Church Junkies

One of my loves in ministry is the church. I grew up in a great church (Hillside in Succasunna NJ) and have been on staff at three great churches which I absolutely loved and because of that history and because of how great the church has been often in my life I think I’m actually a church junkie.

And throw into the mix that I love being used for the good of others, I love seeing good things happen in the life of the church and in the lives of the folks in the church and I love being a part of the organism that is the church that I find that these passions and loves can easily become obsessive and addictive.

I don’t know if you can relate to that at all but for me if it wasn’t for my life outside of the church (and thank you God for that life) I could easily spend 24/7 being involved with the ongoing life of the church but the more and more I think on that the more and more I think of dangers that can come from that sort of way of thinking and living

Danger #1 – To give myself so over to the church I can isolate myself from the world around me and as a result of that become out of touch with that world and almost live life in a bubble. A few years ago I was leading an elder board discussion at a former church and we were looking at a text book Pastor Tim Ysteboe had referred me and in that Elder Handbook one of the qualities it affirmed in elders was that they be connected/in relationship to the world around them so that they could understand it.

Danger #2 – To give myself over to the church in overwhelming terms risks burnout. In any profession work-a-holism breeds an eventual fall. I watched a movie at home with my wife over Christmas vacation and in it these Wall Street Executives lived life to the maximum or beyond the maximum but the life picture I saw of them was that they had peeked by their midlife and sacrificed everything of significance to reach that peek. What helped me to see that was a character in the film that had success (not as great as his executive peers) but had a more balanced view of life and was not willing to succumb to the goals of his peers. So how do we guard against that? I wrote a paper at college on burnout and I remember talking to someone who had crashed and I walked away with these insights

-          Get a hobby

-          Have people in your lives who understand the pressures of the church but aren’t a part of your church so you can talk issues through with them

-          Balance time with family and guard it

-          Be available but don’t feel like you need to be available 24/7 (there is wisdom in turning a cell phone off or not answering it always)

-          Be encouraged to have realistic goals for ministry and that programmatic goals aren’t the ultimate measuring stick for if we’ve done well. As well, encourage your Elder Board and whoever you are accountable to, to know the demands of ministry and to not put more on you than is fair. (I’m not sure how you do that but what I know is that I’ve been a part of elder boards that have had that in the DNA and it’s been wonderful)

Danger #3 – To give myself over to the church risks the relationships I should be cherishing the most, our families. I’ve written on this before and if you are single in ministry maybe this is tougher to see right now but were your relationship status to change; I’m guessing might be easier to see. I’d encourage you to see the hierarchy of relationships that God has given to us like this

-          #1 relationship is between us and God

-          #2 relationship is in our homes

-          #3 set of relationships is with those in our influence

When #3 overtakes #2 or #1 we really invite chaos into our lives

I enjoy writing for this blog and for our youth workers and pastors. One of my youth worker friends asked me once how do I figure out what to write on. Honestly, if a thought comes in my head, I write it down and think on it until it looks like something worth writing on.

For this post, I had all of what I just said figured out for a while but I wasn’t ready to put it to paper until the following thought dawned on me.

I started thinking about what I must look like if I’m some sort of church junkie.

And you know what I pictured myself looking like? I pictured myself looking like the religious leaders of Jesus day. I pictured these leaders totally immersed in their study, in being truly about them and less about the work of God because they were building their own kingdoms and picture those men proud of all THEY had done.

And the more and more I thought about how those men lived and did “ministry” the more and more I shook my head and hoped that their way of doing ministry wouldn’t describe me. I think that for us to give ourselves over to the church in obsessive and unhealthy patterns puts us at risk for living like the religions leaders of Jesus day.

I’m curious what you think of that thought and how you would respond were you to see any church junkie in you.

For me, when I see some of this church junkie in me I know I need to

-          Be reminded that ministry isn’t about how much I accomplish or about how many programs I start or run

-          Get my relational-hierarchy’s adjusted by God’s grace

-          Share my ministry and to give it away for others edification

-          Balance my inside the church experiences with my outside the church relationships and as well have passions that have nothing to do with church

I’d love to interact with you on this and trust this helps you and the ministry God has given to you and that’s one of the reasons why I find myself writing on this because our ministries are God’s gifts to us and when we neglect them or over-prioritize them we misuse this gift from God to us and to those around us

The failure of efficiency

A while back someone posted a blog post about God’s intent at creation which focused on how God gave man the charge to rule over creation. As that writer went on they painted a word picture that God’s intent wasn’t to simply have Adam and Eve just feed the animals and to groom the ground but to be involved with creation in a caring way.

