Can the example of elders hinder others from serving?
My friend Jason at “Second and Content” is currently in South Africa for a year working in tribal villages. He wrote a very good post called “Some Thoughts on Elders” in response to an older post that I linked to on twitter and Facebook.
His post is long, but well worth reading. He discusses elders from both a scriptural perspective and from his experience in both traditional and less-traditional church structures.
In this post, I want to highlight one thing that Jason talks about. The way the elders serve can affect how (or if) others in the church also serve.
Here is part of what Jason writes:
I’ve always been a firm believer that every Christian is responsible for doing ministry. Sometimes I feel like there is such a distinction between clergy and laymen today that ministry has been localized only in the hands of pastors. Or if the body does do some sort of ministry, its once a year, on one gigantic day of lets-help-people-and-wear-t-shirts! Often times the response I’ve gotten from people when asked whether we should pay ministers or not was that the church paid pastors so they could do ministry more effectively. Yes, this motive has great intentions, but unfortunately it creates a mindset that further widens the gap between the two fictional distinctions of clergy and laymen. The biggest influence on my life in regard to ministry was a particular Dr. who showed me that it was possible to do ministry and carry on a job at the same time. His particular gift was teaching, and he utilized that. When an elder (and when I say elder, read your conventional definition for pastor, one who teaches and guides the flock) displays the example that it is possible to do ministry and work a full time job (i.e. work just like you do) it shows people that they can be doing ministry as well.
What do you think? Does Jason have a point? Can elders serving and working a job be more of an encouragement and example to others than elders who serve and are paid by the church?
(And, yes, I’m sure my readers will have differing opinions on this. I would love to hear your opinion, otherwise I would not have asked.)
I know you’re a heretic, but what am I?!
(Adding my voice to the “Rally to Restore Unity.”)
The word “heresy” gets tossed around these days like dough at a pizzeria. If we disagree with another Christian, we drop the “H-bomb,” take our pet doctrine, and go home.
In fact, we’ve created new categories of believers: 1) those who are right like us, 2) those who are slightly wrong and suspect but still okay, and 3) those who are heretics and therefore undeserving of our company.
We separate over many disagreements even though, in Scripture, disagreement is not disunity. Irony of all ironies, when we allow disagreements to lead to disunity between brothers and sisters in Christ, we are actually the heretics!
What?!?!
It’s true. In Scripture, “heresy” refers to separating from other Christians. If you separate from someone who you consider to be a Christian, then you are a heretic.
Like I said, ironic, huh?
We say we believe the Bible, but do our actions prove otherwise?
Recently, I’ve enjoyed following Jon’s tweets. (He blogs at “1 Jon“.) And, because I follow him on twitter, I saw his recent blog post called “Why don’t we believe the Bible?”
His post is a little satirical, a little pointed, and a little sarcastic; just the kind of post that I like and just the kind of post that often makes us look at ourselves and our lives differently.
For example, consider this short excerpt from his post:
When Paul says “I did not come to you in words of wisdom, but I decided to nothing among you except Christ and him crucified”, why do we feel that we have to rehearse great speeches and study apologetics to share your love with others? (1 cor 2)
When Paul says “you are a letter written from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living god on the tablet of your hearts”, why do we sometimes feel like we have nothing to share about you?
Ah, yes, I can see myself in both of those questions from time to time. You should take a moment and read the rest of Jon’s short post.
Can you think of other ways that our actions (generally) demonstrate that we don’t really believe what we say we believe?
Replay: I used to believe… Now I believe…
Two years ago, after being inspired by a friend’s post, I wrote a post called “I used to believe… Now I believe…” In this post, I laid out some of the ways that I my beliefs about the church had changed over the last few years. Feel free to present how your views have changed (or not changed) in the comments.
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I used to believe… Now I believe…
My friend Lew from “The Pursuit” started a new meme with two posts called “This I Used to Believe” and “This I Now Believe“. I decided to do Lew’s meme, but discuss things that I once believed and now believe concerning the church – since this blog is primarily about the church. So, here are some things that I once believed with what I now believe:
I used to believe that preaching a 30-45 minute sermon on Sunday morning or night was the epitome of the Christian life. Now I believe that neither preaching nor listening to a sermon on Sunday morning should be the center of a Christian’s life. Instead, serving and loving others in the name of Christ is much more important. Plus, many times, a five minute personal exhortation is much more effective than a general sermon.
I used to believe that leadership was the greatest type of service. Now I believe that service is the greatest type of service. However, I do believe that we should follow those who serve. But, those who serve are not so concerned about gathering followers. Instead, they are concerned with serving.
I used to believe that the 501(c)3 organization was the church. Now I believe that the people are the church… really… no, really. The church can organize, but the organization is not the church.
I used to believe that the senior pastor (and the staff under his direction) was responsible for all teaching and discipleship. I now believe that while elders (pastors) should teach and disciple, this responsibility is for every follower of Jesus Christ, regardless of the education, gifting, training, abilities, positions, etc.
I used to believe that discipleship was a 1-2 hour per week class with a workbook to be completed by those who were very spiritual. I now believe that biblical discipleship occurs 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. We must live life with one another in order to disciple one another. This cannot happen in a classroom alone, or in a programmed event alone.
I used to believe that it was the leaders’ (elders/pastors) responsibility to “run” the church meeting so that the church benefited. I now believe that it is every believer’s responsibility to think about the others in their community, and speak/serve during the meeting in a way that encourages others towards love, good works, and maturity in Christ.
I used to believe that education and knowledge were the same as maturity. I now believe that education and knowledge often have very little to do with maturity, and can be a source of pride and immaturity.
I used to believe that if I could sit quietly during and learn from the pastor’s sermon, then I was spiritual. I now believe that if I can listen to the Holy Spirit and obey him, then I am spiritual.
