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Why I Wrote a Book

Posted in About Restoring Kingdom Builders, Church Conflict, Church Coup Excerpts, Conflict with Church Antagonists, Conflict with Church Board, Conflict with Church Staff, Conflict with the Pastor, Current Church Issues, Pastoral Termination, Personal Stories, tagged , , , , on April 25, 2013| 5 Comments »

Over the past 3 years, I’ve been writing a book on a devastating 50-day conflict that my wife and I experienced in our last church ministry.

The book has now been published by Xulon Press and is titled Church Coup: A Cautionary Tale of Congregational Conflict.

The book is 291 pages long, contains 14 chapters, and has more than 150 endnotes.

Why did it take 3 years?

*Because I wrote 450 pages and had to pare it down.  (You can’t share everything that happened or the book would become unreadable.)

*Because I chose to edit the book myself … and that took twice as long as writing it.

*Because this may be my only shot at writing a book … and I wanted to get it right.

*Because I hoped that the longer I waited, the less painful the recounting of the story would be for everyone involved.

While the first nine chapters are a narrative describing the conflict, the last five chapters analyze what happened and place it in its larger context in the Christian community.

There are models for books like this, such as The Wounded Minister by Guy Greenfield, Too Great a Temptation by Joel Gregory, Why I Stayed by Gayle Haggard, Crying on Sunday by Elaine Onley, as well as the classic Clergy Killers by the late G. Lloyd Rediger.

When I wrote my doctoral dissertation on church antagonism informed by family systems theory, my professional editor could not believe that these kinds of conflicts happen in churches.  Pastors know they occur, as do denominational executives and parachurch leaders, but the average Christian remains unaware of how conflicts begin and are perpetuated.

While pastors and governing boards will profit from the book, I wrote it primarily for lay people, which is why I chose to tell a story.  In fact, I believe that lay people hold the key to preventing and resolving these kinds of conflicts, even when they occur behind closed doors.

Let me make four observations about the book:

It’s personal.  The book is my attempt to share what a pastor goes through when a small minority targets him for removal.  I’m in a unique position to do this because I’ve seen pastors treated this way all my life, starting with my father, who died less than two years after he was forced to resign due to a major conflict in a church he planted.

It’s not possible to lead a large volunteer organization without making occasional missteps, which is why I wrote a chapter called, “Mistakes I Made.”  But I contend that any errors I made were minor and resolvable.  I was not guilty of any major offense and should have been protected against the accusations made against me.

However, some people collected several minor offenses, embellished them, exaggerated their importance, and then accused me of all kinds of wrongdoing.  They chose to elevate their personal agenda over the desires of 95% of the congregation . . . the epitome of selfishness.

While I answer some charges in the book, most could easily have been cleared up if people had simply spoken with me in person.

It’s emotional.  From the beginning, I intended to write a raw book, but after letting some professionals review it, I made modifications.

Because the book rehearses how the conflict affected my wife and me emotionally, there’s a lot of pain involved, which several endorsers noted.  Maybe someday the pain will subside, but from what I understand, it probably never will . . . and not just for us.

That’s why I’ve subtitled the book A Cautionary Tale.  There are lessons we can learn from pain that can’t be learned any other way.

At the eleventh hour, I felt like scrubbing the whole project, but my family cheered me forward.  Why put all that effort into a book and then discard it?  Because I truly don’t wish to hurt anyone or reopen any old wounds.

But if you write about the crucifixion, you have to talk about Pilate, and Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin, and Peter’s denials, and Judas’ betrayal.  There’s no way around it.

So I tried to put as much distance between me and those who attacked me as possible.  I don’t name the church or its community, and I give aliases to those who were integrally involved in the conflict.  Whenever I could advance the narrative without mentioning people by name, I did, and as often as possible, I attribute actions and decisions to groups rather than individuals.

In addition, I purposely tried not to attack anyone either personally or professionally.  While I vehemently disagreed with many decisions that were made, I try to express myself with grace.

A major conflict surfaces a range of feelings that you can’t conceal.  Before and during Jesus’ crucifixion, He experienced sorrow, depression, agony, abandonment, betrayal, and shock.

In the same way – but to a far lesser degree – there is no way to tell this story without relating strong emotions, especially outrage.  Since I’m a thinker more than a feeler, my account is usually restrained – but not always.

It’s prescriptive.  At the end of each of the first 11 chapters, I offer suggestions as to how to prevent these kinds of conflicts from happening in churches.  I offer counsel to pastors, governing leaders, and lay people alike.  The book is not so much a “look how much I suffered” lament as it is an attempt to point out mistakes that were made to help Christian leaders and churches handle these situations better in the future.

Paul wrote letters to 7 churches and 2 ministry leaders in the New Testament.  His letters to Timothy and Titus were for their eyes only.  But books like Romans and 1 and 2 Corinthians and Ephesians and Colossians were written to congregations and intended to be read aloud to affect the behavior of entire assemblies . . . and Paul often instructs them concerning how to handle the conflicts in their midst.

There’s so little in print on dealing with these challenges.  So the book’s last chapter deals with the problem of pastoral termination.  I offer prescriptions for eradicating this plague that causes at least 1,500 pastors per month to leave church ministry . . . often for good.

It’s redemptive.  While God did not cause this conflict, He did permit it.  After Joseph encountered his brothers in Egypt, he told them, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”

Much of my ministry in the days to come will be focused on helping congregations prevent these kinds of conflicts.  They are inherently destructive to churches, pastors, boards, and churchgoers alike.  (In fact, there isn’t one instance in the New Testament where churchgoers try to destroy one of their leaders.)

In my introduction, I quote Rick Warren – who is going through his own period of suffering right now – from his bestseller The Purpose Driven Life:

“God intentionally allows you to go through painful experiences to equip you for ministry to others . . . . The very experiences that you have resented or regretted most in life – the ones you’ve wanted to hide and forget – are the experiences God wants to use to help others. They are your ministry! For God to use your painful experiences, you must be willing to share them. You have to stop covering them up, and you must honestly admit your faults, failures, and fears. Doing this will probably be your most effective ministry.”

This book is my attempt to carry out Rick’s words.  In fact, I felt that God was compelling me to write it.

If you’d like to buy Church Coup, you can order it at our website at www.restoringkingdombuilders.org

And if you find the book helpful, I’d appreciate it if you would tell others about it.

