Expectations.
It's not about us. It's God Church. I have heard this and I agree. I read, Who Stole my Church, over the summer and agreed with much that I read. The Pastor in the book did come to realize, that although we need to come into the 21st century with the technology and how we reach the lost, he seemed also to find a middle ground for the saved, who need to feel plugged in, grow, as if they matter for more than their tithes. It started with relationships among the congregation, old, young, new converts and old time saints. It started with the Pastor looking around and seeing the unrest among the sheep. First we need to remember that we God's people are compared to sheep, in the Bible. Jesus refers to Himself as the Shepard. I believe that means that we are God's property, not man's. It doesn't matter what pasture we graze on. We 'church people', however, have become accustomed to our Pastors acting as an extension of Christ. Assuming that when we give our lives to Christ, whole heartedly, we then look for a 'Church place' to plug in to, to invest in with our lives, time, tithes, and talents. When we look for a place we will look for one that, 'meets the needs of our family'. We can argue if any of the things we look for in a pastor or an established church, are important in the grand vision of the Great Commission, but the fact is, it is important to most of us.
As I look back, I think I was 15 years old when a Pastor made a real impact on me. Sure, I remember the Pastor of my childhood; he pastored a Baptist church. I remember he yelled, alot. He was kind of scary. But when I was a teen, my family plugged into an AG on the Seacoast. My Grandfather had been very ill and in the hospital. That day, Grampie was suppose to have been moved from ICU to a private room. The Pastor of my church was there to visit and pray with him. Grampie wasn't a member or an attender; other than a few special services. But my Pastor went to visit anyway. They were laughing together about something, and were about to pray when my grandfather's heart stopped and he died. For some reason that was always important to me. I guess most of us would say that he had a Pastors heart. He didn't have to be there. Grampie wasn't a member. I think that's how some of my expectations came in to being.
If a pastoral candidate, came to a church and said. "I want to lead this church. I want go out into the community and meet people where they are, and show them Jesus in us. Be the hands and feet of the Lord and so fill the Great Commission, and I want you to join me." We would all be, "Yea! Sign me up Brother!" But if that same pastor came and said, "Your relationship with God, is not my responsibility. When you are in need of Pastoral council and prayer, I will rely on the body to fill that need. I probably won't call or notice if your gone for a few weeks because of illness or surgery, If you or a family member gets arrested, I won't be calling or stopping by. You have friends to minister to you. If a divorce gets nasty, I don't get involved. If you get assaulted, I will trust others to check in on you. If you stop attending, I will only notice or care, if you start to attend somewhere else." Nobody would say that. But if that's what you are getting with what is lived out, your probably gonna find another house of worship.
Tomorrow; Church Transitions, Sheep Stealing and other Catch Phrases...
I have been reading through as you've written. I've gotta say there are some valid points here to pay attention to. Obviously I've formed my own opinion too, but I think over-all it's not my opinion that matters (something God's been seeing fit to help me understand) I believe God has placed this in your heart because you're after the 1. Ministry is to serve the 99, but we can't forget about the 1's. They are the most neglected, yet, Jesus points them out constantly... the prodigal son, the lost sheep, the woman who gives only a little... He hangs with the thieves over the Pharisees, Jesus makes it clear who He wants His church made up of.. the forgotten, the overlooked, the underestimated, the underdog, the least-likely to succeed...
ReplyDeleteKudos Aunty Kathy for seeing outside the lines, and finding that there is more than what we see in front of us that needs our attention. This is how things are fixed. A broken item stays broken if you just point out that it's broken, but if you grab the glue and pieces and start to put it back together that's when things get fixed.
NOBODY is perfect. WE ALL FALL SHORT. It's good to remember. But we should also remember that we don't have to stay the same. We can change, grow, adjust our behaviour.. things don't have to stay the way they are. Just thinking.. Jesus has to be the glue. He's what keeps us together.
So when things get broken, we need to seek our glue (Jesus) to put it back together! And that's what you're doing.. in a pretty sweet way that only you can!!
Love you cleaning lady! Can't wait for tomorrows!!
This is a very interesting series of posts. I read all 4 parts so far. I think it's great that you're pulling together research and feedback from real people before you make claims or state opinions.
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I wanted to comment on this part #3 because it focuses a lot on the Pastor and what his role should be. As you describe it here, I agree that it would be great if he could reach out and be there for people, even without them requesting it. It would be great.
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But Pastors are people too, they're only human, and they often have families to attend to as well. Does that mean they have an excuse not to do all the things you're describing? No, if they're a Pastor, they need to accept the duties that come with that job. They need to make decisions in their personal life that will free up their time and allow them to fulfill their pastoral role to the best of their ability.
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On the other hand, what does that mean for us, the congregation? We have to support the Pastor. We have to be there for him just as much as he's there for us. Through prayer, fellowship, tithing, etc. We may be able to expect (whether worthy or not) undivided attention, unconditional love, and constant support from the God of the universe, but we can't really expect that from a human individual. So if we are going to expect even a fraction of those qualities from a mere mortal, we've got to do everything we can to help.
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Every person has a role, and each role supports the others in some way. We all have to do our part to make a church successful. That doesn't mean there won't be reasons to switch churches. Sometimes even when you put in all the effort you can muster, the other party may not be giving back adequately in return. Sometimes you're giving it your all toward what you thought was a common goal, and it turns out the other party didn't really share that vision after all. There's always the possibility for those imbalances to develop. All I'm saying is that when taking a critical look at the role of a Pastor, we shouldn't forget the congregation's role in supporting him.
Totally agree with your Georgia. And I have been working on this for a long time. When I first wrote it up, it would have translated in to 16+ pages. You and I know that we all have ADD. No one will actually open a blog and read something that long. So that's why I am doing it in parts. The title of tomorrows entry will change a bit, as I do feel that I have addressed why people leave. Although I am still getting email's and affirmation,-it's been covered. I already have what your talking about written up. I will be tweaking it ia bit, but the 'vampires' of all the congregations will be addressed. Thanks for your comments, and for taking the time to read. Kathy.
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