A call to die for the church even when she’s not worth it

It still astonishes me how many of us in full time ministry, myself included keep forgetting the cross in our ministry. By this I don’t mean that we’ve don’t preach it anymore (Although sadly there are many who have done just this). Rather what I mean is that many in ministry forget that ministry is about taking up the cross, and not only preaching it.

There are many who have this silly and stupid idea that ministry is suppose to be exciting, enjoyable, fun, satisfying and fulfilling. Many have this crazy idea that we will respected (well at least by the church) because we are God’s servant and preachers of the gospel, where we’ll be well looked after and reasonably paid and where the people we work with are really nice, lovely, friendly, warm and on the same page as us. This would be nice wouldn’t it? So it’s a surprise when many discover, to their horror they are experiencing something quite the opposite.  They suddenly discover that it is very  hard  work and often very thankless. The people you minister to only ever seem to complain, complain, complain. Others criticize. No one wants to help,  expecting you to do everything and to be at their beck and call. Not only this you’re suddenly confronted with unjust and untrue accusations from people who do not like you. You have great plans to serve grow the church and expands God’s kingdom but you’re facing a wall of politic. To clinch this, your stipend just   !@$!@#!@#! . At the end of the day despite trying to do the right thing by people people do not like you. Now I’m sure there are many cases where the pastor really deserves the criticism. Some pastors are really that bad. Yet there are many who are trying to do the right thing yet the church is making hell for them.

In such cases the tendency is to quit and find a happier environment to work in where you’ll be respected, looked after and the people like you. Ok I’m all for this. Let’s face who wants to be a masochist? Not me! But let’s face it, should we be surprised to think that ministry should be so hard, difficult and so thankless?

It seems to me that most of us are psychologically and theologically prepared to be a martyr for the world. Jesus reminded us that the world will hate us because it first hated him. OK let’s die for the world   But very few of us are totally prepared when we discover that, not only does the world hate us , but so does the church. And we are totally floored when most of the attacks comes from brothers and sisters in Christ. This is something we’re not prepared for. We keep saying to ourselves “I did not sign up for this crap and !@#!@#!@” Yet I want to say that this is precisely what we signed up for.

As ministers of the gospel our call is to present everyone PERFECT in Christ (Colossians 1:28,29). This is the goal of all ministry and it is no small calling. Trying to help a person grow spiritually is hard enough. However growing them until they are PERFECT in Christ is way out of our league. This is why Paul reminds us that we can only set about this task because of the power of God which mightily works in and through us.

That being said, it seems to me that we keep forgetting that until such a time, we are dealing with people are who far from perfect. By this I don’t mean that people are always making mistakes. We’ve all heard the line thrown around when people make mistakes “No one’s perfect!”. Ok I think we can accept people who make mistakes. That’s not a problem. However when the bible says we are not perfect, it is saying something much stronger. It is saying that we are still sinners. Yes we have been saved, forgiven, reconciled, restored and are being transformed. Yes are are loved and are the children of God, but nevertheless we are still sinful people. What does this mean? It means we can and often are rude, unloving, greedy, selfish, grumblers, rebellious, idolatrous, immoral, violent, filled with rage, divisive, slanderers, gossipers. The list goes on and on and on. To say that we are far from being perfect like Jesus is not a cute phrase to throw around at people who simply make mistakes. Rather it is to say that we still have so much of the characteristics of this sinful rebellious world in us. In all that we do, say and think we are very much like the world. (And you know how the bible describe the world?) Which is why all the NT writers had to keep saying one thing over and over again “Don’t be like the world!”

So what’s our role? It is to take this lot of people and to lovingly and painstaking break their addiction with the world, weed out their sinful habits, purge out their idolatry, help them to forgive each other, expose the lies of the devil, teach them the truths of God and present them perfect in Christ. You see, our work is not done in heaven where everyone is nice, warm and loving to each other. Quite the contrary. Our work is done on earth where people, not least the church is still a bundle of problems and a real headache. This is the real environment where we do their work and in this environment the ministers of the gospel can and are often the object of ridicule even in the church.

If people were like Jesus they wouldn’t need us. But because people and the church is far from being like Jesus, then we need leaders who will teach the word of God, pray for the people, be a model for them and be prepared to die for her even when she hardly seems worth it. Well at least Jesus was prepared to do this!

Why do most people get converted in their younger years?

Recently I posted a blog about our emphasis on the Gen Y and the Youth Culture at the expense of the older people in our church. Here are some more observations of what I see is an imbalance which the churches needs to consider. (In saying this I am mindful that I am as much guilty as everyone else). So some observations.