May God richly bless you, and remember the wisdom of Romans 12:18:

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

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Viewing Your Family … and Church … as a System

Posted in Change and Conflict in Church, Church Conflict, Church Health and Conflict, Conflict with the Pastor, Current Church Issues, Pastoral Termination, tagged , , , , on April 10, 2013| 5 Comments »

When I was ten years old, my friend Steve invited me to spend a Friday night at his house.  It was an experience I’ve never forgotten.

We flipped baseball cards … slept in the living room in separate sleeping bags … and ate toast with an egg in the middle for breakfast.

I had never flipped cards before … slept somewhere in total darkness … or had anything other than pancakes for breakfast on a Saturday.

For the first time I could recall, I realized that the way someone’s family did things was vastly different than mine.

Families not only have systems … families are systems … and family systems theory teaches that every group or organization operates like a family.

Let me make several observations about family systems:

First, the way our family of origin operated seems normal to us.

I grew up without color TV.  To me, watching a black-and-white television was normal.

But when I watched television at someone else’s house, they invariably did have a color set.

In fact, it’s only when we visit the homes of friends that we discover that everyone is not like us … but it’s not easy to shake family culture.

Remember the old TV show The Munsters?  Whenever Marilyn Munster brought home a guy to meet her family, he’d scream and run away.

The Munsters assumed that they were normal and that Marilyn’s boyfriend was the weird one.

And yet to those outside the family … including TV viewers … Marilyn was the only normal member of the family.  It was the rest of the Munsters who were weird.

This same dynamic happens in our churches as well.

After a while, we become so accustomed to the way things are done that we just accept things rather than try and change things.

My wife and I recently visited a church where the music was really bad.  It was obvious to us … but not to church leaders.

They accepted it because it had gone on for so long that it became normal … and yet the music was killing their attendance.

What they needed was for someone from the outside to help them see the problem … if they had the courage to solicit help.  However:

Second, families search for scapegoats when things go wrong.

My wife and I once lived in a place that shared a wall with a family.  We got along fine with them, but on occasion, we could hear blood-curdling screams coming through the wall.

The screams came from a female teenager who had seemed to have some serious life issues that disrupted her family’s tranquility.

Several times, this girl’s parents sent her away for various forms of rehabilitation.  Each time, she thrived in her new surroundings, and was deemed well enough to return home.

But each time she came back, she slipped into her former behavior.

The simplest way to deal with this situation was for the other family members to blame the girl entirely for the way she was disrupting their family.  After all, the screaming stopped when she wasn’t around.

In fact, this is the way that many families handle matters when one family member’s behavior seems intractable: the others blame every family issue on the one who’s acting out.

In our quick-fix culture, organizations … which all operate like families … have a tendency to blame problems on just one person.

*If a sports team isn’t winning, the general manager fires the coach … but some teams fire coach after coach and never improve.

*If a company’s profits are down, the board cans the CEO … but sometimes the entire organization is 20 years behind the curve.

*If donations are down, some churches remove the pastor … only to find giving continuing to slide under the next pastor.

Sometimes in our anxiety, even Christians forget that Jesus was crucified, not because He had done anything wrong … but because the system of His day demanded a scapegoat.  And yet:

Finally, it’s far more productive to treat the whole family system when things get unhealthy.

When the girl in the above story was away from her family, she did well … but when she was with her family, she regressed.

Most likely, the problems in that family weren’t due entirely to her … they were due to her family system.

So instead of sending just her to counseling, the entire family needed to go … but first, they needed to become convinced that they were part of the problem … and pride makes that a tough sell.

In the language of family systems theory, this girl had become the identified patient, or the family scapegoat.

By blaming her for the family’s problems, the others didn’t have to think about making changes in the family system … or in their own lives.

Many churches do the same thing.  They hire a pastor … and then fire him.  They hire another … and soon afterward let him go … time after time.

Most pastors can readily tell that a church suffers from a serious pathology.  But every time he attempts to point out problems and resolve issues, he becomes a threat to the current system … so he has to go.

The church at Corinth was like that … as was the church in Galatia.

So when Paul wrote his letters to those churches, he didn’t address the pastor or lay leaders … he intended that his epistles be read to the entire congregation.

Let me be blunt: there are many churches in this world where the problem isn’t the pastor … it’s several individuals or a group that doesn’t want the church to change.

Because as long as the church maintains the status quo, they maintain their level of power.

But if the church did change, these powerbrokers would be forced to reflect on their own lives, confess their sins, and get right with God … and quit blaming all their church’s problems on their pastor.

When Israel continually rebelled against Moses in the wilderness, the people demanded new leadership on multiple occasions.

But God didn’t immediately fire Moses and replace him with Joshua.

No, God stuck with Moses.  In fact, it wasn’t Moses whose heart needed to change … it was the heart of the people.  God had to kill off an entire generation before he could let Israel into the Promised Land.

Let me summarize this post by posing three sets of questions:

*How healthy is your family of origin?  Your church?

*How often do people at home or at church blame others for problems rather than look at themselves?

*What might be the best way to help your family or your congregation become healthier?

 

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Making Every Sunday Easter

Posted in Change and Conflict in Church, Current Church Issues, tagged , , , on April 1, 2013| 4 Comments »

My wife and I attended a terrific Easter service yesterday at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California.

Thousands of people attended.  We sang praise songs to the risen Christ … witnessed a multi-sensory video/dance presentation … heard a biblical message on the resurrection followed by a moving testimony … and witnessed baptisms when the service ended.

Because most churches expect they’ll have a larger-than-normal crowd on Easter, everyone goes all out.  There’s an organized clean-up day on Saturday … people bring Easter lilies on Sunday … the worship team plans a special song … the pastor spends extra time on his message … and the congregation leaves feeling upbeat and hopeful.

But ironically, the following Sunday is one of the worst-attended services of the year … presumably because many people have now accomplished half of their annual Easter/Christmas assignment.

But what if a church acted like every Sunday was Easter?

Theologically, most of us know that the early Christians changed their day of worship from the last day of the week to the first day because Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday.

But too many churches – as I have witnessed during recent visits – put little effort into planning their regular services.

It’s 3 praise/worship songs for 15 minutes … followed by a greeting time/announcements/the offering … followed by the pastor’s message and a final song/benediction.

This is the basic order of service in about 75% of the churches I’ve visited over the past 40 months.

On Easter … Christians pull out all the stops.  On the other 51 Sundays, it’s business as usual … with the possible exception of a special service around December 25.

