Many bivocational pastors feel they receive little to no support from their denomination or judicatory leaders. That was never my experience. My first Area Minister was very supportive. We talked about issues in the church, he preached several times in our church, and was always available to me. My second Area Minister was Riley Walker who was just as supportive and became an important mentor to me. Riley passed away this past weekend.
Riley and I talked often, and I got to know his heart for ministry and for life. He was a very gracious individual, but he was also not afraid to confront problems head-on. No one ever had to wonder what he thought because he would tell them, and that was one of the things I appreciated about him.
After I had been pastor of my church for a number of years I knew it was about time for me to leave. I felt God was leading me away, but I wasn't sure to where. I called Riley and asked if we could talk about that. He came down to play a round of golf and to discuss my future in the ministry. He suggested there were six different options for me including one I had never considered: serving as an Area Minister. At that time I did not have a seminary degree which I believed was a prerequisite for that role. Riley assured me that things were changing, and in some of our regions a seminary degree might not be required.
About a year or so later Riley accepted the call to serve as the Executive Minister in another region, and our Executive Minister called to ask if I would serve as the interim Area Minister. After my wife and I spent a weekend praying and discussing it, I agreed. I continued to pastor my church and served as the interim Area Minister in the same area Riley had left. Several months later I was offered the position full-time.
When I picked up Riley's files and papers I asked him what he thought my greatest asset would be in this new role. He quickly responded that it would be that I had never pastored a large church. He explained that the majority of the churches in my area were small, many of them bivocational, and I would have access to those churches that he did not have as a former pastor of a large church. I then asked him what my greatest challenge would be, and his answer was the same, that I had never pastored a large church! Some would question whether I had the experience to serve in this role. He turned out to be right on both counts.
For 14 years I served as an Area Minister. It was a great time of ministry, but it would never have happened without Riley's encouragement and the faith and confidence my Executive Minister, Larry Mason, had in me. I owe both men much, and although I did not see Riley very often in recent years I will miss him.
Riley was a mentor not only to me, but to many others as well. What a wonderful legacy! It's one that each of us in church leadership should strive to achieve. I would ask who are you mentoring today? What young leader can you come alongside to encourage and to pass on your experiences and life lessons to? I meet many bivocational, and fully-funded, pastors who want and need a mentor to help them navigate the challenges of ministry. I pray that I have been that mentor to some, and I encourage you to serve as a mentor to others as well.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Monday, November 25, 2019
When you don't learn from your mistakes
One of the things I noticed as an Area Minister serving over 100 churches in my area was that the ones that had the most problems were repeat offenders. They seemed incapable of learning from their past mistakes and were determined to keep making them. One church called me with a number of issues in their church which they blamed on their pastor. When I met with some of their leaders one person complained their pastor didn't do things "the way Baptists do." I explained that was because he wasn't a Baptist, and they knew that when they called him as their pastor. I also reminded them that he was not anyone I had recommended! When he left they called another pastor from outside their denomination who created additional problems in the church. Today this once strong, small church is struggling, and many of their members have left.
I could easily write a book containing nothing but stories of churches who repeat the same mistakes over and over again and wonder why they are always having the same problems. However, no one would read it because healthy churches don't repeat their mistakes, and the unhealthy churches wouldn't read it because they would think it doesn't apply to them.
Every church will make mistakes at times. They will call the wrong person as pastor or select immature people to serve as lay leaders in their churches. They will make policies that do not advance the Kingdom of God. There are dozens of ways a church can get sidetracked. A healthy church will realize its mistakes and correct them; unhealthy churches refuse to admit they are doing anything wrong and will continue to repeat their mistakes over and over again until the spiritual life is sapped out of the congregation.
I once read that 100 churches in America close their doors every week. Why? It surely isn't because there is nothing for them to do. If we are to believe the statistics, every county in America is at least 80 percent unchurched. It seems to me that there is much work that the church needs to do. The reason many of these churches close their doors is that sometime in the past they began to make a series of mistakes, poor decisions, that they kept repeating over and over again until there were not enough people or reason for them to remain open. While there are likely other reasons some of these churches close, I'm convinced this is the reason for many of these closures.
