The Christmas Servant

We all have people that we admire.  To some it is the powerful athlete who plays with strength and finesse.  To others it may be the musician that makes a particular instrument come alive with majestic music.  To others it may be a political figure, a physician, an attorney, a theologian or maybe even a preacher or two.  They are our heroes.  We admire what they do, and may secretly desire to do the same.

At the risk of sounding pious, I must admit the people I admire most, are not very well known.  If I mentioned their name many of you would not recognize it.  They don't have any shoes; balls or golf clubs embellished with their name.  In the worlds eyes they are "nobodies!"  You see I admire people who have a servant’s heart.  A heart that is willing to please God regardless of the cost.  I call these people quiet servants.

Though these quiet servants are rarely in the spotlight, mainly because they insist on staying out of it, it is people like them that God has used in the most radical ways.  God called one woman who comes to mind in her teenage years.  The task that she was called to was one that required great risk.  A risk that could have had her thrown out of her family and community. A risk that could have resulted in an embarrassing label for life.  Yet this quiet servant did not argue, protest or resist, but humbly submitted to the call of the Lord.

Her willingness to be a quiet servant resulted in her being used in a more dramatic fashion than any other woman in history!  Who was this woman?  Mary, the mother of Jesus, who when the angel Gabriel told her this news simply said, "Behold the bond slave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your Word” (Luke 1:38).

Oh to have that attitude and spirit!  I don’t know about you, but when God asks me to do something risky, my first response is a series of questions!  “What am I going to get out of this?” Thus with one eye focused on the impossibilities and the other eye focused on ourselves, we rarely serve as God has called us too.

As you celebrate this Christmas take some time and reflect on the quiet servant, who willingly became the mom of the greatest Servant who walked the face of the earth!  Remember that Christ did not come “to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many!” (Mark 10:45)  By being a servant Mary had the honor of playing a part in giving the greatest gift all!  Christ came and purchased the free gift of salvation!  Through Christ we are Free!  Through Christ we are part of God’s eternal family!  Wow, what an awesome gift! And a little quite young woman had a part in it!

This year as we shop till we drop trying to find the perfect gift for friends and loved ones who already have everything let’s take a minute and reflect on the gift of being a servant. Give a gift that is of great value and extremely rare today – quite service.  In our faithfulness to quietly serve God and our neighbors, we might have the awesome privilege of being the bearer of the gift we call the Gospel and some we serve may receive that gift and inherit eternal life.  I don’t know about you, but I take the free gift of eternal life any day over another tie! 

Just imagine what God can do through faithful service!  If God gave Mary the grace to serve, He will give it to you too.  We all know that the average gift we give at Christmas, lasts only a short while, but the gift of service lasts a lifetime and the gift of salvation for eternity! Now that’s a great gift.  Think about that and have great Christmas!

Spiritual Intimacy

“We must remember that God will never drag us along the path of true-hearted discipleship. This would greatly lack the moral excellency which characterizes all the ways of God. He does not drag, but draws us along the path which leads to ineffable blessedness in Himself; and if we do see that it is for our real advantage to break through all the barriers of nature, in order to respond to Gods’ call, we forsake our own mercies. But alas! our hearts little enter into this. We begin to calculate about the sacrifices, the hindrances, and the difficulties, instead of bounding along the path, in eagerness of soul, as knowing and loving the One whose call has sounded in our ears”.   C H Macintosh

I want to take you back to last week's blog, because I believe the topic is crucial to those of us who have given our lives to serve as ministers of the Gospel.  At the risk of being redundant, I want to remind you of some essential ingredients to spiritual Intimacy.  