1. It’s interesting that when we consider hiring staff, invariably one person we want to employ will be a youth worker. Very rarely do I hear of someone being hired specifically for equipping and empowering the 50+ group for evangelism and growing the church. When we do employ someone for this group it is usually with a view for “Caring” for them rather than mobilising them.
2. Because the young are often seen as the future of the church, a healthy church is often measured by the size of their youth group. On the other hand, churches consisting of merely older people are often seen as churches waiting to die. This way of thinking is most clearly seen in a church that is constantly losing the young people due to the cost of living in the area. Because of this many leaders feel very uncertain about the future of the church. However while many may cry over the lost of the young, many fail to see the potential and the enormous harvest to be reaped amongst the older people.
3. While there is a lot of guidance and opportunities for the young to serve there seems to be less for the older generation. This is even more tragic if a person becomes a Christian at a later stage in their life. Because there is generally very little by way of encouragement and equipping for the older generation, this only further enhances a retirement mentality. I saw this particularly with one ministry that wanted to focus on training those in their early 30’s (OK I’m using young in a very broad sense) and under. When the challenge was put to consider training the older it was flatly rejected. Now every ministry has to make a call as to what it wants to focus on. Fair enough. Yet we still need to ask why focus on the young given the opportunities, the enormous potential and opportunities amongst the older, many of whom are waiting on the sideline to be asked to play the game.
4. It’s worth saying again that the publicity and the shear number of ministries and institutions dedicated to reaching the young and equipping them far exceeds what is available for the older generation. In this I mean ministries and institutions that are more than “caring” ministries but ministries  dedicated to training and empowering 50+ guys.
5. While many of our training institutions are “open” to 50+ to signing up for training, there is no concerted effort to specifically recruit this group. On the other hand there is a massive concerted effort to “Target” and recruit the next generation.

OK these are just a few observations. So why such an emphasis on the young? Why so much energy and resources directed to this group? One explanation is the commonly held  perception that most people are converted in their teenage years. This was the message that was certainly conveyed to me at one conference I attended a few years ago and repeated again at another conference.  So if this is true, it’s not surprising that we should be strategically throwing on we can to reach them. However I wonder just how true this is? In a lecture Dr Don A Carson gave at St Barnarbas Broadway in Sydney, some years ago,   he was challenging this commonly held perception. His argument was that, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, the high conversion amongst young people can be reasonably and easily explained as a function of the shear amount of resources we direct to reaching this group.Think about it. We have organisations  like Scipture Union, Crusaders, Ferver, Youthworks, ISCF, KYLC (aka NextGen). Sydney Missionary Bible College runs an annual conference for those working amongst the youth. In recent times we have the rise of ministries like RICE. I’m sure there are many many more ministries like these dedicated to equipping our leaders to reach the youth of Sydney. So given the scale of our engagement is it any wonder why most people get converted in their younger years. But when it comes to ministries dedicated to reaching the 50+ let alone equipping our members to reach this group, I think we’d be very hard pressed to come up with a few. And those that are around usually run as a “caring” ministry rather than a mobilising or equipping ministry.

Back to Carson. Given his reflections, he decided to redirect his  time, money and energy, NOT to the young, but to reaching a different but difficult group ie the Men. And surprise surprise he found many many men coming to know the lord. Now obviously it is God who gives the growth, nevertheless it needs to be said that there seems to be an undue emphasis in equipping and evangelising this group at the expense of the rest of the body of Christ. The unfortunate consequence of this is that a major part of God’s church is not being utilized to grow his church and a major sector of our community is not being reached with the gospel.

We are in a time in Australian society where our population is aging very rapidly. Maybe it’s time to give more time, energy and money to equipping those in our churches in the prime of their life to reaching those outside the church.

Don’t be lazy in Marriage

The other day I had the opportunity  to visit a man who  just recently separated from his wife of 30 yrs. You could see the sadness in his eyes as he lamented of the breakdown in his marriage  As he reflected on what happened one thing he said really stood out “They were basically lazy regarding their marriage”. They was no third person, no unfaithfulness or anything like that. It was a simple case of neglect and laziness. They spent a lot of time working on everything else except their marriage and as he shared with me, over time they drifted further and further apart, to the point where they were basically living separate lives. And when the cracks started to appear, they ignored it and went on attending to everything else except their marriage.

