Paid to Serve
Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” has written an interesting post called “Robbed of Joy.” He is writing about paid pastoral ministry, which he has recently stepped away from.
Eric is concerned about being robbed of the joy that comes through serving. He writes:
When I serve those in the church as a salaried pastor, the deeds I do may be good ones (I certainly hope so). Despite this, I do not experience the same joy that I do when I’m not paid. I cannot explain it. It may be completely subjective on my part. Regardless, I know that service within the church – as a salaried pastor – loses joy precisely because of the salary.
So, who is robbing me of the joy of serving? Is it God? No. Is it the church? No. In fact, the church has been generous to us. So who is it? This may sound a bit self-centered, but I believe I’m robbing myself of joy by receiving a salary. By accepting payment for service, ministry then becomes a job/duty rather than a joy.
This is one of the reasons I am stepping down as a salaried pastor.
I’m tired of robbing myself of the joy that comes from serving brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now, I’ll be completely honest here. I have never been in a paid (salaried) pastoral position. I have never experienced what Eric is describing. I can give testimony about the other side of things – serving without being paid.
But, I’ve often wondered about paying people to serve. Is this really service? I don’t know.
What do you think? (I’d love to hear from those who are in paid pastoral positions as well.)
Zotero
I want to officially and publicly thank Mike from “A Love for Truth… A Truth that Loves” for telling us about “Zotero.” A friend in the PhD program (thanks Jerry!) had also told me about Zotero, but I had forgotten about it.
Zotero is a great tool for writers. It helps you manage your bibliography and footnotes. It works with FireFox and with Microsoft Word (and Open Office, I think), so it’s perfect for me.
I’ve began adding my sources for my dissertation into Zotero, and so far I really like it.
If you write, you should look into Zotero.
Discipleship by example
Two and a half years ago, I wrote a post called “Discipleship by example.” I was thinking about the importance of example earlier this week when I was speaking to a group of pastors. Most of the people there did not know me, and I will probably never see them again. Thus, there was no way that I could teach by example, so my teaching was limited. Example is extremely important.
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My good friend Glenn from “Bad Theology” (isn’t that a great blog name?) has written a great post called “Modeling a godly lifestyle“. He talks about a friend of his who has encouraged and admonished him toward godliness in the past. Then, Glenn recounts a recent encounter with his friend in which his friend encouraged him toward godliness (stimulated him to love and good deeds?) by his actions, without a word spoken. Consider Glenn’s conclusion:
I think that this type of “accountability” or encouragement [having an example to follow] is one of the most effective means of leading others closer to God. While it will often be beneficial and necessary for me to exhort or confront my friends and family concerning our relationships and walks with the Lord, I think a godly lifestyle on my part will always resonate louder and give ample opportunity for the Holy Spirit to personally encourage or convict those around me.
I think Glenn has hit on a basic truth of discipleship, but one that is rarely given the same prominence today that it is given in Scripture. That basic truth of discipleship is modeling godliness – living as an example to other believers in order to help them grow toward maturity in Jesus Christ.
While words and teaching are very important, we are never instructed by the authors of Scripture to simply follow a set of rules. Instead, we are given examples – sometimes even the authors themselves. Consider these passages:
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:14-15 ESV)
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. (1 Corinthians 10:11 ESV)
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. (Philippians 3:17 ESV)
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9 ESV)
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 ESV)
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9 ESV)
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:16 ESV)
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12 ESV)
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13:7 ESV)
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11 ESV)
…not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:3 ESV)
Are you surprised at the number of examples? Are you surprised at the extent to when this idea is spread throughout the New Testament? Believe it or not, this is only a small sample of passages that teach us to both follow the example of godly people and to live our lives as an example to others.
Modelling and example, then, are a major aspect of biblical discipleship – of teaching people what it means to live as a child of God. Notice that throughout Scripture we are taught to follow those who actually live as a child of God, not those who speak about or teach about being a child of God.
Of course, in this idea of discipleship by example, there is a built in assumption: the people involved in the discipleship relationship must have access to one another’s lives. Furthermore, this access can’t be a surface level access. This type of discipleship requires sharing life together, both the good times and the bad times, both the high points and the low points, both the good examples and the bad examples.