If you’d like to take part in this meme, please leave a note here, or on one of Lew’s posts.
The church living as family together
There are many different kinds of families, and none of them are perfect. But, it seems that almost everyone knows how families should treat one another.
When we read Scripture about the church, we find that we should also live as family with one another – not that dysfunctional kind of family, but a loving, caring, serving kind of family.
Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” recently talked about this in his post “What Do Families Do?”
Here is the kind of family (church) that Eric finds in Scripture:
Families share their lives with each other.
Families spend a lot of time together.
Families talk, and talk, and talk.
Families support one another.
Families encourage one another.
Families care for each others’ needs.
Families challenge one another.
Families practice discipline for the good of the individual and family as a whole.
Families teach one another.
Families exhort one another.
Families share their struggles with one another.
Families relax together.
Families eat together (a lot).
Families give to one another.
Families sacrifice for one another.
Families stick together during the hard times.
Families serve each other.
Families work together to help other people not in the family.
What do you think?
Surely we wouldn’t find Jesus where people are getting drunk?
Jeremy at “Til He Comes” has written a very thought-provoking post called “Not Church Sponsored Activities.”
In the post, Jeremy is encouraging Christians to spend time with (gasp) sinners. Of course, Jeremy’s post is not nearly as humorous as I’m making this out to be. He recognizes that there will be a temptation to sin if we hang out in certain locations. But, is there a bigger sin issue involved? Jeremy thinks there is:
This isn’t a license to sin, but nor is following Jesus a license to sit. And by sitting, many of us are committing the even worse sin of failing to act when we should be helping others. Also, I think that as we follow Jesus into these places, we find the temptations not as bad as we feared. If Jesus leads us there, He also provides the strength to resist.
Yes, Jesus spent time with “sinners” so much that he was labeled a “drunkard,” what we would probably call an alcoholic. And, if we follow Jesus into some of the places that Jeremy mentions, we may get a bad label from some people too.
But, we’ll also be following Jesus.
Can you “pastor” someone if they can’t get in touch with you?
Chaplain Mike at “Internet Monk” critiques an example of “radical” in his post “A ‘Radical’ Example.” (There’s probably a better way to say that.)
In the post, Mike examines another blog post from a “radical” church planter. At one point (point #8), the “church planter” says this:
8. If you think this will be a nice little church that stays the same size, where everybody knows your name and you have my cell number on speed dial and we have a picnic lunch together every week (By God’s grace, we want to grow).
Mike rightly points out some of the flaws in this statement when he says:
Through this preemptive strike, [this church planter] is laying the groundwork for handling complaints about the lack of pastoral care that will inevitably become common because leaders are so involved in the mission that they don’t have time to visit people in the hospital. He is preparing people for the day when congregation members can no longer talk to him personally. One day they will have to go through layers of administrative bureaucracy and probably still won’t be able to get an appointment because he won’t be the one who deals with the hoi polloi any longer. He’s innoculating them with a view to the day they will be stricken with longing for when they felt like a church family, when they knew the others around them, when they didn’t feel like someone who bought a ticket for a show in the city auditorium. He’s preparing them with the first of many pronouncements that complaints won’t be tolerated about the direction of the church and the decisions of her leaders, because, after all, we have a mission, we are dedicated to that mission, God is blessing that mission by causing us to grow, and therefore we all need to just put our big pants on and get with the program.
(If you want to read all of the original points from the church planter and all of Mike’s responses, use the link above.)
I just have one more point to add to Mike’s critique: If someone cannot get in touch with you, then you are not pastoring that person. If someone cannot spend one-on-one time with you, then you are not pastoring that person. It seems fairly simple to me.
Headline News from a Rap-orter
Do you like to keep up with the news and current events? Do you like music? Do you like hip-hop or rap?
If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then you will (probably) love “ipoet laureate.”
This is the rap/news blog of sintax.the.terrific of Illect Records, an original member of deepspace5.
Several times per week, he writes a blog post about a current event from the news. Then, at the bottom of each post, there is an audio player. Why? Because he writes a rap to go along with each post/article and puts it to music.
His latest article is probably my favorite. It’s about Easter and it’s called “To Keep Watch.”
Head over to ipoet laureate, and give it a read and a listen. Then let him and me know what you think.
It’s a man’s world?
Arthur from “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia” has started a new series on the topic of Biblical Patriarchy. His first post is called “Biblical Patriarchy: Introduction,” and his second post is called “Biblical Patriarchy: Defining the Issue.”
To be honest, I’m not sure where I stand on the issue of patriarchy. It was certainly a cultural issue, but was it more?
I know that I’m not satisfied with either of the modern explanations of complementarianism or egalitarianism. Why does everything have to be about authority?
Anyway, I thought my readers might be interested in following along with Arthur’s series like I am. If so, enjoy!
So, what are your views of patriarchy – the good, the bad, and the ugly?
Add your voice to the call for unity in the church
We know that unity is very important to Jesus. In his longest recorded prayer, he repeatedly asks the Father to make us one. (John 17)
We also know that the church is not living in this unity today. It seems that Christians will fracture and splinter over anything and everything.
Rachel Held Evans recently published a blog post “Announcing the Rally to Restore Unity.”
Here’s a brief description of this online rally:
The rally will include a synchroblog, contests, celebrity guest posts, roundtable discussions, and a fundraising effort for Charity:Water. The goal is to lightheartedly combat some of the vitriol coming out of the online Christian community by celebrating what we have in common and demonstrating that we can have a sense of humor when it comes to non-essential theological disagreements.
I plan to take part in the synchroblog next week May 1-7, 2011. I encourage you to take part in order to promote unity among brothers and sisters in Christ. Read Rachel’s post for more information about how you can join this rally to promote unity.