There are many many reasons why marriages fall apart and sadly I’ve seen some of my friends marriages go that way. I’ve heard of unfaithfulness, violence, gambling,  alcohol and other things that have destroyed a husband and wife. But it was a sobering reminder that in many cases marriages can fall apart from nothing else than shear laziness. Marriage is hard work. Unfortunately all the hollywood junk we’re exposed to day in and day out keeps denying this truth. The one message that is often portrayed is that marriage should be easy, and forever romantic. Husbands don’t snore and wives are forever waking up as if they’ve just come out of a beauty salon. And with businesses constantly being set up to make life “EASY”, “INSTANT”,  painfree and selling a vision of more free time to devote to the things that are really important – well the honest truth is that marriage usually ranks very low on the priority lis – work, success and getting on Masterchef is really upper most in a person’s life. We constantly assume married life will be OK and why shouldn’t it be – Love can conquer mountains is what all the love songs tells about, but like so many things we need to put the work into marriage to make it work.

It was a sobering reminder for me to make sure that as I work for God that I don’t forget to work on my marriage. But I guess when you think about it, they aren’t really different are they. God’s relationship to his people is, among many other things,  often described as a marriage. But what is astonishing to realise and comforting to recognise is that God’s marriage to his people was a flawed broken marriage constantly filled with arguments, fighting, anger and threats of divorce (read the book of Hosea). His marriage was no marriage made in heaven (So to speak). His bride was a bride from hell. So if anyone truly understands how hard marriage can be – God does so in the most intimate way possible. Yet he never gave up  and constantly worked to rebuild his own broken marriage. Ultimately this would cost him his own life for this was the ultimate price necessary to bring his “wife’ back to himself and rebuild a good marriage.

Marriage is hard work so don’t be lazy if you want to make some thing last forever.

Responding to criticisms

I’ve now been in full time ministry almost 18yrs and I’ve had my fair share of attacks and criticisms. Many have been justified, for which I have had to eat humble pie,  yet still many others have been unwarranted for which I have had to learn to be gracious and courageous through it all. Sadly, yet not unexpectantly, all the criticisms have come from brothers and sisters in Christ.  Everyone of them has been personally painful. Once I had to stand alone in defending one person. At another time I was accused of siding with the other party by both sides. Once I was criticised for doing something which I had not done. The list can go on and on and on. However by God’s grace I think I can say that I’ve survived all the criticisms and attacks. I guess I can say this because I still enjoy my ministry, I am still joyful and thankful to the lord in all things, I still have a good relationship with all those who have criticized me and I continue to value their friendships. In short I’m still a happy if not crazy guy and I still think Mac’s are the best.

On the other hand it’s very sad to see many others being destroyed by the attacks of others. I can think of many cases where good intentions were misconstrued, where unintentional mistakes were criticised severely, where friends start a ministry together but end up having a massive blow up. Such incidents, sadly, are all to frequent.

Criticisms and attacks are not new. There is no way we can avoid them try as we may. If Jesus was constantly criticized as indeed was Paul, what chance have we got. So the challenge is not “How do we avoid personal attacks?” but “How do we deal with personal attacks and criticisms?”

Our natural tendency, particularly if we are in the right, is to be angry, bitter and fight back to vindicate ourselves otherwise the other person will destroy us. However it seems to me that if we are destroyed it will not be because of what others do to us but how we  respond. If we respond with anger and bitterness we will in the end be consumed by our anger and bitterness, and we will have no one to blame but ourselves.  On the other hand if we respond with love, graciousness and kindness we will in the end grow in strength and triumph over wickedness.

“If we destroyed it will not be because of what others do to us but how we respond”

When you think about it, there is nothing revolutionary about this idea. It is simply what the bible has been saying all along.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Ministries that go beyond their use-by-date..

Over the years I’ve started a number of different ministries. Starting something new, no matter what it is, is always hard work. It could be trying to start a new bible study group or a church plant – either way it’s hard work. Sometimes, by God’s grace it can takes off without a care in the world, but other times it’s a real pain. You’ll probably get knock backs from those who always tell you “it’ll never work, to those who tell you  in your face – “You can’t do that!!!!” Others will fight against you because it’s competition, or else people are already busy with other ministries that they don’t have time in your new venture. As well as this there is always the fear of failure and the “I told you so!!!!” killer statement. So starting new is darn hard work, which is probably why, in many churches nothing new really gets started.

But if starting something from scratch is hard working, killing something off is equally hard. Sometimes I’m not sure which is the hardest – life or death? Hmmmm…. I’ve noticed that over time ministries develop a life of their own and become fire breathing dragons. And when it’s time to kill them people shout some ominous words back at you: “Resistance is futile.” And like Skynet in Terminator, a cyborg will be sent to hunt you down and ensure that you don’t succeed.

However one thing I’ve come to realise is that every ministry (even the terminator) has a use-by-date. When circumstances change or the job is done, we need the foresight, courage and wisdom to close up ministries. Failure to do so, like using anything past their use-by-date is painful and sickly. Sadly I think this is a major problem in many churches around Sydney and beyond. Many pastors and church leaders refuse to acknowledge that a ministry has come to it’s use-by-date and, instead of trying to flog a dying horse, should finish it off gracefully. Hard but I think necessary.

