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article, Blog, Pastor, preaching

The Pilot and the Preacher

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On multiple occasions, I have attempted piloting a virtual aircraft with a computerized flight simulator.   Although these have taken place in different places, environments and contexts, they have all ended with the same predicable result – virtual destruction.

Unlike the perceived simplicity of flying, it is a complex reality with complicated instruments, controls, aerodynamics, gravity, weather, etc.  What on the surface seems simple is, in reality, quite complex.

As someone who has preached regularly for years, I’ve learned a number of important things in the process.  I want to share them here using the metaphor of piloting an airplane.

Flight Check List
Any pilot, when preparing for takeoff and the upcoming flight, has to meticulously prepare for the journey.  They file flight plans, check gages, brief their crew, study their plane, know the weather, etc.  They meticulously prepare!  The same must exist for the preacher.  The biblical communicator must know the Scripture he/she is preaching from (biblical exegesis), interpret it effectively (hermeneutics), study their unique context (cultural exegesis), and consider the best possible route for their sermon (methodology), etc.

To preach meritoriously, one must prepare meticulously.  

Air Traffic Control
When a pilot prepares for take off, is in flight and prepares to land, he/she must be in constant communication with air traffic control.  The same must be true for preachers as they pray before, during and after the preaching journey they take with their congregation.

To preach effectively, one must pray endlessly.

Take Off 
One of the roles of an effective pilot is to prepare the travelers for take off, telling them to buckle up and preparing them for the journey ahead.  The same is true for the preacher.  As the preacher prepares to take off, they must communicate to the congregation, and prepare them for the journey.  This will be different depending on the preaching methodology used, but the same principle exists regardless.  The effective preacher invites the congregation to enter the journey ahead with preparation, expectation and anticipation.

I must be noted that the pilot, as with the preacher, is only effective if he/she knows his/her passengers, understands them and even, I would suggest, includes them in the planning and preparation for the journey ahead.

To preach commendably, one must commence communally.

Aware of Passengers
As a pilot constantly keeps aware of the state of his/her passengers through the journey, the same must be true of the preacher.  As the preacher journeys through the content of the message, he/she must keep the congregation engaged and aware.  This is not to suggest that the goal is to keep the passengers comfortable but the preacher must be constantly aware that he/she is not taking this journey alone!

To preach well, one must know and be aware that they are not on a solo flight.

Turbulence
Sometimes a pilot will have to fly through turbulence and when they do, it is helpful and imperative to have people put up their tray tables, buckle-up, and prepare for the rough, and often uncomfortable, ride ahead.  The same is true for preachers.  There will be times when the preacher will preach through difficult texts and/or difficult topics.  When this is the case, it is helpful to let people know what is coming, to be prepared for it and journey through it together.  Personally, I have found I can preach on very difficult topics if I prepare the congregation for it.  If I let them know that turbulence is ahead, there is, in my experience, a collective desire to work through it together, allowing the opportunity to pilot through difficult passages and topics together.  This is where I find it helpful to remind the congregation that we, together, submit to God’s authority and discern truth together in community under the leading of the Holy Spirit.

To preach successfully, one must preach through turbulent topics securely.

Landing
For pilots, the one area that is often the most challenging, memorable and exciting is the landing.  If there is going to be a problem, there is a good chance it will be in the landing.  This is the area where, in my experience, most preachers struggle.  In many cases, preachers look to approach the runway and land “on a wing and a prayer.”  They pour hours of preparation into the take off (introduction) with the false assumption and fleeting hope that the landing will take care of itself.  Good preaching should end the journey of the sermon with a distinct ending that calls for a response and leads to mission.

To preach sufficiently, one must land the sermon steadily.

Disembarking
It is my usual practice to do a benediction at the end of the service.  This is when I give a charge to the congregation as they engage the world on mission.  I always end by calling people to “GO in peace” because, like a pilot who greets people as they leave the plane, I know as people will engage their world, the scripture we journeyed through will collide with their circumstance in challenging ways.

To preach effectively, the exit is engaged intentionally.

When it comes to preaching there are different kinds of pilots with different piloting skills and abilities.  Some are stunt pilots who are extraordinarily gifted in their ability and people come in droves to see them in person or download their podcasts.  In addition, there are private pilots who faithfully serve smaller churches as well as commercial pilots who serve larger churches.  All follow the same process with different contexts and all have vital importance.

If you preach… Keep learning.  Keep growing.  Try new things.  Get better at your craft, art and skill!

