"Gentlemen, this is a football"
I once read that Vince Lombardi would start his training camp with these words. I can only imagine what some of the players thought about this comment.
And yet, without knowing it, the late Mr. Lombardi is going to help me make a point.
What he held in his hand was a football. Not a baseball, orange, or underwear.
It is a football.
That my friend is an absolute truth.
Call it whatever you want, it is a football.
Now can you imagine one of the rookies on the team saying, "well it may be a football to you, but I thing it's a grape".
I would bet he wouldn't make the team.
I know some of you are going to say I'm making a silly point about something as complicated as the truth.
But has it become more about taking the truth, and changing it to fit our lifestyle?
What if, dare I be this bold, we have decided it's much easier to change the truth than it is to change how we live?
Being kind of slow I'm just now try to get a handle on post-modernism and the emerging church, and I have to tell you there are some things I like. Dealing with the brokenness and social needs of people, I think, is Biblical. That's what Jesus did.
I'm cool with that.
Having a church setting where people can come and find love and hope. That's good stuff.
I'm very cool with that.
But my question is this.
At what point do we teach the truth?
See I tricked you, because some people say "well what is the truth"?
And now we come back to my first point.
There has to be an absolute truth. Without it there is chaos. There is no right and wrong, only feelings. People live for what they think is right, which man can come up with some really wacky stuff.
And I know the truth hurts. We don't like to be told what to do or what not to do. We don't do criticism very well. God better be okay with what I'm doing (or not doing) because I'm not going to change. But hey God is love right?
At what point do we preach or teach the absolute truth? The one that you know exists. The one that you know may hurt some feelings. The stuff that brings conviction to people to change their lives.
Or the stuff that you know may cause you to lose some people.
I'm really torn here because I've been reading some great books about reaching people were there at.
And I know, better than most, that the Christian walk is one of a process. I also understand, better than most, that none of us are without sin.
But do we stop preaching the absolute truth for fear we might offend someone?
I once heard of a pastor who would not preach against abortion, his reason caught me off guard. He simply stated that he couldn't preach against it for fear they would fire him.
Everybody wants to preach about Christ's love, it's a great message. Not many want to wade into areas that might step on somebody's toes.
So we come down to this, do we preach the absolute truth or do we preach the truth that everybody wants to hear.
The truth that the Bible is wide open to interpretation, that there really is no right or wrong or absolute truth. Just trust your feelings and you'll be fine.
Before long we begin to see the football, as a grape.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
The man in the office
Being a pastor has to be a difficult job.
I mean think about it, he has to prepare a sermon every week that will motivate, challenge and uplift the people under his care. He has to call on the sick and dying, comfort those that have lost loved ones, plot a course for his church and then get people excited about following the course. At the same time he has to juggle a home life, and be a role model for people. He is watched very closely by the community, to make sure he does everything right. He is not supposed to get mad or upset, and well, we want him to be everything that were not.
Pretty tough job.
And yet I know some pretty good pastors, people that just love people, and love what they do.
And I think that's the key.
Loving people.
You know I have interviewed pastors, and it seems we get really interested in their education, their accomplishments, did they grow their former church?
I think really we need to be asking, do you get along with people?
You might think that's a funny question, but I was listening to a gentleman who had contacted a seminary, looking for a prospective pastor. The man in charge of placement got a large stack of papers and put them on his desk. He went on to say that on each piece of paper was a name of a person that had graduated the seminary and had enough knowledge to teach and preach effectively. But each of them had a problem.
They couldn't get along with people.
Working with people seems to be a lost art, and I think we can point to a couple of reasons why this is the case.
The first reason is that once some people become more educated, they tend to look down on those who aren't so well educated. If you want to get run out of your first church, treat them like their stupid. Talk down to them like your the only one who really knows what's going on. Then read a bunch of church growth books, and then try everything all at once, and then when it doesn't work, complain bitterly that it was your churches fault for the failure, not yours.
You have to earn your peoples trust before you do anything, they won't follow you if they don't like you. I once took a leadership class that stated that when you first take a new church, don't do anything new for at least two years. At first I thought that sounded a little crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense. They need time to get used to you, and for you to build relationships and develop trust.
