Category: Religious

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Religious

A Question of Discipleship

“The fact is that there now is lacking a serious and expectant intention
 to bring Jesus’ people into obedience and abundance through training.”
DallasWillard
     During my doctoral studies at Fuller Theological Seminary one of my instructors asked each student to give answer to this question: “What is the greatest obstacle to your church reaching a higher level of effectiveness?” Two students answered before it would be my turn.
     The first student, a senior pastor of a 1,200-member congregation in Toronto, Canada, responded, “The desire for the familiar and convenient beats out the desire for greater effectiveness in ministry. If it involves experimenting with something that might work better, the response is almost always resistance.”
     The second student answered, “A prevailing culture within my church that is defined more by the attitude, ‘It’s about me!’ rather than ‘It’s about God!’ Membership seems to be more about taking care of ‘my needs’ than a concern for the mission of reaching our community for Christ.”
     Then it was my turn. I wished that I had had more time to reflect before having to respond so quickly. The answer that pressed against my heart was, “The lack of a clear understanding of how to move from the shadow waters of faith to the deeper waters of discipleship.” Now, nearly five years later, it is clear to me that more time would not have changed my answer.
     One of the other pastors quickly turned to me, following my answer, and suggested, “Don’t you mean that the problem is the lack of discipline among your members?”
     I answered that such an assessment would be unfair. People must first understand a pathway for growing in their faith. Simply, people need to be shown “how.” It was then that I determined what I would do for my final doctoral project. After a year of reading, thinking, praying and conversations with many pastors of what they found working in their congregations, I developed one pathway for Christian formation: Practices, Solitude, Community and Sharing. This approach is detailed each month in the church’s news magazine, The Spire and fully developed in my book, Faith Journey. I imagine now that it is a question of discipline, isn’t it?
Joy,
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Religious

Advancing Core Values

“The problem for us today is that stability is no longer the norm.”
John P. Kotter
     A Princeton student once asked his professor, Albert Einstein, “Why are you giving us the identical test as last year’s?” The brilliant scientist answered, “Because this year, the answers are different.” Einstein’s lesson to his student is well taken. In our ever-changing world, what worked last year doesn’t necessarily work this year.
     Our ultimate goal as a church is to help persons become deeply committed Christians and participate in God’s ongoing work in the world. Yet, last year’s approach to realizing that goal may no longer be effective. Looking for new answers to effectively reach our goal is the heart of church leadership.
     Last week in this blog, I argued for the difference between “method” and “core value.” The two are often confused in many organizations, particularly in the church. The unfortunate result is emotional attachment to “method” rather than advancing a “core value” with energy, intelligence, imagination and love. If something in that last sentence sounds vaguely familiar then you have been paying attention in worship. It is one of the constitutional questions that will be asked this Sunday of your newly elected leaders.
     We worship a God who is constantly on the move. Through the lips of the prophet Isaiah God declares, “Look! I’m doing a new thing! (Isaiah 4319)” Throughout scripture, we see a God of tremendous urgency in advancing God’s purposes. Methods change but the mission doesn’t.
     Occasionally your leaders will try something new to advance God’s purposes in this place. It may be a change in the Bible translation used in our shared worship or in how we do the work of evangelism. And inevitably someone will say, “We have never done it that way.” If you will become quiet and listen carefully you may hear God’s response, “Precisely!”
Joy,
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Religious

