My frustration with small-minded, irrelevant people

I have a confession to make. I am deeply impatient with and frustrated by what I call "small-minded, irrelevant people". Let me explain...

They are small-minded because they have no real concept of the larger work of God. They are kings of their own kingdom, creating false realities that strengthen their deception. While they may be able to parrot the correct words that sound spiritual, they have no concept of the kingdom of God. They create their own god, a god that caters to their desires. They frequently insert themselves into places that are none of their business, attempting to be God in the lives of other people. They claim to speak for God without ever having any consciousness of God. They have preconceived notions of how things ought to happen. They pompously judge other people all the while ignoring their own ugliness.

They are irrelevant to the kingdom of God. Because they have no concept of the work of God, they cannot and will not participate with God in His redemptive work. While they put themselves forward as teachers and leaders in the church, their efforts are completely outside of the rule of God. As a result, they are irrelevant to expansion of the realm of God on the earth today. They speak of power but have none. They are more interested in protecting their religious system than they are in conforming to the will of God. They are more invested in making sure things get done their way than they are about the kingdom of God coming to earth. They impose their own will instead of allowing the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus was confronted by this same type of people in His day. He pointedly spoke to their hypocrisy. He was angered by their callous attitude toward people who need healing. In the end, they were irrelevant to what God was doing in that day.

Give up

I have noticed a lot of self-effort recently in my conversations with Christians. People try to love more, try to be a better person, try to forgive, try follow Jesus. The problem with trying is that the starting point for the self-effort attempts is still self. When our starting point for any kind of transformational work is self, we are doomed to failure. If we could transform ourselves into people who love without restraint, who freely forgive without limitation, who radically follow Jesus without reservation, we would have no need for a Saviour.

I have discovered that embracing my human-ness, and coming to grips with my own inability to to live in the manner expected by God allows me to experience the transformational power of God. Instead of attempting to cover my ugliness with a veneer of goodness, I throw myself on the mercy of God, realizing that apart from Him I have no chance of ever changing. Instead of focusing on changing my behaviors, I run into Him with all my destructive ways, allowing His words and work to transform me.

As I yield my ugliness and humanity to Him, I have discovered that He begins to transform my thought processes and behaviors. I no longer need to strive to change myself into what I think God wants. I allow Him to change me into what He wants.

Instead of trying harder to change, I encourage you to abandon yourself in all your ugliness to God. Let Him define you with His words, let Him transform you by His Spirit, embrace His strategy for your transformation. You cannot change yourself, you cannot rescue yourself. Instead, allow the supernatural work of Jesus to become real in you.

Ministry?

It seems to me that our perceptions of ministry are shaped more by tradition than by either God or the Bible. Just recently I found myself confronted with my own faulty premises about ministry. In January I took an Area Manager position with an agricultural company specializing in livestock nutrition. I struggled internally for several weeks, wondering if I left my calling. I finally realized that God desires to bring His kingdom (His realm or rule) to the farmers with whom I work. My life is ministry and my work is spiritual. God desires for my clients to prosper as they put God's business principles into practice.

As I thought about my struggle, I realized that my paradigm of ministry was shaped more by the traditions of church than by God's definition. In the church world, the pinnacle of ministry is "full time ministry" especially pastoring. Our verbiage indicates our paradigm. "Full time ministry" means to us that we are getting paid to do ministry. The questions that arises in my mind is this - are those of us who do not get paid for ministry engaged in a lesser form of ministry? I have heard leaders lament the amount of pastors who leave the ministry. Huh? Does that mean that those of us who have been pastors and are now in the business world are somehow less involved in the expansion of the realm of God? Does that mean that we have betrayed God and settled for something less significant.

In the past I have been paid the equivalent of a full time salary for the work of ministry. I currently receive no income for ministry except the voluntary gifts of people who have been touched by God through me. I am not less spiritual today than when I led Grace Covenant Church. In fact, in many ways, I feel more deeply involved with the expansion of the realm of God today than I ever was.

Perhaps part of the reason we misinterpret ministry is our categorizing of things into sacred or secular. We assume our work is secular and in contrast anything to do with church is sacred. In reality, every part of my life is sacred because of God in me. He extends His kingdom through me wherever I am. I have come to the realization that whether I am engaged in church activities or in the business world, I am in full time ministry because of God in me!

Are you irrelevant?

The life of Jesus provides us a great deal of insight into spiritual reality. Jesus' greatest resistance came from the religious leaders of the day. They were deeply invested in protecting their ideas of God and the proper expression of religion.

Tragically these experts in religious matters were drastically out of touch with God, with His ongoing plans and purposes in that day. Instead of allowing God to be God, they created an image of God according to their desires. Their stubborn insistance that God could only operate according to their parameters set them at odds with Jesus.

