What your pastor wishes you knew about him

A missionary friend of mine passed this along to me and I have already told him that there is no way that I can simply let this one pass by without adding it here. Of course, he picked this up as you will see from a pastor by the name of Dan Burrell.

First I have to interject that I give this not out of necessity. I serve in a wonderful ministry where there is much grace and love and these matters have not touched our relationship. However, I also know of men who have struggled and are still struggling with some of these attitudes and issues.

Keeping to the purpose of my blog I feel it fits to help others by passing this along so that we can be fit "for the work" of Christ. So, without further ado, here are Dan Burrell's comments.

____________________________________________________


In the last week, I’ve spent time talking with three pastors who are about ready to throw in the proverbial towel. Each case is different and no two pastors, churches, boards or any other “part” of church leadership is exactly the same, but what is common among them is a sense of deep despair. Sadly, in the last week, I’ve also heard of two colleagues in the ministry who ended their ministry with a catastrophic failure — one of them a rising evangelical leader who admitted to an affair. Not in every case, but in some cases, I’ve noticed a correlation to the thought processes between those who burnout in ministry and those who “flame out” due to sin. But whether you burnout, flame out, drop out or rust out — out is still out.

I am now two years beyond my own decision to step away from the Senior Pastorate, so I hope I can be a bit more objective about a topic like this than I might have been 24 short months ago. As for my own situation, I had my own reasons for changing the nature of my ministry and I am not looking back. For the cynical or others, nothing I write in this article should be construed as anything more or less than what it is — an opinion piece from someone who has sat on both sides of the pulpit for the last 25 years of ministry and who is still engaged in pastoral ministry — just from a different perspective in recent months.

I don’t pretend to write for every pastor out there, but I spend a lot of time with pastors and former pastors. There are some trends that are impacting pastoral leadership at this time that I think impact churches and their leaders. There are some frailties and vulnerabilities that any man called to be a pastor is naturally going to carry into his responsibilities. Add to that the spiritual warfare that is incumbent upon being a spiritual shepherd (or undershepherd). It is with these realities in mind that I offer some things that I’m guessing your pastor wishes you knew about him.

1. Bible College and Seminary Weren’t Enough

I don’t care where your pastor went to school, they did not and could not possibly prepare him for all that a pastor faces. Today’s pastor must be an extraordinary communicator, an effective administrator, somewhat astute to legalities and business procedures, a counselor, a therapist and a dozen other roles that today’s high-expectation church member often expects from their pastor.

Though many will say that’s what boards and staff are for, that thinking simply isn’t based in reality. The expectation is that the Pastor should be able to protect the church, lead the church, inspire the church and manage the church. Failure to function in those four primary departments may jeopardize the support level he enjoys from the congregation.
Much of the experience and expertise in those areas needs to be learned and earned over time. That fact has lead me to a personal conclusion that we should discuss pastoral internships more seriously in seminaries and church leadership circles.

2. Good Sermon Preparation Takes Time

If your pastor is going to accurately and thoroughly present the Word to your congregation, he must have study time. The best pastors and Bible teachers will tell you that for every one hour of teaching or preaching, about eight hours of study is optimum. Your pastor may make it look simple, but it isn’t. Typically, your pastor may need 3-4 fresh preparations in a week (particularly if he speaks outside the church a lot or if he is a solo pastor.)

It is not realistic to expect your pastor to attend every function, make every hospital visit, lead every meeting, make an appearance at every social, go to every shut-in and still be brilliant in the pulpit 2-3 times per week. A pastor should be about leading and shepherding and equipping the church for the work of the ministry. Certainly every pastor should attend “some” functions, make hospital visits on occasion, attend important meetings, drop in a socials when possible and take the time to minister to the shut-ins — but to heap all of those responsibilities (plus the administration of the church, personal growth exercises and other important tasks) is not just unreasonable, it is inhumane.

If each Bible study teacher, each deacon, each elder, each staff member took some of these responsibilities, everyone and everything would be covered and all would be blessed as they fulfill their spiritual giftedness in the work of the ministry.