The second reason is more cultural, we don't hang around other people that much anymore. Call it what you want, but as a culture, we are building fences around ourselves. We don't just visit other people as much as we used to. Our homes have become our castles, and we prefer to be left alone to do what we want to do, when we want to do it. Oh were not rude to people who do show up at our door, but were sure glad when they leave.
In this type of culture, it's hard to develop social skills. When you only talk to family and people you know, it's makes it difficult to talk to people you don't know. We find that just avoiding to talk to these unknown people is the solution, which makes people think that you just don't like them (which may or may not be true). We don't learn humility, and being gracious. It's want I want and I want it NOW. That can be a real turn-off.
Look, I know I'm not a pastor, and I know that I really only have the slightest clue of what being a pastor is like. But I do know these three things,
1. Good pastors are in short supply. When you get a good one, hold on to him with all you have.
2. Many won't even consider the ministry, they see it as a low paying job.
3.Finding pastors that have people skills is becoming very hard to do.
Remember, pastors have to deal with people. You cannot become a shepard if the sheep you lead don't trust you. You can have all the degrees in the world, but if you don't love people like Christ loved people, your ministry will come up short.
I mean think about it, he has to prepare a sermon every week that will motivate, challenge and uplift the people under his care. He has to call on the sick and dying, comfort those that have lost loved ones, plot a course for his church and then get people excited about following the course. At the same time he has to juggle a home life, and be a role model for people. He is watched very closely by the community, to make sure he does everything right. He is not supposed to get mad or upset, and well, we want him to be everything that were not.
Pretty tough job.
And yet I know some pretty good pastors, people that just love people, and love what they do.
And I think that's the key.
Loving people.
You know I have interviewed pastors, and it seems we get really interested in their education, their accomplishments, did they grow their former church?
I think really we need to be asking, do you get along with people?
You might think that's a funny question, but I was listening to a gentleman who had contacted a seminary, looking for a prospective pastor. The man in charge of placement got a large stack of papers and put them on his desk. He went on to say that on each piece of paper was a name of a person that had graduated the seminary and had enough knowledge to teach and preach effectively. But each of them had a problem.
They couldn't get along with people.
Working with people seems to be a lost art, and I think we can point to a couple of reasons why this is the case.
The first reason is that once some people become more educated, they tend to look down on those who aren't so well educated. If you want to get run out of your first church, treat them like their stupid. Talk down to them like your the only one who really knows what's going on. Then read a bunch of church growth books, and then try everything all at once, and then when it doesn't work, complain bitterly that it was your churches fault for the failure, not yours.
You have to earn your peoples trust before you do anything, they won't follow you if they don't like you. I once took a leadership class that stated that when you first take a new church, don't do anything new for at least two years. At first I thought that sounded a little crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense. They need time to get used to you, and for you to build relationships and develop trust.
The second reason is more cultural, we don't hang around other people that much anymore. Call it what you want, but as a culture, we are building fences around ourselves. We don't just visit other people as much as we used to. Our homes have become our castles, and we prefer to be left alone to do what we want to do, when we want to do it. Oh were not rude to people who do show up at our door, but were sure glad when they leave.
In this type of culture, it's hard to develop social skills. When you only talk to family and people you know, it's makes it difficult to talk to people you don't know. We find that just avoiding to talk to these unknown people is the solution, which makes people think that you just don't like them (which may or may not be true). We don't learn humility, and being gracious. It's want I want and I want it NOW. That can be a real turn-off.
Look, I know I'm not a pastor, and I know that I really only have the slightest clue of what being a pastor is like. But I do know these three things,
1. Good pastors are in short supply. When you get a good one, hold on to him with all you have.
2. Many won't even consider the ministry, they see it as a low paying job.
3.Finding pastors that have people skills is becoming very hard to do.
Remember, pastors have to deal with people. You cannot become a shepard if the sheep you lead don't trust you. You can have all the degrees in the world, but if you don't love people like Christ loved people, your ministry will come up short.
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