I believe this last point is exactly why we have de-stressed discipleship by example and stressed discipleship by teaching only. In our individualistic and entertainment driven society, we are not willing to share our lives with other people. We want what we want, when we want it. We want to do things that are fun or pleasing to us. The idea of inviting someone else into our lives, to consider their needs, or yielding our will to theirs is completely foreign. In fact, in order to think about and live this type of discipleship by example it would take a new way of thinking – a renewed mind, in fact – a mind that is not conformed to the common ways of thinking. But, of course, this is exactly what Paul exhorts us toward – a renewed mind.
So, whose example are you following? Are you living your life as an example to others? Are you sharing your life with other people in such a way that you both see the example of others and you allow others to see your own example?
Why is every church not like this?
Frank at “Reimagining Church” has posted a letter from someone who recently spent a week with an organic church. His post is called “Visiting an Organic Church: A Firsthand Report.” At one point, the “visitor” says:
These brothers and sisters really do share their lives together. They’re family. Rather than just seeing each other once a week, they’re intimately involved in one another’s lives throughout the whole week. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t fellowship with some of the brothers and sisters (even outside of the two brothers I was staying with). And one of the coolest things is that they already feel like family to me … like I’ve known them for years and years. I felt so welcome…the Lord’s hospitality there was powerful. Everyone’s lives were a great blessing and encouragement to me. While I was there, the Lord impressed upon me that I would become like a child again with these people and re-learn Him in a new way.
All church are (and should be, I think) different, because the people involved are different. So, there will be differences in the way that they meet together. However, some things should be consistent. Things like what the person describes above.
We should be sharing our lives together daily. We should be caring for one another and serving our community together. We should look like and act like a family.
If our church (the brothers and sisters that God has placed in our lives) do not look like this, then something is wrong… which means that something needs to change. That something must begin with you and me.
A Friend is Waiting
My friend Jason at “Second and Content” is planning to move to South Africa next spring. He hopes to stay there for a year working with orphans. Recently, he wrote a post called “Sitting, Waiting, Listening (Genesis 39-45 Redux).”
In the post, Jason talks about (very honestly and openly) how worried he’s been about everything working out for him to go to South Africa. He also talks about how the church has helped him with this issue. He says:
Hearing this conversation go on between Gary, Alan, and Rodney was like little Mark came out of nowhere and slapped me in the face and said, PAY ATTENTION! I was so consumed with thoughts I couldn’t bring myself to formulate coherent sentences for the discussion. I had had a discussion with Alan the week before because I was geting a little anxious waiting on God to do something and trying to discern to what degree do I work towards this goal without me messing it up. I’ll admit, I was pretty distraught, that happens to me occasionally, I get so worked up about something that thats the only thing I can think about, and I worry. Working through this Joseph discussion, I was once again refocused back on the goal: go to Africa. God showed me that, no matter whether I tried to make it happen, it would not happen if He didn’t make it happen. Just go on about life, don’t complain or question, just work towards the goal and it will work out the way that God has planned. I’ll keep preparing until God stops me. While at the same time, sitting, waiting patiently for the time to go, and listening for that word to stop or continue going.
Jason writes more, so you should read his post. But its great to see how God is using several of us to encourage Jason during this time of planning and waiting.
Excuse me… are you busy?
It doesn’t get much better than this great reminder from Guy (at “The M Blog“) called “Interruptions are my ministry.”
It’s hard to pick just one excerpt from Guy’s post… so here are two. The first:
In the past fourteen days, I have only been able to cross off fourteen items total out of 40+ things needing attention yesterday. That averages to one item accomplished per day!
Why am I getting so little accomplished these days? I can answer that with one word. INTERRUPTIONS. And what is the definition of interruptions? PEOPLE!
And the second:
What if God also has “to do” lists? What if God has on his list today for Juán to call me and see about our getting together for coffee at 2:15 this afternoon and talk about his problems?