A More Effective Approach

“Even the visionary companies studied in Built to Last need to continually remind themselves
 of the crucial distinction between core and noncore, 
between what should never change and what should be open for change,
between what is truly sacred and what is not.” 
Jim Collins
     Jim Collins states that enduring organizations have two dominant characteristics that are complementary opposites.  The first is a strong conviction about core ideals that never change; these are purpose and values.  The second is a clear understanding that everything else must change in order to preserve the core.  Collins says it takes clarity and discipline to understand which things in the organization belong to which category.
     People who populate our churches often demonstrate little clarity about the difference.
Take Sunday school as an example.  Few know that the origin of Sunday school dates back to 1780.  Four purposes or needs were identified in the community and Sunday school was an experiment as a means of addressing those needs.  As the idea of Sunday school spread and the culture changed, the four original needs became reduced to only two: building relationships and nurturing discipleship.  These two remain as the core purposes of Sunday school.
     If Jim Collins would to look at our example, he would say that the core that should never change would be building relationships and nurturing discipleship.  He would then identify the noncore, or method for accomplishing the core objectives, is the traditional Sunday school hour on Sunday morning.
     Simply, what the church is about is the core, or the essentials, and not about the method.  Building relationships and nurturing discipleship is at the core of our mission.  The method, the traditional Sunday school hour, is not.  The question before the church is, “Are you emotionally attached to the method or the core?”
     Jim Collins is correct, of course.  Sometimes emotional attachments get in the way of intelligently discerning the difference between what must never change and what can change, the difference between the core and the noncore.
     Make no mistake. The Sunday school example should not be heard that I am against Sunday school.  Nor is it my intention to eliminate Sunday school from our ministry.  I use this as an example of the difference between what is “method” (Sunday school hour) and “core” (building relationships and building disciples).  When we realize that it is the “core” that is important and not the “method”, then we can explore additional methods for advancing the “core.”
     I have invited a few of our leaders to share with me in a period of discernment.  From the outside, their work together may be called long-range planning.  Though this is what they will do, their real work will be to clarify the difference between what is at the core of our mission and what is merely method.  As our world changes; so do methods.  Rotary style phones were only a method, the idea of easy communication is a core.  Rotary phones have been replaced; the core value of easy communication has not.  I wonder where the rotary phones are in our shared approach to ministry.  And once identified, are we prepared to get over our emotional attachments to them for a more effective approach?
Joy,
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Religious

Making Choices

“More and more people spend their time just shopping around, 
looking for diversion while avoiding commitment.” 
Eddie Gibbs
     Alan Hirsch, one of the brightest thinkers today on building authentic Christian churches, argues that many churches today use a seeker approach to evangelism and entertainment to attract people to Christ.  The devastating result is that ministry becomes another cultural form of consumerism that successfully attracts crowds but fails to transform lives.  Rather, the crowds continue to play the soundtrack of the culture – “give me more and more and if the quality isn’t up to my expectations I will shop somewhere else.”  The fact that such an approach to ministry builds more religious consumers shouldn’t surprise us.
     Hirsch suggest that authentic faith communities must demand that members become “self-feeders” who take responsibility for developing significant personal relationships with other Christians and develop practices that counteract culture and changes us into the image of Christ.  This, of course, runs counter to a consumer mentality that is heard by some: “This or that church simply wasn’t feeding me.”  As parents we expect our children – at some point – to begin feeding themselves.  Why should church leaders expect less from persons committed to following Christ?  To advance an argument that one church or another “isn’t feeding me” is simply an indicator of personal laziness.
     The Apostle Paul speaks of the Christian journey as a race that must be run well.  Training, argues Paul, will be required just as athletes train for competition.  Of course, this means more personal effort than popping in a video about Jesus and grabbing a bowl of popcorn.  Locating ourselves in small group for accountability, intentional engagement with the scriptures, scheduled and purposeful quiet time with God and developing conversational skills to share our relationship with Jesus with others will be required.  I do not promise that any of this is easy.  But didn’t your parents teach you that anything great in life is rarely obtained easily?
     Consumerism is the dominant worldview of North America.  As such, it is competing with the kingdom of God for the hearts and imaginations of God’s people.  Heaven watches to see the choices we make regarding our desire to grow into the character of Christ.
Joy,
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Religious

The Spiritual Life

“The spiritual life is not something that is gotten for the wishing or assumed by affectation.  
The spiritual life takes discipline.” 
Joan Chittister
     Bill Hybels has introduced in one of his books the idea of Holy Discontent.  The question Hybels raises is, “What is your Holy Discontent?  What is that one thing that you can’t stand anymore and desperately want to do something about?”  Usually, a Holy Discontent is something so great that it cannot be accomplished by one’s own strength.  It will require prayer and reliance upon the Holy Spirit.  But if pursued vigorously, mixed with a healthy dose of prayer and trust in God, one’s Holy Discontent can result in activity that significantly advances God’s Kingdom.
 
