Influences pt. 3, The Janitor

This is part of a series…  the other ones can be found by clicking on “influences” in categories  over there—>

We seldom notice the servants in the background.  We have little time or patience to address them and we almost never look them in the eye.  Watch…  Next time you’re at a restaurant, count how many times the people you’re with look the waiter in the eyes.  You’ll be shocked.  If you’re really sharp you’ll be able to note how many times you did not see the waiter refill your drink.

I remember the announcement over the PA system in my Jr. High School English class.  I sat in a wooden desk that had the table top attached to the chair in such a way that it was the most uncomfortable chair in the world.  You know what I mean?  The chair was a hard wooden seat with straight back and a sweeping table top that came from the back right to provide an arm rest and swept in front of you.  The table could only accommodate half a sheet of paper and your wrist.  Yet we always found a way to prop our faces up and pretend to be taking notes while we tried to sleep.  There was really only enough room for your body to sit half-perched on the chair while you clung to the table top for fear of falling out.

Anyhow, the principle came over the loud speaker announcing that my friend had past away the day before.  The school was in an odd state of shock.  Everyone knew what had happened, we had all heard the details about his suicide, but somehow announcing it over the PA made many of us break.  The School announced that they would have consolers for anyone who wanted to talk in the auditorium.  I remember excusing myself from the class and walking down the long hall amidst sobbing students.  To be honest, I wasn’t incredibly tearful, I just knew that I needed to be able to process this and I couldn’t listen to Mrs. Serrette talk about Of Mice of Men while I struggled to keep it together.

I walked into the dark auditorium and sat in one of the hard chairs for about an hour.  I can remember seeing some of my friends around me and talking with someone for a moment.  But mostly I just sat there.  I stood to go and had difficulty finding my legs as I stood.  Half way down the hall on the way back to my class, I had to stop and cover my face because I was crying.  I looked down and faced a locker so people would think I was just getting something out of my locker.

“You afraid of death, boy?”  I heard the voice and stood motionless waiting to hear another address.  “I said, you afraid of death?”

I looked up to see a school janitor standing about 2 feet from me leaning against some lockers.  I sheepishly responded, “Isn’t everyone afraid of dying?”

“Not you.”  He replied.  “You’re a believer.”

It wasn’t miraculous that he would know that.  My brother and I were white athletes (using the term loosely) in a predominantly African American school and when Jeff went to college, I took over the Bible club that he had started.  We were fiercely evangelical, faithfully proclaiming our belief in Jesus, and constantly asking people to come to church with us.  Not to mention the Christian t-shirt I was probably wearing along with bible verses written all over my shoes and backpack… and it’s highly likely that I was holding a Bible.

I was confused and I said, “my friend just past away alright!”  As if defending my right to cry.

“Believers don’t morn like the world, boy.”  He told me.  “Now you stand up and tell these people ‘bout it!  You tell them why you don’t need to fear death, and neither do they if they trust Him.”  He chided in a low tone.  Then he went off to be unnoticed again.

That encounter with the janitor has forever changed the way I handle things.  The janitor was right.  He was gruff and maybe a bit out of place, that is for certain, but… he was right.  Christians don’t morn the way the world does, because Christians have a hope that no one can take away.  With such a hope, what can ever overcome.  Indeed, nothing can overcome the soul of a believer (I John 5:1-5).  We may be pressed, but we are not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. (2 Cor. 4…  please no comments about context.  I know, I know.)  This hope we have does not put to shame. (Rom.15, 2 Corinthians 3)  It is the most powerful asset in a Christian’s response to the circumstances of this world.  It is for resurrection (I Corinthians 15).  We do not end here.  This is just a training ground.

Sorry I went all preacher on you just then.  Back to the story:  Because of that nameless janitor, I am always reminded that trial, tragedy, and evil in this life cannot overcome what we have.  Since that day I have faced the death of many friends and family members and I have never forgotten that we are not without the hope of Salvation (a sure hope that does not disappoint) and every circumstance, good or bad, is an opportunity to be reminded of that.   I don’t think I ever noticed that janitor again.  But for that one time, I’ll never forget what he said.

Bonhoeffer quotes

 “We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”

“We have learned a bit too late in the day that action springs not from thought but from a readiness for responsibility.”

    Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Letters and Papers from Prison

Recently my brother has been going through some quotes that he has on his wall.  It’s quite a cool wall of quotes and he is doing a good job at it. (You can find his blog here)  I also had a wonderful conversation about justice yesterday with a dear brother in the faith!  It was one of those conversations where you leave feeling like you’re ready to change the world!  All this made me think of two quotes from the German Theologian who defied Hitler.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote letters and papers from prison to his students (he was a seminary professor) which they then collected and edited for publication.  Inside these papers and letters Bonhoeffer has some amazing quotes and two particular ones stick out to me at this moment. (They are quite well known, I don’t have a brilliant memory, these are quotes that I have seen many times.)

What some may not know is the background… that is what really brings these quotes to impact our soul.  Dietrich had been born a German citizen and had achieved his first PHD by the time he was 21 years old.  As the great beast of that age was rising to power, Dietrich continued his studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York.  He lived in Harlem.  It was there where he was confronted by our nation’s dreadful sin of racism.  There is an account in his biography (the old one, not the new one, I’d cite it but I don’t have it) where he and his friend (an African American Pastor) were kicked out of a restaurant.  Bonhoeffer tried to insist upon entrance, but to no avail.  They were forcefully removed.  Bonhoeffer began to recognize that the same bigotry existed across the ocean in his own homeland.  Convicted by the Holy Spirit, he traveled back to Germany and began to fight back with his intellect.

