Archives For Pastoral

A Funeral Sermon…

bob —  September 10, 2012

File this one in “Things they didn’t… and probably couldn’t… prepare you for in Seminary.”

Last night I preached a funeral sermon for a four-year old girl from our community who died unexpectedly this last week. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
Part of the hardness for me, and I imagine other pastors in the same position, is the compartmentalizing of grief and personal feelings enough to be able to be present for the family in order to be able to face the hard job of preaching hope in the midst of tragedy and yet remaining, on some level…human. Grieving with those who grieve.
I’ve walked through the last couple of days numb, shaking… and this morning find myself raw and wanting nothing more than to be distracted.
In the midst of all this, I feel incredibly honored to be included, invited into this family’s pain and to have the opportunity to point to Jesus and (I hope) bring a measure of comfort and Good News.

Here’s my sermon, in part. I publish it here in the hopes that it can help others, whether those grieving or pastors who find themselves needing words for a similar occasion.

 

 

We are gathered here this evening to remember Vienne Juliet Piscitelli, to say our goodbyes to one who lived a brief but beautiful life- a life which, if tonight’s attendance tells us anything, touched many. Vienne means- “She who is full of life and vibrance” and truly that described her. As my wife Amy said to me often in the last couple of days- There was something very, very special about Vienne.

So, on behalf of Vienne’s parents, Mark and Jenny, I want to thank each one of you for being here tonight.

Though this is a very difficult day the scriptures make us this promise:

“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone— as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him.”

He knows. He remembers. His love remains with us.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Let’s pray together:
Father of mercies and God of all consolation, You pursue us with untiring love and dispel the shadow of death with the bright dawn of light and the sure hope of new life and resurrection. You promise in your Word that you are close to the broken hearted- So comfort us we pray in our loss and sorrow. Be our refuge and our strength, O Lord, and lift us from the depths of grief into the peace and light of Your Presence.
Amen.

Homily:

What can we say when someone so young, so full of life and vibrance, is taken from us?
I’ve been asking myself that question for the last couple of days.

In this, as in so many things in life, there are no clear answers, no definitive “whys.” But in this, as in all of life, when we are short on “whys” we turn to a “Who.”

Psalm 16 says this:
“I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever.”

In those words are comforts and promises- not just for us here tonight grieving, but for Vienne herself.

First- that God is with us- that He has not abandoned or left us. Even in the midst of seemingly incomprehensible tragedy we can know that God does not simply understand us- but actually joins us in our suffering. The One who gave up His own Son to death that we might have life understands our pain and grief at this moment. And His promise is this: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted. He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”

Tonight we grieve, but our grief is tempered by our faith. In the words of St. Paul, we grieve, but not as those without hope.
Because we have a God who does not simply understand our suffering, who does simply join us in our suffering, but one day, in His time, will end our suffering with the dawn of a new life, in a new creation, a broken world healed, our sadness and grief wiped away, and everything, everything, set right.

As Jesus faced the death of his close friend Lazarus, He felt what we all have been feeling these last couple of days. The Scriptures tell us that He not only wept, but it says a deep anger welled up within Him and He was deeply troubled. And the question is: At what was He angry? What troubled Him? And I think the answer is: Death.
Someone He loved had died, and as He saw the impact of that in the weeping faces around Him, felt the impact of that in His own heart, He was moved to tears and beyond.

Here’s what we need to know about this: we live in a broken world where terrible things happen. But… God is not oblivious to our pain. In fact, from the very beginning, He has set in motion the answer to all our sin, all of our brokenness and yes, even death itself- in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to those who were weeping that day: “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.”

So tonight, in the midst of our grief and our whys we place our hope firmly in a “Who”- in HIM- the one who is Himself, resurrection and life. And we commit to His sure and steady hands Vienne, knowing that
death is not the end, that this is not goodbye, but that on that great and glorious morning, her Easter morning, the One who says “Behold I make all things new” and “I will wipe every tear from their eyes” will call out her name and with that, call her into new life.
St Paul, speaking of that day, said: “Then, When our dying bodies have been transformed, This Scripture will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting? Thank God- He gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In the midst of our grief we find peace, knowing that now, Vienne is whole, at rest and at peace, safe in the arms of the One who created her and who loves her with an undying love. We find peace knowing that death is not the end, that though death may win some battles, the war is already decided and death will not have the final word, but the Creator of Life WILL.