No wonder some people only come to church on Easter and Christmas!  Those are the only occasions the average church tries to do anything out of the ordinary.

How can a church make every Sunday Easter?

Let me make four quick recommendations:

First, the pastor has to become integrally involved in the planning of every service.

A pastor can’t delegate worship planning to someone else … and he can’t plan a worship service by himself, either.

There was a time 25+ years ago when I planned all the services at my church unilaterally … then I led the entire service myself, including the singing, testimony time, prayers, and sermons.

I was too lazy or busy to consult with others about the service week-after-week.  But I would work with others on Easter Sunday … and those were always the best services.

Hmmm.

The pastor may be a trained “professional,” but he needs input from others to offer services that will reach both men and women … young and old … and believers and unbelievers.

And he has to learn to value people who think differently than he does.

While pastors need to have the final say on every element in a service … and the congregation expects that he will …  this kind of planning requires getting key leaders together several times a month … and it’s essential if a church wants to make every Sunday Easter.

Second, the service has to be rehearsed.

No, a church service isn’t a show … but Jesus Christ deserves our best efforts … and that means working out the bugs before going prime time.

For the first 1/3 of my pastoral ministry, the churches I served didn’t rehearse any of their services.  If someone was going to sing a solo, they’d meet with their accompanist privately, but no provision was made for handling transitions (where to sit, when to come to the stage, how to hold the microphone, where to walk off).  Consequently, many service elements ended up being handled awkwardly … causing the congregation to cringe.

I remember the day it all changed for me.

I met with the leader of our worship band to plan the Easter service.  He had great ideas.  Then a few days before Easter, the entire service was rehearsed … from beginning to end.

After my message that Easter, three people prayed to receive Christ … an unusual event at the time.

Afterwards, a young teenager came up to me and said: “That was the best church service I’ve ever attended!  If I lived around here, I would go to this church.”

Bingo!  I realized that we needed to take our services up about five levels … and the best way to do that was to plan and rehearse every service.

That will make every Sunday Easter.

Third, the topics have to relate to people’s everyday lives.

I know a church where they offer a traditional service and a contemporary service.

The traditional service is aimed at seniors … and the place is fairly full.

The contemporary service is aimed at younger people … and the place is largely empty.

Why?  Because the pastor preaches through entire books of the Bible … and he doesn’t do it well enough to capture the interest of people under 40.

Many pastors … and I include myself … were trained to be expository preachers.  We delight in preaching through Deuteronomy or Ezra or Ephesians or Hebrews.

In fact, the more challenging text, the better!

During the week, we study the text … gather our commentaries … scratch out an outline … and put together our message.  On Sunday, we stand up to preach.

But let’s be honest … very few pastors are great expositors.

I once preached through 2 Chronicles.  I found it fascinating … and emptied out half the church in the process.

I have a pastor friend who can take a Bible chapter, a single verse, or any topic and hold your attention for a solid hour … but he’s a rarity.

In my view, most pastors should speak topically … just like Jesus did.  While Jesus gave biblically-based messages, most of his sermons were topical … like the Sermon on the Mount.  He dealt with contemporary issues in the culture and the religious sphere – holding the attention of His hearers – and constantly brought them back to Old Testament texts.

And Jesus constantly told stories … and yet my guess is that about 1/3 of the pastors I’ve heard preach recently didn’t tell one story.

There’s a time to go through books of the Bible – maybe in a small group, or at a midweek study – but fewer people than ever are going to church in this country.

Maybe we need to change the way we teach before they’ll even consider coming … just like we do on Easter.

Finally, we need to speak in a language our culture can understand.

My wife and I attended a Good Friday service last week.  While the pastor conducted the service, he didn’t preach.  Instead, the “message” was a monologue presented by the centurion who stood by the cross when Jesus was crucified.

While I would have preferred at least a dialogue … the centurion could have been interviewed on a first-century talk show, for example … I give that church an “A” for understanding how to speak to our culture.

Most churches in our day have a band … and the pastor uses PowerPoint in some form … but we can do so much more with our services to draw lost people toward Jesus.

In my view:

*We need more testimonies (in person or on video).  These can be done as monologues or as interviews.

*We need more presentation songs.  I can’t understand the aversion that churches have to asking gifted vocalists to sing solos.  Yes, it’s a lot of work … but it’s worth it.  (Our home church in Arizona still does 1-2 presentation songs every weekend.)

*We need more creative Scripture reading and more meaningful times of prayer (don’t we believe in the priesthood of all believers?).

*We need to produce more in-house videos.  I know a church full of seniors where they’re more advanced in using video technology than most churches filled with GenXers!

*We need to move people both spiritually and emotionally.  (I cried my way through “Don’t You Hear the Mountains Tremble” at yesterday’s Easter service because it’s the first time I’ve ever heard that song done in a worship service.)

And friends, let’s be honest: strong left-brained pastors … and I include myself … aren’t very good at moving people emotionally.

This is why pastors need to work with more creative right-brained people.

Reaching people for Jesus starts with presenting Christ in a creative, authentic, relevant, and excellent fashion.

But too often, we’re just talking to ourselves … and not making a dent in fulfilling the Great Commission.

But if we’ll make the effort, we can turn every Sunday into Easter.

And people will come.  People most certainly will come.

And they will find Jesus Christ … who can make every day of our lives Easter.

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Who is Your Lord: Culture or Jesus?

Posted in Change and Conflict in Church, Current Church Issues, tagged , , , , on March 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Jesus Christ is my Savior.

He was executed on a Roman cross twenty centuries ago.  That’s history.

But I also believe He died for me.  That’s faith.

When Jesus rose from the dead, He conquered death … and sin … and hell … and Satan.

And in the process, He become Lord of All.

So when Jesus became my Savior, He also became my Lord … my Director … my Benevolent Master.  Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

This is why the New Testament so often refers to “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  In this context, the word “Lord” refers to Jesus not only as our Director, but more importantly, as God.

And when Jesus taught, He was speaking the very words of God.

Whenever He engaged in debate with the Jewish leaders, He quoted the Old Testament as the final arbiter for His followers.

And when He selected the apostles, He made provision for the writing of the New Testament … mostly written by His apostles Matthew, John, Paul, Peter, and John.

There are two ways to look at Jesus’ relationship to the Bible:

One way is to start with the Bible and then embrace Jesus by saying, “I believe the Bible is the Word of God and that the Gospel writers accurately reported what Jesus did and said.”