My bestselling book has been The Healthy Small Church: Diagnosis and Treatment for the Big Issues. Judicatory leaders have purchased this book to pass out to each of the pastors in their districts. Churches have bought copies for each family and used it as a mid-week study. Other churches have provided copies for their leadership teams and studied a chapter at each of their meetings until they completed the book. I have been asked to lead conferences and seminars on the material found in this book for numerous denominational groups. A Christian university invited me to teach an online course on this material one semester. I have been honored and humbled by the number of pastors who have told me the difference this book made in their churches.
Any church can be healthier than it is today if it takes intentional steps to pursue health. The first step is to identify any unhealthy tendencies that might currently exist in the church. Only when a good diagnosis is made can a doctor prescribe treatment. The same is true of a church or other organization. This book helps church leaders diagnose any potential problems that might exist in the church and then offers ways to address them. At the conclusion of the book I offer a chapter of diagnostic questions that church leaders can use annually to study the health of their congregation. Like physical problems, the earlier a problem can be discovered the easier it is to treat.
A church does not have to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. It can take steps to become healthier again but only if it chooses to do so.
I could easily write a book containing nothing but stories of churches who repeat the same mistakes over and over again and wonder why they are always having the same problems. However, no one would read it because healthy churches don't repeat their mistakes, and the unhealthy churches wouldn't read it because they would think it doesn't apply to them.
Every church will make mistakes at times. They will call the wrong person as pastor or select immature people to serve as lay leaders in their churches. They will make policies that do not advance the Kingdom of God. There are dozens of ways a church can get sidetracked. A healthy church will realize its mistakes and correct them; unhealthy churches refuse to admit they are doing anything wrong and will continue to repeat their mistakes over and over again until the spiritual life is sapped out of the congregation.
I once read that 100 churches in America close their doors every week. Why? It surely isn't because there is nothing for them to do. If we are to believe the statistics, every county in America is at least 80 percent unchurched. It seems to me that there is much work that the church needs to do. The reason many of these churches close their doors is that sometime in the past they began to make a series of mistakes, poor decisions, that they kept repeating over and over again until there were not enough people or reason for them to remain open. While there are likely other reasons some of these churches close, I'm convinced this is the reason for many of these closures.
My bestselling book has been The Healthy Small Church: Diagnosis and Treatment for the Big Issues. Judicatory leaders have purchased this book to pass out to each of the pastors in their districts. Churches have bought copies for each family and used it as a mid-week study. Other churches have provided copies for their leadership teams and studied a chapter at each of their meetings until they completed the book. I have been asked to lead conferences and seminars on the material found in this book for numerous denominational groups. A Christian university invited me to teach an online course on this material one semester. I have been honored and humbled by the number of pastors who have told me the difference this book made in their churches.
Any church can be healthier than it is today if it takes intentional steps to pursue health. The first step is to identify any unhealthy tendencies that might currently exist in the church. Only when a good diagnosis is made can a doctor prescribe treatment. The same is true of a church or other organization. This book helps church leaders diagnose any potential problems that might exist in the church and then offers ways to address them. At the conclusion of the book I offer a chapter of diagnostic questions that church leaders can use annually to study the health of their congregation. Like physical problems, the earlier a problem can be discovered the easier it is to treat.
A church does not have to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. It can take steps to become healthier again but only if it chooses to do so.
Friday, November 22, 2019
New decade arriving soon
Before you know it we will enter 2020, a new decade that will be filled with opportunities and challenges for our churches and those who lead them. No one knows what the new decade, and those following it, will bring, but I think it is safe to say that we will see challenges that our churches in the West have not seen before.
It is no secret that many people do not like the church very much. Like one book in my library reminds us, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations. The church does not find many fans today, especially among young people. Many traditional churches find themselves getting grayer and smaller every year, and I'm not sure that will change for many of them.