Moments like this teach us to value life, to hold a little tighter to those we love- our children, our spouses, our parents and our friends, because in many ways, we just don’t know. We don’t know how long we’ll be with them.
But the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus adds on top of that wisdom something even better- and that is this: for those who are in Christ, who put the weight of their life, their soul and their future in the hands of the One who called Himself the Resurrection and the Life, the answer to the question “How long will we have each other” is forever.

So tonight, in our grief, I invite you- I urge you, to place yourself in the loving arms of the One who now holds Vienne tight, the One who promises her, and you and me- all of us, LIFE, and that everlasting.

Would you take a moment to silently offer your prayers to God- prayers of thankfulness for Vienne and prayers of comfort for her parents and extended family?

Let’s pray:
Father God, we are grateful to You for the gift of Vienne. We praise you for her life, and the blessing that she has been to so many. We now give her back to You, her Maker, the One who loves her more even than we, in the knowledge that with You is peace. We commit her to You, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

I will now offer a final blessing to you all from Eph 3:19- the verse that was written on Vienne’s birth announcement:
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Amen.

In evergreen, Funeral, Pastoral, preaching
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Cake My Ass.

bob —  May 25, 2012

I read a blog post today that compared being a pastor to “cake.” The claim (made by a house church advocate) is that “a professional pastor’s job is mostly cake… By “cake,” I’m referring to the fact that his job is easy.”

The basis for this claim is “2.5 years” as a pastor while sitting in Starbucks a lot studying.

Let me just say, for the record, that while there are pieces of pastoring that are HUGELY rewarding and enjoyable, anyone who would claim that the job as a whole is “cake” is speaking foolishly about something he didn’t engage in long enough to really know. 2.5 years may seem like a long time, but it’s not. It’s just long enough to see most of the high points of ministry without many of the lows.

It’s not enough time to see marriage after marriage unravel as you sit with couple after couple. It’s not time enough to walk through an adulterous relationship and the aftermath as you work to bring reconciliation. It’s not time enough to see the ebb and flow of multiple people’s faith and feel the weight of their walk with God and your responsibility to them. It’s not long enough to make disciples. It’s not long enough to try and do all these things while also equipping people for mission and ministry, encouraging the broken, exhorting the faithful, correcting and teaching the immature and trying to maintain a growing relationship with God yourself. And it’s not long enough to know that the half-assed way you are doing it is not necessarily how thousands and thousands of others who are literally pouring themselves out on behalf of the Gospel, their congregations and their neighbors/neighborhoods are doing it.

Cake? Not by a long shot.

I get the whole bi-vocational pastor thing. After all, I now am one.

But those in the house church movement seem to denigrate what they should be affirming. Just because you have chosen a different way doesn’t invalidate the way others have felt called to go. And your consistent appeal to Paul in his bi-vocationality is both tiresome and misguided.

Paul was not a local pastor. He was an itinerant evangelist/apostle who helped start churches where there were none. As such he worked a job rather than ask for support from those who were hearing the Gospel for the first time. But he also consistently maintained his right and the right of those in full-time ministry to earn their support from that ministry and so be freed into it fully. (1 Cor 9:14)

Are there lazy pastors who are gaming the system? Sure. Show me a job that isn’t true of.

But the vast majority of pastors are in full time ministry for different reasons, and to suggest otherwise is hugely insulting.

This article was sent to me with a question I wholeheartedly agree with: “Why are house church guys so consistently obnoxious?”

In Ecclesiology, Just stirring up trouble, leadership, organic church, Pastoral
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A Model for Discernment in the Missional Church Context, Part 3

bob —  April 26, 2012

Guiding Theological Themes

As we attempt to live out this life in the Spirit communally, here are some of the theological themes and principles we hope will guide us.

1. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our Community-

The Apostles placed great emphasis on the role of the Spirit in the life of the Church in general, and in the place of discernment in particular. (1 John 2:20-27, 1 John 4:1-6). We acknowledge not only the place of the Spirit in our community, but our radical dependence on Him to point us to Jesus, and to lead us into those places where He is bringing healing and wholeness in the world.

2. The Love of Jesus for our Community outweighs our love for our Community-

As much as we love and want the best for our community, and as much as we may feel we have metaphorically bled for our church, we strive to keep in mind that Christ has literally bled, and died, for it. His love for and investment in our community is much greater than ours will ever be. Remaining mindful of that fact brings a certain freedom in the face of tough decisions-we can rest them in the hands of the God who went to such great lengths to make our community possible. It’s His church, He will build it… we merely join in the process and cooperate as best we can.