There are many reasons why people will not terminate a ministry when its time.

• Pride: Tragic but true. Many ministries should have been dead long ago except for the pride of some.
• “The need of the one outweighs the needs of the many” Capt James T Kirk: Some are prepared to sacrifice a whole church in order to support a few. This is a hard one to knock out since Jesus did leave the 99 to look for the lost one. While we don’t want to ignore the needs of the minority group, neither must we ignore the deeds of the majority group
• Don’t want to rock the boat: This is a classic. Killing of anything, particular something that’s been going on for a long term is always going to upset some
• Living in denial: People don’t like to admit that the writing is on the wall in “BOLD” print.

Just to mention a few. When this happens it’s a real pain. People are often forced to do things, not because they are excited about it, but because they have to. It ties up valuable resources in terms of money, emotions, energy, time, personnel and everything else. Ministries that run beyond their death bed end up serving no one but everyone ends up serving the ministry. Because of this it’s difficult to start anything new that would better serve the people. In the end the machine has become the master.

So how can we make sure we  close up a ministry when it’s time to close it up and not keep it going ad nauseam?  I think a simple rule is to always remember that all good things must come to an end. This is something we need to recognise and prepare for even at the very beginning of starting a new ministry and this is something we have to keep reminding ourselves and others year in and year out. This is not a defeatist attitude. it merely recognizes that God is God and not our ministry.

A word of encouragement to struggling Churches

When I look at the church today, indeed throughout history,  it makes me wonder  how on earth the church has been able to survive through all these years. Like the churches in Revelation today’s churches are dysfunctional in every way imaginable and it’s a wonder that people are being saved and the gospel is growing.

I’ve seen churches where there are major inhouse fighting between pastors. There are churches filled with bigotry and racisms. Others are more concerned about their comfort than about the lost. I was speaking to one pastor who was talking to his church members about raising money for the flood victims in the Philippines. The response was one of terrible terrible indifference. Some churches are theologically weak if not dangerously shallow. Others are serious stuck in a major maintainence problem they can’t get out.

Some are too cowardly to make radical changes to break the plateau and reach those around them. Still many of these churches lack any good solid teaching of the scriptures from godly pastors and teachers. And given how few people go into full time ministry it will be many years before many of these churches find a full time worker.

So what do you say to these churches? How do you encourage them?

I remember wrapping up a leadership conference in Brisbane trying to work out what word of encouragement I could say to them. Many of these churches did not have a pastor and the lay leaders were struggling to know what to do. Our weekend conference, great and awesome as it was could only do so much.

At this I was reminded of Paul’s farewell speech to the elders of the Ephesian Church in Acts 20:28-31 . Paul was its founder and pastor and now, after a few years was leaving to plant other churches. Once he leaves he knows all too clearly what lies ahead of them. He warns them of the rise of false teachers both from outside the church, and worse still, from within the church.

When I look at the church today what it faces is no different to what awaited Paul’s churches. So I think his word of exhortation is really something

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Acts 20:28-31

A few things are special and really stand out

Firstly Paul reminds us just how very special the church is to God. Paul reminds the elders that God purchased the church with his very own blood. You cannot get more precious than that. To be wiling to die for someone is the most powerful testimony of just how much you love someone. And God’s underlying love for his church was seen in the death of his son. What this assures us is his unwavering and unconditional commitment to  protect and provide for his church throughout her life on earth. I’m reminded of those great words in Romans 8:38,39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So to all the churches struggling with whatever problems they may be facing, we can take courage in the knowledge, that despite all the difficulties, this does not change one bit how much God loves your church and will do all within his infinite power to care for her. Hard to believe at times isn’t it?

Secondly Paul reminds us that, ultimately the church is in God’s hands. In his farewell speech Paul commits the church to God. One of my biggest passions has to been to identify, challenge and equip people for full time pastoral ministry. I see so many churches struggling without a good shepherd to lead the church. Yet,  I’m becoming painfully aware that no matter how hard I work, we will never ever find enough pastors for all the churches in the world. Yet Paul’s words is an encouragement in reminding us that the life and health of the church ultimately and supremely lies with God. So despite how incompetent or inadequate our leaders, or the very that we do not have pastors or teachers, God is more than adequate to bring his church to her perfection. And we see this don’t we in Revelation 21 where we see the Church on the last day, beside her her husband decked out in garments of righteousness and shining with the radiance of the Lord Jesus himself. Awesome!