3. His Family is Important Too

Your pastor needs time with his children and spouse. If his marriage fails, his ministry is likely over. If his kids don’t turn out right, his grief will be deep, his regrets will be suffocating and his reputation will be diminished. You will bless your pastor and your church by freeing him to be with his family.

For years, I’ve often told my pastors to look at their day in three parts — Morning, Afternoon and Evening — each comprised of about 4 hours. On average, it is reasonable to expect that those in the ministry will work at least 14-16 “parts” over a week’s time. That way, we should have at least 5 - 7 morning/afternoons/nights available for family time. Remember that a pastor who preaches and teaches the Word is working — it isn’t the same as sitting in the pew. It is physically exhausting and emotionally draining. Most pastors go into “Sunday mode” on Saturday evening and aren’t much of a “family guy” then. If they have a Saturday night service, move that “mode” to Saturday around noon.

According to that formula, your pastor needs one full day off and 2-4 evenings free. If he can’t get those evenings free, then he should take a morning or an afternoon when he can to compensate for the lost evenings.

Another blessing you might share with your pastor is to give him a gift card for dinner out on his birthday or at Christmas or if you own a condo at the beach or a vacation home in the mountains, offer to let him take his family there for a few days. These small tokens can be a fresh encouragement when relationships get neglected. Being able to run to a restaurant with your spouse and pay for it with a gift card is a double blessing.

In cases of extreme crisis — a wayward child, substantial marriage difficulty — be willing to send your pastor to professional help, a retreat or some intervention. If you don’t think pastors ever have family problems, then you are naive. This is a great time to practice the Golden Rule and ask one’s self what they would appreciate if the roles were reversed. The investment of giving your pastor a week or even a month off to deal with a family crisis is far cheaper than the process of kicking him to the curb and looking for a new pastor — not to mention more Biblical.

4. Be Kind if You Have a Criticism

Your pastor is going to make some mistakes. I certainly made my share of bone-headed decisions over the years. And, if the truth be told, sometimes the pastor won’t see them as quickly as everyone else does. No pastor has a corner on the Truth and no pastor is above criticism, correction or simple advice. But when you approach your pastor with something you’re concerned about, address the problem without attacking the person.

Pastoring is interesting in that no decision a pastor ever makes is received positively by everyone. That would also include no sermon, no vision, no counsel, no strategy, no hire, no building campaign and the list goes on and on. So before bringing your offense to the pastor, it would wise to pause and ask yourself, “Is this important enough to complain about or to place on the pastor’s mind?” Some things are — certainly things that deal with Theology, ethics, morality and legal matters should be addressed. Some things simply aren’t — personal peeves and preferences, gossip, many traditions and irritations.

Some pastors, when faced with the cacophony of criticisms, suggestions, problems and hissy fits they regularly confront, simply shut down — overwhelmed by the torrent and unable to prioritize, distinguish and discern what is legitimate and what is simply whining. Others will respond defensively at first, but after a while, the Holy Spirit guides them to acknowledgement of the validity of the issue. A stiff-necked and unapproachable pastor will soon lose credibility and will probably require a confrontation initiated by spiritual leadership with the church. But it is wise for all of us to measure our words correctly and to do as the Scripture tells us and “entreat as a brother” as opposed to rebuking an elder with hostility, demands or threats.

5. Give Your Pastor Time to Grow

Sadly, the average term (depending on several factors) of a pastor in America today is somewhere between 2 and 5 years. Yet, all the research tells us that a pastor’s most effective years take place after the 10th year of ministry at a congregation. It is not until a pastor marries, buries, cries and works with a majority of his congregation that he can really “connect” intimately with them as a family member might. Relationships simply take time — most of us who are married realize that the longer one is married the more we learn about patience, perseverance and unconditional love.