           

   III.          Know Yourself: Many pastors struggle knowing who they really are.  This often is rooted in fear and insecurity as we struggle to believe that God can really us.  We put a lot of effort into being like other leaders and as a result begin to loose who we really are.  This applies to our preaching, our intellectual abilities and our way of relating. We end up acting like we have more knowledge than we do, and pretend to be a different personality than we are.  If you get caught in that trap, it will kill you!  I hope to write more about this at a later date, but in the meantime consider these two quotes    

•  "How can you draw close to God when you are far from yourself . . .  Grant, Lord that I may know myself that I may know thee” (Augustine).
•  "Our wisdom. . .  consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.  But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes or gives birth to the other.” (Calvin)[2]

  IV.          Know the Gospel

A.    Recognize your sin – repentance for what you have done.

B.    Admit what you cannot do – repentance for self-sufficiency.

C.    Realize why you don’t do it – repentance for being self-serving

D.    Remember Who did it for you.

1.        Jesus has purchased your righteousness.

2.        The same temptation you are facing and failing to overcome, Jesus faced and overcame on your behalf.

E.     Remember that through Christ you can do it - you can keep coming to Him, through ongoing repentance and faith in order to keep tapping into that power source to be transformed into His image.  

             

     II.          Know the symptoms of being spiritually sick[1].

A.    Using God to run from God.

B.    Ignoring the emotions of anger, sadness, and fear.

C.    Dying to the wrong things.

D.    Denying the past’s impact on the present.

E.     Dividing our lives in “Sacred” and “Secular.”

F.     Doing for God rather than being with God.

G.    Spiritualizing away conflict

H.    Hiding your brokenness, weakness and failure.

I.       Living without limits.

J.      Judging other peoples spiritual journey. 

P

    V.         And as review and reminder from my last blog, as a pastor or leader remember this. 

A.    Undivided Worship/Reflective Living.

1.     Make time for extended personal worship.

2.     Take regular breaks from worship and preaching responsibilities.

3.     Learn to give up a measure of control over worship services to others.

B.    Re-Establishing and Maintaining Spiritual Disciplines – Personal Piety.

1.     Spiritual Disciplines are activities intended to deepen our relationship with Christ.   They include:

a.      Primarily the Means of Grace – Prayer, Scripture, and the Sacraments.

b.     Also, fasting, solitude, tithing, evangelism etc.

2.     Invest in guilt free times of spiritual disciplines.

3.     Resist the temptation to give into the “tyranny of the urgent[3]”

C.    Accountable Relationships for Spiritual Direction – Find trusted companions.

1.     “Let the person who person who cannot be alone beware of community. Let the person who is not in community beware of being alone.” [4]

2.     These are trusted relationships where spiritual growth occurs.

3.     They know who we REALLY are and keep ups from living a false life.

4.     To grow in our spiritual intimacy is tough and we face two critical challenges “First the pressure of others to keep us living lives that are not our own is enormous.  And second our own stubborn self-will is much deeper and more insidious than we think. The possibility of self-deception is so great that without mature companions we can easily fall into the trap of living in illusions” (Scazzero, p. 87).

---

[1] Scazzero, Peter, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006,

[2] Calvin, John, Institutes of Christian Religion, Volume I, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 37.

[3] Hummel, Hummel, The tyranny of the Urgent, rev. ed. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1994.

[4] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, Life Together, New York: HarperCollins, 1954, 57.

Running on Empty

I don't know if you have had someone close to you die.  But if you have, you are well aware of the feeling that overwhelms you upon hearing the news.  Last week I heard some news that struck me like the death of a close friend.  Another pastor's life simply unraveled in a very public way.  What made the whole thing more tragic was the responses that I heard from fellow leaders.... you know the responses the reveal our pious pride.  My point in writing this is not to analyse the struggles of a brother who got himself into a mess, but to challenge the rest of us to stop and make sure that you are not running on empty.     

I have been doing this long enough to know that there are many Christian leaders whose lives are a mess, but they have simply been able to hide it.  Others are so close to falling off the edge that it seems inevitable.  Regardless, I hope you will use a time like this to stop and take a long honest look at your life and see just how well you are doing.  Self-Management is an essential ingredient of a healthy family and fruitful ministry.  It is basically keeping an eye on your personal fuel gauge.  What follows is not original to me, but comes out of a Lilly Endowment Study that I participated in.  Of course I have "messed with it," but I trust it will help you have a long and fruitful ministry.  