And lastly Paul reminds us that God has given us all we need in the word of God. Paul commits the church both to God and to the word of his grace. It reminds us of the sufficiency of God’s word to keep his people safe. With all the books about church growth, leadership development etc, it is easy to rely on these as the very things that will bring our church to our perfection. Yet Paul takes us back to the very word of God and therein lies all we need to build the church up.

So for all of us who are tempted to throw our hands in the air in despair as we look at all the seemingly insurmountable problems in our church then be encouraged by Paul’s words of exhortation to the Ephesian elders.  Remember that despite what we see with our eyes, the eyes of faith is able to see the God who is so in love with his people and his church that it staggers the imagination and that he is unwaveringly committed to our church and will protect, provide and bring her to her final glory.

What an encouragement!

Church growth – more about who you are than what you do……….

Hmmmm….. Growing a church? Everyone wants to know this, which is why there are so many books on the subject.  I guess the need for this is all the more important given that so many churches are plateuing if not declining. Added to this is the very sad fact that in Australia alone the church’s penetration into our community is only a mere 4%.

So how do we grow a church? Just to be upfront I’m only talking about numbers not spiritual growth. I know there are some who think we should be more concerned with quality than quantity. Personally I don’t have a problem with talking about numbers because the bible is also big on numbers. While God is concerned for the one lost sheep he is equally concerned to bring this gospel to all the nations. As well as this, we see in Rev 7:9 a great multitude of people that no one can count standing before the throne of God and of the Lamb. So yes, let’s be concerned for quality, for spiritual health, but let’s also be concerned and passionate to grow big churches, not for our own names sake, but because every person in our church is one more person hearing the gospel and/or being saved. But that being said I’m also realistic in knowing that despite what I can or cannot do, the size is still ultimately up to God. He is the one who will grow the church or not.

So here are some personal reflections about growing a church. Firstly, before I offer some basic reflections, let’s always always remember our foundations. Preach the word in season and out. Pray fervently, be holy and teach everyone to love one another. Everyone knows this but it’s worth remembering. Because we’re such a programmed society it’s easy to think  it’s all about the program and the strategy and forget the core and fundamental values. There are so many books about leadership, strategy, communicating visions etc that the basic things of preaching the gospel, prayer and love for one another have been left out. Ok that said what are some of my reflections about growing a church?

In this blog I have only one thing to say: Church Growth is more about who you are than about what you do.

I think this key. We can read all the church growth books we like and go to all the church growth conferences we can afford but for many of us it will simply go in one ear and out the other. The reality is that we are all wired differently. Some of us, because of who we are and our skill sets are able to to make sense of what these books say. And because of the way we are wired up, we will be able to implement these ideas in our context. These guys are natural visionaries, strategists, risk takers. These people are able to mobilze others and rally the church to a cause. All this is in their DNA. It is not just a set of skills they’ve picked up. It is who they as a person. Reading these books doesn’t change who they are. It merely fine tunes what they do.

For others however it just doesn’t connect. I’m not saying these people disagree. I’m merely saying that they never know what to do with it no matter how many times they read it. And it’s not because they are lazy or unfaithful. It is simply because it’s not in their DNA. They are not wired this way.

I think a great example are preaching conferences. I think I’m an average preacher. However, going to more and more preaching conferences will not turn me into a ‘great’ preacher. If anything it might help me to be a “Just above average” preacher but nothing more. However great preachers are already great, even without the preaching conferences. If anything the preaching conferences will simply help them to keep being great, but it will not change what they are like.

I think it’s the same with theological education. I can read all the books I like but this will never turn me into the next Calvin or Luther. Sure I need to keep reading and learning more but no matter how many books I read I will never come anywhere near these theological giants. This is just a reality of life.

Growing a church is no different. There are some who are naturally gifted for the task. They don’t need to read any more books. They could probably write one themselves. And if they did read more books on Church Growth it would only help them fine tune what they are already doing. But for the rest of us pleps reading more church growth books, while helpful, may not make a major paradigm shift in how things are done. You see church growth is more about who you are than about what you do and the skills flow out of who we are rather than something external to us.

This was one of the criticisms that some friends had about the Willow Creek church growth conferences many years ago. While there were some great ideas and strategies etc about how to grow a church, some of my friends  came back lamenting;  “I’m not like Bill Hybels.” Willow Creek is more a reflection of who Bill Hybels is rather than what he does. Of course we can’t separate the two, but it is important to remember that the latter flows out from the former.