We see tighter restrictions placed upon churches and freedom of worship imposed by courts and local governments, and that is likely to increase in the days ahead. Some churches find it difficult to get building permits to relocate or expand their buildings. Christian values are increasingly rejected by school boards, courts, local governments and other organizations as preference is regularly given to those who hold different values. I don't see this improving as a new decade emerges either. In fact, it is likely to get worse.
I believe there will also be tremendous opportunities for churches in the coming decade, however. More and more people are going to realize that the lifestyles they are living and the worldviews they have been holding are not, and cannot, provide them with the quality of life they seek. Many of these individuals are going to be seeking a different path than the one they have been on, and some of them will find out that path leads them to Jesus Christ. Those churches that are living out the Great Commission will find the fields are truly white unto harvest.
The question for every church is are they prepared for both the challenges and the opportunities that will be before them in this new decade? One way to answer that is to ask yourself how is your church different as we close out this current decade from what it was in 2010? Has your church grown in the past 10 years, or is still talking about how great it was in 1950? What did your church specifically do to fulfill the Great Commission in the past 10 years, and what was the results of those efforts? As you look at your current members would you say that the majority of them grew in their faith in the past 10 years? What new ministries were begun in the past decade that brought positive change to your church? How many new leaders rose up from within your church in the past 10 years? What new vision for ministry has triggered excitement among your church in the past decade?
Sometimes the greatest predictor of the future is what has happened in the past. If a church has drifted along for the past 10 years it is likely to drift through the next decade as well, doing nothing but complaining about how difficult things are. If a church has actively been engaged in ministry during the current decade it is more likely they will do the same in the next one.
Your church is what it is today because of decisions it made ten and even twenty years ago, and your church will be ten and twenty years from now what it decides today it will be. Choices have consequences. You can be defeated by the challenges or you can be energized by the opportunities. You can drift along hoping nothing really bad happens or you can proactively have a positive impact on the people in your community. The choice is yours.
A new decade is coming. You might as well get ready for it.
It is no secret that many people do not like the church very much. Like one book in my library reminds us, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations. The church does not find many fans today, especially among young people. Many traditional churches find themselves getting grayer and smaller every year, and I'm not sure that will change for many of them.
We see tighter restrictions placed upon churches and freedom of worship imposed by courts and local governments, and that is likely to increase in the days ahead. Some churches find it difficult to get building permits to relocate or expand their buildings. Christian values are increasingly rejected by school boards, courts, local governments and other organizations as preference is regularly given to those who hold different values. I don't see this improving as a new decade emerges either. In fact, it is likely to get worse.
I believe there will also be tremendous opportunities for churches in the coming decade, however. More and more people are going to realize that the lifestyles they are living and the worldviews they have been holding are not, and cannot, provide them with the quality of life they seek. Many of these individuals are going to be seeking a different path than the one they have been on, and some of them will find out that path leads them to Jesus Christ. Those churches that are living out the Great Commission will find the fields are truly white unto harvest.
The question for every church is are they prepared for both the challenges and the opportunities that will be before them in this new decade? One way to answer that is to ask yourself how is your church different as we close out this current decade from what it was in 2010? Has your church grown in the past 10 years, or is still talking about how great it was in 1950? What did your church specifically do to fulfill the Great Commission in the past 10 years, and what was the results of those efforts? As you look at your current members would you say that the majority of them grew in their faith in the past 10 years? What new ministries were begun in the past decade that brought positive change to your church? How many new leaders rose up from within your church in the past 10 years? What new vision for ministry has triggered excitement among your church in the past decade?
Sometimes the greatest predictor of the future is what has happened in the past. If a church has drifted along for the past 10 years it is likely to drift through the next decade as well, doing nothing but complaining about how difficult things are. If a church has actively been engaged in ministry during the current decade it is more likely they will do the same in the next one.
Your church is what it is today because of decisions it made ten and even twenty years ago, and your church will be ten and twenty years from now what it decides today it will be. Choices have consequences. You can be defeated by the challenges or you can be energized by the opportunities. You can drift along hoping nothing really bad happens or you can proactively have a positive impact on the people in your community. The choice is yours.
