If Christ Were not There

I have been reading a book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. It is another one of those books that challenges us to the pursuit of love for our Lord. I was totally convicted by a quote in his book by John Piper. He writes:

The citical question for our generation--and for every generation--is this:

"If you could have heaven, with no sickness and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satistied with heaven if Christ were not there?"

How many of us would read that statement and would say, "You know, I would be okay with that." I had to admit I struggled with that thought. How about you?

Can we say with the Psalmist, "O God , you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you , in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."

Could we honestly pray to the Lord, "I want You, And when I don't, I want to want you."

Amen

Simplify

There are far too many sacred cows in the local church that may make for some very good hamburger. Are you able to ask the following questions when it comes to the complexity of your ministry?

Are all the programs, committeees and various ministries necessary?

Is each ministry fulfilling its intended purpose?

Do you continuously ask why you are doing what you do in the church?

What are the motives driving the ministries in your church?

Are people burning out in various ministries?

Are you burning yourself out?

How many nights out could the average family in your church have on their plate?

You are familiar with the story of Mary and Martha in Luke chapter 10. Martha became distracted and unsettled while serving Jesus and His disciples. On the other hand Mary sat calmly and quiet at His feet, listening to Him speak to her heart. Mary wanted communion with her Savior and Martha opted for activity. I believe that quiet worship will give us the presence of mind that we need to simplify even pare down the things that we do in active service, lest we end up becoming "worried and bothered about so many things,"as Martha was.

It seems to me that the local church has bought into Martha's philosphy hook line and sinker.

Maybe we have opted for activity over communion. Is your church distracted and unsettled?

When was the last time you or you and your leaders just sat at the feet of Jesus?

The Bullseye on Your Back

Criticism and leadershp can certainly be synonymous. . I might be a little prejudiced, but I think there is a greater propensity for criticism in the church then any other institution. Why it that?
First: We are servant leaders. Servant leaders are more approachable, teachable, and vulnerable. Those qualities add up to be an easier target. Secondly: People are consumers of the church and are selfishly prone to have the menu they want. When we can't feed them what they want, they find another "restaurant" down the street. Third: It seems that everyone is an expert when it comes to the church. A pastor would never tell a pilot how to fly a plane or a CEO how to run his business, but parishoners will tell a pastor how to lead the church.

So what are the results of the inevitable arrows that strike our back side? "WOUNDS"

So how do you deal with the wounds of criticism that come your way? I managed to repress my wounds over the years. I would excuse the unfair, nasty, carnal criticism in the name of "Suck it up Christianity". "After all these people love God like I do." "It isn't a personal attack." "They are just having a bad day." "That's just life in the ministry." "They aren't the enemy." "I'm a big boy, I can take it."

While all those statements had truth attached, it didn't make the sting go away. So I would rationalize my own hurt thus piling up offense after offense without really treating the wound. What I really needed to do was to honestly admit it hurt and intentionally forgive the person by faith. Unfortunately it took too many years to figure that out.

How are you handling the bullseye on your back? Are you responding in a healthy way?

Getting Out of the Ivory Tower

How many sermons have you preached about the Great Commission? But how many people have you led to Christ outside the context of your local church? What this means is getting out of the Ivory Tower and making intentional contacts in the community.

For many pastors it means adding one more thing to their already busy schedule. However if we take seriously the great commission, then shouldn't it be a priority?

Let me share the advatages of being intentional about your own evangelism:

1. It demontstrates proper role modeling.
2. It brings greater integrity to your preaching.
3. It can change the DNA of your church to become more reproductive.
4. It personally motivates and ignites passion in a a pastor's heart when someone's life is
transformed.

If you have been wondering why God hasn't blessed you with more conversion growth maybe it's because you have set a poor example.

There have been many pastors who have joined health clubs, reached out to their neighbors, done chaplaincy work, coached, or gotten involved in various community or school movements.
The list can go on.

Rather than settling for being a good equipper maybe it is time to be intentional about your own personal evangelism. Wouldn't it be fun to share how you led someone to Christ during a Sunday morning sermon? How contagious and challenging would that be?

Hope to see you on the street and out of the tower.