Category Archives: article

The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects: Opening Scene
I have been reflecting recently on why people in our culture are becoming increasingly disconnected with the church. This is not a new conversation but one that Christian leaders and researchers have been involved with for a long time: study after study, book after book and conference after conference. I am not opposed to the discussion or the fact that people are speaking and writing about it – in fact, I encourage it. The question I have, however, is what if our conclusions are incomplete? I think when we reflect on why church attendance is declining we often come with the usual suspects…the music, preaching and/or programs are not relevant.

I guess it has caused me to wonder…I don’t think our conclusions are wrong but I wonder if our conclusions are incomplete. Maybe things are less complicated than we have made them out to be…maybe our complicated strategic plans, development goals, transition periods are in some ways incomplete or maybe in some cases misguided.

Usual Suspect #1: Preaching & Teaching – In terms of preaching, we have believed that people were disinterested in the Bible and thus moved to solely topical messaged based on “felt-needs.” But how much does the Bible say about busyness, parenting, friendship compared to the basic and timeless Good News of God. Ironically, and maybe even strategically, I think we are treating symptoms rather than the true human condition, the disease if you will, that people apart from God are lost (not only living in darkness but spiritual death). I am not opposed to topical preaching or connecting with felt needs, but when they dictate and dominate our preaching schedules and content at the expense of the timeless story of God, the Good News of Jesus, then something is wrong isn’t it? To be honest, I wonder…what if we faithfully preached the whole counsel of God and no one came, would that be okay? Is it better to preach only on felt needs if that is what brings a crowd? Ironically, I think what draws the crowd these days are church’s that are preaching the whole counsel of God – preaching Christ crucified rather than solely felt need issues.

Usual Suspect #2: Service – Typically in church growth material you, indirectly at least, get the picture that people just want to be consumers of Christian services in church and so we should tailor it according. I would argue that we have even done this to the point where we offer community (an intangible and often allusive thing) as a promised commodity that people WILL experience if they come to church or one of its programs. Is this right or even true? I am of the opinion that people actually want to serve and be an active and vital part of the community rather than just a receiver or consumer of services. So maybe instead of just providing services, or even instead of providing services, we need to give people opportunities to serve – to be a vital and connected part of the community we want to participate in. I contend that this would then in many ways help to create the atmosphere for community to grow.

Usual Suspect #3: Music – That infamous and almost feared controversy in church. We often assume that if we change the music people will come. Although I believe it is important, I think people in our culture are less concerned about this one then we are as people in the church. Church’s have split, whole denominations have formed, because we have believed this to be of major significance. Although I think it is important and people need to be drawn into worship in their cultural contexts in effective ways, maybe we have made this to be the main thing when in fact people outside the church care less than we do about it. I don’t dismiss the importance of this issue, but I think it is more of an internal church issue dealing with people’s personal preference than anything else. Ironically the attitudes in the church that are created and fostered through this debate and infest or inoculate the church has more effect on the church’s openness than the actual music that is played.

Usual Suspect #4: Leadership and Organizational Structures – You don’t read a lot about leadership and organizational structures in Emerging Church material but I think how a church is organized and the leadership structure it chooses affects its current and future success. For example, a leadership and organizational structure that focuses around a charismatic figure has a structure that is very different from a structure based more on a congregational grass roots model. There are many different models out there, all having their place, but this is often looked at briefly and then ignored to a great extent.

The Usual Suspects: Ending Credits
These are a few of the things I have been thinking about lately as I reflect on the church and its relevance in our world. I want to make it crystal clear…I have great hope for the Church and want to do all I can to honour and serve the Bride of Christ but the Church and what it is and is not is something that I continue to struggle with but in it all knowing that God will prevail.