A new decade is coming. You might as well get ready for it.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Rules of thumb for the church
Bivocational pastors need all the helpful resources they can find. I want to share one with you that I wish I had owned when I served as a bivocational pastor. It is What Every Pastor Should Know: 101 Indispensable Rules of Thumb for Leading Your Church by Gary McIntosh and Charles Arn. These individuals have written several books addressing administrative tasks every minister faces and both serve as professors at their respective seminaries. I had the opportunity to talk with Gary at a conference where we were both speaking about this book and told him how helpful I thought it would be for any pastor and especially for those who serve bivocationally.
As the subtitle suggests, the book includes 101 rules of thumb that pastors should consider when leading their churches. Let me share a couple that I believe would be beneficial for a bivocational pastor to consider. Number 6 says that "churches that are effective in reaching their community train at least 10 percent of their people in friendship evangelism each year."
This speaks to at least two concerns I find in every smaller church. One is the need to fulfill the Great Commission, and the second is the concern about the small number of people who attend the church services. Obviously, if we were doing a better job of obeying the Great Commission it's likely we would have more people in our services! Since the most effective evangelism is done through friendships it stands to reason that we need to intentionally teach our members how to do friendship evangelism.
One sermon every year or two isn't going to cut it. A class on friendship evangelism also isn't going to be effective. We need to be more intentional about training people, and we need to begin slowly. One mistake I often made as a pastor was to begin something new with great expectations and then become discouraged when those expectations were not met. Start slowly.
The book suggests training 10 percent a year. That may seem too slow to some, but it is doable given the time constraints many bivocational ministers have. If you do this for five years you now have one-half of your congregation trained in friendship evangelism. That should make a difference in most churches. The authors give some tips on how to conduct this training.
A second tip mentioned in the book is number 35, "One of every five adult education classes should have been started within the last two years." I know what some of you are thinking: It's hard enough to get teachers for our existing classes, and they've been around forever! That may be the problem. I've read elsewhere that an adult class will stop growing after about 18 months. New people are reluctant to go into a class where everyone already has relationships with each other. New classes need to be started to reach new people.
Early in my Christian journey the pastor of the church we attended asked if I would help start a new class for young adults. Our present class had about 40 people attending, and it had stopped growing. We did start that new class and almost immediately had 15-20 people enrolled without taking anyone from the existing class. To grow an adult Sunday school program you add classes. Again, the authors provide advice how to begin these new classes.
This book addresses many of the administrative tasks a pastor has and provides targets to consider when facing these tasks. Again, I wish this book was available when I pastored. It would have saved me a lot of time. I think it will be a help to you as well.
As the subtitle suggests, the book includes 101 rules of thumb that pastors should consider when leading their churches. Let me share a couple that I believe would be beneficial for a bivocational pastor to consider. Number 6 says that "churches that are effective in reaching their community train at least 10 percent of their people in friendship evangelism each year."
This speaks to at least two concerns I find in every smaller church. One is the need to fulfill the Great Commission, and the second is the concern about the small number of people who attend the church services. Obviously, if we were doing a better job of obeying the Great Commission it's likely we would have more people in our services! Since the most effective evangelism is done through friendships it stands to reason that we need to intentionally teach our members how to do friendship evangelism.
One sermon every year or two isn't going to cut it. A class on friendship evangelism also isn't going to be effective. We need to be more intentional about training people, and we need to begin slowly. One mistake I often made as a pastor was to begin something new with great expectations and then become discouraged when those expectations were not met. Start slowly.
The book suggests training 10 percent a year. That may seem too slow to some, but it is doable given the time constraints many bivocational ministers have. If you do this for five years you now have one-half of your congregation trained in friendship evangelism. That should make a difference in most churches. The authors give some tips on how to conduct this training.
A second tip mentioned in the book is number 35, "One of every five adult education classes should have been started within the last two years." I know what some of you are thinking: It's hard enough to get teachers for our existing classes, and they've been around forever! That may be the problem. I've read elsewhere that an adult class will stop growing after about 18 months. New people are reluctant to go into a class where everyone already has relationships with each other. New classes need to be started to reach new people.
