Wisdom or Status?

13 Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works. 14 There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. 15 A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. 16 So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.

17 Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person

    than the shouts of a foolish king.
18 Better to have wisdom than weapons of war,
    but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

- Ecclesiastes 9:13-18, NLT (emphases mine)
 
Do you find yourself giving more respect to those who have wisdom or to those who have status? Why?
 
Thanks to InterVarsity Press for today's pointed thought.

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Salutations

Do you think it annoyed New Testament-era pastors when their churches received letters from the apostles which were addressed directly to the congregations? Because surely those churches were all generally pastor-led, right? But none of the letters in the NT intended for the Church is addressed to a pastor. Peter addresses the elders, as does Paul once.

If the early churches were clergy-centric like most churches today, as we've been taught, I find it glaring that none would be addressed in any letters to the churches. This does not necessarily constitute "proof" of a point I want to make. It's an indicator, though, that there's something amiss.

Here's what I mean...

"I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people." - Romans 1:7

"I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people." - 1 Corinthians 1:2

"I am writing to God’s church in Corinth and to all of his holy people throughout Greece." - 2 Corinthians 1:1

"All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia." - Galatians 1:2

"I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus." - Ephesians 1:1

"I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the elders and deacons." - Philippians 1:1

(Skipping the rest of Paul's letters... You get the point.)

"I am writing to the 'twelve tribes'—Jewish believers scattered abroad." - James 1:1

"I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." - 1 Peter 1:1

"I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior." - 2 Peter 1:1

"I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth—as does everyone else who knows the truth—because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever." - 2 John 1:1-2 (regardless of whether "the chosen lady" is literal or figurative, this is not a pastor)

"I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ." - Jude 1:1

"This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia." - Revelation 1:4

You can look up the ones I missed to make sure I'm not "cherry-picking." I believe that the Church today considers its pastors to be its leaders, having removed Jesus Christ from His rightful place as the Head of His Church. It's not surprising that as a result there is great corruption, a focus on men, a focus on money, and a focus on religion at the expense of the bride of Christ's relationship to the Lord.

This is not a small issue. It's incredibly important, because the dominant modern (actually, it's not too new) church model, typically centering around a single man, directly undermines the reality that the Church is to be made up of functioning, disciple-making men and women -- members of the body of Christ.

What are your thoughts? Am I wrong?

(All Scripture references above are taken from the NLT)

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5 effective strategies for spiritual growth for one low price!

This may be my longest post ever. I'm just sayin'...

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 speaks about not dismissing prophecies -- if they hold water and measure up to the standard of the Word, then don't scoff at them: "Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil." (NLT) Similarly, in Acts 17:11 we read about a group called the Bereans in a very positive light: "And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth." (NLT, emphasis mine) So these nobody "laypeople" were searching the Bible to see if the "heavy-hitters" were actually teaching the truth?! How impertinent! But they did, and it was good for them to do it.

In that spirit, this post is not in the interest of bashing someone who's using his gifts to help and spiritually and numerically grow the Church. It will, however, show that I am not convinced that this is healthy, and to be honest, I believe it runs directly counter to many major principles that are communicated plainly in the Word of God -- the Book that this organization and many others claim to be supporting.

I received an e-mail (one of many I get) from an organization that sells its intellectual property and its products in the interest of helping worship leaders to "grow" their "worship ministry" teams. I guess it's fine if someone wants to pay to learn these things. We sell everything else God-related: Bibles, Bible studies, niche devotional books, studies (not to mention breath mints, jewelry, etc.), and the list goes on.

In fantasyland, it would be cool if we sold them simply to cover the cost of the paper and the hours that people had to pour into them. I'm rambling now, and I don't know if I want to fight that battle, to tell the truth, but it makes me scratch my head to think of the implications of having created profit centers that are "selling" spiritual growth. Sure, it's better that the resources be used on this than on pornography or on blatantly worldly things, but does that justify everything that we do?