3. The Bible is Authoritative-

Without getting into the debate over words like “infallible” or inerrant, the very least we want to affirm is that Scripture is authoritative for the Church today. That is, if the person of Jesus is the primary revelation of God to mankind, then Scripture becomes indispensable in that it is there where we find not only the narrative of  God’s redemption (the OT) culminating in the person of Christ (The Gospels), but the outworking of Christ’s work in the new Community of the Church (The Epistles). Where the Bible speaks, we listen and weigh carefully for our context what it says. (Acts 2:42, 2 Tim 3:14-16)

4. Leadership is biblical, as is the priesthood of the believer

Though it’s a controversial statement in many circles today, the concept of leadership in the Church is biblical. Hebrews 13:17 encourages us all to “Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God.”  I Thess 5:12-13 says “Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work.”

And yet we recognize the priesthood of all those in our community who are truly “in Christ” (1 Peter 5:2-9). God speaks not only to and through leaders, and so those to whom leadership is entrusted have a responsibility to be good listeners for the voice of God through the mouths and lives of others in the community.

5. Leadership ought to seek consensus, and not lead in a heavy-handed manner

Jesus enjoined to lead in a manner different than the leadership we see all around us where leaders “lord it over” those they lead. (Mark 10:45-45) He said it ought not be so among His community. In that we seek first to be servants of one another, we not only seek for consensus and for opposing/alternative voices to be heard, but we seek to do so in a humble and Christ-like way, with gentleness. (2 Cor 10:1, Col 3:12, 1 Tim 6:11)

In community, Ecclesiology, evergreen, leadership, Pastoral
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A Model for Discernment in the Missional Church Context, Part 2

bob —  April 25, 2012

Personal Context

One of the earliest decisions we made as a community was that we would not have “formal” membership. In those early days, many believed that the desire to be a place where people could belong before they believed superseded the need for formal membership. This meant, though, that we were for all intents and purposes, an elder-led community. Though we would try to lead by consensus and involve the community as much as possible, we couldn’t do “congregational government” in the traditional sense without formal membership. Everyone understood that and has (with a couple of notable exceptions) agreed with and supported the decisions the elders have made.

In leading and making decisions, we work under the rubric that a particular decision is one of three kinds: 1. Communal- that is, something we will put before the community and leave it up to them to decide 2. Elder recommendations- things which the elders have prayed, thought and discussed over and believe to be in the best interests of the community, but still want to build consensus around and won’t move on until that consensus is built and 3. Elder decisions- things which the elders through prayer and discussion have decided and implement, informing the community as necessary and as appropriate.

Examples 

#1 Communal-type decisions are often related to issues where the entire community is a stake-holder and many potential good decisions or directions exist. When initially making the decision to remain in pub spaces or occupy a church-type building, this decision was left to the community. Also, at one point, we had to make a decision whether to keep a Sunday evening gathering in SW Portland going. This decision was put before and left to those who were a part of that gathering.

#2 Elder recommendations are things which the elders have prayed through and feel strongly enough that we want to make a proposal to the community. Some of these take the form of “we won’t move unless we feel there’s consensus on this” (such as a recent proposal for a community covenant) , others are more of a “unless there’s a significant community issue with this, we will go ahead” (this is how we bring new elders to the community). Some personnel issues also fit this category, as in new hires.

And last, #3 Elder decisions tend to be either high level directional issues regarding doctrine (even then, the community is involved, as when we decided to be a community affirming of women in all levels of leadership), or personnel (firing and salaries, mostly).

Even with this rubric, we often find ourselves attempting to discern just which category a particular situation or decision falls under. And as with all things, we try to do this through prayer, discussion and consensus as leaders.

