Leadership is a subject about which I am passionate. The misconceptions and myths surrounding leadership have all too often convinced people that only the supremely special are leaders. The truth is that God has made all of us leaders. Here is a rerun of one of my favorite past sermons on leadership.
Archive for the ‘Life in the Church’ Category
Leadership as Doing
Posted in Life in the Church, tagged leaders, leadership on August 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Victory vs Suffering
Posted in Life in the Church, tagged holy scripture, preaching, suffering on May 7, 2013| 2 Comments »
VICTORY VS SUFFERING
Contemporary American folk theology is enamored with the theme of God’s victory. From nearly every pulpit in the last two years I have heard the resounding note of triumph and victory preached. Jesus will help you conquer _____ (fill in the blank). God will bless you with ________ (name your own desire). God is superior to ________ (fill in your current struggle).
Without question, the Scriptures proclaim the Good News that Jesus is victorious over sin, death, and the devil. We who believe have read the last page and know that in the end Satan is defeated and God reigns victoriously. All that is true. But what is strikingly neglected in the vast majority of American preaching in our generation is the other predominant theme of Holy Scripture, namely the reality of our suffering. Note the following verses as exemplars:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (Ps 44:22).
“In this world you will have trouble” (Jn 16:33)
“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22)
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted. . .” (II Tim 3:12)
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21).
The preacher who does not balance their proclamation with the truth of these verses does the congregation a disservice. And, I would strongly argue, such preaching harms our collective witness to nonbelievers. A life of faith is just as marked by suffering as any other human life. The preacher in Ecclesiastes says it best, “the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.” The consistent preaching of victory without the balanced recognition of our inescapable suffering rings hollow, even false. It is not faithlessness to talk about our suffering. It is rather, a supreme act of faith and trust to publicly and courageously face our suffering head-on with trust in the One who will ultimately end all suffering forevermore. Christians should be known for spitting in the face of suffering and rolling up our sleeves and working to combat the suffering of our neighbors along with our own. What distinguishes Christianity from other world religions is that we do not turn a blind eye to suffering to focus on the romantic notions of panentheism and other untruthful optimisms.
Human life on this side of heaven is possessed of both triumph and tragedy, of victory and suffering. The Holy Scriptures tell this truth in a balanced way. Let us believers do likewise.
Wandering Saints
Posted in Life in the Church, tagged congregations, pain, saints on March 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »
WANDERING SAINTS
One of the great surprises of being out in the secular working world has been finding so many people who have left the Church. Oh to be sure, there are a fair number of folks who have wandered from God as a result of sin. That was as common to Jesus’ experience as it is to ours. What troubles me lately, however, is just how many people I have met who describe themselves as deeply committed Christians, active followers of Jesus, who have little desire to have anything to do with a congregation. I include in this list quite a large number of pastor colleagues and friends who are quite despairing about belonging to congregations.
In hearing these litanies of complaint, I have to lay a large part of the cause at the feet of congregations. It has often been said, usually tongue-in-cheek, that “the Church is the only army in the world that shoots its wounded!” That saying no longer makes me even smile; I find too much truth in it. Congregations, I have come to believe, need a very healthy dose, of II Chronicles 7:14 – a humbling, deeply introspective confession of the myriad of ways that we have forgotten our fellow believers, not listened to their pain, not chased after them in Christ’s love and cared for them. We are guilty of too quickly shrugging off their pain with pious phrases. We have failed to enter into their suffering with them. We have dismissed their complaints against the congregation and not tried to amend our collective sinful ways.
What is needed is the healing ministry style of Jesus Christ. This is one essential area where the congregation needs to engage the world – first by seeking the countless saints who have quietly left our ranks. Listening, loving, caring, befriending does not mean we water down truth. It does mean we humbly confess our faults and roll up our sleeves to change our attitudes and behavior.
The best story of pastoral care I ever heard was a story one of my professors told at seminary. When a certain wise pastor heard that one of his fellow believers was in pain, he just showed up at the door. Rather than try to soothe the pain with empty words and teaching, the gifted pastor simply stood on the doorstep and said, “I have come to cry with you,” and said nothing more.
Could we, every single one of us, baptized believers alike, go out and find our wandering brothers and sisters and simply cry with them? Could we go and say little, if anything, and just sit and listen to their stories of how congregations have hurt them and failed them? Could we each be Christ to these folks and gently be the Church for them?
Perhaps, if we made an effort like this, there would be a lot less wandering saints and our pews would be a lot less empty!
Preaching
Posted in Life in the Church, tagged church, theology on February 17, 2013| 4 Comments »
Since I am no longer preaching every week I have been afforded a rare opportunity for a pastor: I can visit churches to hear the sermons of other preachers. All personal vanity aside, I have not liked what I have heard.
Mostly, I’ve been bored by the preaching that surrounds my home as my wife and I have tried scores of churches. Now I grant you, part of that boredom stems from my holding two graduate degrees in theology making my standards impossibly high. Added to that is seminary’s methodology for training preachers tends to inculcate a virulent judgmentalism towards other people’s preaching. All that aside, what has troubled me about the state of preaching these days is the insular world of the preacher and the resulting disconnect between the sermon and the lives of the people.
I have heard too many sermons so textually focused that the sermon has little relevance to the Monday to Saturday lives of the audience. This has made me wonder if pastors are spending too much time in their studies, too much time with other Christians, and too little time out in the world listening to what real life is like for their sheep. I have commenced a standard practice these days of admonishing every pastor/preacher I know to spend more time visiting the workplaces of their people to get a feel for their daily struggle. Then go write sermons that address God’s Word applied to that struggle.
Christians, at least from what I see here in Southern California, feel their workplace and public life has turned increasingly hostile to their faith. The gay marriage debate, the scandals in the Roman Catholic church, the public sins of prominent Christian leaders, the perceived judgmentalism of Christians, and so many more factors have caused the general public to hold Christians in low regard. Preaching needs to address these problems head on. Preachers need to help their people think theologically about it all. What does God’s Word have to say about us as aliens in this world? Where can I find comfort and guidance in the Bible to help me live my faith at work? What missiological strategy do I employ to be Christ’s ambassador in my sphere of influence? Preachers would do well to tackle these topics and help their hearers wrestle with God and his Word like Jacob at the Jabbok.
Preachers in these troubled times can and must do better. I believe that will start when preachers spend more time out with their people, listening carefully to the struggles of their lives and ministries.
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