February 28, 2006
What Would Jesus Preach?: Telling the Truth in Church
If Jesus walked into your church this Sunday and preached, what would he say? That's a question pastor Jim Martin has asked on his blog, A Place for the God-Hungry. Jim is pastor of Crestview Church of Christ in Waco, Texas, and below he shares his thoughts about what Jesus might say to the "mature" in his congregation.
I am thinking about my teaching/preaching. I am thinking about my words, my sermons, and the over all message these people hear.
I am thinking even more about my own life. At times, I feel like I have gotten lost in a system that has eaten me alive. At other times, I think that I am simply coming back to what really matters most to me. This is why I am thinking about the following two questions:
What if Jesus were the guest speaker at our church this Sunday? What would he say?
Oh I would like to say that it would be a wonderful day. I suspect our numbers would go up. Adult children would call their parents to come visit. Children of our members would drive in from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to hear Jesus speak and then have lunch together afterward. I suspect our members would be a bit more eager to invite friends in our community.
The question is: "What kind of day would this be?" You say, "Why Jim, it would be a great day! Jesus loves us. Why wouldn't it be a wonderful day to hear him speak?" OK, you've got a point. Yes, I do know he loves us. I have no doubt that Jesus would be tender with the broken, the poor in spirit, and those who are genuinely seeking him.
Let me be real honest. I am afraid of the remarks that he might direct toward me. You've read the Gospels. You know how he could be very candid with religious leaders.
In fact, anyone who is a church leader of any kind might want to think about this. What will he say to those of us who have been a part of the church for a long time and who see ourselves as "mature?" Let me be even more specific. What if he preaches the material in the Gospels?
What would he say? I wonder if he would evaluate things differently than we do? He might say something like the following:
You do not evaluate your lives the way I do. I am more concerned about whether or not these people love God and people than anything else.
You do not evaluate your church the way I do. I am more concerned about you being my presence in this community rather than whether or not you may be happy with the way things are going.
You do not evaluate spiritual maturity the way I do. Some of you have been Christians for a very long time. You need to be more mindful of the younger and less mature. Some of you have been Christians for a lesser amount of time. You need to be grateful that your forefathers pointed you to me. All of you need to remember that the bottom line is loving God and loving the people who you interact with.
You do not evaluate truth the way I do. Sermon messages are not good if they seem to pass the popularity contest. There were times when I spoke and people walked away, wanting nothing more to do with me.
You do not ask the right questions. You need to be asking in your families, in your church meetings, and among your leadership these questions: "What does Jesus want us to do? What would he do? What do we know about him that might help us know what to do?"
Maybe you too, need to think about this in light of your own life.
Posted by UrL at February 28, 2006 | Comments (26) | TrackBack
February 25, 2006
National Pastors Convention 3: David Anderson Reminds Us “Shift Happens”
Developing a multicultural congregation is something many people have talked about but few have done. David Anderson is one of the few. As founder and pastor of Bridgeway Community Church, a multicultural church in Columbia, Maryland, Anderson knows the challenges of ministry. But he encouraged pastors on Friday morning to never settle for less than what God has called us to.
An engaging and colorful storyteller, Anderson spoke about his recent purchase of a 1991 Ford F-150 pickup truck, and the thrill of shifting into all-wheel-drive when he got stuck in a snow filled ditch. After reveling in the masculinity of the moment (Anderson wants a bumper stick that simply declares “TESTOSTERONE”), he shared an important principle: in ministry we get stuck from time to time and we need to shift gears.
Anderson spoke from the story of Terah, the father of Abram, in Genesis 11. Terah set “out of Ur” (we didn’t pay Anderson to say that) with his family for the land of Canaan. But along the way he settled in Haran, and never left. He settled short of his goal and died without ever making it to Canaan.
Anderson spoke passionately about our tendency to “get stuck in Haran,” to settle short of what God has called us to. Offering many examples, he said one thing that will stay with me: “Some of us have set out for the land of ministry, but we’ve settled for the land of church activity.”
Ouch.