But surely it’s not all that easy? Of course not. Craig Van Gelder highlights some of the issues of communal discernment in a postmodern context:

“In light of the hermeneutical turn that has developed over the past century, there is no going back to a world that can be framed in seemingly black-and-white categories. The diversity of interpretations of reality, which are manifest both in the multiperspectival character of biblical studies and the different methods used by the social sciences, makes this impossible. This means that part of the challenge facing Christian leaders today is learning to engage diverse perceptions of reality by drawing on a variety of methods that can inform the discernment and decision-making process. Relying primarily on one method, whether it is in relation to biblical teaching or scientific explanation, is no longer viable, if it ever was. Diverse perspectives, rooted in different methods and the particulars of social location, bring a multiperspectival dynamic into any discussion. Rather than playing out these differences around power dynamics related to personalities, roles, or the vote of the majority, which is so often the case in congregations, a more redemptive approach is to engage such differences through a process of mutual discernment. This requires leadership. This requires time. This requires a mutual commitment among those who are around the table. And this requires being Spirit-led. Reflected in this approach is the important theoretical insight that we need to develop a practice of “communicative reason” within diverse communities in order to come to shared conclusions. “(5)

Practically Speaking…

In practice, our seasons of discernment have ranged from 3 months to a year. They often start and end with prayer meetings. As a community, we have generally eschewed anything like a “business meeting” but have always incorporated prayer, silence/reflection and listening into our times of discernment. In that way, we are somewhat Quakeresque (6), in that we desire these times to be a meeting for worship in which business is conducted and decisions discerned.

Around this structure of times of prayer come online and in-person discussions, both formal and informal. We use the online discussions and formal discussions to attempt to answer questions and objections, and to make sure that all viewpoints are heard. We have one elder in particular, Sarah, who is skilled in getting to the place where everyone feels, whether we go in their desired direction or not, that they have been heard and understood. The less-formal conversations generally take place in home communities, around tables and among small groups or individuals. We use these to get a sense of where the community is at as we seek for consensus and the answer to the question “What are WE hearing from God.”

Often, at the end of one of these seasons, we have reached that place where we can say “It seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us” and we are able to move ahead. In cases where that is not true, we generally forgo moving ahead in favor of further process.

 To be continued…

5 Craig Van Gelder, Ministry of the Missional Church, The: A Community Led By The Spirit, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007. (Loc 1521, e-edition)

6 Paul Anderson, “The Meeting for Worship in which Business is Conducted.” Quaker Religious Thought 106-107 (November 2006): 26-47

In church planting, community, Ecclesiology, leadership, Pastoral
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Mark Driscoll and Accountability

bob —  March 20, 2012

A number of years ago I was surprised by a phone call from someone high up in the Acts 29 network, the church planting organization started by Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill church in Seattle.

The call was precipitated by some blogging I had done about Mark; the long and short of it was Mark had made some reckless and frankly crude comments in a public forum about an old friend and a goat. It was beyond the pale and he later apologized after inspiring the first of many internet uproars over his comments.

The call came to assure me that people around Mark who loved him were not blind to his tendency to fly off the handle, make hurtful remarks without really thinking them through and then double-down when challenged. The caller wanted me to know this was being addressed and should things not change, there would be a parting of ways.

I took that at face value.

A couple of years ago I started hearing rumblings of the firing of a number of elders at Mars Hill, the leaving of one of the founding pastors… the issue seemed to be about by-laws (???) and, natch, authority.

I’ve been largely quiet in the past few years about Mark and Mars Hill. It’s not my community and it’s not my business (though when outrageous public statements get made, I occasionally have commented on them.) Now, I feel compelled to weigh in again, and to ask those who know Mark and have weight in his life to work to address what, if left unaddressed, will continue to rebound to hurt for individuals at MH and the Church as a whole.

The wife of one of the elders who was fired a few years ago has now written honestly and charitably about their time at Mars Hill, how it ended and what has happened since. It’s a long, and frankly devastating read, at least for those of us who love the Church and want to see it be an agent of healing and hope in the world and not an abusive power structure (and for those who think the two NECESSARILY go together, and want to say so in the comments, let me head you off. You can’t have true community without people getting hurt. That’s a given. But abuse is another matter altogether and it IS possible to live out the life of the Church without descending into power struggles and spiritually abusive relationships).

My hope in publishing this is to once again get a call that says- “We’re aware. We’re praying and working and bringing accountability. Pray with us for Mark and Mars Hill.”

I am.

In Current Affairs, driscoll, Ecclesiology, Pastoral
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Some Big Changes…

bob —  January 6, 2012

This week I became something I haven’t been in a long, long time.
A part-time pastor.

Since we started Evergreen, I’ve been full-time. I embraced the idea of bi-vocationalism if necessary to get the community off the ground, but always counted myself lucky that I was able to devote my energies full-time to our community.
So what’s changed?
Mostly, me.
Over the last couple of years some significant things have happened. One, i’ve developed a good side income that more than pays the bills with a minimal amount of energy. It’s truly been a blessing- and no, I won’t tell you my secrets :)
Two, I’ve emerged from a period of significant burn out, ready to pry my white knuckles off the wheel for awhile.
And three, I think that a lot of leaders talk about handing off the baton to others, but never get around to it until forced. I want to do it differently.