As the crack down on all who opposed the RiechChurch(NaziChurchwhere Hitler, not Christ, bore the title of Head) became greater, the powerful intellect of Bonhoeffer was convinced by friends to flee to England.  While there, he helped to formulate the Barmen Declaration along with Karl Barth, Martin Niemoller, and a great many ConfessingChurchpastors.  (you can find it here) Bonhoeffer began to wage a kind of academic war on the Riech Church that had taken over Germany.  There are exciting stories of visits to his home from German guestapo spies and narrow evasions of capture.  He stayed in England until his conscience could bare it no longer and he walked back into the fire of Germany.  This is when he started the illegal seminary in Finkenwald.  It is in this period that we find most of his writing.  Bonhoeffer believed that the Gospel could change the world.  So he dedicated his life to teaching the Gospel in its fullness.  His war on the Riech Church began to take a tole as he was banned from Berlin and forbidden to speak in the early 40′s.  He was arrested and locked in a military prison in 1943.  While in prison he continued to write and even used his influence to aid attempts to overthrow the Fuer.  Bonhoeffer was executed on April 9^th, 1945 for helping to plot an assassination attempt on Hitler.  Two weeks after he was martyred, the prison he was being held at was liberated by theUS forces.

The common denominator in all (good) theologians who lived through the holocaust is this: Christians waited too long to stand against injustice.  We must be willing to accept the responsibility to deal with injustice on this earth as agents of the Gospel.  I’ll simply end with Niemoller’s famous quote as recorded by Leo Stein:

“First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.  Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.  Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.  Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

We MUST Speak.

Influences pt 2

I posted a blog about random influences in the way I do ministry.  You can read the first post here.  It is necessary to state that my biggest influences come from my Dad, Mom, brothers, and sister.  However, each time I sit down to write about one of them I start sounding like a sappy little boy.  While, in comparison to some, I am still a boy (30 years old), I am NOT SAPPY!  So, that being said.  Here is the next installment.

Youth Pastors.

I had two fantastic youth pastors.  Both very different people.  The first was Ron Holman (New Orleans,LA).  Ron was a man of God who was disciplined and expected discipline from his students.  He took us on missions, introduced me to World Changers, and trained us to have a personal devotional life.  He was tall, athletic, and scheduled.  We loved and respected Ron, though as youth we were careful NEVER to let him know that.

Ron ran a typical Baptist, program oriented, youth group inNew OrleansLouisiana.  He was a full time youth minister who was going to Seminary on the side to get his degree.  On Sunday we had Sunday School, on Wednesday we had Wednesday night meal and youth Bible Study, and interspersed were various events (block parties, progressive dinners, D-Now, etc…) and weekend activities that were designed to attract students and develop community.  Ron worked hard and the events were effective at attracting students and developing community, once and a while we even came away learning.  With the leaders of the youth group, Ron met once a month and led us in personal devotions and taught us to keep a quiet time and study the Bible, in those meetings we learned a ton.  Wednesday night consisted of a game that my mom (the volunteer youth game maker) designed to go along with the lesson and then a lesson that Ron would communicate through various mediums.

So I remember one time when Ron was closing a Wednesday service.  It must have been a particularly hard night, none of us were attentive, all of us were selfishly making jokes and ignoring what Ron was saying.  Ron began to pray and there was a snicker at the back.  A boy had obnoxiously interrupted the prayer and said, “amen already.”  Ron completed his prayer and said Amen and bolted out of the room, hurdling some of the chairs that were in the way.  It was obvious he was mad.  As we looked around the room in stunned silence we realized the young boy had made his joke and then ran away.  Ron chased him down.  Don’t really know what ensued after that, but I do know that the boy kept coming and was much more attentive from that point on.  After the great hurdle, my buddyChadlooked at me and said, “uhhh huh…  that boy gonna die, you don’t mess with God in front of Ron.”

Ron was zealous for God’s name and he had a deep respect for the Word of God.  His deep love for Scripture was not always penetrating to us.  Most of us were too busy with our own dramatic relationships to be concerned with the divine drama.  But you couldn’t be around long before you recognized Ron was disciplined, zealous, and knew Jesus.  It is a testament to Ron that the boy he chased down kept coming.  Ron was careful to view all of us as sheep in God’s fold and he took his job to teach us very seriously.  While a shepherd may need to break a straying sheep’s leg occasionally, Ron was also faithful to do his best to point us to green pastures and still waters (please don’t read too much into that, it’s a metaphor.  I have never broken a students leg and neither did Ron.)  Thus, I learned discipline in my walk with Christ through Ron’s ministry.

 

In contrast to Ron, Kevin Banfield (Towson,MD) was a short stocky iron worker who sold insurance on the side and did youth ministry for free.  He and his wife Mary-Beth were a team.  Kevin would share a devotional and Mary-Beth would reaffirm it with an object lesson.  Kevin also worked at a typical program driven church with Sunday School, Wednesday night Bible study, youth choir, etc…  Kevin, like Ron, did many big events.  Further, Kevin and his family dedicated every Friday night to the youth group.  They opened the gym at the church every Friday from 7-11pm.  Kevin would sit in a chair in our youth room and just listen to students.  Nothing was planned, nothing was programmed, occasionally he had a game to play.  At 10pm he would call everyone into the youth room for a 15 minute devotional.  There was little to no organization and it was AWESOME!