No one denies that ministry is hard. It’s understood that we’ll need to stop from time to time. But Anderson reminded us that “there’s a difference between being stopped and being stuck.” Stopping, resting, and rejuvenating are good things, but being stuck is not an option. Rather than settling in Haran, Anderson says, “No matter where you’re stuck, when life shifts, change gears and move on. Because shift happens.”
How do we shift gears and get unstuck? Well, one way is to escape the trap of victimization. We’ll never get moving by blaming everyone else for our condition. Second, Anderson says we need to embrace the “newness of God.” We serve a God who loves to do new things, and we’ll never experience them if we are stuck on yesterday, fixated on today, and ignoring tomorrow.
Finally, we can’t sit around and wait for a clear vision. Abram, picking up the story in Genesis 12, hears God’s voice to leave Haran and journey to Canaan, but he isn’t given a full vision or understanding of his calling. But Anderson said we shouldn’t wait until we’ve got a full picture. He said, “when the voice is clear even when the vision is not—get ready to go.”
Both David Anderson’s and Tony Campolo’s messages focused on obedience, endurance, and the necessity to take risks. They both inspired me to think once again about my calling. What has Christ called me to? What is my Canaan? And in what ways am I making myself comfortable in Haran?
That may be the greatest blessing of the National Pastors Convention for me. By getting out of my ministry context (a.k.a. “bubble”) for a few days, I was able to focus again on the big picture, to put things back into perspective, and return to my church with a renewed focus on what really matters. NPC has been a time to stop, rest, and rejuvenate so that in the months ahead I don’t get stuck. Stuck is not an option.
Posted by Skye Jethani at February 25, 2006 | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 23, 2006
National Pastors Convention 2: Tony Campolo says “Risk More!”
I’ve heard Tony Campolo speak enough to know you’re in trouble when he takes off his glasses and squints his eyes so tight they disappear into his skull. At that moment his brain is loading a spiritual bombshell into his mouth and preparing it for delivery. Campolo’s bombs found their target on Wednesday night at the National Pastors Convention is San Diego.
He formed his talk around a sociological study (Campolo is a sociologist by training) conducted with people over the age of 95. The survey asked them, if you could do life over again what would you do differently? Most responses fell into three categories:
1. Reflect more
2. Risk more
3. Do more that will live on after I’m gone
While each of his points were powerful, I was especially impacted by Campolo’s exhortation that church leaders take up their prophetical calling to be the opinion shapers of the culture—a calling that always involves risk.
Campolo spoke about the Old Testament roles of priest and prophet. The priests cared for the people, comforted them, and blessed them. The prophets, on the other hand, lived in the hills, came down to make everyone angry, and then went back to the hills. They were the troublemakers.
But we pastors have a problem. We are called to be both priests and prophets. That means, says Campolo, that we are called to “comfort the troubled, and trouble the comfortable.” Although this appears to be a contradiction, Campolo was insistent that we can and must do both. He says “it’s the work of the pastor that legitimates the work of the prophet.” By caring and loving our people we win the right to speak the hard truth into their lives.
What is the hard truth we need to be prophetically declaring? Campolo (glasses removed and squinted eyes buried in his skull) rebuked evangelical church leaders for being silent on issues like poverty, education, war, government sponsored torture, and economic injustice.
Referring to John 6 where Jesus alienated thousands of his followers through his challenging teaching, Campolo called us to “risk more;” to not be afraid of alienating people by declaring unpopular truth; to be like Christ who only had twelve followers remain (and that was only because they had no where else to go).
For some time I’ve been wondering why there are so few prophetic voices in our churches. We have many prophets in evangelical America, many willing to say difficult things into a comfortable culture. But most of these voices are not pastors. We seem to push the prophets out of our pulpits and into academia, the conference circuit, or publishing. Where are the “in the pulpit” pastors who are confronting and shaping the church with their prophetic imaginations?
