The Painting Pastor
Dave Black mentioned one of his pastors (Jason) on his blog last weekend (Sunday, September 19, 2010 at 8:15 p.m.). He mentioned Jason in connection to a discussion that he had with a seminary student during a recent conference. I think this discussion reveals one problem with the way we view leaders (especially pastors/elders) in the church:
For some strange reason tonight I was reminded of a conversation I had last week with a student during the 9Marks conference on campus. I mentioned to him that when Becky and I take people with us to Ethiopia we allow them to chose their own ministries. We don’t say, “We’re doing VBS and you are to do such-and-such.” No, they pray, seek the Lord, and then tell us what they sense God is leading them to do. For example, one of my elders (Jason Evans) has been to Ethiopia with us 4 times. On his first few trips he taught church leaders. But on this last trip he told us he wanted to work with the construction team. He ended up being the “paint master” at the Galana clinic and did a marvelous job. When I told the student this he was dumbfounded. How, he wondered, could a preacher waste his time doing something as menial as painting? “That’s like seeing my pastor on a Sunday morning operating the sound system instead of preaching!” he told me. “Yeah,” I thought to myself, “sort of like Jesus washing His disciples’ feet.”
I’m not surprised at the student’s reaction. We don’t expect our leaders to serve. But, according to Scripture, we should.
By the way, I know Jason, and I’m not surprised that he chose to serve in this way at all.
We Have A Short Memory
When it comes to our church traditions, beliefs, and practices, people tend to have a short memory. We believe that whatever has occurred in our lifetime – or our “church time” – must have occurred through all of the history of the church.
I remember when I first realized this. When we were discussing leadership for our church, we started talking about “elders.” Of course, coming from a Baptist tradition, most of the people used the term “pastors” and “the pastor.” Someone said, “We’re not Presbyterians. We don’t have elders; we have pastors.”
I scratched my head at that statement. Why? Because I knew that historically Baptists had used the terms “pastor,” “elder,” and “bishop” interchangeably. In fact, the London Baptist Confession of 1689 used all three terms, preferring “elder” or “bishop.” The Baptist Faith and Message of 1925 (the earliest confession of our own denomination) used only the terms “elders” and “bishops.”
But, the people who were part of our church only knew about the term “pastors.” Since that was the only terms they had heard, they assumed it was the only terms that could be used.
Of course, this doesn’t only apply to what we call pastors/elders/bishops. Did you know that Sunday School only started (at the earliest) in 1751 in England? And, it wasn’t started to teach people Scripture; it was started to teach children living in slums how to read so that they would not become criminals. That’s a far cry from modern Sunday Schools, isn’t it? But could you imagine suggesting a Sunday School that didn’t teach the Bible or Christian doctrine, or Christian living? Why can we not imagine that? Because we have a short memory, and we assume that what we’ve experienced is the way it’s always been done and the way it should always be done.
What about Youth ministry? Surely the first Youth ministry was started by Peter or Paul, right? No. Actually, youth ministry did not start until the industrial revolution (late 1800s to early 1900s) as a way to provide community support for young people who moved away from the farms (and their home town community support) to be near the factories. Youth ministry kicked it up a notch in the 1940s and 1950s to help servicemen returning from World War II. (But, note, these were not primarily teenagers, but people in their early twenties.)
So, why can we not imagine a church without a youth ministry? Because that’s the way we’ve always seen it done, and so that must be the way it’s supposed to be. We have a short memory.
You could say the same for our “traditional” hymns, which tend to be only a couple of hundred (at most) years old. Or traditional church instruments. Or so many other beliefs, programs, and activities of the church. In many cases, we don’t realize that what we’re doing or what we believe is a relatively new invention or creation. (Note, this does not mean that these things are bad in and of themselves.)
It’s true. We have a short memory. Typically, our memory only reaches as far back as our own experiences.
But, the church should never be based on our experiences… or our traditions, for that matter. The church is much more than that. Perhaps, this is why I love to look at the church in Scripture so much. In those images and stories and encounters and corrections and instructions, we find a beautiful picture of a timeless community built around the continued presence and work of Jesus Christ.
When we focus on the church from a scriptural perspective and on the presence and work of Jesus Christ, our memory gets much, much better.
Are you my elder?
