Leadership Gifts in the Church

Let's talk about he subject of church leadership, in particular, about the gifts associated with it and how they come into expression over the life of a church. Despite the relative clarity of the scriptures about the subject, there seems to be a lot of fog surrounding it, so I'll add my two cents over my next couple of posts and hopefully not add any dry ice to the bucket.

Today, almost everyone exercising church leadership is called a pastor, as if the responsiblity and authority of church leadership (bishop/elder) tracked congruently and exclusively with the gift of pastor/teacher. That is unfortunate because I think it clouds the scripture and confounds our practice. I don't see that as what was ocurring in the biblical church, nor is it what is suggested in Ephesians 4.

In that passage we are told that leadership could come from any of four (or five depending on your take on the passage) gifts or, perhaps, even a combination of those four/five gifts. All four are are the subjects of the leadership action which prepares God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Properly applied, this passage means a church could be led (bishop/elder) by an apostle, or a prophet, or an evangelist, or a pastor/teacher. That is, in fact, what happens in practice, regardless of whether or not our theology describes it that way.

Although we call them pastor if they lead a church, their true gift is going to make itself known in the execution of their duties. A church "pastored" by an evangelist is likely to stress the invitational message reaching the unbelieving. A church "pastored" by a prophet is likely to stress the revelatory message. A church "pastored" by an apostle is likely to stress getting the church planted. A church "pastored" by a pastor/teacher is likely to stress discipleship. I think that actually explains the imbalance we often see in a church's ministry.

Our response to one-sided church emphases is sometimes to criticize, i.e. "the pastor is too focused on ______ ministry." However, I think churches need to understand the nature of church leadership as I've sketched it out here and patiently work with their leaders to get gifts expressed that their pastors do not operate in. If pastors and church folk work together, I think balance in ministry can be achieved. I do not believe that diversity in leadership gifts is meant to produce handicapped churches, as it often seems to, but instead full-bodied expressions of the manifold grace of God.

A Shepherd's Heart

I have five children, thanks to college graduation, they're all at home again, at least for a little while. One of the elders in my church has six kids. He told me something years ago that has always stuck in my memory, and that now can be verified by my own experience: there is a sense of peace and satisfaction that comes when all of them are in bed at the end of the day; safe, sound, and snoring. Until then, there's always a bit of tension or concern, at least enough to keep rest at bay. When one or more are gone, you can remember them in prayer, but it's not quite the same as seeing them zonked out under the covers!

As a pastor, I "worry" about my people. I believe I should be at least a big brother to them, but the truth is, I feel like a father in so many ways. I want to protect them from the predations of wolves. I want to teach them the family business and see them step forward into responsibility and productivity. I enjoy hearing them tell me about their lives, how things went when they tried something, what they've noticed, what they learned, or what God said to them. I like being there in the seasons of life with them, watching them go through their paces.

There is a certain movement afoot today that resents that kind of patriarchal thinking-- that a pastor would consider the folk of the congregation "his," or that he would feel fatherly about them. That's so old school! It seems to me, those of that ilk do not want a pastor but a host.

There's also a school of thought out there that's very pragmatic about organizational behavior and the "business" of church. Those of that ilk would see my feelings as a detriment to growth and an inhibitor to leadership. Some sheep, in that kind of view, don't need to be there if they're not part of the demographic the church entrepreneur is trying to recruit or if they're not in tune with his vision. Leadership is about making tough decisions and not getting bogged down in a singular problem is a ticket to progress. Keep the train rolling at all costs! Pastors that buy into this kind of thinking end up as a CEO.

I have a different dream.

Jesus said to his Father, in the midst of his high priestly prayer, "None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled." Jesus could bear to let a nonbeliever go, but if one was a believer, he couldn't bear to lose any. I don't know how to follow another example but his. So with fatherly concern, I'll rest much easier when twilight closes on the day's labor and I see all the children that have been in my charge under the cover of Jesus' arms in glory. 

In the meantime, may God grant me neither keen business sense nor savvy marketing skills but simply a shepherd's heart.

Paradoxes In Christianity

Paradoxes shape the face of Christianity. A few examples:

We can't do anything to merit salvation, but if we do nothing we won't be saved. 