This doesn’t mean that we can’t learn anything from the likes of Hybels and other church growth gurus. Regardless of what we are like there is still a Great Commission we need to obey and a community that needs to be reached with the gospel. However, what it DOES mean is that when we read such books we need to also ask that important extra question “What would work for ME and with what I am like?”. By the same token, if  you are like this and your leadership is not, there is no use screaming, complaining or getting frustrated with them. The reality is that they are different and we need to realise this. What it does mean is that we have to employ strategies and ideas that will WORK for our situation.

In short the danger of reading all the church growth  books on the market is a failure to contextualise it to who we are as a person and to the situation of our church.

But that all aside, at the end of the day, God has given one to plant, the other to water, but ultimately it is God who gives the growth.

OK these are personal reflections.

Fighting the Success Syndrome

I remember a few years ago going through some pretty severe depression. I don’t think anyone knew about it. I guess I was able to keep it under wraps, but I remember very clearly going through some dark days wondering what I was doing with my life, rethinking about ministry and so many other things. During this time I happen to have come across Kent Hughes great book “Liberating ministry from the Success Syndrome”. As I read it, it exactly describe what I was going through and the emotional roller coaster ride I was on.  Kent Hughes describes how he had fallen for the Success Syndrome in evaluating his ministry and because things were not “successful” he was spiraling ever into more spiritual depression. But by God’s grace he was able to recover from his depression and regain a biblical perspective in evaluating his life and ministry.

What Hughes had fallen prey to was what I was falling prey to as well. I had fallen victim to the success syndrome. A chief cause of this was my tendency to compare myself to others. I would compare my preaching to others, my skill to others, my intelligence to others, my pastoral skills to others. I would compare everything to everyone else. Not surprisingly I was falling ever into depression. But by God’s grace I was able to pull myself out of it,  yet the cry to be “Successful” is an ever present taunt in my ears and it’s a daily battle to fight against it.

While the message that we are called to be faithful rather than successful is something many of us have heard over and over again, yet it remains a constant struggle.  Unfortunately this is not helped when the Christian community, both near and far, have themselves bought into the ’success’ lie.

Inadvertently, in the way we talk or even treat our leaders, we can make it very hard for our leaders to focus on being faithful rather than on being successful.

So personally here are some thoughts I’ve had to think about. Firstly to us leaders:

a. When you are jealous of other people’s success work even harder to pray for their ministry and give thanks to God for them. Now I’m not so naive to know that no one is perfect and so it’s easy to punch holes in their ministry and look at their flaws. For everything good there is always a mixture of bad. That’s life. We’re not in heaven as yet. However as far as we are concerned let’s just concentrate on  praying that they will stay focused on the gospel, keep preaching the scriptures and that God will use their ministry to his glory even more so than our own ministry.

b. When things are going well with your ministry and growing make it a special point to pray that God will all the more make you last in the eyes of the world so that you will be first in his eyes. And when everyone wants to talk up how great you are make it an even special point to fervently pray that God will make you a nobody in the eyes of the world so that you will be a somebody in his eyes.

Lord make me last in the eyes of the world that I might be first in your eyes.

c. Accept the fact that you are not as “good” as someone else but that’s ok. So stop comparing. The fact is that God has wired you differently and that’s OK. Remember God never makes mistakes and that includes you.

d. If someone wants to put you on a pedestal tell them they’re stupid and they need to see a doctor. (Ok maybe in a more pastorally sensitive way).

e. Finally we need to realise the fact that change is difficult and painful. The key to glory is always via the way of the cross and in this case, the cross is personally wanting that others will to be more successful than you.

OK a word to the rest of us, here are some thing to think about so that we don’t make it hard for our leaders and cause them to fall victim to the success syndrome.

a. Avoid avoid avoid, playing the “comparing game”. This is wrong and ungodly. Ok, so your pastor may not be a great preacher like……. or they might not be a great leader like…………… but don’t play the comparison game. Accept the fact that God may have wired your leader like……….. If that is the case then learn to work with what you’ve been given and be thankful. But whatever  you do don’t play the comparison games. Of course there are real cases in which you leader is just not the right person for your congregation. If  that is the case then it’s ok to tell the person, but just don’t play the comparison game. This doesn’t help anyone.

b. Avoid playing the “I saw……………” game. You know this game the world plays.

• “I saw Keanu Reeves.”
• “I ate in the same restaurant as Tom Cruise”
• “I touched Matt Damon

Unconsciously we do the same thing. We can play up that we know……….. or that we had a chat with……………or that we are related to….. etc etc. All this tends to do is to put someone else on a pedestal but make your leaders feel really bad.

c. Watch what gifts you give to your leaders. I think this is great. I’m all for it, but there is a danger that we can favour one over and above the other by what we are prepared to do for one and not the other. I’m not saying that we don’t be generous to our leaders but rather we need to show equal generosity to all and not just to some.

d. Be careful not to play up one over and above the other. This only creates jealousy and makes one feel bad and the other big headed.

e. Stop complaining about your leaders.

f. Just one more thing, if you’re organising a camp, concert, or a function of any sort avoid all the soppy thank you’s at the end. Why do some get more thank you’s than others? You know what it’s like to be overlooked while others are thanked. So my suggestion is a general thank you to one and all. Give a personal and private thank you to all concerned. And don’t forget the guys who picks up the garbage.