Another way is to start with Jesus and say, “I believe Jesus is my Savior and Lord and that I adopt His view of the Scriptures … that they are divinely-inspired and authoritative for all His followers.”

Jesus does not allow us to say, “I will receive you as Savior, but not as Lord.”

But that’s exactly what too many professing Christians are doing right now with gay marriage … or as the culture puts it … marriage equality.

Christians today seem to want all the privileges of salvation without embracing any of the responsibilities of discipleship.

(If you’d like, you can read what I wrote about this issue last May: https://blog.restoringkingdombuilders.org/2012/05/10/thoughts-on-gay-marriage/)

I expect the culture to cave on this issue.  I expect secular politicians, entertainers, commentators, and justices to wilt … and I expect the Republican party to cave as well, guaranteeing they they’ll lose future elections by even larger margins.

Like you, I know all the arguments for and against gay marriage.

But it grieves my soul … almost to the point of torment … to hear professing Christians – especially Christian leaders – cave on this issue as well.

Because for a follower of Jesus, this is about one thing and one thing only:

Is Jesus your Lord or not?

If not, just declare that you have given yourself the right to pick and choose which commandments of Jesus you will obey:

Adultery?  Since it’s so prevalent, it must now be relevant.

Stealing?  Must be permissible in certain situations.

Idolatry?  What an archaic viewpoint!

Murder?  Well, that’s wrong … unless we’re killing a fetus with a heartbeat, in which case it’s perfectly permissible.

Because too many Christians are living like this already, the church in America is losing its voice … its nerve … and its impact.

But if Jesus is your Lord … if you sincerely seek to follow Him … if you believe that Jesus’ words truly set people free … then what will you do with His words in Matthew 19:4-6?  Jesus said:

“Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’  So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

Four points:

*Jesus quotes from Genesis 2:24, the definitive and authoritative biblical text on marriage.  Paul, the Christian apostle, cites Genesis 2:24 as the basis for marriage in Ephesians 5:31.

Jesus the Christ … Moses the Lawgiver … and Paul the apostle … all agree on the importance of this verse for marriage.  That’s a pretty powerful trio … and I’d rather follow their wisdom than that of Beyoncé, Bill O’Reilly, or Barack Obama.

*This directive is trans-cultural.  Jesus doesn’t cite a poll or an article in the Jerusalem Journal.  He goes back to the beginning … back to creation … back to the loving and wise intentions of God the Father.

Marriage is a gift from God to human beings.  Animals don’t get married.  Stars and plants and rocks aren’t capable of a lifetime commitment of love.

*The verse does not envision or permit marriage between two men or two women.  3,500 years of orthodox Judaism and 2,000 years of Christianity both recognize this fact … as well as the teachings of Islam and Mormonism.

If God intended men to marry men and women to marry women, He had 1,500 years to state His viewpoint while the Bible was being written.  But rather than change His position, He solidified it over time.

And He isn’t issuing any new Scriptures.

*God’s ideal for the family is for two heterosexuals to marry each other … for two heterosexuals to be parents … and for two heterosexuals to produce children.

I think most “Christians” who applaud gay marriage are just jumping on the cultural bandwagon.  It’s a way to feel cool … to brand oneself as open-minded and progressive … to feel real empathy for people who wish to live in a committed relationship.

I get all of that.

But most of us don’t realize where this is headed.

Because “marriage equality” will prove to be a Trojan Horse inside Jesus’ church:

*Bible versions may have to be rewritten.  The words of Moses and Jesus and Paul may have to be changed to reflect this reality.

In fact, entire sections of Scripture – like 1 Corinthians 7 – may have to undergo extensive revision.  Some people will insist on it … and even take Bible publishers to court.

And some parts of the Bible may either have to be rewritten or eliminated because they “offend” certain people.

I’ve heard the argument, “How will two people who love each other and want to get married hurt you?”

But where will this end?  Based upon the evolution of people’s position on this issue, it won’t end until everyone in the culture is forced to recognize “marriage equality.”

*Jesus’ views on marriage (as expressed in the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 19) may be branded as archaic and even dangerous.

Pastors may not be able to quote from Matthew 19:4-6 at wedding ceremonies because Jesus doesn’t discuss the possibility of “marriage equality.”

And the words of Moses and Paul on marriage may be branded as bigoted … unenlightened … irrelevant … and hostile.

After all, doesn’t culture know best … even better than the “Son of God?”

*Pastors and churches will be sued (this has already started to happen) for not marrying gay couples.

What Uncle Sam has given … Uncle Sam will be happy to take away.

And just like in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and China today, the day is coming when churches will have to register with the government … and if churches don’t comply, they will be closed down and their pastors will be arrested.

Will you decide to speak up then?

In fact, what do Christian pastors in America believe anymore?  Do they still believe in the Lordship of Christ?  If so, why aren’t they equipping their congregations to handle these issues?

When is the last time your pastor addressed this issue publicly?  If not, why not?

But the silence coming from our pulpits is deafening … and we’re conceding the issue without a struggle … demonstrating to the culture that Christians are pushovers who lack the courage of their convictions.

We may have already lost the fight about “marriage equality” in the culture … but God’s people cannot acquiesce or approve of it inside our churches.

This issue of gay marriage isn’t just about gays or marriage.

For Christians, it’s about the Lordship of Christ, the infallibility of God’s written Word, and the right of Christians to hold and express our faith without government interference.

As Peter and John told the Jewish Supreme Court when ordered to shut up in Acts 5:29:

“We must obey God rather than men!”

Jesus is my Lord.

If you’re a Christ-follower, is He yours?

Or is culture your Lord?

It’s your call.

And the decision you make – and the way you arrive at that decision – will determine the influence of the Christian church for years to come.

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Should Pastors Know What Leaders Give?

Posted in Church Health and Conflict, Current Church Issues, tagged , , , on March 22, 2013| 2 Comments »

I was a pastor for 36 years.  During that time, I never wanted to know how much churchgoers gave to the church.

Why not?

Because I didn’t want the amount people gave to influence the way I served them.

If someone who was poor went to the hospital, I didn’t want to think, “They don’t give much to the church, so I won’t see them.”

There’s a difference of opinion on this matter among pastors.

I’ve read that about half of all pastors know how much people from their church give.  The pastor enters his office on Monday morning and reviews computer records stating who gave how much at the previous weekend’s services.