Back to the e-mail... These kinds of sales pitches usually include at least one bullet item that references spiritual growth, so they're covered if someone tries to claim they're all about physical/numeric growth. ("Hey, we're all about spiritual growth! Check out that bullet point.")

Side note: In the world of PR, if you use numbered lists ("The 5 Keys to Success," "30 Proven Methods of Getting Away with Picking Your Nose in Public," etc.), you're more likely to get someone to buy into what you're saying, or at least do more follow-up than if you didn't use a numbered list. Those things always jump out at me and surely taint even the legitimate lists for me, even though this first chunk doesn't have too many. There's good use of exciting-sounding verbs here, too. "Maximize," "capture," and "empower" were immediately noticeable.

To be sure, there's some good stuff here; it's not all negative (in this statement I'm being serious). You can grow your team, stave off burnout, and even grow closer to Christ in the process, all for only around $90 (that's with a $10 saving for getting the download version). In this exciting e-mail offer:

You can expect to learn...

• How to exponentially grow the number of people serving on your worship team and ensure that you're never short on volunteers again!
• How to create a thriving auditions strategy that honors God and empowers volunteers to serve in their area of greatest gifting.
• 5 foundations of an Effective Audition Strategy that you MUST have in order to maximize your team.
• How to develop seasons for your team so that current members are never "burned out" and new members are always joining.
• The powerful affect that a BIG Day of auditions has on your team.
• How to set God-sized goals that help you maximize how many people will join your team. [Eh? Should God not be the one setting those goals if they're His size?]
• How to develop an auditions timeline so that you can properly plan and promote it to your church.
• How to capture over 40% of your audition sign-ups through a 30 minute pre-audition reception.
• How to lead an actual audition, including what to say and do during the audition.
• Actual scripts for how to follow-up with those who have auditioned.
• How to say "No" to someone who auditions in a way that connects them to another area of your worship ministry.
• How to deepen the commitment of your worship team to Christ, the church and the team through an easy to navigate leadership development process. [Saved the best bullet point for last?]
• And much more!

No, there really is more! Reading the whole e-mail, I saw the opportunity to prayerfully consider joining a network of worship leaders. It requires a 10-month commitment at a couple of hundred bucks a month (to be fair, this includes lodging and air fare, so it seems reasonable), and offers these benefits, for example:

This additional purchase/commitment "will follow the outline of the 7 Leadership Challenges for Worship Pastors...  The 7 Leadership challenges include the Personal, Pastor, Planning, People, Provision, Professionalism, and Production challenges."

And the following part really got to me. If you join this network, one of the benefits is "A private weekend meeting with [the personality around whom all this is centered], exclusively for [program] participants where you will get to go behind the scenes at a [name of church] service – a $1500 value!" What?!? Spending a weekend behind the scenes at a mega-church's weekend services (with what must be a high-profile worship leader) is a $1,500 value? Are you kidding me??

All of this (not just the weekend with the famous guy at super-church, but the whole package) makes me think of Thesis #82 from Martin Luther's epic, reform-inducing 95 theses posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517: "Cur Papa non evacuat purgatorium propter sanctissimam charitatem et summam animarum necessitatem ut causam omnium iustissimam, Si infinitas animas redimit propter pecuniam funestissimam ad structuram Basilice ut causam levissimam?"

In case you don't read Latin, it's been translated this way: "Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church [St. Peter's Basilica]? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."

Luther had a non-Biblical belief in a place called purgatory. In those days people thought that they could pay a certain amount of money to go toward the building of the new, awesome mega-church building, and in turn a soul would be delivered from purgatory. Looking at motivations rather than destinations (and I understand that he was off on the purgatory bit), Luther simply asked, "Why wouldn't the pope do that for free if he could do it at all?"

In the same vein, why wouldn't someone want to give these gifts I've been talking about (not spiritual gifts, but things like team-building lessons, help with challenges, how to avoid burnout, and -- of course -- how to grow in Christ) freely for the edification and building up of the Church?