This is particularly true if you have a young pastor. I was twenty-nine when I became a Senior Pastor. Thankfully, our church was rather small (fewer than 300) at the time. The Lord tremendously blessed and in short order the church doubled in size and then went on to triple. But the growing pains that we went through together were extraordinary. How they put up with me for a decade, I’ll never know. I was so blessed to have some of the most wonderful and Godly elders surrounding me that I’ve ever known. They encouraged, counseled, cautioned and sometimes just let me go and in the process — I learned and the Lord blessed. They let me grow up and grow deep and though I was the youngest among them, they respected my position while offering me wise and Godly counsel. I love them to this day. I’m grateful for their patience.

Your pastor will make some bone-headed decisions. Sometimes you’ll be frustrated with how he arranges his priorities or handles problems. Sometimes you’ll have to clean up his messes and occasionally, you might have to speak earnestly and honestly with him. But like rearing children, dealing with aging parents, settling in to married life or maintaining a life-long friendship — it takes time and patience and grace.

6. Your Pastor probably views you differently than you view him.

Being someone’s pastor is actually a very intimate experience. If your pastor is a good one — he loves you. He’s been there during some of your most difficult moments. He’s caught tears, perhaps had to be the one to tell you difficult news, has seen you at your best and at your worst. You may have confided some personal things in him that are known only to you, him and God as you work through the consequences of sin, personal tragedies and other pains. He has invested his heart and soul in you by praying for you, weeping with you, perhaps even putting your needs ahead of his or his family’s at times.

Then a church down the street calls a new pastor, builds a new building or offers a service style that you find a bit more appealing and you switch as if you were changing from Wal-Mart to Target or finding a new chiropractor. And of course, people are going to ask “why” and often excuses like “We’re just not being fed” or “Our needs aren’t being met” or “We just need a change” are offered. For you, it’s a new adventure. For him, it feels painfully like rejection.

That’s not to say that there are no good reasons for changing churches. It doesn’t justify those renegade pastors who then grow angry and defensive and say unkind things. It doesn’t mean that you are leaving God’s will for you life necessarily and are making the first step on a trek toward leaving the faith. But it does hurt. Pastors are human too. And while you may see him as a distant leader or provider of services, if he knows you personally, he probably sees you more like family or a friend. It’s simply a difference in roles and perspective and you might never understand that. Sometimes where you stand on things depends on where you sit. But I think you should know — pastors usually see their church members differently than they are viewed by their church members.

7. Pastors sometimes find it difficult to have friendships.

For better or for worse, there is a celebrity element to being a pastor. If you don’t believe that then check out the New Testament account of those who were “Paul fans” verses those who liked Apollos. A wise pastor resists being viewed as “special”, but this tendency is why humility in leadership is so necessary. Any celebrity, politician or person of wealth will tell you that one of the greatest frustrations is that one never knows which friendships are genuine. There is always the difficulty in knowing who is genuinely a friend or who is simply there to exploit their position or fame or influence. Pastors struggle with this on several levels. Some pastors purposefully choose not to be friends with people in their congregation — it’s too risky in their opinion. Some pastors refuse to have friendships with their staff — they are afraid it will hurt objectivity, communicate favoritism or just simply be too complicated. Some pastors have been burned by past friendships and thus become almost reclusive and over-guarded. Some pastors naturally migrate toward friendships exclusively with peers — fellow pastors who can relate to the unique role and scrutiny being a pastor encompasses.

Several years ago, a pastor of a large and prestigious church in the same city where I was a pastor had a very close friend as a church member. A local seeker-sensitive church in town “caught fire” and all of us were experiencing mass migrations out of our pews to the new “cool/hip” church. His church was among those hardest hit. But then his very best friend, the person who had introduced him to the church before he was pastor, his closest confident, took him to lunch and let him know that he was leaving for the new “fellowship”. The pastor said all the perfunctory things about following the Lord, etc… and then went to his already scheduled staff meeting. After he opened with prayer, he looked at his team of pastors — broke down in wracking sobs, explained what had just happened, apologized and excused himself. I wish that wasn’t the only story like this that I’ve heard, but I’ve got many more — people meeting privately for the “dismissal” of their pastor, people trying to arrange financial gain/business with the church, people who expected their sins to be covered and undealt with — all while claiming “friendship”.