     It should be no secret that my Holy Discontent is people who have said they will follow Jesus but show little personal discipline in growing into the character of Jesus.  As Joan Chittister says, the spiritual life is not something that is gotten for the wishing.  It takes discipline. As your pastor it is my desire, my Holy Discontent, to see every member of this congregation become a vibrant, growing follower of Jesus.  That will not happen just because it is something I want for this church.  It will happen, person by person, as each member recognizes personally and deeply what God has done for them in Jesus Christ.  That ability to see what great love God has lavished on us results in the natural response to know God more, to love Jesus more profoundly.  That is what “Spiritual Formation” is all about.  And spiritual formation requires discipline.
 
     Part of my vision for this congregation is to assist people in their Christian journey with a Center for Life-Long Learning.  The idea is to provide, throughout the year, opportunities to learn from seasoned Christians how to go deeper and further in our shared walk with Jesus.  The first opportunity will be this November, when we welcome to our church Dr. Greg Ogden, author of numerous books including Discipleship Essentials.  During Dr. Ogden’s weekend with us, he will provide two classes, one for our elected spiritual leaders, the Elders and Deacons and another class for the membership of the church.  In both opportunities, Dr. Ogden will address the great need in our churches today for greater depth in faith development and provide a pathway forward.  I hope you will be intentional in blocking-out Saturday, November 9th and share in this marvelous opportunity.   
    
Joy,
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Religious

Not Done Listening

     Recently I have had conversations with a few people, both from my previous home in Pennsylvania and in this community that I find rather taxing. What I mean is that they are persons who are absolutely convinced that their position, theologically or politically, is the correct one. I submit that the Christian witness is at a disadvantage whenever one person seeks to foist a simple, dogmatic position on another. So certain that they have the right answers they no longer listen. This obstinacy diminishes the Christian witness by its simple denial that there is anything new from the Lord, no deeper understanding to be discovered.

     Perhaps the greatest strength of the Reformed Tradition of the Christian faith is the declaration that we are not done listening; listening to God and listening for God through one another. All our speech, all our notions of theological orientation and political initiative must continually submit to humility and civility. Speech must be steadied with equal measure of listening.
     This is not to deny passion in our convictions. The North American church would be the stronger if more of its members were to experience their convictions a little more deeply and share them more expressively. Yet, we must maintain some uncertainty about our sense of what is right. More, we would experience greater delight in the church if more maintained greater uncertainty about their righteousness. What must happen increasingly is the spiritual discipline of pointing beyond ourselves to God. We all would benefit from the sinners prayer in the Gospels. “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
     Correctly heard, scriptures teaches that the line that separates good and evil, right from wrong, runs right through the middle of every person. We are all culpable for the brokenness in our communities. For that, we all need a God-sized savior to match the enormity of the present need. Fortunately, the Gospels declare that that is precisely what has been given to us in Jesus.

Joy,

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Religious

What Is the Missional Church?

“The life of the New Testament churches was centered around their missional vocation and their formation to practice it. “
                                   Darrell L. Guder, Princeton Theological Seminary
     In the time I have been your pastor, many of you have noticed that I speak of “the missional church.” I am grateful to those who have honestly asked, “What does that mean?” You are an intelligent congregation with an eye to what God is up to in the community. More, you are eager to join in God’s work. For that I am grateful.
     So here is a basic definition of “missional church.” A missional church is a church that acknowledges that God is already at work in the community and seeks to join God in that work. This isn’t a nuanced change from our old way of thinking about missions. The difference is significant. The first big difference is that the old way of thinking saw “mission” as one tiny part of what the church does. Missional Churchsays that everything the church does is about participating in the Missio Dei, the mission of God. Second, the old understanding was that “mission” is something we do “for” God. Missional Church says that “mission” is something we “join with God” in doing. The Missional Church Movement is a return to a sound biblical understanding of being church.
     Rob Weingartner, Director of the Outreach Foundation of the Presbyterian Church USA, provides additional insight of what it would look like to return to a biblical model of being church:
*   We used to describe mission as a program of the church; now we’re discovering that mission is the purpose of the church.
*  We used to talk about the church’s mission; now we seek to discern how God is at work in the world and participate in God’s mission.
*  We used to plan and program to get the world into the church; now we’re working on getting the church into the world
*  We used to argue about whether mission was primarily about evangelism or justice; now we know that saving souls and compassionate action and advocacy are essential dimensions of the one gospel of Jesus Christ.
*  We used to believe that the mission field was “over there” somewhere; now we know that the mission field is everywhere, including right here!
*  We used to think that only those called to special service in far off places were missionaries; now we know that in our baptisms every believer is commissioned into a missionary society.
*  We used to focus primarily on what we had to give and do in mission; now we understand that as we serve our lives are being transformed, there are things we must receive and learn.
*  Mission used to be from the West to the rest; today it is from everywhere to everyone.
     Weingartner further points out that being missional is not about church activities. It is about the church’s identity. God did not create mission in order to give the church something to do; rather, the Father who sent His Son out of love for the world and poured out the Spirit upon the disciples calls the church together and sends it into the world to bless the peoples of the earth in Jesus’ Name. Weingartner concludes with a question for local congregations: “Are you thinking in old, outmoded ways about the church and mission? Maybe the time has come for a new beginning!
Joy,
Categories
Religious