Ok, these are just some personal reflections. So now back to my church growth book on how to be a successful pastor. Hmmmm….

Some pastoral reflections on the problem of suffering

A friend once asked me: “How do you respond to the question: ‘why does God allow so much suffering?’” I thought this was going to be easy because it’s something that’s been talked about to death. So all I needed to do was to rattle off the tried and true solutions, but then my friend floored with a qualification:….”how do you respond to the question………………..apart from the tried and true answers?” This really floored me because what else can you say? But when I think about it it is a really good question. There are  people I love very dearly and yet their lives have been nothing short of constant misery, loneliness and tears and its hard, very hard to know what to say or how to think about this. Sure I can come up with the theologically correct answers but sometimes it just washes over me. So what do I say or how do I think? Here are some reflections as I personally struggle with this emotionally difficult issue.

a. Firstly I think our vision of God is just way to small. Sure we know God is good and wise, but too often it’s nothing more than lip service. To put it another way, the difficulty of trying to work out the whole theological puzzle of human suffering and God’s goodness is not in trying find out how the pieces fit together, but in coming to grips with just how big and how good God is. Remember the words of Psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

This is precisely the problem. People can wrangle over where the pieces fit together, but at the end of the day, they have never tasted the goodness of God. In short their vision and experience of God is just way too small to make any real sense of this world.

Job is an obvious example here. His friends believed that God was good and wise, yet their problem was that their view of God was, like mine, too small. It was not able to cope with life’s paradoxes. However Job was not content with this stereotyping of God and demanded more. He was struggling in a major way, but his “traditional” view of God could not cope. He wanted more from God. So one day, in the midst of his tears and anguish God gives Job a vision of just how big, how wise and good God is, far beyond anything his feeble mind was able to comprehend. So while Job wanted answers, he was given a glimpse of God’s glory. So while he never got the answer he wanted, he nevertheless found comfort and assurance in such dark times

b. I think the second thing to know is that, while we don’t have an answer, God is not playing around with people’s lives. He actually does care.  It’s hard to believe but he does. He takes people seriously. How so? Because he actually joined us in our suffering in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words God is not some distant God immune from the heartache of our broken world. He is intimately involved through Christ. I think this is gold. You know, sometimes, if not many times, it’s hard to respect the leaders of the world (yes we still need to honour and pray for them) because they call everyone else to make sacrifices which they are not prepared to do themselves. They ask people to accept a wage freeze but the leaders walk away with a multimillion pay packet for a few months work. It’s hard to listen and respect such people. However, imagine one day this situation. Kevin Rudd, our illustrious  to call everyone to accept a cut in their wages for the sake of the country, I think we’d all be up in arms against him. But just imagine the impossible – he announces that he will cut his pay by 3/4. Next he moves out of government house, not to move to some posh area, but to live in one of those government housing units. As well as this, to go to work, instead of getting chauffeured driven, he catches a bus and train, and like everyone else, stands in a crowded bus. Furthermore, instead of wining and dining at fancy restaurants he goes to the local supermarket to buy his food on a very very thin budget like everyone else. Imagine something like this happening, what would you think about him? I think you’d respect him heaps. You see, you might not know how economic works etc, but by the very fact that the leader was prepared to become like one of us – that wins credits in my books. God is no different. He is prepared to suffer in the same way we suffer. So while I don’t understand the finer points of this whole theological maze, I take comfort knowing that God suffered as much as I  do, if not more.

c. Lastly I think it’s worth reflecting that God may choose some people to suffer more than others in order to show to the rest of us  plebs  how Good, wise and powerful our God is. You see if everyone was healthy wealthy and wise it would be very hard to see how God fits in. So for that reason we need need guys like Job, Jeremiah, Paul and all the heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11, because they are living proofs of what God is like.

I remember a friend sometime again who was going through incredible pain. She was suffering with MS and her marriage had fallen apart. Often times she would struggle to church in great pain, sometimes having to be carried in a stretcher, and yet, through it all she continued to hold strongly to hope in God. She was a living proof that God is good and wise and powerful. I still can’t work out the answer why she had to suffer so much, but I do know one thing she was a living proof that despite what she was going through, God was good, wise and powerful.

