiment of three C’s (commitment, compassion, courage). These considerations are, however, good guides for the person who is contemplating saying “yes” to this frightening, adventurous vocation called pastoral ministry.
© 2010
Lenny Luchetti
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3 Reasons not to Become a Pastor
-Egotism: There will be times when our pastoral ego gets stroked. “Great sermon…you are so authentic…you are the best pastor ever” are, let’s be honest, nice to hear. However, if we begin to rely upon these comments to keep us going in ministry we will discover that no amount of affirmation is enough. Ironically, if we seek ego strokes we often find ourselves wanting more and more, even when we are receiving them. What is more, God is ultimately after the crucifixion, and not the stroking, of our ego. Pastoral ministry, in time, is divinely designed to strip us of egotism. And, if we don’t submit to this stripping we will either resign or become a pastoral monster. Resignation is the better choice. Simply put, do not become a pastor to have your ego stroked.
Ease: Lay people sometimes say to their pastor, “it must be wonderful to have a job where you just work on Sundays.” I always shot back, “and don’t forget about Wednesdays too!” Lay people don’t say this to hurt us, but the fact is there are some pastors who do get into this racket for ease. Let’s face it, lazy people can hide out in pastoral ministry for a long time in some churches. However, the pastors who seem to most effectively lead their congregation to embody the values of God’s kingdom in the world are among the hardest workers I know. They care deeply about the local church living up to its calling to make disciples who make disciples. They care about resourcing not just the stuff that happens on the church campus but community development as well. These hardworking pastors lose sleep over these concerns. Some of them get ulcers. Every one of them will be called to go into challenging ministry situations at the most inopportune times, usually after they finally fall asleep at 1:00 am. While pastors must seek to live balanced lives, most long-term effective pastors will admit that leading a local church is anything but easy.
Equity: Do not become a pastor to get rich. In most cases, it is not the most lucrative career choice you can make. Pastoral ministry is a calling and not a career. A calling is chosen for you and a career is chosen by you. Most of us, if we were making the call, would choose a lucrative career. Why not? This is not to suggest that pastors should not be paid for their work; they should be paid a livable wage. But, if making lots of money is your goal, don’t become a pastor. I recently spoke to a pastor friend who said he hasn’t had a raise in seven years and has only had four raises in the twenty years he has served his congregation. What an outrage! My friend is among many pastors who have had similar experiences. The point is, don’t become a pastor to get rich. However, if any local church lay leaders are reading this article, for the love of God and your pastor pay a generous wage to your pastoral leaders.
3 Reasons to Become a Pastor
Commitment: If you are the kind of person who has a hard time making or keeping commitments, I would advise you not to become a pastor. If you do, you will quickly quit and seek out a safer kind of job. There are so many joys in this pastoral line of work to keep us going, but there are also overwhelming challenges. People who lack commitment will quit during the intense challenges and, therefore, miss out on some immense joys of pastoral work. In the apparently non-committal culture many of us live within, “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully committed to Him [and his work]” (2 Chron. 16:9). To borrow from the recruitment phrase of the Marines, God is looking for a few good women and men with the commitment to be pastors. Similar to marriage, pastoral ministry requires a “for better or worse” level of commitment. If you are not completely committed, when the going gets tough, you’ll quit.
Compassion: Several times in the Gospels we read “Jesus was filled with compassion.” The Greek word for compassion is splagchnizomai. The word does not mean sappy love. Instead, it is a deep pain in the bowels that results from empathy toward another person and causes one to act on behalf of that person in need. If you are considering becoming a pastor you must have the capacity to be moved with compassion for people. You might say, “well, I’m just not an affectionate and tender-hearted kind of person.” Compassion for people has nothing to do with personality type. Whether you are more of a thinker than a feeler or more introverted than extroverted, if you are called to be a pastor you are called to feel such deep compassion for people that you are moved to act on their behalf. If you become a pastor you can expect to experience, to some extent, the heartaches, frustrations, and disappointments of the people you lovingly lead. In other words, be prepared for some pain in your bowels!
Courage: Leading a local church through the wilderness of status quo and into the promised land of their potential for missional impact takes lots of moxie. Think about some of the tasks of the pastoral minister. The pastor is expected to go into a hospital room and comfort parents who are watching their six year old son die of cancer. A couple you married comes to your office, without appointment, broken by marital infidelity and seeking your help. Every week on Sunday morning people gather desperately hopeful that you will have the courage to invite God to speak a word to them through you. An influential lay leader is trying to lead the congregation back to “Egypt” and away from the “Promised Land” of missional fulfillment. It will take a significant amount of courage to confront this person in love. Pastoral leadership is not for pansies!
So much more could be said. Faithful pastoral practice is not simply the avoidance of three E’s (egotism, ease, equity) and the embodiment of three C’s (commitment, compassion, courage). These considerations are, however, good guides for the person who is contemplating saying “yes” to this frightening, adventurous vocation called pastoral ministry.
© 2010
Lenny Luchetti
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Monday, October 4, 2010
What If God Was One of Us?
What If God Was One Of Us?