If you are a member of a congregation… Recognize that what might seem easy is, in reality, quite complex and, like flying a plane, when done well is not just a skill but also an art form that takes years of practice.  Therefore, pray for your pastors, encourage them and invest in them!

article, Blog, misc, mobiquity, socialmedia, technology

The Future of Privacy in a Digital Age

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Google recently unveiled Google Glasses for beta testing (see the news story here), bringing up a number of questions regarding the future of privacy.

In the pre-digital age (before the Internet, social media and mobiquity (ubiquitous use of mobile technology)), a sign of one’s wealth and power was demonstrated as public fame.  Although we are still riding the crest of this wave, it is beginning to break on the shores of the present.  As that wave breaks on the present’s shore, it will begin to pull back into the ocean of history, reversing direction and changing culture’s landscape in the process.  One of the many impacts of the retreating waves of history is the reversal of public and private.   As the crest retreats, privacy will become a sign of wealth and power rather than public fame.

The controversy and conversation that Google Glass is creating highlights this shift.  The future of technology will, increasingly, compress everything into the public sphere with accumulative complications.  Google Glass is the latest manifestation of this increasing reality, conjuring several privacy related questions:

  • Where is it appropriate for the average person to film and publicly broadcast, and where is it not?  
  • What is private and what is public?  
  • Are private and public distinctions an increasingly archaic and obsolete distinction in an emerging digital society?

It is an interesting observation that although the general populace is, typically, infuriated by the government’s video surveillance, they are largely ignorant of the pervasive cameras in their possession, sharing videos, pictures, audio and text that are filtered through private companies’ servers (this information is then sold to the highest bidder – remember with free services (Gmail, Instagram, Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), you are the product being consumed).  Consequently, we have moved away from cities with thousands of cameras (owned, operated and regulated by governments and corporations) to cities with millions of cameras (owned and maintained by individuals, filtered through private companies’ servers, with little to no regulation).

In our emerging world of DUB (this is an acronym for my phrase “Democratized Ubiquitous Broadcasting”), will privacy, rather than public fame, be the new sign of wealth and power?  Will wealth be shown through the ability to hide?  Will wealth create privacy behind virtual digital fences the way it does with physical mansions and estates?  Will a sign of wealth be anonymity, in a way the vast majority of the populace can’t experience?

I am, intentionally, posing questions rather than answers.  As we enter the digital future, in mobiquitous fashion, we need to be asking these questions – recognizing the ubiquitous effects of social media and Internet technology.

article, Blog, Lausanne, misc, missio alliance, mission

The North American Church’s Journey Through the Stages of Grief

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As a pastor, one of the things I am privileged to do is walk with people (shepherd them) through the stages of grief.  As every pastor has experienced, some people successfully journey through these stages over time, while others get trapped along the way, often leading to dysfunction in their life.

I would suggest that the church in North America is going through the stages of grief as it comes to grips with the end/death of Christendom.  As the church grieves the loss of its once held societal power, cultural influence and moral authority, it needs guidance and direction.  The church is in need of pastoral shepherds who will help guide it through these stages into health and effectiveness within its new reality – post-Christendom.  The challenge of this generation is to lead the church through the stages of grief, emerging with health and the reengagement of mission within its new environment.

The fact is, all churches and Christian traditions in North America are going through this grieving journey; however, they are all at different places in it.  Consider the five stages of grief:

  • Stage 1: Denial – There are churches that are still stuck in denial.  They believe that culture has not changed.  They are still doing ministry in the same way they did at the height of Christendom.
  • Stage 2: Anger – Churches in this stage are angry at the change our culture is experiencing and have focused their attention and energy at expressing that anger.  These churches are often known solely for what they are against, rather than what they are for.   
  • Stage 3: Bargaining – Churches stuck in this stage believe that if they do ______ then things will go back to the way they use to be.  In many cases, there is a focus on recreating past programs and ministries in a futile attempt to recreate past results.
  • Stage 4: Depression – Churches in this stage believe all hope is lost.  They are beyond denial, anger or bargaining but the weight of the challenge ahead has brought depression, manifested in hopelessness.
  • Stage 5: Acceptance – Churches who have successfully journeyed through the previous stages end with acceptance, beginning to think through what it means for effective ministry and mission in our new post-Christian environment. 