Jesus on the other hand, allowed the Father free reign. He spoke only what He heard from the Father; He did only what He saw the Father doing. Instead of demanding that God conform to a set of parameters, He willingly submitted to the will of the Father.

Here is the interesting point for me. The religious leaders, in spite of their rank and position, were largely irrelevant to the work of God in that day. In all their efforts to protect a religious system and their own perceptions of God, they missed the point completely. While they appeared devout, while they put forth an image of goodness, they were irrelevant to the Kingdom of God.

Over the years, I have observed people who stubbornly cling to their perceptions of God. They resist anything that does not align with their ideas. Like the religious leaders of Jesus day, they are irrelavant to the ongoing redemptive work of God. They may position themselves as being on the cutting edge of Christianity but in reality, their life is at best not in harmony with the work of God and at worst resists the very God they claim to serve. They are irrelevant.

Discipling?

Recently I noticed an increase in awareness about discipleship. People are discussing the need for more intentional discipleship. I am not sure, but it seems to me that this might be the latest buzzword or "buzz-concept" in certain circles.

In no way do I want to diminish the need for discipleship. In fact, my lack of discipling other people while pastoring a church is one of my regrets. Several years ago Beverly and I changed our lifestyle dramatically so that we could begin to disciple people, a change that is beginning to yield a great deal of fruit. I am fully aware of the need for discipleship today.

However, much of what I am hearing and seeing in the current discussion about discipleship equates discipleship with another program to be implemented. In other words, discipleship is discussed as something we need to teach, a class that must be presented. I can tell you from experience that discipleship does not occur in the context of a class.

True discipleship is not the transfer of information. Rather it is the transfer of life. Or as Paul put it - follow me as I follow Christ. A teacher teaches a class and goes home. A person who is a true discipler teaches with his life at home, inviting others into his walk with God.

Our current system of events, classes, Sunday School, and teaching will never created disciples. Disciples are created as they see how leaders live. This was the pattern of Jesus. He invited the twelve to be with him, not in a classroom, but in all of life. Anything other than Jesus' discipleship pattern is doomed to failure.

To reduce discipleship to a program, to depart from Jesus' example of life interaction with those being discipled, reveals that we have no understanding about discipleship. We may be able to parrot the correct phrases and words but in reality we are powerless to make disciples.

more confessions of a converted pastor

Recently, an acquaintance of ours attended a Sunday morning church service. When time came for the sermon, the pastor spoke about the value of attending Sunday morning church services. He stressed the need for connection with other believers, his premise being that Sunday morning attendance equated with connection.

Yesterday I sat in a church service as well. As I observed the people sitting around me, I realized that I had no deep heart connection with most of them. There were people in that service with which I do have significant connection. However, that connection was not formed in the context of a Sunday morning service. Rather, it was formed around our kitchen table, it was formed riding in a car together. Our connection emerged, not around hearing a preacher preach, rather it emerged around shared struggles and joys, life lived together.

If deep connection with other believers does not happen in the context of a Sunday morning meeting, then why do church leaders continually stress the importance of attending church? From my experience as a pastor, I believe I can answer that question. Pastors, like the rest of us, deal with insecurities. Almost every pastor I have ever known feels better about himself/herself if there are more people in their services. In the posturing that occurs when pastors get together, several common themes repeatedly emerge. Large churches are perceived to more successful. When the conversations get around to talk of attendance numbers (and it always comes up sooner or later) pastors of small churches quickly point to the fact that they are growing in numbers. (Or they bemoan the fact that factors beyond their control are limiting their attendance numbers).

Quite simply - the more "successful" a church is, the more bodies it takes to maintain the appearance of success. Therefore, people must be encouraged to attend services and to participate in services. The real reason has nothing to do with heart to heart connection, it has to do with feeding the need for people to prop up a system that strokes the pastor's ego.

Lest you think I am opposed to large churches or Sunday morning services, let me assure you I am not. In fact for the past two months, there has been only one Sunday morning when I didn't preach at a church. However, to equate Sunday service attendance with connection to the body of Christ is a paradigm out of touch with reality.

Where are the fathers?

For the past several years, I have been sensing a deep cry arising from the heart of people. It started rather innocuously but steadily increased in intensity and crescendo. One day while driving, I literally felt a groaning in my own spirit, a groaning that found its way to my lips. I have no way to describe it except that my spirit responded to both the heart of my Father and to the cry from deep within people, especially from young twenty-something adults.