Campolo says that many passionate young people enter ministry with a prophetic calling, but loose the fire in their belly because they become scared. Fear is clearly a significant reason the pulpit has lost it’s influence. But are there other reasons as well? Are we training pastors to be prophets in our seminaries and schools? Or, are we training them to be managers of religious institutions? Do pastors still believe they have the capacity to actually change our world and culture? Or, has the once influential function of the clergy been neutered by secularization?
Yes, I know I am overstating things (this is a blog, ya know). I am aware that there are some prophetic pastors out there, but as Campolo reminded us they are a rare and endangered species.
Posted by Skye Jethani at February 23, 2006 | Comments (24) | TrackBack
February 22, 2006
National Pastors Convention: Will Willimon has Control Issues
Leadership’s editorial team is posting from sunny San Diego this week. We’ve gathered with 1700 other church leaders for the National Pastors Convention. At the opening session Methodist bishop Will Willimon spoke (with his charming and colorful Southern humor) about our pastoral tendency to control and squelch the Spirit of God.
Building his case from John 3 where Jesus speaks with Nicodemus about being born from above, Willimon found it interesting that the only person Jesus told, “You must be born again” was someone “like him”—a church leader. Nicodemus’ responds to Jesus with a question church leaders can relate to, “How?”
“How?” is a question pastors ask a lot.
How do I lead my church? How do I minister effectively? How do I deal with conflict? How do I grow my church? How do I (fill in the blank)? “How” is why we buy books, attend conferences, and go to seminars. Modern evangelical pastors are all about the “how.” And we base our credibility as leaders on our ability to tell other people “how.” We give them three-point sermons on how to do all sorts of things.
But Jesus irritates us by not sharing our passion for pragmatic answers. Jesus responds to Nicodemus’ question, “How can a man be born again,” with an unashamedly ambiguous answer. He says, “The wind blows where it wishes …you do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Willimon says that like Nicodemus many pastors have a desire to control, manage, stabilize, and harness God. But we serve a Living God, and this God does not yield to the desires of men. His Spirit goes where he chooses, blowing freely like the wind. This, said Willimon, “is why we nail down our pews.” We don’t want the Spirit to blow in and disrupt our perfectly managed ministries.
I’ve seen this controlling tendency in myself, and my church—maybe you have too. We assemble boards, committees, and task forces to manufacture policies by which our ministries function. These policies determine the what, when, and how of ministry. They constrain the Living God and his people to minister within a bureaucratic framework that keeps us comfortably in control. The wind of the Spirit may be blowing outside, but we’d never know it behind church walls sealed shut with policies and procedures.
That is the danger of always building ministry around “how.” History is full of Spirit-filled missional movements whose power waned as they become bureaucratic institutions. In the process of bottling the wind they lost it. But has this tendency come to mark a generation of church leaders enamored with the pragmatics of ministry—its procedures, policies, structures, and plans. Have we forgotten that the beauty and power of the Spirit cannot be bottled and stored on a shelf?
The mysterious movement of God’s Spirit is what separates spiritual leadership from all other kinds. Some want us to believe that “leadership is leadership” whether in business, government, or church. And we can take principles from one arena and employ them in the others. I don’t believe that. Sure, pragmatics are transferable, but the work of the Living God is something altogether mysterious and uncontrollable.
Posted by Skye Jethani at February 22, 2006 | Comments (7) | TrackBack
February 21, 2006
Searching for the Perfect Parachurch
Many of the most prominent and influential ministries in the world are not churches. But, the spread of parachurch ministries in recent decades has caused some to wonder: do parachurches help or hurt local congregations? Dave Terpstra, pastor of The Next Level Church in Denver, believes he has found the perfect parachurch model.
Most churches offer a wide variety of ministries to various demographics: men, women, children, youth, etc. Some even specialize more than that: singles, divorcés, re-marrieds, single mothers, etc. Some even go above and beyond with ministries outside of their church: prison ministry, homeless ministry, food closets, etc. But for every ministry inside of a local church, there are dozens of ministries that meet those needs outside of the church. There is Promise Keepers for men, Women of Faith for women, Young Life for the youth, Focus on the Family for the whole family … I think you get the idea.
But do these ministries supplement the local church, or take from them?