I don’t have any solutions to this. I’ve experienced it personally. I don’t know of many pastors who haven’t. It is what it is. But maybe it will give you some insight into your Pastor’s world.

8. Your pastor may well be different out of the pulpit than when he’s in the pulpit
and that doesn’t necessarily make him a hypocrite.

I’ve laughed over the years at how people often describe me — outgoing, super confident, “people person”, extrovert. I can understand why they would say that, but they don’t know the “real me”. The “real me” is actually rather shy, mostly an introvert, hopes that the people in the seat next to him in the airplane go to sleep and don’t want to talk, am a veritable cauldron of insecurities and often would rather have a quiet evening at home with his family or a book than be with a large group of people. So why do they suddenly go “electric” when they walk behind the lectern? It’s a God thing. It’s His gift, His calling, His annointing — whatever you want to call it. Moses experienced it. Coarse Peter overcame his own proclivities. Odd John the Baptist certainly got beyond his idiosycracies enough that he was heard. The delivery of the Gospel is never about the man, but always about the message — so don’t get too enamored or distracted by the amplification system.

Some of my most important spiritual moments have regularly been before I preached on a topic that God had led me to address, but on which I was still struggling. Your pastor probably doesn’t sleep in a suit, sing praise choruses before every meal and memorizes Spurgeon and the Reformers in lieu of watching Reality TV. He has morning breath, he sometimes fusses with his wife, he yells at the kids when they forget to take the dog out and he steps in a wet spot on the carpet, gets frustrated in heavy traffic and might have a secret affinity for Roller Coasters or deer hunting or restoring old cars. In other words — he’s just a regular guy. He certainly isn’t perfect. But if he’s a good pastor, he’s earnest and sincere and also man enough to admit his faults and make them right when he needs to do so.

Take time to get to know your pastor as a person before you make huge assumptions about him as a “professional”. You might be shocked at how much like you he really is even though your callings are different.

9. Your Pastor has bills too.

This area is touchy. There’s nothing like a conversation about money to get people stirred up. Let me just say this. Scripture is very clear that spiritual leadership should be supported by the tithes and offerings of the people who benefit from and need their ministry. It’s God’s plan. Paul referenced it as the “double honor”. Someday, your pastor will need a home to live in that isn’t owned by the church. There will come a day when he will need, because of age or infirmity, to transition out of being a full-time pastor so he needs a retirement strategy. (There are few things sadder than a pastor who has faithfully served a congregation for years and years who can’t “afford” to retire and thus inflicts himself on a poor church or has to beg for “meetings” because he has no income. Many pastors foolishly opt out of Social Security and when it comes time to fund their 403b retirement plans, they get cut because of tight budgets.) Your pastor’s kids need to go to college. There are weddings that need to be paid for, children that need braces, cars that need repaired.

Please don’t demean him by noting every purchase he makes, vacation he takes or gift he receives with a “It must be nice to be in the ministry to be able to afford that!” or “I guess that explains that special offering last month!” or some other witty little cutting remark that puts him on the defensive. It’s unkind and petty. Stop it. Instead, show some maturity and say something like, “Wow….I’m so pleased that God has blessed you and provided that for you. If anyone deserves it — you do!” and then notice how you are blessed for rejoicing with those who are rejoicing and how he is blessed in receiving your kind words.

If you think your pastor is a crook, given to filthy lucre, too wealthy — then confront him Biblically or shut up. If you are a church leader and wonder what is appropriate compensation, may I recommend a study that is produced each year called the “Church Compensation Report” and HERE’s the link to it.

Finally, I want to state for the record that all three of the churches where I have ministered have been a genuine blessing to me and my family in this regard. They very generously honored us with a living wage, they gave me freedom to write, teach and speak which allowed me to squirrel away money for life’s unexpected or bigger expenses as they came and provided me with the necessary tools for ministry. I wish every pastor was treated as I have been treated in the matter of financial support.