Early in my Christian journey the pastor of the church we attended asked if I would help start a new class for young adults. Our present class had about 40 people attending, and it had stopped growing. We did start that new class and almost immediately had 15-20 people enrolled without taking anyone from the existing class. To grow an adult Sunday school program you add classes. Again, the authors provide advice how to begin these new classes.
This book addresses many of the administrative tasks a pastor has and provides targets to consider when facing these tasks. Again, I wish this book was available when I pastored. It would have saved me a lot of time. I think it will be a help to you as well.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Is your church's best days behind or ahead of you?
As I have worked with smaller churches over the years I have noticed that many of them have old pictures hanging in their foyers or in hallways showing large crowds of people posing for the picture outside the church building. Some churches have had three or four such pictures lined up in a row. Many of these churches now have maybe 30 people attending on a good Sunday. One had the sense after talking to folks about these pictures that they represented a reminder of when people felt good about the church. Maybe things aren't so good now, but as they looked at these pictures they could think about a time when their church was something special.
Before I go any further let me state that I have nothing against such pictures being displayed in the church. They represent an important part of a church's history, and people need to be reminded of what God has done in the past. What is tragic is when people look at the pictures and walk away shaking their heads believing the best days are behind their church. Such beliefs do nothing but create a defeated mindset in people's minds.
One of the few questions the pastor search committee asked me in 1981 when I interviewed for the pastoral position of that little church was, "Do you think there is any hope for our church?" Only later I was told that there had been a vote as to whether to call one more pastor or lock the doors. A picture such as I described above hung in the entrance area of the church, and I am sure many of the members believed that their best days were behind them.
What such thinking forgets is that what God has done in the past He can do again. I am convinced that He has a plan for every church, and the church that catches His vision and begins to live into that vision will enjoy a fruitful ministry. However, a church that believes it's best days are behind them and the only thing they can do is to try to survive isn't likely to see things improve much.
The apostle Paul wrote that he forgot those things that were behind him and pushed forward for the prize that was set before him. That is good advice for churches trapped in the mindset that their best days are behind them. Forget the past - the good, the bad and the ugly - and look to the future that God has set before you. The fields are white unto harvest and more workers are needed.
I've read that at least 80 percent of every county in the US is unchurched, and in some counties the percentage is higher. That is an incredible number of people who need Christ in your community. That is your Jerusalem! Will your congregation rise to the challenge of reaching out to these individuals, or will it just walk past pictures of bygone days and wish things could be like that again?
Our nation and the world desperately needs the church to rise up once again and be the church God intended. We need to speak up and point the world to Jesus Christ as the answer to the pain and confusion they are experiencing. The solutions to our nation's problems will not come from the White House, the Courthouse or the state house. They will come from God's house as we boldly proclaim the truth of God's Word and humble ourselves as we pray and seek His face. When we do that we can be sure that the best days of the church will always be before us!
Before I go any further let me state that I have nothing against such pictures being displayed in the church. They represent an important part of a church's history, and people need to be reminded of what God has done in the past. What is tragic is when people look at the pictures and walk away shaking their heads believing the best days are behind their church. Such beliefs do nothing but create a defeated mindset in people's minds.
One of the few questions the pastor search committee asked me in 1981 when I interviewed for the pastoral position of that little church was, "Do you think there is any hope for our church?" Only later I was told that there had been a vote as to whether to call one more pastor or lock the doors. A picture such as I described above hung in the entrance area of the church, and I am sure many of the members believed that their best days were behind them.
What such thinking forgets is that what God has done in the past He can do again. I am convinced that He has a plan for every church, and the church that catches His vision and begins to live into that vision will enjoy a fruitful ministry. However, a church that believes it's best days are behind them and the only thing they can do is to try to survive isn't likely to see things improve much.