The Myth of the Indefatigable Pastor

There is a myth we deluded ourselves into believing. Either is it a myth about ourselves if we are a pastor or about our pastor(s) if we are not. These myths have, in many ways, directly or indirectly led to unhealthy ministries, lives and families and even to pastoral burn out. This myth is the myth of the “Indefatigable Pastor.” In other words, it is the myth that the pastor is super-human and not able to ever be exhausted or get tired. We can believe that sleep, recreation, times of recharging are luxuries for the pastor, where in fact, it is a necessity to a healthy and vibrant ministry.

We have relatively little recorded in Scripture on the life of Jesus, so what is recorded we have to understand as important enough for the gospel writers to remember, recall, and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, record. Have you ever noticed how many times in these recorded incidents that Jesus goes away to rest and connect with his Father?

Jesus, the perfect Son of God, needed to rest.

Jesus didn’t do everything humanly possible in the sense that he didn’t heal everyone or speak at every request. Jesus did, however, do everything that was humanly healthy, as he lived a perfectly balanced life and ministry that too many of us, as pastors, forget about and even consciously reject in our volitionally chosen busy schedules and calendars. I am not opposed to hard work, but unhealthy busyness is just that, unhealthy and consequently unsustainable.

Solitude and Community…Opposites Attract

I’ve been reflecting since the Small Group DeConference last week about the role of community in Spiritual Transformation. It is interesting to reflect on the amount of importance that we, in our current North American Church culture, have placed on Small Group ministry. I don’t discard this reality and I strongly believe and live the important value that Small Group ministries need to have in our lives.

However, it has drawn numerous sociological and ecclesiological questions from me. First sociologically…it is interesting that hundreds of years ago people would retreat to monastic communities, or go alone into the desert or wilderness because they believed that Spiritual Transformation occurred in isolation. I think part of the reason this occurred was due to the fact that people lived in smaller communities; people lived with their relatives, personally knew their neighbors, had close friends and lived interconnected lives together.

Recognize the difference?

Our lives today, especially in suburbia, have become exceptionally isolated. We open our garages and enter our houses without connecting on any level with our neighbors, our nuclear families spend little time together, and our nuclear families live very separate lives from our extended family. Maybe it is our isolated lives that draw us to reflect and long for deep community (deep ecclesiology) with others because we don’t experience anything like it on a regular basis. Maybe that is why isolation for spiritual development is not commonly practiced in our culture. Reversely, maybe that is why hundreds of years ago when people lived communally, it would seem appropriate that people sought isolation for a deeper connection with God.

I am not against community or isolation. I see both evidenced in the life of Jesus and throughout Scripture as important aspect for the life of a Christ follower. What I am referring to is the interesting dynamic of our spiritual lives and transformation and how we have begun to look at Small Groups as the sole answer. I think it is an important part of that answer but I also think it needs to be balanced with times of isolation and solitude…both of which we struggle with in our culture. When it comes to spiritual transformation (which can only be done through the ministry of the Holy Spirit), there is a place for both seemingly opposites: community and isolation.

Maybe opposites do attract.

Unlocking Fun From The Trunk Of Ministry

We visited my Grandma at her senior’s home in Edmonton last week and my kids were, well, let’s just say, less than well behaved. There are times when as a parent you try and tell kids to be quiet because there are people sleeping in the next room and all they hear is it’s time to play LOUDER.

What is it about children that make them look for fun in every area of life – in every way? I have been reminded of this lately and how much ministry is often stripped of fun, enjoyment and play by well…us. We often forget that serving God, leading worship, preaching, etc. can be fun. I know there are times where the situation causes fun to take a backseat, death and sickness for example, but serving God can be fun. Elder’s meetings can be fun, small groups can be fun, and even church can be fun filled with fun, laughter and excitement.

There are times where fun needs to take a backset but I think we have often put fun in the trunk and ignored its contagious laughter. I often tell people who are helping to lead worship as we pray before a worship service, that we are called to worship the God of the universe with all our hearts and it is very serious BUT it can also be incredibly fun.

