Today is a day off for me and I've had the lyrics of a U2 song going through my mind all day. It's a song that I think sums up how many unchurched people perceive the fake plasticity of so many Christians. Here are the words below. They are great food for thought:

When I Look At The World - U2

When you look at the world
What is it that you see
People find all kinds of things
That bring them to their knees 

I see an expression
So clear and so true
That changes the atmosphere
When you walk to the room 

So I try to be like you
Try to feel it like you do
But without you its no use
I cant see what you see
When I look at the world 

When the night is someone elses
And youre trying to get some sleep
When your thoughts are too expensive
To ever want to keep 

When theres all kinds of chaos
And everyone is walking lame
You dont even blink now do you
Dont even look away 

So I try to be like you
Try to feel it like you do
But without you its no use
I cant see what you see
When I look at the world 

I cant wait any longer
I cant wait til Im stronger
Cant wait any longer
To see what you see
When I look at the world 

Im in the waiting room
I cant see for the smoke
I think of you and your holy book
When the rest of us choke 

Tell me tell me
What do you see
Tell me tell me
Whats wrong with me

 

Jealousy 

Although God has revealed to us that one of his names is Jealous (Exodus 34:14), when it comes to leadership in the church, jealousy of how God is using other churches is clearly wrong and jealousy in the life of a Christian much less a leader is not something God approves of (Romans 13:13, 1 Corinthians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Galatians 5:19-21). “Why isn’t our church growing like church ABC” or “If we only did what church ABC did, I know our church would be bigger”. These are statements I’ve heard church leaders make in the privacy of their offices as I have been called upon as a church consultant in and outside of churches in America over the last couple of years. This focus on ‘product’ rather than on the process that God has brought a specific congregation through, is the ugly reality of consumerism in the church and its pastors (as we’ll take a look at in future posts). The motivation in these cases is rarely Kingdom growth (although that is how it’s often framed), but rather personal glory. Again, the leader of a congregation must realize that the answers to plan, purpose and destiny of their local church for which they are responsible can only be answered through prayer and seeking direction from God himself.  

In the consulting situations I’ve been invited into when these type of comments are made, I’ve tried to help direct the pastor or church leader to consider that what is motivating them to ask their questions (jealousy) may just be the very thing that is standing in the way of them discovering the truly unique DNA of their church and pursuing it. I am convinced that wrong motivation in the heart of a leader is often the biggest ‘cork in the bottle’ to the growth and effectiveness of the churches they lead.

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 gives clear understanding to the Kingdom reality that people (and church leaders and pastors) have capacities to handle what God has entrusted into their care (or to mismanage what they are responsible for). Are all pastors meant to lead mega-churches (over 2,000 in weekly attendance)? Or to be great Christian authors? Or to lead and oversee networks of churches? Or for that matter to even be the lead pastor of a church of 120? It seems the answer to each of these questions is , “NO”, nevertheless these issues are rarely ever considered in open hearted honesty before God. Couple Matthew 25 with the analogy of the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and the Scripture puts forth the understanding that there are different roles, responsibilities, capacities and sizes of the parts of the Body of Christ.  

Questions to Consider: 

1. If you are a Sr. Pastor or Lead Pastor of a church, do you genuinely rejoice when another church in your local or community grows and has a greater impact in your community or do you find yourself pre-occupied with the need to point out what they could be doing better?
2. How long has it been since you felt convicted by the Holy Spirit of an attitude in the heart (like jealousy) that no one else knew was in you?
3. How well do you do in following the warning of Proverbs 4:23 when things are not going well in the church you lead while other churches seem to be doing well?

I came across an excellent blog post this morning dealing with some of the same points I raised in my last post, 'Lack of Leadership'. The post is from NextReformation. Check out the post 'space between' here.

Lack of Leadership 

Fundamental in any understanding of leadership in the church is the fact that the leader has a sense of where the church is or should be going and leads the congregation in that direction. This comes from prayerfully seeking God’s direction and then communicating this direction and vision to the rest of the congregation. When a leader copies ideas from another church, the unique purpose and call on that specific congregation is compromised. Just as no two people are alike, no two churches are alike either from God’s perspective.

I have long held to the conviction that church architecture, design and décor say much about the ministry of a church. At VALLEY Christian Church, it was only after years of transition in ministry and understanding the distinct DNA that God had given to VALLEY that we began to renovate our facilities to match the ministry taking place inside and outside the walls of our building. Philosophy of ministry changes motivated change in facility, website even our church’s name. As the old saying goes, “Don’t put the cart before the horse”.  

Much of the church world is still infected with an ‘attractional’ mindset that says people will be drawn to Jesus when they are drawn to our building or “if you build it (or renovate it), they will come”. Although this worked well in the case of a farmer in a cornfield in Iowa (the movie, Field of Dreams), it rarely works in reaching our culture today. The Scripture always sets forth and ‘incarnational’ approach to ministry, that is living the life of Christ before others and they will be drawn to the light they see in us (see Matthew 5:16, 1 Peter 3:15).  

Many “leaders” in the church today settle for second hand creativity which is easy to copy but over the long haul leads to spiritual schytsophrenia; a church not knowing who they are or will be from week to week, month to month or year to year.   

Questions to Consider: 

1. What unique and specific calling has God given to your congregation?
2. Are you as a leader, modeling and inspiring those around you to live up to what God has called them to be as a congregation?
3. How can you express these distinctives in your; architecture, design, décor, website, name and even church gatherings?