The apostle Paul wrote that he forgot those things that were behind him and pushed forward for the prize that was set before him. That is good advice for churches trapped in the mindset that their best days are behind them. Forget the past - the good, the bad and the ugly - and look to the future that God has set before you. The fields are white unto harvest and more workers are needed.
I've read that at least 80 percent of every county in the US is unchurched, and in some counties the percentage is higher. That is an incredible number of people who need Christ in your community. That is your Jerusalem! Will your congregation rise to the challenge of reaching out to these individuals, or will it just walk past pictures of bygone days and wish things could be like that again?
Our nation and the world desperately needs the church to rise up once again and be the church God intended. We need to speak up and point the world to Jesus Christ as the answer to the pain and confusion they are experiencing. The solutions to our nation's problems will not come from the White House, the Courthouse or the state house. They will come from God's house as we boldly proclaim the truth of God's Word and humble ourselves as we pray and seek His face. When we do that we can be sure that the best days of the church will always be before us!
Monday, November 11, 2019
Public opinion vs moral truth
In a democratic society everyone has a voice. Many states just held elections to select those who would serve in office for the next four years. Some who won election did so by the slimmest of margins proving that it is important that people vote for the candidates of their choice. Cases taken before the Supreme Court are often decided by a 5-4 majority giving these justices enormous power to set the direction of our nation, but the Founding Fathers set up our system of government to function in just this way.
The real problem comes when we make decisions about moral issues and truth based on popular vote. Some politicians do not form an opinion on any issue without finding out what the polls tell them their opinion should be.
For my devotional reading right now I am re-reading Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times by Os Guinness. Anytime I read something he has written I am blown away by his scholarship and his understanding of our culture and the church's role in it. On this subject he writes
"In America," Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in the 1830s, "the majority builds an impregnable wall around the process of thinking." Novelist James Fennimore Cooper, an American himself, wrote, "It is a besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law." The philosopher John Stuart Mill warned that "the price paid for this sort of intellectual pacification is the sacrifice of the entire moral courage of the human mind." Kierkegaard wrote in his journal, "The trend today is in the direction of mathematical equality."...For the Hebrew prophets, "Thus says the Lord" was decisive, not the opinions of the people. And in fact, the pursuit of truth, beauty, excellence, whether in art, science or spiritual growth, has rarely taken its cue from John Q. Public or from Mr. and Mrs. Average."
As we have seen our nation slide further and further away from the teachings of Scripture it has happened as we have allowed personal opinions and preferences replace those teachings. Laws have been enacted to legalize behaviors and lifestyles that a few generations ago were rightly seen as immoral and harmful to individuals and society. When lawmakers refused to pass such laws, judges were found who would find a Constitutional right to such activities. End of discussion, and anyone who objected were immediately vilified as bigoted, ignorant and worse.
Unfortunately, we have seen the same thing happen in too many of our churches. Scriptural truth has been replaced by church councils, denominational leaders who are trying to keep the peace until they can retire, deep-pocketed parishioners, liberal seminaries, and others who have more opinions than biblical knowledge. Weak pastors yield to these loud voices in an effort to keep their jobs. They forget that they don't have a job; they have a calling, and that calling is to proclaim the Word of God and do the work God has called them to do.
Guinness later wrote, "'Thus says the Lord' should always trump '51 percent now believe,' but the current idolatry of metrics renders Christians vulnerable to the mob-masters of the virtual age, the high-tech wizards who can corral the opinions of millions within minutes. (This is a crucial factor in the cataclysmic suddenness of the triumph of the sexual revolution over the Jewish and Christian faiths that have shaped Western civilization for two thousand years.) The result is a church befuddled over the difference between success and faithfulness, hesitant to buck the going trends, fearful to stick her neck out and find herself in the minority, and reluctant to risk the loneliness of pursuing the true and excellent regardless of all outcomes - in short, a church fatally weakened because worldly."
The church in America is at a pivotal point. It is truly at a crossroads and must decide whether it will stand for biblical truth, however unpopular, or follow public opinion. Sadly, many have already chosen public opinion and are merrily skipping along with the "in-crowd." The Bible tells us that there is a wide path that many follow that ultimately leads to their destruction. The narrow path is one that is often challenging, but it leads to eternal life. Which path will your church choose?