In 1995, Joan Osborne asked us to consider, through one of her songs, “what if God was one of us”? Here are some of the lyrics:
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
These words may make us cringe. Insinuating that God might be a “slob” just like sinful humanity gets our hackles up in a hurry. Osborne, to her credit, is at least willing to explore what the church has too often ignored. She seems willing to wrestle with the implications of the incarnation of God as one of us.
The truth is that God not only was one of us but, I believe, is one of us and one with us because of his incarnation in the flesh. There is, to this day, an embodied member of the Trinity who looks an awful lot like a first century Jew but with a glorified body. The incarnation not only cost the eternal Son something over 2000 years ago, as detailed in Philippians 2, but perhaps the incarnation of the Son as Jesus Christ has an ongoing cost. Whether or not you agree with my conviction about the ongoing cost of the incarnation, you will no doubt agree that incarnation is costly. God’s willingness to come “from heaven to earth to show the way” by becoming one of us and one with us cost him greatly. And, since we too are called to incarnational ministry, we ministers have a price to pay as well.
What does incarnational ministry entail? For Jesus Christ, it meant laying aside divine privilege to take upon himself all of the pain, angst, sorrow, temptations, and trials of the human condition (See Isaiah 53). He did ministry by getting close enough to the people he sought to serve that he became one of them and one with them. He served primarily through solidarity. Clearly, he gave up much of his privilege and power in order to elevate those without either to a new level of living. He went from heaven to earth, from Son to servant, from eternal King to peasant Jew. That’s incarnational ministry!
Thank God we will never have to travel as far south as the Son did, but we too are called to Jesus-style incarnational ministry. Christian ministers visit those in prison to incarnate good news. We are called to roll up our sleeves not only to serve the poor and homeless but to share life with them. We must be willing to resource under-resourced communities even if it means spending less money on important, but unnecessary, audio-visual worship service enhancements and fellowship hall renovations. We need the courage to be a voice for the voiceless even if it means putting our own reputation on the line. Pastoral leaders use our position and power not to build our ego but to build up the culturally undignified. Incarnational ministry is costly!
There were two internal questions that surfaced in me often during my 15 years as a pastor no matter the context. First, how can my ministry incarnate the realities of Christ and his kingdom? And the second question was, am I willing to pay the price necessitated by incarnational ministry? To be perfectly honest, there were days when I chose to play it safe in the confines of my ivory professional tower. I regret those missed opportunities to incarnate good news. But on my better days, I got it! The more I got it, the more the people I served as pastor began to get it (though some of them “got it” long before I did), and once we got it together there was no turning back. The pendulum had swung and we became a church that existed to make Christ known through incarnational ministry that cost us time, energy, money, personnel, blood, sweat and tears.
Incarnational ministry is costly, but the ultimate price was paid by the God who became one of us.
In 1995, Joan Osborne asked us to consider, through one of her songs, “what if God was one of us”? Here are some of the lyrics:
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
These words may make us cringe. Insinuating that God might be a “slob” just like sinful humanity gets our hackles up in a hurry. Osborne, to her credit, is at least willing to explore what the church has too often ignored. She seems willing to wrestle with the implications of the incarnation of God as one of us.
The truth is that God not only was one of us but, I believe, is one of us and one with us because of his incarnation in the flesh. There is, to this day, an embodied member of the Trinity who looks an awful lot like a first century Jew but with a glorified body. The incarnation not only cost the eternal Son something over 2000 years ago, as detailed in Philippians 2, but perhaps the incarnation of the Son as Jesus Christ has an ongoing cost. Whether or not you agree with my conviction about the ongoing cost of the incarnation, you will no doubt agree that incarnation is costly. God’s willingness to come “from heaven to earth to show the way” by becoming one of us and one with us cost him greatly. And, since we too are called to incarnational ministry, we ministers have a price to pay as well.
What does incarnational ministry entail? For Jesus Christ, it meant laying aside divine privilege to take upon himself all of the pain, angst, sorrow, temptations, and trials of the human condition (See Isaiah 53). He did ministry by getting close enough to the people he sought to serve that he became one of them and one with them. He served primarily through solidarity. Clearly, he gave up much of his privilege and power in order to elevate those without either to a new level of living. He went from heaven to earth, from Son to servant, from eternal King to peasant Jew. That’s incarnational ministry!
Thank God we will never have to travel as far south as the Son did, but we too are called to Jesus-style incarnational ministry. Christian ministers visit those in prison to incarnate good news. We are called to roll up our sleeves not only to serve the poor and homeless but to share life with them. We must be willing to resource under-resourced communities even if it means spending less money on important, but unnecessary, audio-visual worship service enhancements and fellowship hall renovations. We need the courage to be a voice for the voiceless even if it means putting our own reputation on the line. Pastoral leaders use our position and power not to build our ego but to build up the culturally undignified. Incarnational ministry is costly!
There were two internal questions that surfaced in me often during my 15 years as a pastor no matter the context. First, how can my ministry incarnate the realities of Christ and his kingdom? And the second question was, am I willing to pay the price necessitated by incarnational ministry? To be perfectly honest, there were days when I chose to play it safe in the confines of my ivory professional tower. I regret those missed opportunities to incarnate good news. But on my better days, I got it! The more I got it, the more the people I served as pastor began to get it (though some of them “got it” long before I did), and once we got it together there was no turning back. The pendulum had swung and we became a church that existed to make Christ known through incarnational ministry that cost us time, energy, money, personnel, blood, sweat and tears.