Pastors who access this information argue that it’s tremendously helpful.  For example, if a family has stopped giving, maybe they’re having job or financial issues, and the pastor can reach out to them.

More ominously, a family that stops giving may be angry with the pastor or the church and may be hoping to (a) influence church policy, or even (b) eventually get rid of the pastor.  Withholding giving may be an early warning sign of trouble.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to know what everybody is giving.

But a pastor absolutely needs to know about the giving patterns of key church leaders … especially members of the staff and board … and preferably before they become church leaders.

Years ago, a district minister told me that when he was a pastor, and he was considering someone as a board member, he first checked with the financial secretary to discover that person’s giving pattern.

If the person was a generous giver (what looked like a tithe), he’d be considered for the governing board.  If he wasn’t a generous giver, his name would be dropped from consideration.

From what I understand, this is standard practice among growing, impactful churches.

Why is this important?

First, church leaders are required to set an example for the rest of the church.

If they’re giving generously, they’ll communicate that to their social network … and challenge their friends to follow their giving example.

But if they aren’t giving generously – or at all – they will also communicate their non-giving in subtle ways.

I heard Bill Hybels speak on giving several times, and during his message, he invited his listeners at Willow Creek to look at his checkbook after the service to see if he was practicing what he was preaching.

Following his example, I issued the same challenge whenever I preached on giving.

Wouldn’t it be great if the pastoral staff and governing board of your church did the same thing?  At the end of a service on giving one Sunday, the pastor and leadership team could all stand at the front of the worship center with their checkbooks open, as if to tell the people of their church, “As your leaders, you can follow our example of generosity.”

After all, doesn’t 1 Peter 5:2-4 state that spiritual leaders should not be “greedy for money” but “examples to the flock?”

And how can leaders let people know they’re generous givers unless the leaders tell them?

Second, church leaders need to invest in advancing Christ’s kingdom locally.

When a leader gives abundantly to his church, he’s saying, “I believe in what we’re doing and where we’re going.  I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is.”  By investing his money, he’s investing himself.

But when a leader isn’t giving, he’s implicitly communicating, “I’m not behind our pastor or our vision.”  In that sense, withholding giving can become a subversive action.

And yet, in staff and board meetings, whenever the topic of money comes up, the other leaders assume that every leader present supports the ministry financially … but nobody is going to confess that they don’t.

Jesus put it clearly in the Sermon on the Mount: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

If your treasure is all at home, that’s where your heart will be.  If some of your treasure is at church, your heart will follow.

By the way, many people assume that a pastor listens attentively to the desires of the large givers in a church, while ignoring the pleas of sparse givers.  But some wealthy believers are up to their neck in debt and give little to their church, while some relatively poor people faithfully give a tithe.

In fact, I cannot ever remember a time when someone in a church threatened to my face to give or not give funds.

Third, church leaders are the ones making financial decisions for the rest of the church.

Generous givers know from personal experience that when they give to God, He is likely to replenish those funds.  They’ll treat church funds the same way.

Stingy givers are making a silent confession that they don’t trust God in their personal life … and that lack of trust will eventually manifest itself when money is discussed at church meetings.

Pastors don’t want non-givers making decisions about church budgets involving hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Non-giving leaders will usually want to curtail spending because they assume everyone is like them.  They say through their attitudes, “Money is god.  If we don’t have the money, let’s not spend anything.”

But generous leaders are more likely to say, “The Lord is our God.  Money is not god … it’s just a tool.  If God is telling us to do something, let’s step out in faith and do it, trusting Him to take care of our church.”

The phrase on our coinage says, “In God we trust.”  But I’ve met my share of church leaders who trust gold far more than God.

Because most Christians rarely discuss their finances or giving with others, some believers like to quote Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:3-4: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.  Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Jesus says, “Don’t call attention to your giving or brag about it.”  But Jesus never says we can’t discuss it with our family or friends or fellow believers!

In fact, Jesus did discuss other people’s giving with His disciples.  Mark 12:41 says:  “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.  Many rich people threw in large amounts.”

Then Jesus noticed a widow who deposited two small copper coins … and called over His disciples to discuss her generosity.

Jesus noticed and discussed how much other people gave with His disciples.

And it seems to me that parents should talk about their giving with their kids … veteran believers with new believers … and current leaders with prospective ones.

Let me put it bluntly:

Church leaders who are generous givers are the ones who stand behind their church and their pastor when crises come.  They’re invested.

Church leaders who are miserly givers are the ones who bail on their church and their pastor when things go south.  They’re not invested.

I can tell you from personal experience: it’s better never to let non-givers into leadership.

And if that reduces the size of the church staff and governing board, so be it.

Because every healthy, growing church is led by generous, obedient leaders.

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They’re in Every Church!

Posted in Church Conflict, Conflict with the Pastor, Current Church Issues, tagged , , , on March 13, 2013| 2 Comments »

After visiting 50 or so churches over the past several years, I have come to a startling conclusion:

You’ll find the same problem people in every church … they just have different faces and names.

If you stay in the same church for years, you may not understand this phenomenon, but it’s all too real … and would make a great doctoral study!

Let me share five kinds of people you’ll find in every church … three this time, two next time:

First, you’ll find the Protestant Pope.  No puffs of white smoke emerged from the church chimney when this person assumed leadership.  No cardinals dressed in red voted him into office.

But every Protestant church seems to have its own unelected, unofficial lay Pope.

This person once sensed God calling him into ministry.  He may have gone to Bible school or seminary.  Many of these popes are proudly self-taught.

But while they may know Scripture and theology … and the history of their particular church … this does not mean they know how everything at their church should be done.

But boy, do they have an opinion on matters … along with a handful of followers who genuflect at their every utterance.

There are benevolent popes … like the one who encouraged me as a seminarian and gave me cassettes of Christian speakers along with assorted books.

And there are dictatorial popes … like the one who led his Sunday School class out of the church to form a new church … hoping he would become its pastor.  (Didn’t fly.)

While it’s usually wise for the lead pastor to form a relationship with this local church pontiff, pastors tend to be wary of popes … and with good reason.

Who is the unelected Pope at your church?

Second, you’ll find the saboteur.  This person delights in wrecking the plans of a church’s top leaders.

I’ve been watching 43-year-old episodes of the TV show Mission Impossible recently.  (Productive values aside … a lot of their sets look like they’re from the back buildings at the Paramount lot … the show could be fun.)