In all of this I’ve tried hard to listen to what God has been saying to me about where I’m at as a man, a husband and father and as a pastor. I’ve tried to discern between the path of least resistance and what’s actually spiritually forming even if uncomfortable. Lots of talks with my wife, with my spiritual director and others..
When I came back from sabbatical this last summer I told the elders I wanted to begin making myself less “essential” in the grand scheme of things. Too much was resting on my shoulders and the weight (or more precisely, how I handled the weight) was doing me in. I told them it was my plan to begin to significantly hand off things over a nine month period.
Half way through, we are well on the way. I’m now down to 3/4 time at Evergreen, more and more Dustin is ably stepping into the places I’m stepping out of, the Elders and picking up more and more… it’s a good thing all the way around.
It’s interesting that around the Ecclesia network in general, I see more and more church planters stepping back and handing off to a next generation of leadership. I think it’s a good ethos we have going here.
Sometimes leadership is about doing and some times it’s about not (or no longer) doing. And sometimes it’s not so much about starting things as it is about creatively stepping back and seeing what happens.

In church planting, evergreen, Pastoral, personal
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It’s Official

bob —  November 16, 2011

Yup- it’s official.
Between school, ministry, family, the side business that pays for school, I officially have more to do than time in which to do it. And that doesn’t even include the things I would LIKE to be doing, but just don’t have time for right now, things like exercise and reading for enjoyment… And blogging.

As with most of life, I think the secret here is a matter of perspective. Generally, in the past I’ve allowed a wrong perspective to make things worse/harder.

So, with that in mind, here are some things I’m trying to keep in mind.

1. This is a season. Whatever stress I’m feeling is time-limited. Usually we lose hope when we buy into the lie that how things are is how things will always be. We do that in good times (and so are constantly surprised by hard times when they come) and we do it in the hard times as well. And in doing so, we turn what is effectively a sprint into an endless marathon, mentally, and lose the perspective of the finish line. That perspective is vital in tough times- even when we don’t know exactly where or how far off the finish line is, just knowing it’s there can keep us from despair. “This too shall pass.”

2. I’m thankful… Let me rephrase… I’m TRYING to be thankful for times that increase my sense of reliance on God. Yes, faith in God is a crutch. Absolutely. And we ALL have broken legs. The sooner we realize that, the better off we are. And anything or anyone that helps me recognize that should be seen as a gift. I could choose to live my life in such a way that I was never stretched beyond the limits of my own internal resources. It would be comfortable and to a certain extent, easy. It would also be devoid of any sense of purpose beyond my own comfort and any sense of making a difference for anyone else. To move into that territory, we are talking about, by definition, what’s beyond me. And for that, I need God. I need to live in and out of that same power that raised Christ from the dead. I need the Holy Spirit on a moment-by-moment basis as a guide, a teacher, and encouragement, a check to my conscience and more. I need others to play that role too- so community and family are essential. But without that baseline of the Holy Spirit’s active presence in my life, I’m sunk.

3. And lastly, in these moments of busyness, activity and overwhelming demands, I need the Gospel. I NEED the Good News that my life, and the justifying of my existence does not rest on my shoulders. It rests on the shoulders of Someone infinitely more able to carry that weight than I. I look to Jesus and am so grateful that the real work of my life is hands more capable than mine. And in knowing that, I can take my energy and put it, rather than to justifying myself or trying to earn something from God, to things I CAN control- growing in the love of God and my neighbor.

Thank you God for times of frenetic activity that make those times of rest and sabbath even more sweet. Help me to live in that sabbath-rest mindset, even as I work hard physically and mentally. Help me to rest in the finished work of Christ so that the work I do comes from a place of gratitude and service and not endless self-justification, and so that when the end of the week comes, the most natural thing in the world becomes laying it down and adding physical rest to the spiritual rest I’ve been enjoying all along.

In Pastoral, personal, sabbath, Uncategorized
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Authority or Influence?

bob —  June 21, 2011

As a pastor, I have authority in my community- but authority is not really what I want. What I really want is influence.

Authority is the ability to get people to do what I think they should do. Influence, however, is the ability to move people to want to do what they need to do.