Perhaps you have had this conversation before with someone in your church. I had one recently.
Friend: I’m thinking about starting a parachurch ministry.
Me: Oh yeah, what sort of ministry?
Friend: Well, from my perspective the local church isn’t doing its job with [fill in the blank].
Me: Well how do you propose we fix that?
Friend: I’m going to start a paraministry that focuses on [fill in the blank].
Me: How is that going to help the local church with its problem?
Friend: It’s going to address [fill in the blank] so the local church doesn’t have to.
Me: That doesn’t really sound like you are helping the local church at all.
Most parachurch organizations I encounter are noble and have godly missions. They are trying to advance God’s Kingdom and fill in the gaps for the local church. But in an effort to fill in the gaps, it seems to me that many parachurch organizations have, for some individuals, inadvertently taken the place of the local church. I would like to quickly add that I am not accusing the ministries I listed above of doing this; they are simply illustrative.
But let’s play make-believe for a moment. What if we could snap our fingers and make all parachurch organizations go away? What if we could take all of the energies and leadership of parachurch organizations and put those resources back in the local church? Which would we choose? Would we go back to the world of the parachurch, or would we be excited to see the reengagement of those individuals in the local church?
It is not my intention to pick on any organization, but just to wonder aloud. If all of the Young Life leaders in America served in local churches’ youth ministries, would that be better? If the thousands of volunteers who put on Promise Keepers and Women of Faith events invested those energies in their local churches, would the men and women of their church experience a greater impact? I don’t know, but I wonder.
I’ve encountered what I believe to be the perfect parachurch. It’s a local ministry here in Denver called Where Grace Abounds (www.wheregraceabounds.org). Their mission statement is:
Where Grace Abounds exists to guide and support men and women who seek to understand sexuality and relationship, and to inspire all people to know and personally appropriate God's plan for their sexuality and relationships
Certainly they are tackling a tough area that many churches have a difficult time handling. However, if you search their website and other materials you will find statements like this: “WGA comes alongside the church to help it minister to people with sexual and relational conflicts.” And they mean it, too. They regularly have workshops and seminars for ministry professionals on how to address sexuality in their churches.
It was at one of these seminars that I heard a line that changed my perspective on parachurch ministry. The leader of the workshop said, “Our hope is that we would be able to have enough of an influence on the local churches and their leaders in Denver that we would go out of business sometime in the future. The local church would be addressing the sexuality of their people as well as we could.”
WGA is a parachurch that sees itself purely as a support for local churches. Have I found the perfect parachurch?
Posted by UrL at February 21, 2006 | Comments (16) | TrackBack
February 16, 2006
Tivo Tyranny and Preaching to Consumers
I just read about the latest form of oppression: Tivo Tyranny. It’s the burden of having recorded too many TV shows, and now finding there’s no way you’re going to be able to watch them all.
Tivo has a feature that automatically records preselected shows week after week, or day after day, and that's created for some people a backlog that they’ll never get through. The convenience of easily recording something now for viewing later has produced it’s own overstuffed feeling.
It’s just the latest example that, yes, we live in a “consumer culture.” And whenever we consume, whether goods, products, or services, we’re inclined to overindulge. And each new convenience, promising new kinds of freedom, can lead to its own form of bondage.
How can preachers effectively address people who are surrounded and saturated by their consumer culture?
Next week, this will be the topic as Leadership hosts a live interview at the National Pastors Convention in San Diego. And you can pose questions to the panelists, including:
John Ortberg, teaching pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, and author of lots of books, including “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” (Zondervan).
Efrem Smith, pastor of The Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, and author of “The Hip-Hop Church” (InterVarsity Press).
Doug Pagitt, pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, and author of “Preaching Re-Imagined” (Zondervan).
Will Willimon, bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church, and author of “Pastor: a reader for ordained ministry” (Abingdon).
Most people, upon hearing the phrase “Preaching in a Consumer Culture,” think about sermons on money. That’s certainly one area we’ll include in the interview, but the spiritual issues at stake in a consumer culture go far beyond putting a percentage of your income into the offering plate.