When I seriously pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…” am I not in effect saying, “Lord, your “to do” list has priority. Your agenda today takes precedence over my own.” While meeting Juán at 2:15 may not be on my list, I would be foolish to blow off meeting Juan at 2:15 if he is on God’s list.
What a great reminder! When people “interrupt” our schedule, God has given us an opportunity to demonstrate that we love him and love others more than our own plans. He has given us an opportunity to serve him through serving other people.
Do we put the pulpit by the fireplace?
Felicity Dale from “Simple Church: A House Church Perspective” has written a very important post called “What’s the difference between a church that meets in a house and a simple/organic/house church?”
While I’ve met a few “house church” (or simple/organic/whatever) enthusiasts who demand that the church must meet in a house, most don’t. (For those who do, what do you do with the hall of Tyrannus in Acts 19:9-10?) No, it’s not the place that matters.
So, what matters? How the church relates to one another when they meet together (for one thing).
As Felicity warns:
We suspect that many people in house church still do what they used to do in the buildings–and usually they do it badly. Someone has been asked to lead the worship, another person gives a talk, another is responsible for the kids. Unfortunately, the lone guitarist lacks the professional expertise of the worship band that led worship in the building and the person who gives the sermon hasn’t had hours to prepare a stimulating talk because he’s been working at a job all week. To be honest, we might be better off staying in the building!
Yep. If you’re just going to do the same ol’ thing, then why change location?
If, instead, you start with how the church should meet together (and I think Scripture is a good starting point for this) you might deciding that meeting in a different location would be better. (Or, you might not decide that.)
Maine Worship
This week, Dan at “The Ekklesia in Southern Maine” has posted an excellent series on the topic of worship. My own adventure in the studying the church began with a study of worship for a seminary class. I didn’t find what I was expecting.
Here are the posts in Dan’s series:
Of course, the last post in the series is very important to me because of my interest in the church meetings. However, it builds on the earlier posts in which Dan says that all of life should be lived as worship to God.
What do you think of Dan’s series?
(By the way, if you want to do an interesting experiment, search for the word “worship” in Google Images… or just click here to see the results.)
A Living Letter
Yesterday, Dave Black posted the following words (Friday, October 15, 2010 at 10:10 a.m.):
“A living epistle, read by all” (2 Cor. 3:2). I love this word picture. Paul suggests that we are to allow others to turn the pages of our lives and read the fine print. The imagery points to open and honest communication. As a rule, however, we gild the covers of our lives and conceal the contents. I think this is often true of blogging. Conversely, a blog can reveal our hidden faults. The impudent tone, the look of disdain, the judgmental or superior attitude — all these jeopardize the message, regardless of how true that message may be. On the other hand, love liberates. Everywhere in the blogosphere I see Christians who are seeking to use their words to edify others. They’re not reactionary, they’re not fussing over minor matters, they’re not pontificating, they have a philosophy of blogging that gives them a happy freedom to seek in specific and creative ways to serve others.
He then goes on to exhort all of us to “journey together back to what is of ultimate importance.”
I hope that my blog is also a “Barnabas blog” – a source of encouragement to my readers. I also hope that it is a window into my life – the good, the bad, and the ugly. I know that I am often encouraged and strengthened by the interaction here.
We may disagree from time to time, but in Christ we are family. Thank you for sharing this journey with me.
Like a Family Reunion?
Sol at “Looking for Church” has been thinking about church in his post “Update #6.” He writes:
I’ve been thinking about the church, and I’ve been trying to back it up in my mind where we only get together, period. No bible study, no time for prayer, no “worship†schedule. I picture Thanksgiving with the family. People talking over here, people laughing over there, people praying in the back. And then defining the assembly as that, just a family gathering. Can’t each one bring a teaching, a song, a prayer in this scenario? Everyone is there to edify one another.
When the church gathers together, does the meeting have to be scheduled (whether that schedule is published or by habit)? Does everyone have to do the same thing at the same time, listen to the same person/people at the same time, sing the same songs at the same time?
Or, can the church meet together as Sol describers?
What do you think?
(By the way, while you’re at Sol’s blog, don’t miss his latest post, “Despair.”)