Kevin never locked his door, his door was always open, and he never turned you away.  If his door was locked, the key would be in the bird bath or some other, not so obscure, hiding place.  (not to mention you could unlock most things in his house and even start his car with a screwdriver.)  He would sit and listen to students talk for hours, he would occasionally remind me that I shouldn’t tell girls to “suck it up, we got a job to do,” he was just kind of there.  He loved us and we knew it.  Kevin was not a fantastic teacher.  He was not a deep theologian.  He was not consistently organizing things for us to do (or at least that wasn’t the crux of his ministry).  Kevin was not a man who you heard preach and said, “I’d like to listen to some more of that!”  No… Kevin was the guy who sat in a chair and listened and laughed with you as you talked about whatever.  He loved his wife and you could see it because you were around them.  He made you feel like you were loved and he could pretty much listen to whatever you said without making you feel horrible.  Then he would challenge you with some question like, “How can we encourage (insert name of person you just ignored) to be like Jesus?”

Kevin is the reason I take students to lunch.  He is the one who taught me that the relationships you can develop with a few students are far more powerful in the kingdom than the sermon you can preach to 60.  Sometimes I forget this truth and become absorbed with teaching.  But, something always reminds me of sitting on that ratty furniture in our youth room talking to Kevin about Jesus while simultaneously feeling deep conviction over my selfish living.  So I try to take students individually to get sodas from time to time.  Just to listen and occasionally to deal with some issue.  (Just a side note: if you’re wondering why I’ve never taken your child out, just give me time… or you can ask me to.  Likewise, you can ask me not to, some parents prefer that, I won’t be offended.  Also, I ask other female leaders in the church to take out the girls.  It’s just not right for a man, who is not her father, to take a 15 year old girl for a soda.)

Missional Unity

Because the majority of people who read my blog also read my brother’s blog (all 6 of you) I thought I’d clarify some things for you. 

My brother discipled me, he taught me to read my Bible when I was 13 years old.  He has a deep love for Jesus and the Bible.  He is probably my best friend and he is one of the first people I would call for advice on church matters and most other things.  We’ve had fights with each other and we’ve fought against common enemies together.  That having been said, Jeff and I disagree on some things and while we recognize those disagreements, there are a few things we agree on that trump our disagreements.  These are the support for our work together in the Kingdom and our love for each other as brothers and Christians.  I would like to enumerate those for you below.

 

1. The mission of God.  Jeff and I agree that God has a mission.  He had this mission before He had a church and that mission is to rescue His people and display His love (character) over the earth. 
2. The job of Christians: The job of a Christian is to live ON MISSION with/ for Christ.  As a result we fiercely share our faith and try to live our lives like Jesus.  Even the things we buy for entertainment are to be looked at as tools for the advancement of the Gospel (sorry I went all churcheze on you just then.)  I mean for the advancement of God’s mission.  We are missionaries in this world, everyone of us.  Therefore our work and efforts are to be combined for the sake of His mission. 
3. The Lordship of Jesus.  Jeff and I agree that you cannot persist as a growing Christian and not have a life lived on mission with Jesus.  Though that may come in different manifestations depending on your culture/ecology, Jesus is Lord!  That means that your heart is changed by your confrontation with Him.  You will grow and move and live in the power of the Spirit in the strength of faith. 
4. Jesus is the only one who can save you.  Yeah….  No amount of work can defeat your sin, or rescue you from it.  He is the transforming agent in the human heart.  You must believe in Christ to receive salvation from sin. 
5. The Bible is the Word of God.  No no…  I mean it.  It is God’s.  It is what He says.  It is His Word and it is His revelation of His mission and character with and to us.  It is how we get to know God.
6. Principles never change.  Methodology always changes and indeed it must.  There are principles that never change: Jesus Saves, The Bible is the Word of God, God is Love, Mankind is naturally communal, Mankind needs Christ, Justice matters to God and should to us, people are wicked, etc…  How those principles are dealt with and addressed are through specific methodologies.  Example: Sunday  School, Small group Bible study, Personal quiet times, Sermons, devotionals, etc…  are all methods that are attempting to answer the principles that the Bible is God’s Word, and people need to know God.    
7. You were made to work!  As a Christian you were made to work hard to live out your faith.  We are called a Kingdom of Priests in I Peter.  We are the priests in this world and we need to take the light into a dark and dying world.  You ought to think deeply about God, who He is, and how that affects the way you live.  You ought to challenge status quo.  You are to strive together in an effort to know the LORD deeply and follow in His mission.  We live in a fallen world and we have the answer.  So get to work!

 

Influences pt 1

I love working in the church.  I was thinking of some of the influences in my life that have shaped the way I do ministry.  The first and most powerful of course in Jesus.  Second would be my Dad.  If you know me, that’s obvious.  You can read about my Dad by glancing through this blog.  I thought I would take a post or two to talk about some of the other influences that have shaped the way that I do ministry.  We’ll see how much I enjoy this honesty before I am done investigating my influences.  Our influences often expose our weaknesses.  They are influences because they train us past weakness.  So I’ll try to be as honest as possible.  That said: here we go!