10. Your pastor loves the work of the ministry.

You might say, “duh” — but I would ask, how many people do you know who really, deep down inside, would like to be doing something else as a vocation? If you are like me — a ton. Preaching the Gospel, seeing people accept Christ, watching lives transformed by Truth, seeing healing and reconciliation occur in families — wow….that’s just the best.

Over the years, I have wearied over the administrative load of ministry. I do not get excited about trying to get budgets to balance, dealing with maintenance issues, making sure that risk-management is taken into consideration every time we start a new initiative and dealing with governmental and even church bureaucracy and politics. But that’s simply the price a pastor pays for being able to stand up, open the Word of God and share what the Holy Spirit has laid on his heart for that day. I can be absolutely exhausted, frustrated, depressed or overwhelmed, but the moment I crack open my Bible before a group of people ready to hear — I realize once again that I’m doing what I was created to do. Whether you pastor a mega-church, lead a Sunday School class, host a home Bible study or simply leading your family in devotions — when you are called to the ministry of the Word, everything is as it should be every time you get the chance. It simply doesn’t get much better than that!

Getting Out The Message

I have a certain fascination with the way some of our modern churches have chosen to address the people of our modern, post-modern, mindset. Some have some really unusual concepts that I would never find appropriate and still some others I believe are onto something.

But how does the unsaved and even our fellow believers' minds really work? More importantly, how does this next generation's mind work? What ways do they use to communicate, learn, process information and then appropriate it to their lives? How has technology changed the way people of our country and even around the world approach information and process it?

I came across this video recently and wanted to share it. It is about 17 minutes in length but very engaging. It is a TED publication and thus from a completely secular perspective. I encourage you to watch it and think about how we as the body of Christ today should be using the technology we have at our fingertips to do a better job at engaging the unsaved and even the minds of our saved church family.

17 Ways a Pastor Can Cut His Sermon Prep Time

Joe McKeever gave this list and I hope that it will remind, inspire, and convict us in the intended fashion that he had in mind.

_______________________________________________________________________

17 Ways A Pastor Can Shorten His Sermon Prep Time

1) Borrow.

In the secular world, this is called plagiarism. But we pastors know "God richly gives us all good things to share" or something like that. Fortunately, your people don't read other preachers' sermon books anyway, so they'll never know. (Disadvantage: if the written sermon bombed, chances are yours will, too.)

2) Repeat.

Everyone knows repetition is a proven learning technique. Warning: do not call these sermons 'repeats' or 're-runs.' "Previously preached' is also verboten. If you have to put a label on them, try 'Back by popular demand.' It sounds better.(Disadvantage: some little sister in the church writes in the margins of her Bible every time you have preached a particular text, so you'll need to vary your Scripture even if it's the same sermon.)

3) Confess.

Tell a story out of your childhood and turn it into a microcosm of the universe, or at least of the gospel. Didn't Phillips Brooks call preaching 'truth through personality'? The advantages are that you are the authority on yourself, no one can contradict you, and very little study time is required. (Disadvantage: if nothing dramatic has happened to you, this can get boring quickly.)

4) Obvious.

Our Lord said people prefer old wine to the new (Luke 5:39). So, with that great insight in mind, choose a well-loved subject, reinforce it with three obvious points--preferably all starting with the letter 'P'--and then belabor the obvious.

An example of this could be a sermon on the Second Coming of Christ. Your points could be the PROPHECY of His coming (when), the PURPOSE of His coming (why), and the PEOPLE of His coming (whom).

The good thing about this approach is if you need to stretch out the sermon, your concordance has lots more 'P' words. Think how exciting your message becomes as you touch on the PROOF, the PRECEPT, the PREPARATION, the PRICE, the PROCEDURE, the PROFIT, the POSSIBILITIES, the POWER, the PLAN, the PLACE, the PATIENCE, and the PARADISE of His return. Any preacher worth his salt could wax eloquent for hours on these without a moment's advance notice. (Disadvantage: you'll probably want to leave out some of the good thoughts you had on this sermon, otherwise it can last till...well, until the Lord comes back.)

5) Concordance.