I started thinking on that and the thought that struck me is that I’ve created systems to make me efficient.

-I have email lists which let me get out emails to lots of people quickly

-I have a routine that I follow that when I follow it allows me to find myself with more time for other things

-I also have gone back to some old resources and reused old resources when I could have sat down and spent more time at making something new

Now, sometimes working this way really does work well for me. Sometimes recreating something from the past can fit well with what I’m doing now and by looking to it again I can see where I was weak earlier.

BUT – On the flip side – Sometimes I know I’m guilty of trying to do as much as I can and in the process, sacrificing two other ministry hopes

 1. I’ve noticed when I try to get too much done I wind up sometimes missing certain details and sometimes in the process of cutting corners I just make a mess.

 2. I’ve also noticed that when I make myself too busy that I leave no time in my schedule for the emergencies of other people’s lives. I could be producing something and someone calls and wants to talk and the thought in the back of my head is, “I have this project I need to finish…I really want to get back to it” Now, of course I never say anything like that to someone and I hope my heart and actions do convey to them that they really do matter.

 I guess what I’m saying is that if efficiency is our goal we’re going to get blinded from what our true calling is and that is getting into God’s word and those that we get to minister to…

 I can get really busy doing stuff and sometimes I can even feed off of people’s compliments that I’ve been so busy but the truth of the matter for me is that I hope that the stuff I do doesn’t cost me any single opportunity to speak into someone’s life the things of our God.

 I’ll encourage you to consider if your business is sacrificing ministry opportunities…

 BUT WAIT – I don’t think this conversation needs to end here….Maybe it could but maybe this conversation can open up another rabbit trail.

 I think this is a fair place to ask the question of ourselves if our disorganization or mismanagement is bringing us to the same place…

 I think being disorganized can bring us to a place where we settle for sloppy work and I also think being disorganized can keep us from getting into people’s lives….

 I don’t know how to teach “how to be organized” to others. I don’t know if I am organized. In my mind I am and it all makes sense to me but if someone were to step into my shoes for a week I think they would be totally lost. For what it’s worth….Take an honest look at yourself and ask yourself if disorganization is hurting your ministry. If it is, I’d encourage you to find a leader in your church who is and can strengthen and encourage you in this area.

 Paul writes that we should “do all we as working for the Lord” For me, those words mean that I’m not serving to simply get as much as possible done nor am I serving to crank another project out. I serve Jesus and when He becomes my focus, His heart becomes my passion and His heart is that no one would not know Him.

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CLB Youth Workers DNA

Last summer we had a youth worker summit in Minneapolis with about 20 youth workers. We traded ideas, stories, and as well, we traded pictures of what our vision for ministry is in our churches, our regions and for our synod. One of the thoughts that I picked up on was that some of our youth workers have found value in cross pollinating their ministries with the ministries of our CLB churches.

Some, when looking for places to do mission trips have offered themselves to other CLB churches. And the bonus on work like that is that it is often low cost and that it gets people from our churches meeting each other which is something that we see less and less of in this day. I wouldn’t advocate that this be the only way to work.

For me, I have loved to do mission trips and in the past when I went to Mexico ten years ago with the church I first served at; I drove right past our church in Buda, Texas which is very much our most remote church. Back then the main reason I called the church there was because I could take advantage of a quick and easy place to stay but now years later in the role I get to have doing mass youth ministry communication work I see the value of times like that.

I would encourage you to take advantage of each other. And why not? That’s how family leans on each other and that’s what we are. Maybe you’re looking at the map and you realize you’re driving right past a church and it could save you a few bucks to stay with them rather then a hotel….I would encourage you to call them up even if you don’t know anyone in that church…I would be willing to bet that they would love to house you and your families would love for you to drop your expenses at the same time. .