Go ahead and give me real-world "but Dean..." replies. Worship pastors need to eat, too? Cool -- I mean, if I have to eat and all, then surely it's okay to sell this gift that God gave me freely. We've built up a culture -- within the church and without -- that sees all this as normal.

I'm asking you now to question the legitimacy of what we've come to think of as "normal."

What if it's not "normal" the way God sees "normal"? What if God actually doesn't think of all this as glorifying to Him? You won't really have to dig too far into the Word to see that this is more than a strong possibility.

At this point I probably need some of you to reel me in. I really do feel like I'm overreacting in some areas. Note that I pulled every name and corporate reference out of this post, because although I'm livid, I don't want to attack a person. And it's possible that I'm off-base somewhere (which is why I ask you to reel me in). Call me crazy, but for some reason this all seems like someone is trying to sell the power of (or gifts from) God for profit. I can't help thinking of this passage:

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”


But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God. Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin."
Acts 8:18-23 (NLT)

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church leadership - course adjustment?

The following is a guest post written by my friend Robby Newton. Robby is a follower of Christ who is a gifted writer and communicator, and his observations on Christ-centered Church leadership are refreshing. If there is any hope for the institutional Church in America to correct its overall focus, what Robby offers here, in my opinion, would be a step in the right direction. (Don't tell anyone, but I've been encouraging Robby to write a book.)



Robby can be contacted at DrRobbyNewton @ gmail.com (remove the spaces from either side of the "@" symbol.
Church Leadership – Is a Course Adjustment Needed?

While there is much to celebrate about American Christianity, most would agree that there is still plenty of room for improvement. For example, I think that over time it has drifted into what could be characterized as a pastor-centric culture instead of being one of Christ-centricity. This drift was likely unintentional and didn’t happen overnight, so any re-alignment will take time, much prayer, an atmosphere of grace, and lots of holy perseverance. Having said that, here’s my take on what a Biblically healthy leadership structure might look like within the local church:

While Christ is the foundation of the church, the two essential pillars sitting on this foundation are evangelism and discipleship. Most often, we demand that senior pastors be gifted in both pillars, yet very few, if any, are so. To me, the appropriate scriptural model is one in which the ‘senior’ pastor has an exceptional gifting and passion in one of these two areas AND, he is secure enough in his calling such that he readily embraces God raising up another person(s) as gifted and passionate in the other pillar.

In addition to the men described above (more appropriately referred to in Scripture as ‘elders’), rounding out the senior leadership team would include those gifted in worship, and leaders of other key, strategic ministry arms such as youth pastor, children’s pastor, senior adult pastor, etc. Additionally, it would be highly desirable that the treasurer become a trusted and frequent advisor to the leadership team.

The church would be lead by this cadre of key leaders/elders. Yet, a re-aligned leadership structure, even if one thinks it’s the ‘more Scriptural one’ in itself does little to help us all better love God and our neighbor or guarantee that the body stays Christ-centric. If the church is to prosper according to God’s plan, this group would have to become a holy, open-hearted yet close-knitted group…willing to share their lives as well as their gifting with each other as they lead the body. It would be expected that they strive for consensus and unity regarding all leadership/spiritual issues regarding the church, with the senior pastor being ‘first among equals’ in the rare case in which unity isn’t possible. And I’ve not even touched on the other side of the leadership coin, the side called ‘followship’. It does little good to have godly shepherds working within a balanced, Biblical framework of leadership if we sheep refuse to walk in the Light as we go about our daily routines.

I’m open to hearing from you on how I may have missed the Biblical boat on all of this. Just the willingness to openly dialog about this important topic is great step in the right direction. After all, we all are on the same team, desiring the same outcome…that being to reach our community and world with the Good News.

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Sarcasm and the Church Leader

Last Sunday our senior pastor had a survey inserted into the bulletin (the hand-out that everyone receives as they're on the way to sit down for the service). Some of the questions had answers that weren't terribly uplifting, but most were written with a gentle attitude, even when the words weren't particularly what I wanted to hear.