As you know, a concordance gives you a word and tells you where to find it in Scripture. But, if you have an aversion to actually studying for your sermons, you can use it as a book of magic. Look up a word and find at least three usages throughout Scripture that work for you. Let each reference suggest one main point of the sermon.

Then, go cut the grass while your subconscious reflects on how to make a sermon out of that odd collection of Scriptures. (Disadvantage: you have to own a concordance.)

6) Network.

Find some preacher no one has ever heard of who records his sermons and mails out tapes or CDs to friends who request them. Your people will never be the wiser. (Disadvantage: in the time it takes to learn someone else's sermon, you could be working on one of your own.)

7) Procrastinate.

Make it a point not to do any preparation until Saturday night, then begin to panic. Some people work best under a deadline, and you might as well be one of those. Besides, it's great for your prayer life. (Disadvantage: sometimes the Holy Spirit does not cooperate.)

8) Fudge.

Skip the word study. No one in your congregation knows Hebrew or Greek anyway, so they'll never be the wiser. (Disadvantage: God knows.)

9) Series.

If you preach a long series of sermons on the same general topic, you can spend half of each sermon time recapping the previous messages. Very little time is left for you to get to the new stuff. (Disadvantage: this is a proven congregation killer unless it's done well.)

10) Borrow.

Ask a pastor friend what he's preaching next Sunday and get him to practice on you. He'll appreciate the audience and the rehearsal will do him good. Your congregation can't be in two places at once, so they'll never know you both preached the same thing. (Disadvantage: be careful to adapt the stories to your own situation. Borrowing is one thing; lying is something else.)

11) Dramatize.

By turning your imagination loose, you can make biblical events come alive. Teach the people not to be bound by only what Scripture says happened in an incident. The advantage is that little study is necessary other than briefly rereading the text just before the service. This allows the inspiration of the moment to energize your message. (Disadvantage: if your imagination doesn't show up today, you could be in big trouble.)

12) Acceptance.

No one can be fresh every Sunday. Even Stuart Briscoe and Calvin Miller has their off-Sundays. Give yourself freedom to be human and deliver a poor sermon occasionally.(Disadvantage: you can't do this more than once a quarter or the deacons will get suspicious.)

13) Expand.

Shorten the song service to give preaching the central place it deserves. This will allow you time to chase a few more rabbits. (Disadvantage: know how to return to your home base when chasing rabbits. Some preachers have taken trails so deep and remote, they were never seen again.)

14) Condemn

By preaching against sin (pronounced with two syllables: see'-in), you can do about anything you please and so long as you are condemning the wickedness of the modern age, most of your people will think you are preaching the word. This may be the easiest of all methods for avoiding study, since you already know so much about sin. If you need additional material, the television will be glad to cooperate. (Disadvantage: certain elements of the congregation get high off juicy stories of sin, so be careful here.)

15) Stories

By telling stories of "what happened to me this week," you will hold your audience spell-bound. This is especially effective if you relate the conversations which took place in a counseling situation in your office this very week. People will sit on the edge of their pews trying to figure out who you're talking about. (Disadvantage: you lose a lot of church members this way. Of course, it balances out in that your counseling load drops quickly and permanently.)

16) Obedience.

Didn't our Lord tell us not to plan in advance what to say, but promised that the Holy Spirit would provide? (Matthew 10) Although He was speaking of believers on trial for their faith we all know nothing can be a greater trial than having to dig out a fresh sermon from Heaven every week. By walking into the pulpit unprepared, you give the Spirit a fresh slate on which to write His message. (Disadvantage: He has been known to leave the preacher who tries this hanging in the wind.)

17) Termination.

If you use the first 16 methods of sermon preparation, we can guarantee that you will:

a) be terminated.
b) have a lot of short-term pastorates.
c) eventually be out of the ministry altogether.

In this case, your sermon preparation time will be cut to the bare minimum. And after all, that's what you wanted, wasn't it?

A Golf Tip

I am getting excited about the prospect of one of these days getting out and hitting a few golf balls. Been hard to peel away and find time as well as the money, but hopefully soon.