The Nature of Mature Faith

Dr. Edward White, a ministry consultant with the Alban Institute, Bethesda, MD,shared with my former church in Pennsylvaniathat persons of mature Christian faith have eight characteristics:

  1. Trusts in God’s saving grace and believes firmly in the humanity and divinity of Jesus.
  1. Experiences a sense of personal well-being, security, and peace.
  1. Integrates faith and life, seeing work, family, social relationships, and political choices as part of one’s religious life.
  1. Seeks spiritual growth through study, reflection, prayer, and discussion with others.
  1. Seeks to be a part of a community of believers in which people give witness to their faith and support and nourish one another. (They show-up for worship and participate in a small group.)
  1. Holds life-affirming values, including commitments to racial and general equality, affirmation of cultural and religious diversity, and a personal sense of responsibility for the welfare of others.
  1. Advocates social and global change to bring about greater social justice.
  1. Serves humanity, consistently and passionately, through acts of love and justice.
     These eight core dimensions of faith were identified after interviews with theological scholars, denominational executives, and open-ended surveys with several hundred adults from six participating denominations, and reviews of the literature in psychology and religion. Where are you on your journey toward mature faith?
Joy,
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Religious

Transformational Leadership

\”If you believe that mission happens naturally in congregations through business as usual,
then the only kind of pastoral leadership you need is operational leadership:
someone to preach the Word, conduct services, oversee programs, and keep the campers happy.
If, however, you believe that mission happens only through the courage to 
continually realign an organization\’s culture with the values of Christ,
then you need something more in a pastor.
You need transformational leadership.\”
John Edmund Kaiser
     Rarely does mission happen naturally.  That is largely due to the fact that congregations are made up on people – normal people who find that our default setting is to look out for ourselves before having a concern for others.  As church consultant Bill Kemp once observed, \”It is human nature to be protective of ones own turf and to perpetuate practices that have become familiar and habitual.\”  Intentional change to adapt to a changing world is difficult.  This is true for the church.
     Where does the church begin?  The starting place for a vital and compelling ministry in the local community must always be the assertion, \”It\’s not about us.  It\’s about God.\”  Congregations that lack vitality are ones that operate as if \”our preferences, our tastes, and our needs\” were the most important considerations.  Naturally, such a belief makes \”us\” the center, not God.
     The next step is personal formation by each member into the character of Jesus.  The Bible is quite clear that the church is the body of Christ, called to continue the earthly ministry of Christ.  Another way of saying that is to imagine the whole gathered church standing in front of a mirror.  Does the reflection look anything like Jesus?  Or does the mirror simply reflect a whole bunch of people wrapped-up in self-interest?  Christian formation is simply the intentional process of changing our form, our reflected image in the mirror, to look more and more like Christ.
     Finally, the effective church is one where those who are being formed into Christ accept some responsibility, some ministry in the church that makes sense to their own ability and talent.  God never intended the church to accomplish ministry by paid staff only.  The strength of any church is measured by the number of members who understand that they have a responsibility to share in the common ministry.  Additionally, the Book of Ephesians teaches that the work of ministry is an indispensable tool for continued growth into the image of Jesus (Ephesians 4:12-13).
     Someone has correctly said that it\’s time to get serious about the reason our congregation exists.  We are not here for ourselves.  Through our baptism, we have joined a movement larger than ourselves.  We are now on God\’s mission.  And that work will not be completed until, as scripture says, every knee, of every nation has bowed before Jesus Christ and acknowledged Him Lord.
Joy,
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Religious