The real problem comes when we make decisions about moral issues and truth based on popular vote. Some politicians do not form an opinion on any issue without finding out what the polls tell them their opinion should be.
For my devotional reading right now I am re-reading Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times by Os Guinness. Anytime I read something he has written I am blown away by his scholarship and his understanding of our culture and the church's role in it. On this subject he writes
"In America," Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in the 1830s, "the majority builds an impregnable wall around the process of thinking." Novelist James Fennimore Cooper, an American himself, wrote, "It is a besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law." The philosopher John Stuart Mill warned that "the price paid for this sort of intellectual pacification is the sacrifice of the entire moral courage of the human mind." Kierkegaard wrote in his journal, "The trend today is in the direction of mathematical equality."...For the Hebrew prophets, "Thus says the Lord" was decisive, not the opinions of the people. And in fact, the pursuit of truth, beauty, excellence, whether in art, science or spiritual growth, has rarely taken its cue from John Q. Public or from Mr. and Mrs. Average."
As we have seen our nation slide further and further away from the teachings of Scripture it has happened as we have allowed personal opinions and preferences replace those teachings. Laws have been enacted to legalize behaviors and lifestyles that a few generations ago were rightly seen as immoral and harmful to individuals and society. When lawmakers refused to pass such laws, judges were found who would find a Constitutional right to such activities. End of discussion, and anyone who objected were immediately vilified as bigoted, ignorant and worse.
Unfortunately, we have seen the same thing happen in too many of our churches. Scriptural truth has been replaced by church councils, denominational leaders who are trying to keep the peace until they can retire, deep-pocketed parishioners, liberal seminaries, and others who have more opinions than biblical knowledge. Weak pastors yield to these loud voices in an effort to keep their jobs. They forget that they don't have a job; they have a calling, and that calling is to proclaim the Word of God and do the work God has called them to do.
Guinness later wrote, "'Thus says the Lord' should always trump '51 percent now believe,' but the current idolatry of metrics renders Christians vulnerable to the mob-masters of the virtual age, the high-tech wizards who can corral the opinions of millions within minutes. (This is a crucial factor in the cataclysmic suddenness of the triumph of the sexual revolution over the Jewish and Christian faiths that have shaped Western civilization for two thousand years.) The result is a church befuddled over the difference between success and faithfulness, hesitant to buck the going trends, fearful to stick her neck out and find herself in the minority, and reluctant to risk the loneliness of pursuing the true and excellent regardless of all outcomes - in short, a church fatally weakened because worldly."
The church in America is at a pivotal point. It is truly at a crossroads and must decide whether it will stand for biblical truth, however unpopular, or follow public opinion. Sadly, many have already chosen public opinion and are merrily skipping along with the "in-crowd." The Bible tells us that there is a wide path that many follow that ultimately leads to their destruction. The narrow path is one that is often challenging, but it leads to eternal life. Which path will your church choose?
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Men and the church
It's no secret that many men do not like going to church. As I've traveled to various churches throughout my ministry, especially when doing denominational work, I often found many more women and children than men in those churches. I always found that odd because when Promise Keeper's was going strong they would pack out entire stadiums with men. Obviously, it's not that men do not care about spiritual things or want to be with other Christian men, but many of them are not that interested in attending a regular church service. According to Pew Research only 20 percent of men attend church services weekly while women make up 61 percent of churchgoing adults. The question churches need to answer is why is this the case?
It's not an easy thing to answer. Some theorize that it's because churches have become feminized with the decor, messages about humility and introspection and a satisfaction with the status quo. In one article a man was quoted as saying that when he visited a new church the first thing he did was to look at the curtains. That told him all he needed to know about the church. Others insist that men avoid church because they tend to be risk takers and adventurers and the modern church often is highly risk-adverse. Many more reasons are given, but everyone agrees that men are largely absent from the church, and if they are there many of them don't seem too pleased about it.