In preparation I have been doing a little research on golf swings, etc. Here is a short video clip that I have found extremely beneficial (note labels). Hope it will "help" you make sense of your swing and get out there and hit those fairways and greens.

At 90...Still Got IT!

Fran & Marlo Cowan (married 62 years) playing impromptu recital together in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic. He turned 90 in February. I hope that when I get to be that old I will still be able to move like he does. Enjoy!




P.S. The tune is "Put on Your Old Gray Bonnet" for people like me who are not current on their "oldies."

This thing called "Ministry" (Part 10)

Near Skagen, Denmark, visitors can see the tower of the Tilsandede Kirke, the Sand Covered Church. The tower is visible because this 14th century church has been buried since the 1700's. Shifting sand from the coast of Jutland has covered much of the surrounding farmland and the church as well. Only the tower is visible. What a metaphor for the danger the church always faces; the danger of being buried beneath the sands of human opinions, power struggles, and personality clashes.*

As we continue our thought about "This thing called ministry," I come again to what Paul said.

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body." (1 Corinthians 12:12-20)

The more I minister in the church today I get that there is a sense of uneasiness about the roles of the membership. There becomes a vision of opposing forces or different "sides" in this essence known as the "church" or the "body of Christ."

The greatest struggles come when someone hurts someone else and now both are "gun shy" about how to handle the future with all of its potential altercations. Pastors beating up on the sheep; sheep questioning the vision and direction of the pastor. Back and forth goes the power struggle and in the end, nothing is accomplished. Both sides become deeper entrenched and in the end both sides lose. Campaigns are waged and the tug of war drags unaware bystanders around like rag dolls.

So where then lies the hope of not seeing such chaos and destruction in the church? The only way we will ever see such a united church is when we as a whole adhere to unity passages like 1 Corinthians 12 and Philippians 2. Both "sides" appreciating that God has established leaders and established roles within His body. But yet remembering.....

Leadership is not Lordship.

"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:1-3)

It reminds me of the game of chess. Each piece is vital. Each piece has a purpose and moves in designed fashion. (Do not take the analogy too far.) The object is to win without losing as many pieces as possible and of course to capture the opponent's king. Being the poor chess player that I am, I find myself losing pieces pretty quick and then I am left in the end on the run trying to figure out a way to keep my King alive. A lonely king is an eventual "check mate" in the game of chess.

Pastors, you are participants in this body. Breaking away from the analogy above, you are not kings for Christ is the head; but in keeping with the analogy, you most certainly are not able to stand alone. This body is one, yet its members are many. Each member is vital. As Senior Pastor, Assistant Pastor, Deacon, Sunday School Teacher, Charter Member, or "Church-Pew Warmer" Member do not forget that when you crush the spirit of another member you are hurting the body. When you abuse the membership you abuse the body. However, when you fulfill your Ephesians 4 prerogative to edify, build up, and encourage the membership, you are doing so to the body of Christ. "Speak the Truth (i.e. things pertaining to God) in Love."

"The church is the most complex of all human organizations," says Ed Dayton of World Vision. "It's what we call 'goal-conflicted.' One goal is to send people forth, and another is to care for them. People are always either getting on a stretcher or getting off. You've got this continual dynamic where relationships, not bottom-line numbers, are the key product." *

Ministry is people! Ministry is not us and them; it is us working together and there is not a "them" in this body of Christ. As ministers we stand opposed to sin and the destruction that wishes to come in its wake. As ministers we proclaim the Word of Truth to the ears of the saints inside the body and to the sinners outside the body. As ministers we are to hold our place in the body local in which you serve. Peter teaches that we are to "take the oversight," but do not take it for self-serving gain. Ministry is participating with the other members to build Christ's body and not our empire. May we Serve as the Holy Spirit serves us (John 14-16). May we communicate the Word of God as it communicates itself to us.

This past Wednesday evening in our church's Bible study we were focusing on Encouraging One Another. The last verses we went to were found in Colossians.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." (Colossians 3:15-17)

Now that is Ministry!