 Scott

One of them would have to be a young man I went to Dulaney High School with named Scott.  Scott was a strong-willed atheist who challenged my assumptions about God.  He was the most infuriating friend I had ever known.  I remember Scott would drive me crazy in high school, challenging of my understanding of the nature of God, the nature of man, the nature of love, and so on (when you’re in high school, everything that sounds smarter if it is proceeded by “the nature of”).  I vividly remember walking down a hall with Scott one day after school had ended, listening to his annoying mockery of my supposedly strong faith.  I had asked him to stop several times and was slowly starting to feel the anger rise in me.  You know the feeling… somehow your ears get hot, your jaw tightens, and your arms start to tremble.  The hallway seemed strangely dark as I stopped at my cold grey locker, trying to maintain my composure.  Suddenly something he said just sliced into me and I spun to Scott and said through gritted teeth, “you just don’t get it!”  Then I kicked him in the shin… it was pitiful.  I mean depressingly so.  It was not a strong response, it was just pitiful.  I had hit people in the past…  I knew how to knock someone over, I knew how to throw a punch, I knew how to strike someone correctly, and yet something inside me snapped and my anger was tempered by my attempt to maintain composure.  So I kicked him in the shin.  Again… pitiful.  If I had just let it go, I would have at least looked apathetic towards what he said.  But this was a crowning moment… I was pitiful.

I remember his face… it was utter shock and was layered with disappointment.  He looked at me confused and then I calmly told him, “that’s enough.  Sorry I kicked you.”  I put my head down and walked away.  This was a one time outburst from me… but Scott was a daily challenge to me.

My friendship with Scott forced me to examine my own beliefs.  He pushed me to actually know my faith rather than just accept what I had been taught as a boy.  He could not have known that his arrogant attacks on my faith would lead me to invest years of my life in studying the text of Scripture.  There is seldom a time when I do not see a truth that I got wrong when answering Scott back then.  When I arrived in college, I stopped kicking people in the shin and started to study and write responses instead.  My faith had connected to my heart when I was 13… but it was not until Scott that my faith began to connect to my intellect.  Scott taught me that we (Christians) cannot ignore hard questions of the Bible.  We must engage them and deal with the difficulties.

However, while the intellect is incredibly important…  It must be sheltered in the Love of Christ for a lost world.  You see, I did a great deal wrong to Scott… but I did try to show him the love of Christ.  Scott was still a friend even after I kicked him (pitiful).  He was a friend who needed Jesus when my intellect failed him and when it failed me.  Love trumps intellect, I spent two more years trying to show Scott love.  Now I recognize that intellect is a tool to lift up our love for others and our love for Christ. (Or at least it should)

So now, I try to challenge the intellect of my students and struggle to invest myself in their lives and show them the love of Christ.  It is my hope that I can teach them to use their intellect to engage the world in love.  I no longer kick people in the shin… Now I research difficult questions and remember my desire to tell Scott the truth.  So, Thanks Scott… if you ever read this.  (I left out his last name on purpose.)

Types of Pastoral Leadership

I’ve been wondering a great deal about Pastoral leadership lately.  No real reason, I’ve just been analyzing the task a bit for fun.  It probably has to do with being in seminary.  So I’ve recognized that there are, in my estimation, 4 general types of leaders.  I am going to use sports analogies to describe the types.  (This should be interesting considering I don’t watch sports…  So please do not be disgusted by my gross sports inaccuracies before I begin… after I am done, you may feel all the disgust you please towards my sports ineptitude.) Side note: I don’t know where my pastor stands in this list and quite frankly I don’t want to analyze him…  I like the guy…  I think I’d say something about him being a golfer and therefore not on my list, but there you have it.

THE QUARTERBACK!

The first and most common type of leader in churches is the Quarterback.  This man is the star of the show/commander of the ship.  His vision is what matters most, and everyone must be brought in line with it in order to win (which he will usually, though not always, quantify in numbers).  He makes all the decisions and calls all the plays.  Even when he hands the ball off, it is because he has decided to do so.  This type of leader is the one who dispenses orders to the troops.  He takes command and leads his team by being the nature of his role as shot caller.

The strengths of this type of leader are easy to see.  He is usually a powerful personality and has a great deal of charisma.  Often this person articulates a clear vision with a strong since of direction.  People typically follow this man, if his ideas work the first couple times.

The negatives are equally visible.  This type of leader is the super-man leader, seriously, he wears a cape!  He is the type that makes the ministry about his persona and his ability to accomplish goals.  He forces people into molds to suit his ends and has difficulty accepting other strong leaders who do not fit into the mold.  He is the driver, therefore everyone else must be a passenger.

In order to be this kind of leader, one must be articulate, able to persuade, have a clear vision, and enjoy being the guy in front.  Crowds like good quarterbacks

 

THE POINT GUARD

The second type of leader is the point guard.  This is the man who sees himself as a coordinator.  His job is to pass the ball and start the play.  He is not always the key player, but he always starts with the ball.  This leader finds his strength in learning the strength of his team and playing to it.  If there is another member who is a great post, the point guard seeks to articulate that.  If there is a great shooter on the team, the point guard arranges things so that his team mate can make the shot.  He is a utilizer of talents.  (I totally just made up that word, utilizer.)

The strength of this leader is in his team.  He makes others look good.  He is a strong director who calls plays, but trusts his team to make the play.  He knows the strengths and weaknesses of his teammates and as a result, others flourish around him.  He is an encouragement to those who serve with him and is certain to make clear that they serve with him and not beneath or above.