Sitting on the platform in many churches I've seen the comparison between the women singing the hymns and praise songs while their husbands stood there with their arms folded staring straight ahead. I've noticed that men tend to fall asleep during the message at a higher rate than the women, and many that are awake are more apt to be looking at their phones than paying attention to the message.
Today's church needs to do a better job of reaching men. We need to talk about the problem instead of ignoring it like the elephant in the room. We need to rethink our sermons to make sure they are relevant to today's issues and challenges. We need to ensure that we offer ministry opportunities and events that appeal to men.
Any time there is an event such as a hurricane, or tornado or significant flooding you will see church groups go the affected area to help people rebuild their lives. This type of ministry appeals to many men. They are far more likely to grow as disciples of Christ doing something like this than they would sitting in a small group for ten weeks studying about discipleship.
The church's calendar should include events that will be appealing to men. While on vacation in Florida I recently attended a church's "Beast Feast." They had a large cookout that featured alligator, venison meat loaf, wild boar and a number of sides. There was a car show in the parking lot of the church. After the meal we went inside where a number of prizes were given away that included camping equipment, fishing equipment, guns, knives, several other items and a 4X4. A speaker shared how he had given his life to Jesus Christ after surviving an attack by a mountain lion. He had been featured on Oprah Winfrey and in several publications. It was a powerful message. I estimate there may have been close to 1,000 men and boys in attendance.
Maybe your church couldn't offer something that big, but there are similar things any church can do that will attract men. One associational men's group held a turkey shoot a few years ago I attended. We had a great time. What's important is that we show men that they don't have to give up their masculinity to become a Christian or become active in a church.
Men need the church, and the church needs men. Most of all, men need Jesus Christ. Let's find ways to help men once again find both Christ and the church.
It's not an easy thing to answer. Some theorize that it's because churches have become feminized with the decor, messages about humility and introspection and a satisfaction with the status quo. In one article a man was quoted as saying that when he visited a new church the first thing he did was to look at the curtains. That told him all he needed to know about the church. Others insist that men avoid church because they tend to be risk takers and adventurers and the modern church often is highly risk-adverse. Many more reasons are given, but everyone agrees that men are largely absent from the church, and if they are there many of them don't seem too pleased about it.
Sitting on the platform in many churches I've seen the comparison between the women singing the hymns and praise songs while their husbands stood there with their arms folded staring straight ahead. I've noticed that men tend to fall asleep during the message at a higher rate than the women, and many that are awake are more apt to be looking at their phones than paying attention to the message.
Today's church needs to do a better job of reaching men. We need to talk about the problem instead of ignoring it like the elephant in the room. We need to rethink our sermons to make sure they are relevant to today's issues and challenges. We need to ensure that we offer ministry opportunities and events that appeal to men.
Any time there is an event such as a hurricane, or tornado or significant flooding you will see church groups go the affected area to help people rebuild their lives. This type of ministry appeals to many men. They are far more likely to grow as disciples of Christ doing something like this than they would sitting in a small group for ten weeks studying about discipleship.
The church's calendar should include events that will be appealing to men. While on vacation in Florida I recently attended a church's "Beast Feast." They had a large cookout that featured alligator, venison meat loaf, wild boar and a number of sides. There was a car show in the parking lot of the church. After the meal we went inside where a number of prizes were given away that included camping equipment, fishing equipment, guns, knives, several other items and a 4X4. A speaker shared how he had given his life to Jesus Christ after surviving an attack by a mountain lion. He had been featured on Oprah Winfrey and in several publications. It was a powerful message. I estimate there may have been close to 1,000 men and boys in attendance.
Maybe your church couldn't offer something that big, but there are similar things any church can do that will attract men. One associational men's group held a turkey shoot a few years ago I attended. We had a great time. What's important is that we show men that they don't have to give up their masculinity to become a Christian or become active in a church.
Men need the church, and the church needs men. Most of all, men need Jesus Christ. Let's find ways to help men once again find both Christ and the church.
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