Here’s the thing….I thought about this post 6 months ago and then I forgot about it…it kind of fell to the floor and then a few weeks ago one of the elders in one of the churches called me up to ask if I could point them to any church youth group that might be looking to spend a week at their church this summer. I had fun making a few suggestions and I don’t know if anything came of it but I’d love to do that again. In fact, we’ve added a new page to the CLB YW blog with the hopes that some of you might submit requests for places to go or to be a host for such a trip.

I’m not looking to create anything formal or any program but I am hoping that cross pollinating within our church family does happen.

At our youth worker summit in the summer of 2011 we named this quality of sharing selves as something that has showed up in many of our CLB youth workers in the past and present and we also named it as something we hope that we don’t lose. I think we even talked about this as the DNA of many of our youth workers.

I’m hoping you see the value of behaving like this and at the same time I don’t want to suggest that this sort of behavior is just limited to being used exclusively in our circles. This pattern can bear fruit in many other circles as well.

This isn’t a strategy for building a bigger church or anything like that in my mind…This is what the early church did as it gave itself away for others. 2^nd Corinthians 8:1-7 offers us these words…

 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Look at this early church….

-          They gave not in their abundance but as they saw need

-          They went beyond anyone’s expectations as they gave of themselves

-          They gave away to others our of their love for Jesus

Maybe those ideas will spark something in you to partner with others as best you’re able. If you would like to post of a need at your church or of the desire to go serve at another church please shoot me an email at pastormark@wordoflifelbc.org and I will get it on the blog.

Thanks to our CLB Youth Workers

enjoy....

http://vimeo.com/31985816

Good Looking Pastors

What would you say if I said that our job as youth workers is in part to make our pastors look good? Yeah…that sounds kind of bizarre but I think there is some truth to it. (And to be a little more accurate I suppose a part of our calling is to make our churches look good too.)

Youth workers – We get to pour our lives into students, their families, and anyone else that we get the opportunity to minister to. And the greatest reward of that is simply knowing that we’ve been used for eternal purposes and that peoples lives are being changed by God’s grace and work and that we get to say that we had the privilege to be a part of it.

Now work with me as I take that last paragraph back to my first sentence. When we can look back and see the good ministry experiences that we’ve been a part of the truth of the matter is that our lead pastor/senior pastor sometimes wind up looking pretty good in people’s eyes. They go to rotary meetings or pastor’s lunches and others tell them how glad they are to hear of “their flourishing ministries.” And you know what….It’s for good reason that this happens…they are the ones who lead the church in many ways, they allow us to lead, and I think you can name many other ways that point to them deserving some accolades.

Now sometimes our natural response when someone else gets compliments that we think are due us is to get frustrated, get mad, or even hold a grudge against them but in the scenario I’m describing the ideal is that those who serve under the leadership of their pastor should be making their pastor look good and that’s what gets me to what my REAL main point is.

For as much fun as it can be to partner with our Senior Pastor’s, for as much of a partnership as it might seem to be, and for as much as it might seem that we’re the ones deserving ALL the reward and props…the truth is that as we serve, we serve under our pastors and it’s ok/right/good that we make them look good. It’s OK if our pastors, churches, families leaders look good and we NEVER look good because we don’t serve for the applause of men…we serve because of our calling and love for student ministry.

Even if it seems like our Senior Pastor had nothing to do with any success (whatever that means since success is so hard to define or measure) we still serve under their leadership and we need to keep in perspective the role of seniority that they have in our lives.

As I think on this, I think of 3^rd John where John writes his friend Gaius and in those words he encourages, challenges and instructs. This isn’t an apple to apple comparison to a Senior Pastor and his staff or volunteers but it does reflect a picture of a wise veteran giving instruction to one who needed some instruction and council. It’s a picture of what can be for us. (And this book also shows us what it looks like when someone freelances and does whatever they want in the person of Demetrius.)

Now as I reflect on all I’ve said, I guess it’s best I better state my first point that as we serve and follow our leaders it’s just fine if we make them look good in the eyes of those whom they shepherd because ministry isn’t a competition or pageant….It is a place to serve….Let’s pray that we are people who more and more respect and follow the lead of those whom have been placed over us.