The weakness is that this leader is sometimes overlooked by people who come to watch the game when there is a great shooter on the team.  He is, for all intensive purposes, a background leader who may only touch the ball for a moment.  Although he will touch the ball on every play and his leadership is obvious to those who are on the team, those who are not playing the game may not take him seriously as a leader.  They may even think they can do his job better.  While his team may love him and the Coach may be completely satisfied in him, crowds often want a quarterback.

The secret for this leader is to include as many people as possible on the team and surround yourself with a team you can invest in and make great!  Teams love good point guards.

THE PITCHER

The third leader is the Pitcher.  For this leader, everything hinges on his actions.  Every decision is laid on his shoulders as the key player.  He has support staff around him that works well when a hit is unavoidable. For this leader, whatever is his key mode of communication is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing.  (I call this a mode of communication, because not all pastors/leaders use sermons/lectures.)  He views this opportunity as the most critical teaching moment of the week/month/year.  And his team is prepared behind him.  This leader finds strength in “strike outs!”  What I mean is, he finds strength in a measurable form of success.  He is going to count the number of readers, baptisms, commentors, conversions, complements, etc…  This type of leader views every other activity as back up for his communication.  He is a gifted communicator, in whatever medium he has chosen, and every one else is there to pick up the slack if things go wrong.  This leader is strong and independent.  He is capable of doing almost everything by himself and only needs support when his pitch is hit back.

The positives for this type of leader are that He can make the strike out!  He is talented.  Everyone focuses on him and watches closely hoping that they will not have to spring into action.  But it’s ok, because the team is united behind him and his pitching.  This leader has the support of those at his back: that is, assuming he is able to communicate the vision.

The negatives are that everything depends on his pitch.  As a result, he is framed as the success or failure of the team.  If the team is winning, he is on top of the world, but if the team is loosing, the team might quit on him… because it all hinges on his pitching.

In order to be this kind of leader one must have a brilliant ability to communicate.  He also needs to be very well organized so that he can strategically pitch the message in whatever format he chooses.  Ball clubs (people who own the team) love good pitchers.

THE MIDFIELDER

The fourth is the soccer midfielder.  Good soccer midfielders control the pace of the game.  They are acutely aware of others who are around them and acutely aware of where others are going.  Midfielders lead by hustle.  They don’t always have to touch the ball, but they do their role well.  They recognize themselves as role players and strive to perform with the team’s well being in mind.  A good midfielder will be noticed only because of their commanding presence.  They don’t need to be flashy or do anything remarkable to have that presence, they simply have it.  They will outrun everyone else, outwork everyone else, and everyone will look to them because of it.  When there is need to slow down so that your team is not exhausted, the midfielder will slow the pace.  When there is need to push, the midfielder will push.  This type of leader leads by solidly focusing on the mission at hand.  Thus, the pace he sets for the team is determined by the goal.

The strength of this kind of leader is in his work ethic.  He will almost destroy himself for the sake of the mission!  Further, the team will work WITH instead of BEHIND this leader, they are not support… they (collectively) are the team.  He cannot play the game by himself and needs the team in every aspect of the game.  Therefore, there is a lot of community buy-in with this kind of leader.

The negatives are that he will inevitably go unnoticed.  Some may even wonder what he does all week.  Unlike the point guard, this leader will not always touch the ball and therefore, may not be seen as a leader at all by the crowd.  While he may work tremendously hard, he is not usually the one making the shots.

In order to be this kind of leader, the person must be disciplined and focused.  He cannot waver his attention to the stands and he cannot lose site of the ball.  He must be aware of the talents of those around him and be able to sense whether or not to push.  He must be able to not touch the ball and yet still be a presence.  Coaches love good midfielders.

 

So that’s that…  feel free to offer your observations below.

When Jesus Calls My Name

Before I begin: (You can skip to the next paragraph if you get bored) my name is John Novis Elkins.  I am named for two people.  John McFadden, a missionary and friend of my Dad’s.  My middle name comes from my grandfather, Novis Elkins.  I am privileged to bear the names of such great men.  My first name is Hebrew.  It means, “The LORD’s Favored”  or “YHWH has Graced.”  The best I can tell, Novis in Hebrew comes from the word for “sick” or if it comes from Latin, it means “new.”  So I am either sick with grace or I am graced anew.  Each of these I believe is fitting for me and I am proud to be John Novis.  This name means a great deal to me.  When I was a child, I used to only respond to people who would call me by all three.  Imagine calling to me, “John” and I didn’t answer.  ”JOHN!”  and a seven year old version of myself looked you in the eyes and said, “my name is John Novis Elkins.”  In college I tried to go to the name Novis, in order to distinguish myself from other Johns.  My wife and the girl who is like a daughter to me call me John N.  This name is important to me.  Now to the rest of the story.

Every year, in our church’s annual Passion Play, I have played a Pharisee (please hold back comments about type-casting).  This year, I have been blessed to play a disciple (not one of the big three… I get to be James the son of Alpheus- the non-speaking disciple, I think I am going to pretend he was a zealot and carry a big knife!).