It all started with the realization that while the Holy Spirit had done a “fathering” work in us a number of years ago, we have replaced fathering with other less intensive activities. Almost simultaneously with that realization, young adults began communicating with Bev (my wife) and me about their deep desire for fathers. (I use the term father not in a gender specific sense, but in a way that includes mothering as well). Invariably the conversation led to the burning question – who will teach us how to live? How do we do life as a follower of Christ? Who will answer our questions about marriage, about unfulfilled sexual expectations with our spouse? To whom can we turn to discover if we are parenting our toddlers in a way that releases life? Who has gone before us that can help us discover God in our own journey? How does the kingdom of God “on earth as it is in heaven” look in the twenty-first century?

While their questions would indicate that they are asking for answers, it’s not answers they seek as much as the guidance to help them make their own discovery of God, who He is, and how He relates to everyday life. What does it look like to walk with God in a practical manner? They have no hunger for another class or another program. They don’t want to attend another meeting. They want to be invited into someone’s life so they can learn.

Quite frankly, we have done a great job of giving people information but that is the extent of our involvement with them. We teach them the value of prophecy without teaching them how to raise their kids. We teach them to pray without teaching them how to deal with the difficulty and ugliness of this life. We stress the importance of meetings (Sunday morning services and Sunday school, Wednesday classes etc) without ever preparing them to face the reality of doing life with God. We teach them the importance of the supernatural but never teach them how to live in a supernatural way.

Paul addresses this very problem with the church at Corinth

15For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. 16So I ask you to follow my example and do as I do. (1 Corinthians 4:15-16)

I fear that we have been more interested in being instructors and teachers than we have in being fathers. Teachers give you information and then go home. Fathers invite you to come into their home. Teachers speak about theory; fathers speak from experience. I watched a leader continually emphasize evangelism yet he never invited anyone to “follow my example”. Why? Because there was no example to follow! Therefore this leader had no authority to bring transformational change to those to whom he spoke.

Granted, teaching is a more attractive option. There is less risk and more glamour. We can teach to thousands but we can only father only a few. We can host conferences with wonderful teachers but fathering can’t be imparted in a conference. Fathering often feels insignificant.

I hear a lot of discussion about ministry, about vision, about building the church. In the midst of these words, one thing that is sadly missing is the discussion about building the lives of people in a transformational manner. We have replaced fathering with efforts to build a great ministry. We have replaced the invitation “follow my example, do as I do” with teaching that tells people what to do. We focus on striving to be being the best or the biggest

Our teaching has become like that of the Pharisees. We teach about things we have never experienced. We read a book and decide that it would make a good teaching so we write a class, teaching about things of which we know nothing. We may mentally assent with the material but we never “own” it in our heart because we have never experienced the material we present.

Look at these words taken from Matthew 7 in the message.

These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.

What was Jesus’ source of authority? He lived what He taught. His teaching flowed from His walk with the Father. Today, the word (the logos) still needs to come in flesh. True fathering authority comes when I bring the logos to life in my own life and then like Paul, invite people to follow and imitate me.

My own struggle with God will teach them how to wrestle with God. My sin and subsequent repentance will teach them how to overcome when they fall into sin. My need for grace will free them to experience God in deeper ways. God’s supernatural intervention in my situation will cause faith to grow for their life. My experience with God becomes a compass heading that helps them navigate the treachery of life.

Fathering is painfully difficult. Recently I asked Bev why I care so much when the caring causes me so much pain. It would be easier to detach myself from the struggle of life than it is to become intimately involved with the life of others. When my biological children face the pain of life, I hurt. When our daughter Heidi’s friend Chris was killed several years ago, my emotions were a wreck. Her pain became my pain, her sorrow became my sorrow, her anger became my anger, her questions became my questions.

And yet Fathering is not all about pain. The joys are deeper than one could ever imagine. Seeing the “kids” lay hold of all that God has for them causes an explosion of elation to erupt from deep within my spirit.

The million dollar question is this – what will we do with the cry of people who desire to be fathered? Will we invite them to church, to a class, to a meeting or will we simply invite them into our own walk with God (regardless of how frail that walk seems). Will we heed the yearning of their heart or will we turn aside to more important things (in our eyes) like building our ministry or church. I fear that we are often seduced by the seeming more grandiose endeavors in the kingdom of God instead of choosing the way of insignificance, the way of intentionally inviting a small group of people into our own journey with God.

For me personally, I am choosing to give my life to people. Part of the deep groaning in my spirit was a result of the realization “that the harvest is ripe and the laborers are few”. I cry out to the Father, asking Him for more fathers, for people who care little about prestige and public ministry, for people who will freely offer their life as an example of the word in flesh. I invite you to join me in fathering. Father those to whom God joins your heart. Turn aside from being teachers and instructors; embrace the noble call of fatherhood.