Here’s what I know from Scripture- pastors/elders/overseers have authority in the local community. Hebrews 13:17 encourages us all to “Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say.Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God.”  I Thess 5:12-13 says “Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work.”

Of course, this isn’t a carte’ blanche for church leaders to have control over every aspect of peoples’ lives, though I bet you have met some leaders who’d like to think so.

Jesus pointed us towards the correct use of authority, both in His strong-yet-compassionate example and in His admonition that we lead through serving and avoid using authority in an “authoritarian” way (Mark 10:42-43).

Paul demonstrated both his authority and his influence when on numerous occasions he reminded the Corinthians of his authority (1 Cor 9:3, 2 Cor 10:8) but was still careful to point out that he was trying to use a different lever in moving their hearts to give: “I am not commanding you to do this…” He urged them to think about the grace and generosity of Jesus to them and let that move them (2 Cor 8:8-9). Though there were times when he clearly felt the need to lean on authority and give clear instructions about what needed to happen (1 Cor 5, 2 Cor 2:9), generally speaking, for Paul, authority wasn’t about getting people to do what he wanted them to do- it was about moving them to want to do what they needed to be doing. “For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down.” (2 Cor 13:10) It was about using his position in people’s lives to apply the Gospel and speak the Good News of Jesus into individual and corporate situations and let that Good News move them towards maturity.

I’ve come to realize something about the difference between my pastoral authority and my pastoral influence. When I get to a place where I have to lean on authority, because my influence just won’t get the job done, I’ve probably already lost. I may be able to get what I’m after by saying “Because I’m the pastor!” or using phrases like “executive decision” and so win that particular battle, but I’m almost certainly losing the war for maturity, for the strengthening of others in my community, and in my own soul.

I agree with Matt Tebbe that our authority is rooted in relationship. I think it’s also rooted in our influence and our ability to demonstrate the life we are calling others towards, to live transparent lives of seeking Jesus and invite others to join us. Our influence grows as people see the consistency with which we live these lives, the good that comes out of it for ourselves and others and the depth of our love for Jesus and for them.

Our influence comes from being able to stand before our communities and echo with a clear conscience the words of Paul, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” 1 Peter 5:3 encourages elders “Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.”

Authority is quickly gained. All you need is a title. Influence takes time. It takes constancy and attention to the small things. It is slowly gained, but quickly lost- by a stray comment, an unthinking response, an inability to own our mistakes and repent of them. People don’t want perfection (well, some do), but what they do want is someone they can respect- someone who lives the life they are calling others to, even the hard parts of repentance and sacrifice and humility.

Critiquing and minimizing pastoral authority is very much in vogue right now. Just watch the comments to this post. But the reason why this is currently part of the zeitgeist in the Church in the West is not because pastoral authority isn’t biblical, but rather because it’s been wielded in such unbiblical ways.

Lord, let us recover a spirit of mutual submission in the Church, let leaders lead with a Christ-like spirit of servanthood and let us all follow those elders in our community in such a way that we fulfill the biblical commandment and “Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow.”

 

In Ecclesiology, Pastoral
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Slouching Towards Sabbatical…

bob —  April 28, 2011

I'm winding down, taking care of last-minute details, trying to make sure all is ready… so I can drop out of vocational ministry for 3 months. 

 

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Last Sunday I preached my final sermon for the next little while. And, coming as it did after a long night of sweating out a fever of almost 103, it felt a bit more like limping over the finish line than anything else. But regardless, what was wonderful was being prayed for, blessed and "sent" in a sense, by the community.

This week, after 7 years with few breaks (I don't think there's been a year where I actually used all of my vacation) I'm setting it down, stepping away and taking a deep breath. 

To tell you the truth, it couldn't come at a better time. Even though I have felt some sense of recovery these last few months, I still feel pretty crispy around the edges, pretty low on reserves… And already, I can feel certain brain cells waking up again- just taking the weight of ministry off (not the responsibility to care, but the responsibility to do something about it) is opening up bandwidth. I feel like I'm having the emotional and mental equivalent of nasal passages opening after taking a hit of nose spray. Words, ideas… feelings. Ahh, there they are. It's good. 

Some have lovingly questioned my desire not to disappear completely but to remain somewhat connected to the community through being around on Sundays. I'll admit- there's some risk there, but here's my thinking. 

When we first started Evergreen, one of my desires was to help build and pastor in a community where I felt like I could take a vacation WITH the people I was in community with, not FROM them. I had been in plenty of situations where the second was true… but never really the first. 