There is no answer. It’s just too deep for us. Of course there are the tried and true answers and they are true, and yet deep in our hearts we continued to scream out to God and ask “Why?”. Howeer while there is no answer to why it is that some have to suffer more than others, I do know that we can find comfort in the midst of our suffering – not because we have an answer, but because there is a God who is good, wise and powerful who has become like one of us.

So what should we do?

a. Pray for a greater glimpse of God’s glory, goodness, wisdom and power

b. Look to Jesus, God in flesh and bones who suffered with us and for us

c. Look to others who are living proof that God is good, wise and powerful.

When leaders clash.. Some reflections.

I’ve seen a lot of in house church fighting over the years. Some have been very mild but many have been very vicious. Sadly the fighting has not been merely at the lay level. Many of these fights have been amongst church leaders. Some have been over key theological issues. Others have been over matters of godliness and morality. However many have been over matters of style, preference and things that really are not worth fighting about. In such cases often it has been over matters of leadership styles. Sadly this, it seems has been a matter of major dispute more than anything else. Unlike the good old days of the reformation where people were dying because of the cross, these days it seems that people are dying over leadership styles.

Two styles in particular are a real point of tension.

On the one hand there are those who are more entrepreneurial in their style. These guys always optimists who only ever see the glass as half full never half empty. They are opportunists turning the most trivial event into a grand opportunity. They don’t see problems only challenges. They are visionaries and dreamers who always live in the future and the world of “what-if’s”. They love dealing with the unknown and seeing the possibilities that can come.  They are the catalyst for change never content with the status quo.  They are innovators, strategists, creators.  They are always about growth, expansion and change.

The other type of leader is the manager. He loves order, programs, systems and knowing what will happen. Whereas the entrepreneurs loves changes, indeed is often the change agent, the manager loves keeping the status quo. They love peace and harmony. Where the entrepreners sees possibilities and challenges the managers sees problems and obstacles. The entrepreners sees the glass as always half full, the manager always sees it as half empty.

Not surprisingly, if you have these two types of people on the pastoral team it can be an enriching time or a very very very tense time.

In the eyes of the manager, the entrepreneur is always a maverick. He hasn’t thought through things well enough. He is lone ranger. He moves too fast for everyone else. He is uncontrollable. He is unteachable. etc etc. He hasn’t thought through things well enough and there is no detail in his thinking. He is always changing his mind etc etc.

From an entrepreneur’s perspective the manager lacks faith, is always inward looking, always wants to play safe. They are adverse to risks and to change. They are toooooooo slow. They are seen as always worrying about the details but forgetting the big picture.

Not surprisingly, when you have these two styles of leadership in a pastoral team  - it can be a recipe for a disaster.

So which is the better leader? Well this is a no brainer question. The reality is that there are many churches led by entrepreneur as well as many churches led by managers. So it’s no use talking about which is better. To do otherwise would be to create disharmony, disunity and be dishonouring to God and damage the life of the church. Better still is to ask how can these two work together.

Firstly always remember our biblical principles. Here I think the bible has a lot to say on this matter.

• Give thanks to God for the gifts that God has given us and others
• While we are free to do whatever we like, not everything we do is necessarily helpful to others
• We need to learn to seek the good of others over and above ourselves
• What we do is ultimately to serve others even those on our pastoral team

So here is my suggestion. Entrepreneurs need to slow down (Just a tad) and learn to communicate in a way that manager can understand. Entrepreneurs have to be able to reassure the managers amongst us that we’re not crazy, that we know what we are doing and, while we don’t have all the answers (Because we are moving into unchartered territory) we need to trust God with the unknown. Because of what the manager is like entrepreneurs need to be able to address (even if in part) their questions and concerns. Of course he won’t have al the answers (Because he’s an entrepreneurs and guys like this are not good with details etc nevertheless he needs to reassure them that this is a time to trust God.

On the other hand, the manager amongst us need to let go and let the entrepreneurs be what he is. The manager needs to learn to take risks, live with some degree of uncertainty, move a bit faster, accept a bit of chaos. Of course he will never be as good as the natural entrepreneur nevertheless he needs to learn some of these skills, not so that he can be one himself, but so that he can learn how to work with one.

While these are two great gifts God has generously given to the church we must always remember that they must be conducted in the environment that Paul lays out for us in 1 Cor 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

In the economy of the church God has made the two one. Both are unique wrapped up with God given gifts to be used for his glory and the building up his church, however learning to empower the other in the environment of Christ love is a key to leadership harmony and a healthy church.

For those who know me, I’ll leave you to guess what sort of leader am I and therefore what I need to learn.