One of the responses that has stuck with me the most was in answer to a question that I can't exactly remember. The response went something like this: "It comes across as a little offensive when Dean and Pastor Lee say to the people at the 9:30 service, 'Smile at me and then you can go back to what you're doing.' Many of us do come with joyful hearts." (That's a major paraphrase, since I don't have the responses with me.)

Yes, I do say things like this, and you know what? I can certainly understand why something like that comes across as hurtful. Part of my personality leads me to inject a little sarcasm here and there, and I'm not sure if that's terribly wise. My hope is that people will be able to see themselves a little more clearly in phrases that might be different from what "normal" lead worshippers might say. But today I thought about this verse:

Some people make cutting remarks,
    but the words of the wise bring healing.
- Proverbs 12:18, NLT

On a related note, I've been studying and was planning on preaching a message this coming Sunday based on a draft blog post I wrote the other day. It was a pretty scathing message to the Church, and I've had some wise and helpful input and correction from several friends on that writing. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when God led me in a slightly different direction for the message.

As a preview, my message for Sunday is shaping up to use 2 Chronicles 34 and Revelation 2:1-7 as the foundational Scriptures. I'm interested in knowing if you find any parallels between the people in those passages and the modern Church.

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Arrogance for Jesus

It isn't very often that I write a post about my personal life. At least, not one of those "confess your faults" posts. This is one of those.

Here's what I haven't been doing: I haven't taken shots at anyone in particular. I haven't been speaking or thinking badly about anyone. I haven't been thinking condescendingly about any specific person or idea.

It's a really good thing to be secure in your walk with Christ. It's not so good, however, when you feel like you've hit the main power line with God but maybe some people around you haven't (and for those of you who know me personally, no, I'm not talking about you -- this is not a post about some specific situation). There are some things that are immovable; factual; things that leave no room for question or opinion. But there have been some areas lately where I believe I've thought in the back of my mind that since I've been spending a good deal of time with God, I must know the right answer in almost any situation where there's a question. I'm not talking about leadership decisions. A leader has to be certain that he's heard from God and that it's important to move forward even if it's not the most popular thing to do. I'm talking about the attitude that simply says, "I am right."

And man, oh, man, that can be big-time arrogant, because in order to come up with that thought, most often the underlying assumption has to be that others haven't been spending as much time with God -- that surely they aren't as "enlightened" as I. And with that line of thinking, although I hadn't put it into so many words or thoughts until just now, I'm violating Scriptures like 1 Corinthians 13:4 and Philippians 2:3 (a verse I seem to reference here about every three or four posts).

I think this attitude may be rampant in the Church, but even that idea kicks the superiority complex back into high gear and perpetuates the "I am right" cycle. Today is the day I confess my participation in it, ask for forgiveness, and move on in the other direction. It isn't fun to confess your faults, but there you have it.

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"Tribes" Book Giveaway

At the end of Seth Godin's Tribes, I was instructed to give away my copy of the book. I've been trying to think of a good contest in which the winner will receive it. And I think I've just now thought of the perfect one...

I'll give my book to the lurker who responds to this post and presents the most compelling case about why he or she has been a lurker here at the blog. In case you're wondering what that means, a "lurker" is someone who observes without interacting. Here, I'd qualify you as a lurker if you visit the blog moderately regularly but have posted less than three comments, ever. If you're not sure if you've posted more than three but you think it might be in that ballpark, you qualify.

I don't ask this because I want to draw lurkers into commenting, but those who comment everywhere liberally, I'd think, may already be doing some of what the book says. Not that a lurker doesn't have a strong personality offline, but the book is geared toward jumping into the fray (whatever fray may be on-hand).

It's an excellent book and one that goes quickly -- not too short, but not too long. It's a secular book (that is, it's not not a religious or "Jesus" book) and can be applied to just about any situation. It goes somewhere on my must-read list, but not quite as high up there as Francis Chan's Crazy Love (for the Christ-follower) or Dave Smelzer's Not the Religious Type (for the Christ-follower or non-Christ-follower).

So jump out of lurking and join in!

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