Pastoral Role in the Discipleship Model

“The pastoral role in the discipleship model is a function of leadership, not chaplaincy. 
One of the great tragedies of the chaplaincy model is that it sets pastors up for failure. 
No matter how committed pastors may be, there is simply no way they can always be present in times of need. Times of crisis come when the family or individual least expects them. 
Pastors are often not immediately available or may be so exhausted or so pressed for time that, 
even when they are available, they are not entirely there”. 
Michael W. Foss
“What is needed in today’s context are not pastors who ‘do’ ministry but pastors who, 
from the wellspring of their own spirituality, ‘lead’ others in the doing of ministry.” 
Michael W. Foss
“When they found Him, they told Him, ‘Everyone’s looking for You!’ 
He replied, ‘Let’s head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too. That’s why I’ve come.” 
Mark 1:37-38 (Common English Bible)
     Pay close attention to what is happening in Mark’s Gospel.  The previous day, Jesus exhausted Himself providing pastoral care to increasingly large numbers of people.  Isn’t it true that when you are handing out what people want, they seem to show-up in large numbers?  Well, Jesus finally had to call a day a day.  He was depleted.  Jesus went to bed.  Early the next morning, the crowds returned for more.  The disciples went looking for Jesus who rose early for prayer.  When they found Him, they told Jesus, “Everyone’s looking for You!”  That was the short way of saying, “Come back and continue giving away the good stuff that You were handing-out yesterday.  Everyone loves You for it!”
     Trouble is, Jesus didn’t feel He had to meet people’s expectations of Him.  Jesus never lost focus of His primary purpose – to expand the God movement that was underway in the world.  Yes, He performed miracles, healing and administered pastoral care the previous day.  Yet, all of that was simply to provide a glimpse of the power of the God movement – not its purpose.  The people tried to harness the power of the movement for themselves, to take care of their wants and needs.  Jesus saw that and refused to go back.  “Let’s head in the other direction,” Jesus said to the disciples.  Essentially, Jesus was saying that His purpose was evangelism, not caring for the flock already gathered.
     The Bible teaches that the church is charged – or commissioned – to continue the ministry of Jesus.  That means the church continues with the same guiding purpose that directed Jesus, the expansion of the God movement.  And the book of Ephesians teaches that pastors of local churches are to lead the movement with their own congregations.  The practical dimension of this is that pastors are not to be chaplains.  Chaplains go back to the gathering large crowds.  Jesus did not.
      Naturally, people need prayer, pastoral care and encouragement.  Life’s journey sometimes becomes difficult.  But what scripture teaches in Exodus 18, Acts 6 and Ephesians 4, along with so many other places, is that pastoral care is to come primarily from the people of God to the people of God.  Pastors are to lead; people are to care for one another.
     This notion may not find favor among some people.  It simply doesn’t fit their idea of what a pastor should be and do.  Jesus was placed on a cross because of the same thing; people expected something different from a Messiah.  As someone once said to me, “Some people will not allow the Bible to interfere with what they believe the pastor should do.”  Pastors that capitulate to the people’s desire will find that they have become chaplains to dying churches.  God simply will not bless any design for ministry that is not God’s own.    
     Make no mistake, Jesus did some pastoral care.  And it is reasonable that any pastor will provide some pastoral care as well.  But the pastor will do so within a larger system or network of people.  Additionally, larger churches such as First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach are fortunate to have the financial resources to have additional pastors who direct the pastoral care of the church.  Even then, however, it is unfaithful to the scriptures for any associate pastor to assume all the care responsibilities.  Faithful leadership by these associate pastors is to “equip” church members for an expansive program of care.  Stephen Ministry is one way that this is done.  As congregations search the scriptures, embrace God’s blueprint for the church, and surrender false and selfish notions of what they expect from the church’s leadership, an unnatural power is released.  That power is simply God being God in the church and among a faithful people.
Joy,