And for the first 3, 3 1/2 years or so, I think that's exactly what I had. 

But over the last few years, something has changed- the dynamic flipped, and to be honest, I want to push back against that feeling. Yes, there are times to get away, to be alone or be with family or friends who aren't part of our community. But if I can't just be a part of things, can't be friends, can't worship with, can't recreate with, can't do life with these folks- if this is just a position or a job for me, from which I need to take regular and extended breaks, well… that may be okay for others, but it's never what I envisioned and it's not what I want now. 

So I'm going to try it and see. Can I just show up and worship with my family at Evergreen? Can I be a part of our community without having to run things, adjust things (and as Dustin warned me this week) have the last word on Sunday? Can I just be an Evergreener? 

I want to be, I know that. We'll visit some other places, I'm sure- just to see what God is up to here in PDX. But, in the past when we've done that, I've always left feeling very grateful for our little community with the knowledge that there's no other place I'd like to be, worship, fellowship, live and love. 

This season will be my chance to do that in a new way- and maybe my only chance for a long, long time. 

I'm looking forward to it. 

In Pastoral, personal, Sabbatical
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After 7 years, a Sabbatical

bob —  April 19, 2011

When a friend told me last time at this year that traditionally, year 7 is the hardest year for church plants/church planters, I thought "hmmmm" and filed that away for future reference. We had just celebrated our 6 year mark as a church and I was already beginning to see signs of what he was talking about- both within our community and within my own soul. 

At 7, nothing is new anymore- and the energy that sustained you in your "newness" is scarce. People you thought might be with you forever, or at least for awhile longer begin to fade away in search of other things. Staff/leadership relationships begin to creak a bit with age. 

And if you are a church planter, after 7 years, you are tired. 

So many nights laying awake wondering where so-and-so went, if the marriage of your close friends is going to make it, if the faith someone you baptized who seemed so excited but now seems so not is going to make it… Week after week of set-up, admin, sermon prep, trying to coach, encourage or even cajole people into creating the kinds of ministries they are complaining to you about not having. Times when the tank is full and times when it is empty- but empty or full, you still have to pull something out of it for others. 

I knew going in this great adventure of church planting would be hard- what I couldn't see was how hard it would on my own heart and soul. How even the good and best parts of ministry still take so much out of you.  And especially how the hard parts take a toll- others second guessing your leadership decisions, complaining about things they could easily pitch in to change or create. Baptisms are wonderful, but just as often people say "I think I'm done with faith." Ministry is messy, and for most average, non-mega-church pastors, it's largely thankless.

Which is why I'm SO grateful for our elders and our community. 

Last summer, we began talking about the possiblity of me taking a sabbatical after our 7 year mark. It's a pretty standard practice in ministry to allow a pastor some extended time off after 7 years, and truthfully, I think that over the last year our elders have seen me fraying at the edges and really running out of steam. 

So, in mid-December it moved from discussion to instruction. They told me I needed to take some time away.

That was just what I needed to hear. 

Since then, I've been able to sleep better, rest more… Just knowing that a break was coming has enabled me not only to navigate some hard leadership waters these last few months, but even begin to crawl back a bit from the edges of exhaustion. At this point, I'm not only ready for a break, but feel as though I may actually have the energy to enjoy it. Which again, I'm grateful for…

So, we've announced to our community that from May through July I'm going to be taking a break from the work of ministry. Our family will still be around- I'm looking forward to actually just attending our church and sitting with my wife and kids in our gathering. It's been, uh… never, since we've been able to do that- I've been working at churches our entire marriage. While I hope to take a break from the work part, I really want to remain present in some ways- that is, take a break from work, not from community. I also want to visit some other communities and see what else God is doing here in PDX.

My spiritual director is going to help me with those parts with some regular check-ins to make sure I'm not sneaking in any work- physically or mentally. As he says, "Sabbatical" comes from "Sabbath."

And so, to that end, some things I hope to do on my Sabbatical:

1. Sleep 

2. Break this writer's block

3. Enjoy and be enjoyable to my family

4. Eat, Pray, Love

5. We're going to Disneyland!

6. Week at Richmond Hill Abbey in Richmond VA

7. Road trip with Jack, my 7 year old son

8. Sleep some more. 

 

And who knows… maybe some blogging too :)

 

In church planting, evergreen, Pastoral, personal, sabbath
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