The missions that Jim Phelps and his team always accepted usually had to do with sabotaging the plans of some third world dictator.  They were to steal a notebook … stage a small coup … capture a list … usually right under the nose of the bad guys.

The MIF team were saboteurs … but they did it to preserve freedom.

However, a local church saboteur seeks to enslave churchgoers.

Their mission … and they always accept it … is to thwart the plans of the lead pastor in any way possible.

Many years ago, the leaders at my church all agreed on a course of action.  I asked a staffer to complete an assignment by a certain deadline.

This person not only failed to carry out the assignment … they collaborated with someone else to sabotage the whole project.

They didn’t agree with the project … and neither did their small group of friends … so they resisted in a passive-aggressive fashion.  (Someone also needs to do a doctoral study on the use of passive-aggressiveness among Christians.)

Saboteurs can be former pastors … or staff members … or office managers … or a pastor’s predecessors.

Or board members.

Saboteurs usually don’t have ideas of their own for growing a ministry … they just seek to slow or stop the pastor’s ideas.

It’s one thing to tell a pastor, “I’m not convinced this is the best way to handle this situation.  Here’s my idea.”

It’s another thing to feign support while in the pastor’s presence and then seek to undermine his God-given vision in the church parking lot.

Who are the saboteurs in your church?

Third, you’ll find Mr. Businessman.  This person either runs their own business or has attained a prominent position in their own company.

This person is convinced that the church needs to be run like a secular business … where decisions are made quickly, unproductive leaders are removed, and money is the bottom line.

And for Mr. Businessman, the church is all about money.

If lives are changed, but the church is falling behind the budget, Mr. Businessman deems the church … and the pastor … a failure.

If the budget is being reached, but little at church is happening, Mr. Businessman views the church as a qualified success.

I’ve searched the New Testament in vain for even one church whose value system was based on this business approach.

Years ago, Christian leader Fred Smith said that a church is not a business … but it shouldn’t be run like a bad business.  I agree.

I thank God for all the godly and wise businesspeople I’ve met in my 36 years of church ministry.  I admired their expertise and their knowledge of high finance.

But the best business leaders I’ve worked with (a) put God first in their lives, (b) apply Scripture to their own lives, (c) are generous givers, (d) support their pastor, and (e) know that money is a tool … not a god.

The worst business leaders I’ve worked with (a) put money first, (b) refuse to support their pastor, (c) give little to the ministry, (d) fail to apply Scripture to life, and (e) put God 3rd or 6th or 8th in their lives, not first.

Who is Mr. Businessman at your church?

Before I compose my next article … I’m open to taking nominations online.

What kind of problem people will you find in every church?

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The Benefits of Hiring an Older Pastor

Posted in Church Health and Conflict, Current Church Issues, tagged on March 6, 2013| 7 Comments »

If a church is seeking to hire a new pastor, how old should he be?

Based on what I’m seeing in the Christian community these days, most churches are looking to hire pastors who are 35-50 years of age.  In fact, I recently saw an ad where a church stated they preferred candidates ages 30 to 50.  (Isn’t it illegal to advertise the age you’re seeking?)

This trend is understandable.  Someone in that 20-year age span probably:

*has started a family.

*has completed his education.

*is in good health and possesses loads of energy.

*knows technology and social media.

*can reach younger families.

*understands popular culture and its language.

*intends to stay for many years.

I was ordained at age 26 and became a solo pastor at age 27.  Although my pastor felt I was ready to lead a church, I wanted to wait until I was 30.

In retrospect, I wish I’d become an associate pastor for 2-3 years before becoming a pastor.  The jump from youth pastor to pastor is quite a leap.

From ages 27-35, I got beat up … a lot.  Every other Monday, I wanted to resign.  Maybe this is why 70% of seminary grads quit the ministry 5 years after leaving school.  Church ministry is hard work … and can be soul-damaging.

But the best years of my ministry started when I was 35 … unlike most athletes, who are washed up by that age.

However, once a pastor passes 50 years of age … some would say 55 … it’s very difficult to be hired by a church.  Why?

*The pastor’s kids may have grown up and left home … and some churches want a pastor with kids.

*A pastor 50+ is probably slowing down and lacks the energy of his youth.

*An unspoken concern is that an older pastor may become chronically ill or even die due to ministry stress.  (I knew a church where the pastor had a heart attack and it took him 9 months to recover.)

*There may be concerns that an older pastor won’t be able to relate to youth or younger families.

*And the perception is that an older pastor may be set in his ways.

However, I believe that many churches could benefit from hiring older pastors … those 50 and up.  Examples:

*My mother’s church in Arizona hired a pastor who was 58.  The church has grown significantly, having just remodeled their worship center.

*A long-time friend and college classmate – who is in his late 50s – was recently hired as pastor of a church in New England.

*Another friend and seminary classmate became a pastor in his fifties … he’s almost 60 now … and the church he leads is growing like crazy.

*The pastor of the church we attended in Arizona … one of America’s best churches … is in his sixties.

*A pastor whose church I visited in Arizona leads a church for seniors … and he’s having the time of his life!

In fact, many pastors enjoy their best years after age 50.

What are the benefits of hiring an older pastor?

*He knows his God-given calling, temperament, and giftedness and so is more secure with himself.  Many younger pastors struggle for years trying to figure these things out … and some never do.

*He knows that he doesn’t have the energy to do everything … a temptation most younger pastors have … so he chooses to share the ministry with other gifted staff and leaders.

*He has a 20-30 year history of knowing what works and doesn’t work in church ministry … so he can focus on what works instead.

*He may not need to be paid as much as a younger pastor.  (He may not need as big a home, but he does need medical insurance!)

*He isn’t shocked by the misbehavior of Christians … has been through most life experiences … and has developed a compassionate heart.

*He isn’t as anxious or impatient as many younger pastors are … and these traits have a calming effect on the entire church.

Contrary to popular perception, many older pastors do use social media … and keep up with the culture well … and love all forms of music (rock included) … and are very healthy … and would be willing to make ministry commitments of 5-10 years.  In fact, I’ve been told that some churches prefer to hire an older, “bridge” pastor for 5-7 years before hiring someone younger.

Hiring a pastor … just like anyone else … all comes down to fit.

In many situations, a younger pastor works best.

But for other scenarios, an older pastor might be optimal.

Why should a church consider an older pastor?