Arthur, at “The Voice Of One Crying In Suburbia,” has asked an excellent question in his post “Things that make you shake your head.” Arthur links to a post whose author suggests that reading should almost be a requirement for being an elder. Arthur says that reading is a good practice, but he doesn’t see it as a requirement for being an elder.
I wonder, what do you see as being requirements for being an elder? By this, I mean, what absolutely must someone be, do, think, believe, etc. in order for you to recognize that person as an elder (pastor, if you prefer)?
(By the way, I know about 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Please do not just list those passages. Instead, explain what those passages mean and how you would use them to choose whether or not to recognize someone as an elder. For example, 1 Timothy 3:3 says, “Not a drunkard.” How would you apply that?)
(By the way #2, the man in the picture above is one of my elders.)
Qualifications and Examples
About three and a half years ago, I wrote a post called “Qualifications and Examples.” The post was triggered by a passage from John Hammett’s book Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches. As I say in the post, I don’t like the phrase “qualifications” for the lists in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Perhaps, as I ask at the end of the post, you have a better term.
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I have mentioned John Hammett’s book Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches several times on this blog. I do not agree with everything that he says about pastors, elders, and overseers (or other aspects of the church). However, he has a great section on the “qualifications” from 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1:
The first notable aspect of these lists is their ordinariness. As D.A. Carson notes, “almost every entry is mandated elsewhere of all believers.” Whatever is involved in being an elder, it is not a calling to a higher standard of Christian living. How could it, when every Christian is commanded by Christ to “be perfect” (Matt. 5:48) and when the goal and destiny of every Christian is Christlikeness (Rom. 8:29)?
But if these character traits are commanded of all Christians, what is their significance here? The key to understanding the meaning of these lists of character traits is remembering that one of the responsibilities of leaders is to set the example for the flock (1 Peter 5:3). The character required to be an elder is the character necessary to be an example to the flock. Such a person would not need to be perfect (such persons are in very short supply among fallen humanity) but would need a degree of maturity and proven character that would enable him to serve as an effective example, including an example of how to confess and repent when he does stumble.
Second, it is also striking how different these qualifications are from modern lists of qualifications for a position. There is no mention of the need for training or educational requirements, little in the way of skills or experience or certification. Character is the central issue. [166]
So, according to Hammett, elders are not perfect. I agree with this. In fact, I would suggest that no one can live up to the list of “qualifications” given in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Perhaps that is why Paul does not call the lists “qualifications”.
What are the purpose of the lists then? Well, I think the lists are not given for the benefit of the elders, but for the benefit of all the people. If leaders are to be examples as Hammett says – and I agree with this – then which examples do we follow? I mean, everyone is an example of something. Which examples are we supposed to follow? Who should we look to as examples?
We should look to people who most closely live according to the lists given in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 (among other lists). We do not look for perfect people to follow – there are none, other than Jesus Christ. We look for people who would be godly examples, people who are mature followers of Jesus Christ. They will fail to meet some of the “qualifications” – all of them will – but they will also be known for repenting and confessing when they do fail, to paraphrase Hammett’s description.
But, these people are not living a certain way in order to be leaders. They are living an exemplary life in response to God’s work in their own life – in obedience to the presence, conviction, and leading of the Holy Spirit. These people do not become elders and then begin living an exemplary life; they are recognized as elders because of the life they are already living.
So, perhaps “qualifications” is not the best term for these lists. Any suggestions for another name for the lists in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1?
A servant is a leader is a servant
Jesus defined leadership like this:
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. (Mark 10:43-44 ESV)
So, a leader is one who serves. And, Jesus defined service like this:
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45 ESV)
If someone is not giving up something costly (i.e., even his/her life) for other people, then that person is not serving. If that person is not serving, then he/she is not a leader and should not be followed.
It’s really rather simple. We should not measure our leaders by their education, speaking abilities, or giftedness. Leaders are those who serve.
If we are not following servants, then we are not following the leaders that God has placed in our lives. (By the way, if we are not imitating the servants, then we are not following them.)
(Can you find the leader in the picture?)
The Church and Shepherding in the NT
I’ve been invited to speak to a group of pastors (actually a local Baptist association’s pastors breakfast). My topic will be “The Church and Shepherding in the NT.”
The topic was suggested to my by the person who invited me to speak. He had read a few things that I had written about leaders and service in the NT. He said he thought it would be good to discuss the relationships between elders/pastors/leader and others in the church according to the NT. As he said, this would then lead to a discussion of the nature of the church.