Incarnational ministry is costly, but the ultimate price was paid by the God who became one of us.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Are you sure you want to be a Pastor?
Today will be the last of five intense days of teaching aspiring ministers the art of Christian Leadership and Preaching. This group is quite diverse in age, ethnicity, and perspective. Yet, we share a common love for Christ and the Church. As I think about some of our dialogue from class sessions and meals together, I can't help but wonder if I may have scared some of them away from ministry.
In the Church Leadership class I communicated the following:
-"Leading the people of God to align with the purposes of God is hard, laborious, and gut-wrenching."
-"If you step up to lead people through the wilderness of status quo and into the promised land of missional vitality you will take hits that hurt."
-"When you pastor a church you can't punch out at 5:00 and go home forgetting that Joe ran off for an affair with his co-worker, leaving his wife Jane and their 5 kids, or that 16 year old Brian is addicted to heroine or that 40 year old Sally is being eaten alive by cancer. Though we realize that Christ is the ultimate shepherd and that we are limited in ways he is not, we carry the burdens of the people we serve."
In the Preaching class I communicated:
-"Using words to try and impact lives is like trying to put out a thousand acre forrest fire with a garden hose (Will Willimon), yet we keep dragging ourselves up before the people hoping that the power of God will grace us and grip them with words that lead them into a new reality, a new kingdom."
-"Once we deliver our sermon on Sunday, we experience a few moments of sweet release that comes from delivering our homiletic baby. Then Monday comes and we wrestle with the demons that tempt us to doubt whether or not we really said what God wanted us to say or whether it was even worth saying anything at all since nobody seems to be listening. What is more, in the midst of these battles with the demons we call the 'Monday morning blues' we've got to prepare for another sermon all over again since Sunday is only a few days away."
Yeh, I think I may have scared a few of these aspiring ministers, unless, of course, they are called by God to this vocation. You see, if you're called by God it doesn't matter how challenging, heart-breaking, exhausting, and frustrating pastoral ministry may be. We do it simply out of loving obedience to Him.
In short, pastoring is not for the weak and wimpy. I would also add that, while pastoring is a rough line of work, the joys and delights far outweigh the pains and disappointments. When God uses your pastoral leadership to inch his people closer to the promised land of missional vitality, you will experience the kind of joy that makes pastoring worthwhile. When you sense that God is using the words he gave you to proclaim hope to individuals and renewal to a community, there is deep satisfaction.
Pastoring the church of Jesus Christ is a daunting, scary line of work. But if you're called by God to this vocation, go for it! When you know you're in the place God has called you, doing what he has called you to do, and making a difference while doing it, you'll be glad you said "yes" to God's call to Pastor.
In the Church Leadership class I communicated the following:
-"Leading the people of God to align with the purposes of God is hard, laborious, and gut-wrenching."
-"If you step up to lead people through the wilderness of status quo and into the promised land of missional vitality you will take hits that hurt."
-"When you pastor a church you can't punch out at 5:00 and go home forgetting that Joe ran off for an affair with his co-worker, leaving his wife Jane and their 5 kids, or that 16 year old Brian is addicted to heroine or that 40 year old Sally is being eaten alive by cancer. Though we realize that Christ is the ultimate shepherd and that we are limited in ways he is not, we carry the burdens of the people we serve."
In the Preaching class I communicated:
-"Using words to try and impact lives is like trying to put out a thousand acre forrest fire with a garden hose (Will Willimon), yet we keep dragging ourselves up before the people hoping that the power of God will grace us and grip them with words that lead them into a new reality, a new kingdom."
-"Once we deliver our sermon on Sunday, we experience a few moments of sweet release that comes from delivering our homiletic baby. Then Monday comes and we wrestle with the demons that tempt us to doubt whether or not we really said what God wanted us to say or whether it was even worth saying anything at all since nobody seems to be listening. What is more, in the midst of these battles with the demons we call the 'Monday morning blues' we've got to prepare for another sermon all over again since Sunday is only a few days away."
Yeh, I think I may have scared a few of these aspiring ministers, unless, of course, they are called by God to this vocation. You see, if you're called by God it doesn't matter how challenging, heart-breaking, exhausting, and frustrating pastoral ministry may be. We do it simply out of loving obedience to Him.
In short, pastoring is not for the weak and wimpy. I would also add that, while pastoring is a rough line of work, the joys and delights far outweigh the pains and disappointments. When God uses your pastoral leadership to inch his people closer to the promised land of missional vitality, you will experience the kind of joy that makes pastoring worthwhile. When you sense that God is using the words he gave you to proclaim hope to individuals and renewal to a community, there is deep satisfaction.
Pastoring the church of Jesus Christ is a daunting, scary line of work. But if you're called by God to this vocation, go for it! When you know you're in the place God has called you, doing what he has called you to do, and making a difference while doing it, you'll be glad you said "yes" to God's call to Pastor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)