What would YOU like to ask the panelists? Post a response with your questions, and we’ll not only post them online, but some of them will find their way into the interview, and then, into the pages of Leadership, when we publish this interview in the Summer issue of the journal.
We hope to see you there, or stay tuned here as we'll be blogging from the convention.
Posted by Marshall Shelley at February 16, 2006 | Comments (12) | TrackBack
February 13, 2006
Leadership’s Cover Exposed: Is partially disrobed a total disgrace?
We’ve gotten an interesting response to the current issue of Leadership, which deals with ministry amid a sexually charged culture, and which we titled “The Drive.” Those who claim to get the journal for its articles have been overwhelmingly positive. But a number of subscribers can’t get past the cover. Leadership’s editor Marshall Shelley has some explaining to do.
The cover photo is a detail from the famous statue of Pallas-Athena that stands in front of the Parlament building in Vienna. Athena was the war goddess of ancient Greece, but also worshiped as the goddess of wisdom. The Viennese statue was erected as a tribute not only to Athena but also the four rivers that were once a part of the Austrian Empire: the Danube, Elbe, Po, and Vistula.
But it was neither the pagan inspiration nor the implied endorsement of Austrian imperialism that caused some of our readers to object. It was a bared marble breast that was visible on the statue.
“For those of us who have trouble with visual stimulation, what should I do with the cover of your magazine?” wrote one subscriber. “Consider also, where I should keep my magazine out of view of my 8 sons. . . . ‘I will set no vile thing before my eyes.’ You might do better leaving pictures out and sticking to articles.”
Wow. I can assure you that when our editorial team brainstormed cover possibilities, we weren’t looking for creative ways to be vile. We were trying to communicate at a glance several things:
1. Christian leadership has always been practiced amid sexually charged cultures.
2. Interest in sex is common ground between Christians and non-Christians.
3. The gospel has important things to say about sex, but we need help articulating them in a way the culture can appreciate.
We didn’t see a marble bosom a particularly erotic form. But not everyone saw what we hoped for in the cover image. Art is, after all, ambiguous, able to be taken on multiple levels. That’s what makes it art, not science. Those multiple levels of meaning are also the difference between art and pornography. But those hoped-for levels were overwhelmed by the one, at least in the eyes of a few people who saw our journal. This came to us from the wife of one of our subscribers:
“I just went thumbing through the magazine. Guess what I found? The cover picture was also in the magazine on page 39! Good thing I found it before my husband did. I just used my own artistic ability, and painted some white-out on in a strategic place. ‘She’ is now more appropriately covered. (And no, I did not give her a high neckline and long sleeves.) Did the same to the cover.”
With art critics like that, maybe we should call it Leadership’s “partial cover.”
Posted by Marshall Shelley at February 13, 2006 | Comments (46) | TrackBack
February 8, 2006
Exit Stage Left 2: How the Spiritually Mature Reengage
In his earlier post, Dave Terpstra described why the spiritually mature find most churches ill-equipped to assist them in their growth. This, he says, is why the more mature often leave the church or disengage from active service. After reading your responses, Dave has returned with further thoughts about spiritual growth within, and without, the church.
When my friend’s dad died it was a challenge to his faith to say the least. His dad was a long time follower of Christ and had been in full-time ministry for years. He seemed to be at the height of his ministry career. The he got sick and died. My friend didn’t officially “leave” our church. But as best as I can remember he stopped serving. He stopped participating in programs. I rarely saw him at worship services. I’m sure he missed more than he made. But God was up to something amazing in his life and with his faith.
Some of the comments in response to my original article seemed to hold the viewpoint that my friend was being spiritually immature because he stopped serving. But to cut straight to the point, I trust his maturity more than those who would question it simply because he stopped serving for an indefinite period of time.
It has been my experience that everyone who matures in their faith has times where God grows them tremendously through basic discipleship and service. I would hope that those are maturing elements of our faith to varying degrees throughout our lives. However, I disagree with those who would argue those are the only times and ways in which we grow. I believe in the same way we experience times of transformation through discipleship and serving, we also experience times of inner transformation that are not initially outwardly expressed.