So, thinking through these issues (leadership, service to others, nature of the church), what passages of Scripture do you think would be important to this type of discussion?
Leaders with Everyone Else
Today I’ve been talking about leaders… specifically the emphasis that is placed on leaders in today’s church. We don’t typically see that emphasis in Scripture.
Yes, there were leaders in the NT church and there are a few passages that speak directly to or about leaders. But, primarily, the NT authors addressed all believers… whether leaders or not.
I think this passage from 1 Thessalonians is becoming one of my favorite passages about leaders in the church. Why? Because the passage about leaders is directly followed by a passage about everyone:
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 ESV)
Of course, I would translate it a little differently. The phrase that the ESV translates “are over you” is actually the phrase “lead you.” Also, the word translated “brothers” would probably better be translated “brothers and sisters.”
It’s also interesting that Paul writes exhortation in the plural: “We urge you…” instead of “I urge you…”
One more thing… in discipleship terms, the strongest command in this passage is probably “admonish” which is a command given to both all “brothers and sisters” and to “those who lead you.”
We all just wanna be big rockstars
Thinking about my previous post called “Is the Church Top Heavy?“, I ran across this article by Ed Stetzer called “The Problem with Pastor as Rock Star.” Stetzer sees the same problem with too much emphasis on leadership (maybe) and especially on one man (the “Pastor”).
He says “rock star” pastors lead to problems in personal imbalance, hindering community, approval addiction, and selling out the church’s future. This is what he says about the problem of rockstar pastors “hindering community”:
If the church life revolves around one person’s speaking gift, it is incredible difficult to move to community. A community “won” to a single voice is not won to community, but to spectatorship. Thus, when pastors say, “it’s all about the weekend,” they tend to create an audience rather than a biblically functioning church community. This is still true if your church is an oft-criticized seeker megachurch or a your verse-by-verse preaching point. Either way, if you get thousands sitting in rows but can’t move them to sitting in circles, true community is hard to find.
As a guy who travels around speaking, I understand how quickly it can happen. For the last few weeks, I’ve spoken at a church close to my own house while the pastor is on a short sabbatical. But even in delivering biblical messages, I’m not engaging in biblical community with those people. It takes more than a stage to create a community. The temptation must be fought that a mass of people gathered to hear one person speak is equal to biblical community.
A gifted communicator can draw a crowd, but biblical community will sustain a congregation. A great orator is fun to have at worship, but cannot build community during the other six days and 23 hours of the week. Great preaching will be used by God to bring others to faith and sanctify God’s people, but it will also encourage the body to do life together on mission.
I’m not saying that every person in the community should have immediate access to the pastor. But I am saying that every pastor should be in some accountable biblical community.
I agree with Stetzer that this is a problem. I disagree with his solution, which seems to be for the pastor to be a little less of a rockstar.
What do you think the solution is? How would a church move from emphasizing leadership to emphasizing community?
Is the Church Top Heavy?
I struggled with what to name this post. I almost called it “Does the Church Overemphasize Leaders.”
A few days ago, I was talking with a friend about leadership among Christians as represented in Scripture. My friend made an interesting observation. He said, “Scripture talks about leaders far less than the church today talks about or relies upon leaders.”
I think my friend is right. So, I started thinking to myself, “Is the church today top heavy?” As I thought about it, I determined that I could answer that question, “Yes,” or I could answer it, “No.”
In one sense, the church is top heavy today because of the emphasis that is place on specific leaders. In many churches, leadership functions are reduced to the giftings and abilities and talents and time and energy and resources of one man (or a few men, at most). In this sense, the church is not top heavy in numbers, but it is top heavy in emphasis. Leaders receive more of the emphasis and attention.
When a decision has to be made (or someone wants a decision made – there is a difference), the church turns to their leader(s). When a question is raised, the leader(s) is expected to provide the answer. When there is a problem or struggle, everyone expects the leader(s) to provide the solution.
This is “top heavy” in the sense that roles and responsibilities are falling on the shoulders of leaders today, while in Scripture we see the entire church tackling these decisions, questions, and problems.
On the other hand (and in another sense of the term “top heavy”), our modern, traditional church structure indicates that the church is not as top heavy as we see in Scripture. Again, we tend to see one person or a few people leading. These people are responsible for the teaching, discipling, admonishing, training… pretty much everything that the church does in Scripture. We relegate other (non-necessary) duties to non-leaders.