I’m not sure why we have ignored the opportunity to have fun in ministry but it’s time to take fun out of the trunk and put it back in the car. I know there are times in ministry where things are difficult – where visiting a mourning family or dying person is difficult. In these times, fun needs to get moved to the backseat but let’s not lock it up in the trunk.

Taking this a step further, part of fun in ministry is the concept of play…I use the concept of “play” to refer to the idea of creativity and taking risks (the days of make believe, when army soldiers, Transformers or Barbie’s came to life out of the toy boxes of our youth). Maybe our conservative, no risk, modern ministry models need to be refined or even replaced with more of a concept of uncompetitive play and fun. What if we looked at ministry and new ministries as fun ways of loving God and others and if by taking the risk, they didn’t work out then have we lost? Or, what if we opened up the floodgates of trapped and buried creatively to see the new ministry models, ideas and strategies that can creatively communicate the Gospel pour out into our every changing world. Maybe we have taken the competitive nature of our society and mistakenly imported it into ministry. And maybe…just maybe we need to do for ministry what Timbit Soccer and Timbit Hockey has done for kids sports – make them fun again, worrying less about winning and succeeding and more about seeing how we can partner with God and in that profound reality, having fun doing so. Consequently, we will inevitably fail at times, but can trying our best to honorably, joyfully and passionately serve God ever be defined as failure?

Writing something like this is risky as well…some may say that I don’t take God or ministry seriously enough. Well, if that is the case then they don’t know me and have misunderstood. Seeing God work, seeing Him turn death to life, seeing Him give light to darkness is serious stuff to be sure, but it is also exceptionally fun.

Imagine the disciples ministering with Jesus, seeing the lame walk, the blind see, the dead rise…that sounds like fun to me. Serving the God of the universe is a serious calling with a burden to bear, but let’s not forget that when we serve God in the way he has called and gifted, it can be fun too.

Who Protects the Sheep from the Shepherd?

In a leadership class I’m in, we’ve been having discussions about the pastor being the shepherd and that part of being a shepherd is protecting the sheep against wolves or even wolves in sheep’s clothing. Although I agree with that, I want to propose a question no one seems to ask or probe but one that in my opinion beckons:

“Who protects the sheep from the shepherd?”

We talk about protecting the flock (congregation) from people who may be “false teachers,” harmful or malicious people who destroy unity and hurt others, but what happens when the wolf is the pastor – the very shepherd who is suppose to protect?

Who protects the sheep from the pastor who handles conflict in explosive and unhealthy ways, or the pastor who is manipulative and controlling, or the pastor who is teaching false doctrine, or the pastor who doesn’t keep confidence, or the pastor who is having an affair? In the discussion of pastor as shepherd, the question MUST be asked: who guards the sheep against them? How does the shepherd/pastor protect the sheep and his or her ministry from himself/herself?

Here are a few practical ways I thought of doing this:
1) To avoid against slipping into preaching false doctrine and being unfaithful to scripture: I think constant education as well as having a group of colleagues who rotationally listen to each other’s sermons and provide feedback. This serves not only to guard against false doctrine but aids in professional development as well.
2) To protect the church against a controlling pastor there needs to be understanding, resources and encouragement for the pastor to keep emotionally healthy in ministry. As Pete Scazzero says…it is impossible to have a healthy ministry and spirituality if one is emotionally unhealthy.
3) To keep one’s life of moral purity (financially, sexually, emotionally, etc.), there must be a level of accountability with someone whom the pastor can be totally honest with. There are also practical fences one can build to protect one’s self from temptation and falling into the deep well of sin.
4) To remember to rest and to have times and places where you can have fun and be yourself, apart from professional expectations.

To be a good shepherd, one must begin with humility; a recognition that one is human and can fall fast and hard into sin’s grasp. If we, as pastors, are shepherds of the sheep and part of our calling is to protect the flock then we must…WE MUST…do what we can to protect them from ourselves.