In Galatians 1:15-17 Paul writes, “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.”
According to scholars Paul spent a couple of years in Arabia. He was not doing the externals of the faith, being discipled in church services or serving. Paul was receiving the gospel straight from heaven. That seems to be quite a journey inward to me.
Why is it that when someone tells us they need to take a break from serving or from the programs of our churches we become so defensive? Was Paul being selfish because he took two years off from helping in children’s ministry? I think my defensiveness towards those who might leave my church is wrapped up in a healthy sense of wanting what’s best for them, and an unhealthy desire that I (or even my well programmed church?) have failed them.
No, I am not creating victims. No, I am not excusing selfishness. I am questioning the mentality of myself and other church leaders who so quickly assume that a time of disconnect from the programs of the modern (or postmodern) church immediately indicates apostasy.
My friend who “left” our church has come back. He is now an elder. He is one of the most spiritually mature men I have met for his age. He serves and disciples in ways he never could have before his inward journey. He is moving on to the selflessness of stages 5 and 6 where his faith and service are out of a deep friendship with God.
If our greatest strength is found where Christ is made strong in us (2 Cor. 12:10), then perhaps as church leaders we should delight when others experience the weaknesses that come from not growing through our teaching or the service opportunities we provide. Perhaps God has them on a journey we can’t draft on the white boards of our meeting rooms or diagram in a membership manual. We can plant. We can water. But let’s trust God to make people grow.
Posted by UrL at February 8, 2006 | Comments (26) | TrackBack
February 6, 2006
The Hidden Blessing of Brokeback Mountain
Last week the Oscar nominations were announced and Brokeback Mountain, popularly known as the “gay cowboy movie,” has been nominated for more awards than any other film. Although not a financial blockbuster, the film has been heralded by critics as a cinematic triumph. Newsweek's Sean Smith wrote, "Brokeback feels like a landmark film. No American film before has portrayed love between two men as something this pure and sacred. As such, it has the potential to change the national conversation and to challenge people's ideas about the value and validity of same-sex relationships."
Despite Hollywood’s growing appreciation for evangelical viewers (and evangelical money), Brokeback Mountain was not marketed to church-goers. However, after reviewing Brokeback on ChristianityTodayMovies.com we received the following letter from Dennis Belkofer of Chicago. He is one Christian who saw Brokeback Mountain, and believes there may be a hidden blessing in this film for the church.
Thank you for your honest review of Brokeback Mountain. First, I want to point out that I am a born-again believer who has known the Lord for many years. I have also struggled with homosexuality most of my life. Because I accept the written word of God as truth, and because it teaches that homosexuality is sin, I have never accepted homosexuality as an acceptable orientation and lifestyle. For obvious reasons, I wasn’t sure if seeing Brokeback Mountain would be good for me. But, I saw the film anyway and I am glad that I did.
Watching Ennis shut down emotionally over the course of his relationship with Jack was like watching myself. But it didn’t depress me. Instead, I walked away from the movie with even a deeper love for Jesus because of how he has stuck with me during life and for the role that the body of Christ has played as my family.
As I walked out of the movie, a young man commented to me and two women standing nearby that he thought the film was going to be more about tolerance. Without thinking about it, I blurted, “No, it wasn’t about tolerance. It was about life.” Then I turned to the two women and said, “I have lived what we just saw on the screen. But, I have been saved by Jesus Christ and, even though he has more work to do, he has changed my life.” I’m not sure if they were Christians, but both replied, “Thank God!”
Yesterday, my pastor began a series on biblical prosperity—not the “let’s get rich and store up possessions” kind. But rather the prosperity that comes by surrendering to the Lord and allowing him to conform us to the image of Christ. That prosperity brings peace, joy, and contentment regardless of our state in life. Pastor made it clear that the prosperity that comes from God requires that we allow him to clean out areas in us that prevent his blessing.