Tonight Mark, the guy that plays Jesus, was calling the disciples.  I am the last one to be called.  I watched the scene unfold, the way it has every year with Mark calling out to every disciple.  Naming them one by one and calling them up to the stage.  Mark does this scene well, raising his hands with dramatic emphasis when appropriate and greeting each disciple with a smile and handshake.  I am the only disciple that enters through my particular door.  I was looking down, waiting for Jesus to call my name, James.  Jesus turned to me and said, “John!”  First I thought their must be an error in the script.  ”There’s only one disciple named John,” I muttered to myself in irritation.  Then I tried to correct Jesus, “I’m James.”  Jesus looked at me as if to say, “yeah yeah yeah…  John!  Come up here already!”

It occurred to me, there will come a day when Jesus calls my name.  I don’t mean the name I was given, but he will call MY name.  It will be an odd recognition.  Revelation 2:17 says that we will get a stone with a new name on it, a name that only God and the one receiving the stone will know.  I may feel like the only one who enters at my door in this dark world we live in.  But I will be called to join the great cloud of witnesses, my family in Heaven.  I wonder, when Jesus calls me by the name that is mine, will I think there is an error in His script?  Will I try to tell Him, “but… my name is John Novis Elkins.”  You see, a name is not just a set of letters that you identify with, it is who you are.  It is what describes your soul.  It is you.  The reality is that my name here is not who I am.  While I am proud to where my name here, I will be given a new name.  You see, Jesus knows who I am, for real.  One day he will give me that name, and I will know it!  I will know who I am fully!  I think it will be an odd recognition, but it will be recognition.

This world is a shadow.  We know the truth now, only in part.  Then we will know, even as we are fully known.  If you have faith in Jesus, you are not the person this world sees.  You are the person God sees you to be.  The key to what I just said is that you “ARE.”  You are this person, this is your name, you ARE the name God will show you.  Do you know Jesus?  Do you have another name that is who you are?

Top Ten Lies People Believe About Their Pastors

10. If I do bad, the pastor thinks I’m bad.  If I do good, the pastor thinks I’m good.

This first one is based on the false assumption that our actions are what determine our nature.  However, your nature is not determined by your actions.  Your actions are merely a reflection of your heart.  Remember people can cover up reflections.  We can dress up ourselves up so we look perfectly good.  You can do good things all you want, but in the end you’re simply covering over a reflection.  Your pastors are aware of this reality.  In fact, your pastors often cover over their own hearts.   So, if you want to impress your pastors, be honest with them.  Stop covering things up!  We usually assume that you are just as wicked as everyone else.  So if you’re honest with us, most likely we’ll just think better of you than we already do.

9.  Pastors are uneducated, except where the Bible is concerned.  Unlike everyone else in the world, pastors have everything figured out when it comes to Scripture.  However, every other area of life, they are completely clueless.

Most men don’t start the pastorate in cushy pastor jobs (an oxymoron we will deal with in number 5.)  The majority of pastors don’t want to be pastors at first and God puts them through a kind of vetting process.  For the others, we typically work two or three jobs when we first start in ministry.  For example, in my first post as a youth pastor, I worked two other jobs.  I worked in a craft store as a custom framer selling high-end framing for high-end art.  I managed a department, worked receiving, swept floors, kept inventory, researched artsy things, and every other job you can imagine at Michael’s Arts and Crafts.  My second job was a sort of farm hand and odd jobs guy.  I mucked stalls, painted fences, worked on equipment, repaired broken stuff, etc… it was very difficult hands on work of about 70-80 hours a week.  As for my co-pastors: one was a software engineer in the Air Force, one was on a Nuclear sub in the Navy, and one was in construction.  You’re pastors are often men with a great deal of life experience.   Not to mention education.  Did you know your pastors spend on average 3-11 years in post graduate studies!?  In the same amount of time it takes a medical doctor to become a Resident, a pastor is usually graduating their Masters degree program, and that is not because they take forever, it’s because a masters in Divinity is usually 90 + hours long.  To put that in perspective, College degrees are usually 120hrs. So, your pastors are well educated and they typically have a great deal of life experience.

8.  Pastors spend all their time in prayer, fasting, practicing levitation, and glowing with holiness

While many pastors would love to spend the majority of their time in prayer, study, and levitation, bar-none the majority of us are just like everyone else.  We’re normal.  We only levitate when on a plane and only glow if exposed to sever radiation.  We must purse holiness just like everyone else, one day at a time one step at a time.  We must read our Bibles just like everyone else, and we must struggle with what it means to be a follower of Jesus, just like everybody else.

7.  Pastors would be shocked if they really knew you

There is not much you can tell a pastor that will surprise him.  By nature of our careers we are exposed to a great deal of bad things.  So, your struggles are probably not the worst that we have ever heard.  I mean think about it… most of our time is spent counseling people through struggles that are so bad, they cannot be shared.  Most likely you’re not the worst person we are going to deal with.  Also… read number 10.  No matter what good things you do, we know you’re not perfect and what you do does not determine who you are.

6.  Pastors can see into your soul

Totally true… just kidding.  Pastors don’t have special revelation from God, you’re just not that good at hiding stuff.  Seriously, we see past the mask because it is thin, not because we are hearing an audible voice tell us, “Jane Doe did (insert sin here) yesterday!”  Think about it, we spend a great deal of time with people dealing with their junk, therefore we spend a great deal of time reading people who are trying to hide stuff.  That makes us pretty experienced at seeing through the masks.  Besides, if you’d just get over it and be honest, you wouldn’t have to hide and we could help each other deal with our sins a little better.