I’d love to hear your reasons!

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Risking It All for Jesus, Finale

Posted in Change and Conflict in Church, Church Health and Conflict, Current Church Issues, Personal Stories, tagged , , , , on January 25, 2013| 1 Comment »

Want to know a dirty little secret about large churches?

Many of them … if not most of them … grow because they’re far better at reaching the already-saved than spiritually lost people.

I once heard a nationally-known pastor confess that after 15 years of ministry, the next thing his church was going to focus on was evangelism.  A friend who attended that church told me that 98% of all their new members were Christians who came from other area fellowships.

If that’s ministry success, then maybe Jesus should have stated the Great Commission this way:

“Therefore invite disciples from smaller churches to your church, baptizing them and teaching them so they can pad the membership roster and turn your ministry into a megachurch.”

But, of course, Jesus’ Commission is to “make disciples of all nations [people groups]” … and making disciples always begins with bringing people into a relationship with Christ first.

As I mentioned in my last article, I came to a place in my life nearly 25 years ago where I saw that the gather/scatter philosophy was not working.  (The church gathers for worship on Sundays and then scatters for evangelism during the week.)

No matter how many times I told people to share their faith … or trained them how to do it … few if anybody ever did it.

(Is it because Christians can’t answer the objections of secular people?  Because we’re not filled with the Spirit?  Because we don’t make time for spiritual discussions?  Or because we don’t think anybody is really going to hell?)

Whatever the reason, I learned that 85% of all churches are either stagnant or declining, while only 15% are growing … and many growing churches are simply siphoning off believers from smaller churches.

I can tell you the day things changed for me.

A pastor friend loaned me four tapes of some talks given by Bill Hybels.  By the second tape, I was in tears.  Bill said that a high school football player at his church was so excited about their services that he reserved an entire row for members of his football squad to join him.

I wanted to be in a church like that!

So after much prayer, research, and discussion, the church I led voted to sell our property … all 1.8 acres of it … and used the proceeds to start over in a light industrial building several miles away.

In the process, we took some major risks, convinced that God was leading us:

*It was risky to sell our property… some experts advised against it … but the place had run its course.  It was time to try something new.

*It was risky to convert a warehouse into a worship center … but when it was done, it felt like heaven on earth.

*It was risky to start a new church with a group of 50 veteran Christians … but they made a great core group for a new church.

*It was risky to let a cautious, seminary-trained pastor lead such a venture … but I was able to make the transition, even though it took time.

But taking risks for Jesus is never easy, and we paid many prices:

*We sensed strong spiritual opposition constantly.

*We were continually hassled by the building department.

*We were cheated by our contractor, who charged us three times what that remodeling project should have cost.

*We kept setting and missing deadlines for our grand opening service … seven deadlines, in fact.

*We constantly battled discouragement because the remodeling project went so slowly.

One night, we took a risk and planned a concert with a well-known Christian artist for a Sunday evening.  The concert could only come off if we obtained our conditional use permit.

We finally obtained it the Friday before … with a few minutes to spare.

400 people attended that concert … one of the greatest nights of my life.

And one month later, when our church officially opened to the public, we had 311 people at our first service.

God performed miracle after miracle for our church.  Unbelievable stuff.

Many people came to faith in Christ and were baptized.

Our worship services were incredible … the best I’ve ever witnessed … and were so good that people constantly invited friends and family to them.

A bond formed among the leaders that will always be present …  and most of those individuals later became leaders in other churches.

Here are five lessons I learned by taking risks for Jesus:

*I had to change as a pastor and as a person.  I could no longer preach one way and live another way.  I had to incarnate change before anybody bought it.  But leading that church made me feel fully alive!

*Our core group had to change as well.  Some couldn’t make the changes and left the church … but most were transformed as leaders and people.

*We were forced to our knees in prayer … forced to address relational issues with others … forced to give beyond a tithe … and forced to rely on the Lord for everything … because we wanted God’s blessing on our ministry.

*We had to rely on the Lord every single day.  We were a couple offerings away from extinction … just like Willow Creek Church in their early days.

*God honors faith.  Hebrews 11 is filled with stories of people who heard God’s voice and obeyed Him against great odds, even though their actions didn’t make sense to those around them.

The late Guy Greenfield, a pastor for many years, once wrote:

“When a church is focused on taking care of itself, paying off its mortgage, paying its bills, and saving money, and shows little interest in outreach, evangelism, ministry, and missions, it is often headed for trouble. . . . Outreach, evangelism, ministry, and missions will keep a congregation on its knees in prayer (which always frightens Satan away). Satan can more easily invade a church that is consumed with secondary matters.”

I have found this to be true in all of the churches that I served as pastor.

When we were focused on reaching lost people, we were forced to get into spiritual shape, make sacrifices, and take risks.

When we were focused on ourselves, we became spiritually shabby, sought our own personal comfort, and stopped doing anything that required real faith.

God did not make churches to become self-contained clubs.  He made churches to become service-oriented organisms.

In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus commended the two men who took their master’s talents … “put his money to work” … and doubled their talents.  But Jesus harshly judged the man who received one talent and hid it in the ground.

The Christian church in America is hiding most of its talents in the ground … spending its time, energy, and funding on staff salaries and building mortgages.

It’s why our services are unexciting … why we’re not growing spiritually … why people are bored at church … why nothing of any consequence is happening.

Where is the sense of adventure?

What is happening in your church that requires God as the only explanation?

It’s time we started taking risks for Jesus … just like the first church in Jerusalem.

Even if we fall flat on our face.

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Les Miserables and Christian Worship

Posted in Christian Music, Current Church Issues, Personal Stories, tagged , , , , on December 31, 2012| 3 Comments »

“Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.”

That line – the very last line of the song “I Dreamed a Dream” from the play/film Les Miserables – has always touched me deep inside.

There are people down through the centuries who could sing that line … in fact, that entire song … with just as much passion as Anne Hathaway’s Fantine character did in the just-released movie.

Like Fantine, they’ve experienced a taste of the best that life has to offer … but then circumstances have gone horribly wrong for them, and they find themselves just hoping to survive.

That’s one of the things that struck me most about the film version of Les Miserables.  The people in the movie were all doing their best just to cling to life for another day.

I read Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables in ninth grade – albeit an abridged version – and learned that it served as the inspiration for 1960’s The Fugitive TV show, starring David Janssen (real name: David Meyer).  I’ve also been privileged to see the musical twice, the last time in London’s West End, and our family has owned the music on cassette/CD for years.  (My daughter Sarah knows every word of the musical by heart.)