In Scripture, we see something different. Everyone takes part in teaching, discipling, admonishing, training, etc. The entire church works together to serve their community and proclaim the gospel to those how are not believers. Thus, many, many more took part in “leadership” in the examples that we see in Scripture. In other words, when it comes to number of people functioning, the church today is not as top heavy as the church in Scripture.
So, yes, today the church is top heavy in the emphasis that is placed on one leader or a few leaders. But, the church is not top heavy when it comes to the functions that every believer should take part in.
In fact, as you can probably tell, these two senses of “top heavy” work together. Since we emphasize one leader or a few leaders, then others are not required to (or even allowed to) function as they should. And (to look at it another way), since everyone is not functioning as they should (to build up one another together), then one or a few have to bear the brunt of the responsibility.
Either way you look it, it’s a problem.
Teaching Church Leaders – Ethiopia Report 2
My primary responsibility while in Alaba, Ethiopia was to teach a class for church leaders. The class was held for three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon for five days.
Several different types of church leaders were represented in the class – men and women; paid and non-paid; city and village; established and non-established; evangelists, pastors, and elders. (In Alaba, an “established” church has a building and is recognized by the local government as an official organization.)
In order to attend the teaching sessions and to receive money for lunch each day, the attendees had to pre-register, read 1 Corinthians twice (the book that I taught during the session), and memorize 1 Corinthians 2:1-10. I like this passage because Paul reminds his readers (and us) about the important of the wisdom of God. In fact, living according to the wisdom of God became the theme of my teaching sessions.
At the beginning of each morning and afternoon session, three of the students would recite the memory passage. As they recited, others would follow along in their Bibles. If someone stumbled on a word, the entire group would say the word quietly. These leaders had no trouble memorizing 1 Corinthians 2:1-10, and they had no trouble understanding the importance of relying on the wisdom of God instead of human wisdom. I think this was important for them to think about, because education is very important in their culture. At times it seemed they put too much emphasis on formal education, especially when it comes to leading the church and teaching Scriptures.
Throughout the week, we stressed living according to the wisdom of God in different situations, and how the wisdom of God often looked different than the wisdom of the world. I encouraged these church leaders to teaching and live according to the wisdom of God. But I also reminded them that any believer can live and teach according to the wisdom of God because every believer is indwelled by the Spirit of God. Thus, I hope these leaders will take this back to other Christians in the church in Alaba.
Also, I would begin each morning session with a short lesson on church leadership. Each lesson would begin with a passage of Scripture (Acts 20:28, Hebrews 13:7, 1 Peter 5:1-3, etc.). We would talk about the importance of caring for God’s people as opposed to being busy with administrative or organizational work. We would also talk about the importance of serving and living as an example for others to imitate.
In the middle of each morning and afternoon session, we would have a coffee (buna) break. The entire class would be served coffee (mixed with butter and salt), tea, and kolo (roasted grain). During the breaks we would stand or sit around and talk with one another. While I wish I was able to communicate better with them, this was some of the best times of the teaching sessions for me. This is where they would usually talk about the lessons we had been learning and would put them in their own cultural context.
If I could change anything about these sessions, I would have begun with a more interactive format. I had originally planned to teach using dialog or discussion, but I ended up changing to a mostly lecture format. (I chickened out, to be honest, because they were accustomed to lecture teaching.)
While some topics in 1 Corinthians were difficult to teach because I did not know their culture or customs very well, one part of 1 Corinthians was easier to teach. When the Christians prayed in this area, they all said “Amen” at certain points based on what the person said. For example, whenever someone said, “Thank you for…” everyone would respond “Amen.” Thus, it was very easy to teach the importance of interpreting tongues (understanding what another is saying) and especially Paul’s illustration in 1 Corinthians 14:16.
This was a great teaching and learning opportunity for me. While I learned from the students, I think I would have learned more if I had made the teaching more interactive. (I did change some things later when I taught a group of teenagers.)
By the way, we were in Ethiopia during the rainy season. It rained almost every day that we were there, and often rained all day. Of course, this also meant that the temperatures were mild (well, mild for us but extremely cold for them). The video below shows the rain and mud. But, at the end of the video, you’ll see part of my class as they are gathering one morning.
Rain, rain, rain in Alaba, Ethiopia from Alan Knox on Vimeo.