The church in North America is in a unique situation and journey.  It needs men and women who are committed to God’s mission, seeing the whole Church bring the whole gospel to the whole world.  The challenge ahead is for church leaders to be committed to Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, helping congregations, denominations and movements journey through these stages in order to begin meeting the unique challenges of our changing world.  A post-Christian culture will need radically different ministries, need to ask profoundly different questions, and will need very different paradigms.  The Church needs to move beyond conversations that simply grieve the loss of once was, to conversations of what could be, as it engages in God’s global mission.  These conversations are why organizations and movements like Lausanne, Missio Alliance, etc. are vital and important for our time in history.  The Church in North America is at the precipice of possibility and Jesus, the head of the Church, is leading His Church forward with hope and mission.  

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Canadian Swimming

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The following post was also recently published in the Vermilion Standard.

A few weeks ago at Christmas, in a spontaneous act of temporary insanity, I put on my swimming suit, opened the front door, entered the icy air and jumped off of my front step into the snow (I even have the pictures to prove it).  I called it “Canadian Swimming.”  It was one of those events that caught my kids off guard and will be now be one of our family legends.  It was a crazy act, done partially out of rebellion of our long winter season and partially as a spontaneous act of joyful fun.

Upon reflection, and after warming up in a hot shower, I came to the conclusion that we all need to have more spontaneous acts of fun in our lives.  I am not suggesting that we all jump off our front steps into a mountain of snow but there are times when you need to break the cycle and routine of life and engage in some spontaneous fun.  It might be my own experience, but it is precisely these times of spontaneous fun that create memories and sometimes jar us out of our routines and ruts.

As a Christian, and as a pastor, it is often assumed that I must have given up on fun to live the calling I have.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I love to have fun, love to laugh, enjoy times with friends, and do silly things like jump in snow banks in just my swimming suit.  At the same time, I’m normal (although after Canadian Swimming, this is debatable) and sometimes I get caught in the routine of life, the stress of work, and the busyness of responsibility and I lose track of the joy that I am invited to experience.

I think we can forget that life was created by God to be full of joy.  Even in the creation account of the Bible there is a sense of joy and play in the Garden of Eden.  This is what God intended when he created humanity and what God calls us to.  God calls us to life, abundant and eternal life through Christ Jesus (John 3:16; John 10:10), and this life is not a life intended to be devoid of play and joy but rather filled with it.  There is nothing shameful in laughter and clean humor; God has given us humor and laughter as a beautiful gift, a gift that we are called to embrace rather than erase or suppress.

I think we all need more spontaneous jumps of playful joy as we celebrate the life we have been given and enter into the eternal and abundant life available to us in Christ Jesus.

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Holy Interruptions

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The following article was also published in The Vermilion Standard.

Be honest…interruptions are annoying!  Whether it is an interruption in your schedule, an interruption in the middle of a great night sleep, an interruption to your travel plans by a flight delay or an unscheduled construction detour, interruptions can be very annoying. 
We are trained to hate interruptions.  Consequently, we have “do not disturb” options on our cell phones, office phones and signs for our hotel rooms.  We have been conditioned to see interruptions as negative, unpleasant and unwelcomed detours in our scheduled lives.   All that being said, what if all interruptions are not bad?  What if our conditioned despise for interruptions has made us ignorant of what God might be doing around us?
As we prepare for Christmas, I want to reflect on a passage of Scripture where an interruption was welcomed, leading to some everyday people experiencing the extraordinary and being changed as a result.  I want to reflect on the story of the angel’s interruption to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth.
In the biblical account of Jesus’s birth (Luke 2), we find a group of shepherds tending their flocks.  They were working the night shift, doing what they normally did.  They were protecting and watching over their sheep by night.  In midst of the ordinary, the extraordinary happens.  Breaking into the darkness is the shining light from the Glory of God and an angel who announces that the Savior has been born in Bethlehem. 
When the angel leaves, the scripture says that the shepherds decide to go out of their way and look for this child.  Upon their arrival in the small town of Bethlehem, they discover things exactly as the angel described.  The scripture then describes that they praised God and amazed many people with the stories of the things they saw and witnessed.
Imagine if the shepherds were not open to being interrupted.  Imagine what they would have missed.   Throughout the scriptures, we discover that God often works through interruptions; God is an experienced interrupter.
Are you open to being interrupted?  What if the ‘annoyances’ of interruptions this Christmas were the very path towards seeing and experiencing something extraordinary?  In the Bible, extraordinary things happen to ordinary people all the time – it is how our God works and in in his working, he uses interruptions as opportunities.

What are the interruptions God has planned for you this Christmas?  Are you prepared to embrace them as possible opportunities for the extraordinary to break into your ordinary?