We have not because we ask not, but once we get, God wants us to let it go. 

Healing was provided in the the finished work of Christ, but we still get old and die. 

The person who punches us in the nose for telling him about Jesus isn't our enemy. 

There are signs of the time we should be able to read, yet no one knows, nor can they know, the day and hour of his return.

Who knows why God governs things this way? I do know it does keep us humble, it does call for us to submit. It requires us to live by faith.

Faith always has been, and will always be the prime issue in our existence. Life is for coming to faith. Since God sees faith as such a precious commodity, it behooves us to cherish it too. In light of that, it seems I'm going to have to find a way to accept the counterintuitive and the non-mutually exclusive. I'm going to have to learn to live in faith, with paradox.

Waking Up from the American Dream

A hotly debated issue these days is the relevance of the church in post-modern society. On one side of that argument, there’s a new movement that purports fitting seamlessly in with the world in the name of evangelism. Folk who believe that perspective cite the Apostle Paul as the foremost promoter of relevance, but clearly, Paul never promoted living worldly lifestyles in the name of evangelism. He merely said, more or less, "when you're eating with a heathen eat what the heathen eats."

I see no liberty to translate that into "watch what they watch," "buy what they buy," "pursue what they pursue," "do what they do." No, we're called to be different than the world. If our lifestyle looks like the unbelievers around us, it’s not a good sign-- it means were in sync with the world and out of sync with God. His ways are not mankind's ways, so Christians need to make His ways their ways rather than the world's! 

If our manner of life and our aspirations look in all practical measures just like the unbelieving world around us, why would any of them buy into the gospel we promote? In that case, they already live exactly the same way that we do but without the hassle of religion. What point would there be in adding religious trappings that don't actually make a difference to their lifestyle? The long and short of it: Christians ought to stand out from the world even while they're living in it--different values, different activities, different dreams. 

The difference is what, in fact, makes evangelism attractive to the world. The hope we have must strike a different chord than the hope they have or they won't be puzzled enough by ours to ask us about it. They won't find our dream intriguing in the least. If we're serious about bringing people to a life-saving, life-transforming faith in Christ, we're going to have to wake up from the American dream and start living God’s.

God Is at Our Elbow

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:5-6 (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Often, when Christians hear the biblical phrase “The Lord is near,” they think apocalyptic warning as in: "Oh no, I better behave, Jesus might come back tonight!" That is the case in some passages, but it is not for the one above. If it were, then an eschatological air raid siren would be juxtaposed between some generally encouraging words. How strange that would be if that were the case.

The word translated into English as “near,” literally means “at your elbow.” It can be used as a time reference but can also be used as a spatial reference. Context is key to understanding which way to take it. In this case the verse following is determinant. The thought is clearly nearness, as in a companion being close, "beckonable," and so without the possibility of separation anxiety.

We are being told that God is with us, in fact beside us, literally, at our elbow. Now that is a comforting thought. One that has legs-- it can walk through our entire life with us. When you are in situations which are making you tense, uncertain, or worried, there is someone with you that you can count on. You can tell him about what troubles you and ask him for assistance.

Whether we're at school or in the workplace or even at home, God is never far away, He’s actually at our elbow. 

This article is abridged from a Baccalaureate Address preached at Kutztown Area High School on June 3, 2007. Thanks to Robert C. Owen, from whom I first heard this particular interpretation of the text, and later found viable through my own study.

Interactive Spookiness

Call... what is it?

Let me tell you some stories, autobiographical ones, so no names will have to be changed to protect the innocent. God talks to people. Not just the folks in the Bible, but folk like you and me. God has talked to me.

As I was finalizing suicide plans my junior year at Penn State, something strange and unexpected occurred: I heard/sensed a communication inside my mind. "But you haven't given Jesus Christ a shot at your life yet." Stricken, my suicide plans stopped in their tracks, and I began to plan a change in direction. Not knowing what else to do, I called my mom who had "gone religious" about six months before, and asked her if I could join her church.