Later that afternoon, several of my Christian friends and I met for lunch, and I shared with them my struggle with homosexuality and desire to be totally freed of it. I told them that I couldn’t do it alone and needed their love and support. They affirmed their love for me and promised to walk through the process with me. Seeing how Ennis ended up isolated and empty helped me to tell them of my struggle and ask for help. I don’t want to end up like Ennis. Neither does God!
Gay militants greatly over-exaggerate the number of people that are exclusively homosexual. However, there are far more people like Jack and Ennis than we imagine – many of whom are Christians like myself. I hope that Leadership and Christianity Today will turn around what Satan means for evil through Brokeback Mountain and use it as a backdrop to write about sexual addiction in the church. It could help others find the same forgiveness and healing that I am experiencing.
Posted by UrL at February 6, 2006 | Comments (32) | TrackBack
February 1, 2006
Exit Stage Left: Why the Spiritually Mature are Leaving the Church
Last month we looked at George Barna's new book, Revolution, which reveals that a growing number of people are seeking spiritual growth outside the institutional church. In this post Dave Terpstra, pastor at The Next Level Church in Denver and a regular contributor to Ur, explores why Barna may be correct. Although many will say preaching, music, or programs are why they left a church, Terpstra wonders if more people are simply outgrowing the church's ability to spiritually nourish their faith.
I’m sure there are just as many reasons that people leave churches as there are people who leave them. Perhaps more. In this consumer culture I’m sure that many people who leave churches are going to search for a better or newer “product.” But recently I’ve wondered if some followers of Christ simply outgrow churches.
If you haven 't read the book The Critical Journey by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich (Second Edition, Sheffield Publishing 2005) you need to pick up a copy. Although the book’s subject is spiritual formation and not church dynamics, it gives great insights into why people leave the church—reasons many pastors have likely never considered.
Hagberg and Guelich propose that most spiritual journeys tend to move in six distinct stages. The first three are easy to see and hard to argue with: (1) Recognition of God, (2)The Life of Discipleship, and (3) The Productive Life. Certainly after most people become followers of Christ (stage 1) they begin to absorb as much content (stage 2) as possible. Then sometime later they begin to serve (stage 3). And since the authors propose that the stages are cumulative, people of faith continue to be good at these stages over the long haul. I believe these are the three stages of faith where our churches excel and where most church leadership energy is expended.
But Hagberg and Guelich suggest there are still three stages to go, and it is the fourth I want to focus on. The fourth stage is called “The Journey Inward.” The authors suggest that at some point our faith shifts focus from the externals of discipleship and service and begins to become internalized. We begin to redefine our impressions of the faith and to some degree even our theology as we mature.
This fourth stage is where my experience (and the authors’) reveals the church’s weakness. Speaking in generalities, churches do not specialize in people who have been following Christ for years and who are deeply questioning and reexamining their beliefs. It’s especially difficult when people who reach stage four are in positions of influence and leadership. Churches, from the mega to the mini, are designed to help people mature in the external areas of service and discipleship, not the internal struggles of identity and meaning.
So what happens when people get burnt out on the basic teaching and serving. Some go looking for fresh new content and areas of service. Some discover a new teacher across town who “really” teaches the Bible. Some discover service to the under-resourced or in foreign countries. While their true need may be for something deeper, they settle for at least something different.
Chances are you have not only seen these attempts at continued growth in stages two and three, but you have experienced them yourself. Maybe you have even suggested them to others. But if you have experienced stage four yourself then you know what comes at the end: “The Wall.” Our attempts to continue to grow in discipleship and service eventually wear out. Many people become so disillusioned they leave the church (physically or at least metaphorically by “checking out”).
Obviously churches can’t stop evangelizing and doing the basics of discipleship. After all, most of our people are in stages 1, 2, or 3. But how do we walk alongside those on the Journey Inward. What do we do when someone hits the spiritual wall. What happens when we as leaders reach that place? I believe it is this moment in our journey when we need the church most; so what’s a local church to do?
Posted by UrL at February 1, 2006 | Comments (48) | TrackBack