5.  Pastors don’t work except on Sunday, for youth pastors: Wednesday.

HA!  Most of your pastors work 70 hours a week.  Don’t believe me, ask their kids.  I remember hearing a pastor’s child reminisce about how when they were little Thursday night was their favorite night of the week because Daddy was home!  Did you catch that, Daddy was only home one night out of the week.  This particular pastor went to the church every morning at 8 am, earlier on Sunday, worked until 5pm and then was back at the church every night of the week except Thursday.  So, while there are some pastors that don’t work hard, the majority of us live our lives on a perpetual feeling of “on call.”  Someone gets sick, dies, needs counsel, has relationship problems, needs some potato chips, has a moral question, or is just lonely, and they call us.  Now, just a side note, a smart pastor will teach his congregation that he is not superman and will say no to things, thereby being home more than one night out of a week.  And a smart congregation will make sure he does that.

 4.  The Pastor hates me. 

This one is my favorite.  It’s the biggest lie of all!  This is usually perpetuated by a convicting comment that the pastor made during some sort of sermon or an ideological difference we hold against him.  The pastor doesn’t hate you.  Most likely, he isn’t even thinking of you… sometimes he doesn’t even know you.  I’ll give you five proofs your pastor doesn’t hate you: 1. They haven’t left.  2.  They don’t come talk to you about “problems” they see in your life. 3. They are far too busy trying to deal with other issues to hate you.  4. They prepared that sermon a long time ago.  5. They haven’t left.  So there.  Your pastor’s presence should be proof enough that he doesn’t hate you… at least not enough to leave, which means he doesn’t hate you.

Note: just because your pastor may have left, it’s probably not because he hates you.

 3.  Pastors all love golf, coffee, fishing, and getting up at the crack of dawn.

I don’t know where people get these things!  Well, the fishing thing I can understand…  I mean, the disciples were fishermen, except for 9 of them, but never mind that.  The big three were fishermen: Peter, James, and John.  The other nine professions were just unimportant.  But, back on topic!  I am a pastor, I don’t like any of these things!  I think golf is weird, coffee is gross, fishing smells bad, and no one really likes to get up that early, they just don’t know how to go back to bed (an art that I have mastered!).   So if you want to honor your pastor, think about what he likes.  Don’t just assume he is going to enjoy walking on grass with a skinny stick while sipping hot crude oil and talking about his latest catch at 4am.  For anyone who cares, I like: hot tea, good food, deep conversation, and good books… and late mornings.

2.  Pastors want your money

The truth is: good pastors don’t even like money.  If they did, they would not have entered into a profession in which at one time it was appropriate to offer produce and a cottage (parsonage) in place of salary.  As per number 9 above, most pastors are quite qualified to do something else.  So, if they wanted money, they would do something else.  Now, by way of warning, there are weasel pastors out there who are all about getting your money into their pockets.  The easiest way to root these out is to run into financial trouble at your church and see if they offer to take a pay cut.  Good pastors almost always will go with the pay cut.  Good pastors don’t like to preach on giving.  We feel like it makes us seem like the aforementioned money grubbing weasels (push back your cynical urges to comment).  We would much rather talk about Jesus and His AWESOMENESS!  Yet, the Bible does talk about giving (and so do many church members when giving is down).  So your pastors feel the pressure to teach those things.  But, in all honesty, your pastors don’t like to talk about money and they don’t want yours.  Money just brings complication.

 1. The Pastor is the Superman of the Church!

No one actually says this out loud.  However, you can see it when members of the congregation have questions, or need counseling, or want something from God, or think they are not saved, or think someone else is not saved.  In these situations the members of the congregation run to the pastor.  The trouble is that the pastor is just another member of the congregation who has been set aside to minister to the church, pray, fast, and teach.  Thus, when your pastor is wearing a cape with a big SC (Super Christian) on his chest and proclaims that he is the answer (or at least has all the answers), then he has inadvertently tried to take the attention from the true hero of the church: Jesus.  Your pastor is not supposed to be your hero, he is supposed to point you to The Hero.  I promise you, your pastor will fail you, either on accident or on purpose.  Be ready for it and turn to Jesus before it happens.  Maybe, when we stop exalting pastors to the super hero status, we will learn to walk together and our pastors will stay at one church for more than 3 years (that’s the current average pastoral tenure I’ve heard floating around seminary.).  Maybe we will get back to the days when a pastor stayed at his first church for 30 plus years and then trained his replacement.  Maybe

So those are the lies I thought of.  Are there more I missed?  Comment on them below.

Walking with a Giant

I’m working on a post about lies people believe about pastors…  but feeling the crunch I thought I’d share this one I wrote a while ago.

He was frail and hunched over his cane as he walked.  His steps were small and deliberate, the toil of years in each motion.  He griped the pew at his side for support and I reached to support his arm as we walked to the stage.  Every step seemed to be a struggle, as if he had carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, as some great colossus who had raised the staff in the wilderness providing pathways, water, bread, and victories.  I walked by his side privileged that I was permitted to walk next to him and aid him in the baring of his cup.

When we reached the front, his legs were weary and his eyes near pleading.  “I’m going to need to sit down” he said, almost in an embarrassed tone.  The long walk from the back to the front of the sanctuary was hard on his frail frame.  Quickly I arranged a bench for him to sit on, and he waited his turn to scale the mountain and intercede for those being ordained.