A couple of weeks later I marched down the aisle of that Southern Baptist church and publicly confessed Jesus as my Lord, the next Sunday I was baptized. About a week after getting saved, the most unusual event that has ever occurred in my life happened. It sounds crazy, but believe it or not, Jesus showed up in my bedroom as I was praying. I'm convinced he was really there. His presence was so real, powerful, and scary that I jumped on the bed and buried my head under the pillow for fear I would see God and die.

I was lost in the experience, overwhelmed, but I did get one rational question out to the Lord, "How will I know you, how will I know what you want?" He said, "by the Book, you will know me by the Book." That experience is why I believe in the divine inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible to this day. Later, when I was in Bible college, doctrine was taught that undergirded it, but that's not why I believe it beyond a shadow of doubt-- that experience is. I became a voracious reader of the Word!

I was at North Central Bible College in the cold climes of Minneapolis. My wife and I had dropped our careers, packed up our belongings, and went sight unseen to Minnesota to pursue the call of God on our lives. We had fasted and prayed, sought counsel, and then proceeded to do the exceptionally stupid. We relocated 1100 miles from home, without jobs, with very little money, to an apartment we'd never seen in a city we'd never been to, all in the dead of winter.

One night the following spring while walking home from an evening class, the weight of that stupidity finally dropped upon me. I called out to God while walking in an alleyway home, "Am I really called, or did I make a big mistake?" I had been so fixated by prior experiences, so determined to fulfill the call, I don't think I was ever willing to honestly face that alternative. God's voice spoke to me, "you are called to the ministry of message. I will send you to the hard and broken places." I finished my preparation at Bible college and have been following that call ever since. 

In February of 1994, I was interceding for my congregation in the auditorium of our facility. I was distracted by my own sense of frustration but was trying to lay hold of God. Suddenly, I was seeing things. Only my wife, and an old pastor friend, know the details of what I saw, it's something I've kept to myself and pondered in my heart. Yet that vision is what has kept me where I am these many years. I have thought about going elsewhere a time or two, but have never been released by God to another vision.

It seems a silly thing rationally; "how?" "no way!" are the responses of human logic, but here I am because God speaks to people. He spoke to me. There have been other instances in my life of his voice invading the spaces of my heart and mind-- directing my course, cluing me in on miracles about to happen, telling me the secrets of some one's heart, comforting me in the journey, telling me what to say.

I am so glad that it's not all an academic exercise of literary criticism and philosophy. I'm absolutely relieved that it's not a mathematical equation I've been left to figure out. I'm so grateful that it's not an entrepreneurial experiment to see what scares up some traffic. God speaks today to human beings, to the likes of me! So here I am, satisfied and at peace, doing what I do, mundane in so many respects but all in the midst of interactive spookiness.

Good Heathen Counsel

Why are we so willing to devalue the gifts of another? Is it insecurity, pride, the influence of the enemy? Personally, there are times I don't understand the gifts of another, and admittedly, I can be rather quick to pull out my ladder, go up into the tree and start fruit inspecting. Fruit inspection, testing, and mutual judgment are really the only biblical means we do have to deal with the subject, but do we have to do it with such virulence?

Everywhere in the blogosphere, on the radio, in books and magazines, self-appointed judges are holding self-proclaimed prophets' feet to the fire. It ain't pretty most of the time! Isn't there at least a vestige of respect due to someone who calls Jesus Lord? Even if someone is off doctrinally in what we consider a very dangerous way, we should always be mindful of how our response will affect the unlearned and weak.

When we throw ice water on the gifts of others with such gusto, the babes watching decide never to give anyone the opportunity to do that to them. It doesn't make them careful, it makes them timid and silent! If angels disputing over the body of Moses could be respectful of demons, shouldn't we be a little more cautious when disputing those who may well be brothers and sisters in the Lord?

My grandmother was a salty character, not a church lady at all, but I did learn some wisdom from her. In the midst of my adolescent rebellion, I happened to say something disparaging to someone in her presence. She took me to task for being disrespectful. I rejoined that nobody got my respect until they proved they deserved it. She cut my feet out from under me, correcting me with, "Everyone gets your respect until they've proved they don't deserve it!"

She was right, even though she was a heathen! I have tried to live by her advice in this matter ever since. And if we're not willing to follow scriptural instruction on the matter in the Church, I at least wish we had the grace to follow the good heathen counsel of my grandma!