But I can’t stop the tears whenever I hear “I Dreamed a Dream” or “Bring Him Home.”  And that’s good.

Those songs are filled with such emotion … and passion … and authenticity.  They put into words how so many people feel about God … and pain … and life.

When we attended the movie on Christmas Day, the bald-headed guy in front of me was pushing back tears as well.

But my first thought when I left the theater was this one:

Where is this kind of emotion in our churches today?

I love the Lord.  I love His Word.  I love His people.

But I must confess … I am rarely moved emotionally in church anymore.

In fact, sometimes I think that Christian leaders have systematically tried to remove authentic emotion from worship services.

Just hear me for a moment.

My wife and I have visited more than 50 churches in the past 3 years.  90% of the churches use the same format.

There’s 15-20 minutes of worship music, followed by the pastor’s message, which lasts 30-60 minutes.

(Prayers, announcements, and taking the offering are placed in different slots, depending upon the church.)

Are believers moved emotionally during the worship time?  Sometimes, but if you look around during that time, you’ll see that many believers aren’t singing at all.

Are believers moved during the message?  Sometimes, but it usually depends upon whether or not the pastor himself seems moved … and many pastors aren’t.

Over the past 10 years, I have noticed that most churches have gradually eliminated 4 service elements that did produce authentic emotion: dramatic vignettes, presentation songs, personal testimonies, and illustrations during the pastor’s message.

*Dramatic vignettes – which originally came from Willow Creek Community Church – could be humorous, but they could also be deeply touching emotionally.  Over the past 3 years, I have seen zero dramas in churches.

*Presentation songs featured a soloist or a duet or an ensemble singing a song that the congregation couldn’t possibly sing.  The songs usually tied in to the theme of that morning’s service.  (Someone from Willow once sang “I Dreamed a Dream” during weekend services.)  Over the past 3 years, I can only remember seeing performance songs at two churches – both in Phoenix – and one of them was at our home church there, Christ’s Church of the Valley, which offers one or two performance songs every weekend.

(The first time I attended a Leaders’ Conference at Willow in 1990, I was more moved emotionally during a two-hour slot of dramas/performance songs than I had been in the previous 20 years of attending worship services combined.)

*Personal testimonies are presented either live or on video.  CCV offered at least two personal testimonies on video every month, and they were usually very touching, often shown in the middle of the pastor’s message.  (Rick Warren used to do this as well, although I don’t know if he does it anymore.)

*Illustrations during a pastor’s message used to be a given, but you would be surprised at (a) how many pastors don’t use even one story during their whole message, and (b) how many pastors use stories to stir people intellectually but fail to move them emotionally.

Please don’t misunderstand me.  I am not saying that our worship times should be full of emotion as opposed to truth.  We are to love God with our whole heart, soul, strength, and mind.  But I am sincerely wondering where the heart has gone.

While we need truth to pass through our heads so it stirs our hearts, I wonder if we’re really afraid of our own God-given emotions.

When Neil Diamond sang “I Dreamed a Dream” on his Hot August Night 2 album, he changed the last line to this one:

“But life can’t kill the dream I dreamed.”

(Here’s his version with lyrics attached: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzwhgJnCQCQ)

Why did he do that?  Maybe he didn’t feel comfortable singing the real line because he wanted to end the song on a positive note … I really don’t know.  But in so doing, he negated Fantine’s true feelings as she ended the song.

Provided someone sang that song during a service at your church, would they be permitted to sing the line as written or would someone make them change it?

I’ve had a theory for years that people will flock to worship services where they feel free to laugh and to cry.

People certainly flock to films and concerts and plays where that’s the case.

Maybe the film Les Miserables – shot through with Christian themes and an explicit Christian ending – can teach us that again.

More next time.

Happy 2013!

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Stump the Pastor

Posted in Current Church Issues, Personal Stories, Please Comment!, tagged , , , on November 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I had a totally unique experience yesterday.

About 25 college students – who were taking a world religions class – visited the church I’ve been serving as an interim pastor.

The students drove themselves from the school to the church.  I shook hands with each one and introduced myself to them.

They all came upstairs and entered the worship center and sat down.

Their professor stood up and briefly oriented the class to the worship center, noting that the church:

*didn’t have stained-glass windows.

*didn’t have pews.

*had a pulpit in the middle of the stage.

*had a baptistry.  (Some students quickly walked up to it and looked inside … nothing.)

The professor then turned the class over to me, and for the next hour, I answered as many questions as I could.

What do secular college students want to know about an evangelical Protestant church?

They wanted to know:

*why there are so many different Protestant denominations.

*who is baptized and how a baptism is performed.

*whether Protestant ministers are allowed to marry.

*the role of women in a Protestant church.

*how many sacraments Protestants have.

*what the definition of “Protestant” is.

*what kind of music Protestants have in their services.

*what kind of sermons a pastor gives.

*whether or not we pressed our kids to attend church.

*whether pastors are paid or not.

*who owns the property and how it’s paid for.

*how pastors are hired.  (Are they sent by a denomination or selected by a local church?)

There were no questions about:

*how a person gets saved.

*social issues like abortion or gay marriage.

*theological issues like the deity of Christ or His resurrection or the afterlife.

*the Bible itself.

*the role of Baptists during the Crusades.

The group was well-behaved, attentive, and inquisitive.

Nobody seemed hostile.

One kid on the front row had a Catholic background, and he asked me questions rapid-fire.  I couldn’t tell if he sincerely wanted to hear my answers or if he wanted me to know how much he knew about Catholics.

This was a great experience for me.  It enabled me to hear how college students view Protestant churches.

And it also showed me how little the students really know about what goes on inside the four walls of a Protestant church.

One young woman in the front row referenced a Christian rock group and helped some of the students understand what happens during a typical worship service.  She became a valued ally 2/3 of the way through our time together.

It’s good for a pastor or an evangelist to visit a college class.  It’s far better for the class to visit local houses of worship.  (If a picture is worth a thousand words, just one visit to a house of worship must be the equivalent of reading 100 pages about that same religious group in a book.)

Maybe a local church could identify colleges within driving distance of their campus and invite professors (especially those who teach world religions) to visit the church campus with their students and ask questions of the pastor and staff.

What do you think?

 

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