The chairman of deacons and I helped the elderly prophet climb up to the pulpit stage.  At the top, I placed a stool behind him and whispered, “there is a bench if you would like to sit, we’ll move it in front of each man while you pray for them.”  As if he could not hear me he reached his hand out and laid it on the back of the first candidate’s head.  He pulled the man close and prayed with tears pleading for God’s spirit to rest on the man.  Then he would repeat the action for the wife.  Six men in all, he prayed for each in this manner.  I could not hear all that he said, but as he left each man, they seemed acutely aware that some great work had just transpired in front of them.  All six men wept.

The prophet finished his blessing and began the trudge back down the stage heading back to his seat.  As we walked back, I began to realize why this man was so frail.  He had been holding the staff of God in the air for years while the battle raged below.  The evidence of a power beyond the hand of man was upon him and the Spirit of the LORD full in him.

Someone said to me afterwards, “that was a good deed you did helping [the elderly pastor] up there.”  My only response, “no mam, that was a good deed he did, letting me walk with him.”

I can’t help but wonder if Joshua felt this way about Moses toward the end.  Did Joshua stand beside him as he climbed themountainofGodto see into the promised land?  Was he privileged to hold the arm of an ancient warrior of God?  Did he realize the gravity of Spirit that lived in the man he stood next too?  If he did, he had one of the most sobering experiences any man has ever had.

Paper Tigers

I’m at seminary at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Havard Campus in Houston. I spend my day off each week working to study the various languages, and histories, and theologies, and missiologies, and all the other logies you can imagine (hahaha I just said I go to school to study logies). It’s a fun but exhausting experience each week. (I am blessed to be at the Havard Campus, they have FANTASTIC faculty who work there and brilliant pastors who attend there. What follows is in no way a critique of the school. Good? Good.)

As a young seminary student (I’m 30, so I’m no longer the youngest, but still young even though I am often the veteran minister in my class.) I have great conversations about the “church world.” Gregory Boyd, John Piper, Shane Claiborne, N. T. Wright, Mark Driscole, Rob Bell, Voddie Baucham, T.D. Jakes, and the like are constantly set up as examples to build up or tare down.

Now, there is an ease to attacking a celebrity pastor. You don’t have to get to know them, you don’t have to listen to them, and you certainly don’t have to read their books first. You can just assume that they are what you have made them to be in your eyes, or the eyes of the other person from whom you stole your rant. My favorite one to hear people talk about here is the good brother Claiborne. People who claim to have known him will say things like, “that guy talks about living like Jesus, but he is really just self righteous. He is incredibly arrogant!” or “Yeah, I know Shane Claiborne, he’s a nice guy, but he gets a lot wrong.” It’s a bit ridiculous to say things like that, isn’t it? Aren’t you being self-righteous in making the statement? Beside the fact that he is not in the vicinity to defend himself. (The good brother Claiborne is one of the founding members of “the new monasticism, the simple way community in Philadelphia. You can find out more here: www.thesimpleway.org.)

So, I wanted to take a moment to talk about paper tigers…

To be fare, the concept of “paper tiger” is something I learned from my brother while eating lunch. He confessed to setting up one such theologian as his own paper tiger and then proceeded to tear the poor little tiger to pieces. (For the record, while someone may do this occasionally, it does not necessitate them as wrong, it just weakens their argument.)  In further fairness, I set up a lot of paper tigers myself.  I’m trying to do less of that.

To define a paper tiger: A paper tiger is someone who is in a seemingly exalted position who is well known, unable to defend themselves against you (often because of your obscurity), and who your listeners often don’t know personally.

So, if you want to make a paper tiger you need a few things.  One: a theologian/celebrity pastor who is well known but not personally known by your hearers.  Two: a point of view that makes this theologian/celebrity pastor seem frightening and maybe like a three headed monster.  Three: a few quipy cynical remarks that alleviate tension.  Finally: You’ll need a seemingly solid argument, presented against a loose explanation of the scary paper tiger! Throw in there exclamatory statements like, “Really!?” and “That’s just goofy!” for emphasis and humor. It’s also helpful if you can rip quotations out of context to prove your point. (The more ambiguous the quote, the smarter you’ll sound.)

All in all, paper tigers are horrible ways to prove a point. While they make you look and sound smarter than everyone else, one day you’ll have what happened to my good friend at school who shall remain nameless.

STORY TIME:

My friend had masterfully set up his paper tiger in perfect rhetorical style. He spoke with such majestic ambiguity that everyone was trembling in fear of this particular theologian, each one of us trying to imagine how we could defeat the tiger.  My friend made a mistake when he climaxed his argument by using a quote out of context.  I noticed a young man pull out his cell phone and walk away from the conversation for a moment. A few minutes later he came back he quietly ushered my triumphant friend, who was in the midst of receiving the accolades due a man for killing a tiger, off to the side and handed him the phone.  Honestly, how could he have known that one of the guys he was ranting to knew this pastor/theologian personally and would subsequently pull out his cell phone to verify the rant.  Never mind the likelihood that this young defender of the tiger would, in the kindest manner possible, offer to let the young ranter have an opportunity to talk to the real tiger on the phone!?  I watched my friend squirm and respectfully apologize for not understanding.  All in all, it was about 20 minutes of awkward, “uh… well… yes sir… no I didn’t mean it like that… Oh, I hadn’t understood it that way… etc…”

Moral of the story, don’t set up paper tigers, it’s just not smart.  Someday the real tiger might bite you.