Spiritual Formation is the ongoing process of maturing as a Christian both personally and inter-personally.  The personal and interpersonal dynamically relate to each other and are generally reflected in lifestyle disciplines and behaviors.  If you want to survive for the long haul, you need to need to attend to your spiritual growth by:

1. Finding space in your lives for undivided worship (personal and corporate). I cannot tell you how important it is that as pastors you grow in worship.  Don't neglect that time of personal worship.  Find ways to sit under the preaching of God's word.  Listen to someone's sermon, not to get ideas for yours, but simply to drink deep of that means of grace.  Don't neglect your prayer life as it is an essential ingredient of worship. 
2. Re-establishing and maintaining spiritual disciplines.  I fully realize that the idea of spiritual disciplines is often argued to be in juxtaposition to grace, however remember Paul's challenge to Timothy, "train yourself to be godly...watch you life and doctrine closely" (1 Timothy 4:7b, 16a).  For us to fully grasp the love of God, we must discipline ourselves to pursue it.  I have come to find that what was once a discipline has be come a delight!  
3. Having open and honest relationships for spiritual direction.  I cannot tell how important it is to have people around you that can tell if you lie to them!  We need to surround ourselves with people who love enough, to confront us!  They are the ones that help us keep our life and doctrine pure.  One of the saddest parts of the the story I opened with is that he had people who knew he was falling and did not do a spiritual 911!   

Self-Care focuses on the ongoing development of a pastor as a whole person, including calling, relationships, physical condition and intellectual growth.  If you want to survive in ministry for the long haul,  you need to attend to your self care by:

1. Taking care of yourself.  It is not un-spiritual to take care of ourselves.  Find at least two hours where you can be alone, no phone, no computer and work through the Spiritual Diagnostics Filters below.  Once you had done it, start working on those areas you have neglected.   
2. Developing safe and trustworthy relationships  These may or may not be the same people as I mentioned above as they hold us accountable.  This is more about community, a place where you do not have a responsibility and can enjoy deep friendship.  Hopefully, people who laugh a lot and do take everything too seriously!  
3. Remembering your calling.   I don't remember who it was, but someone told me to remember the date that I was ordained as a Teaching Elder.  I took that advice and pause every November 6th to reflect on God's calling in my life.  Many pastors become discouraged in a particular call or place of ministry and question their initial call.  Remembering your calling gives you the grace to not give up on your original or initial call, when a particular call is wearing you down. 

Marriage and Family is the commitment to the spiritual and relational health of  your wife and your children.  This is huge and if you neglect it, you, your family and your church will pay!  If you want to survive in ministry for the long haul you they need to attend to marriage and family by:

1. Understanding the strategic role your wife plays in your life and ministry.   I get really frustrated buy those who seem to believe there is a particular mold for pastors wives.  This lie has caused countless struggles in ministry marriages and it is time to bury it!  Men, there is no such thing as an "ideal" pastors wife, so don't try to make your wife into one!  Do not relegate her to children and food unless she wants to do it and believes God has called her to do it.  Help her work out of her strengths, and embrace her as a gift God has given you in life and in ministry.  And most of all, make sure you listen to her!  Remember 1 Peter 3:7... Go ahead... Look it up! 
2. Encouraging your spouse to develop safe, trustworthy relationships.  Many pastor's wives live very lonely lives and it is often because the pastor lives out of fear and does not encourage her to have safe friendships.  And yes, those friendships can be outside the church! 
3. Making the spiritual and emotional health of your spouse and family a priority.  Don't just give your family the left overs!  Invest time and energy into your marriage and family. Make sure that they get the best of you.  Schedule time to play and enjoy your family.  Remember you are first a priest to your family! 

Below is the Personal Life Diagnostic Filters that came from a good friend Dr. Bob Burns.  I would encourage you to use it every few months as a gauge to your over all health.

Personal Life Diagnostic Filters

Physical Life Filter 

1. Reflect for a few moments on your diet.  What are you eating and why? 

2. How do you exercise regularly and adequately?  If you don’t, consider what you need to do about it. 

3. When was your last physical exam? 

1.     What are areas identified that need to be worked on?

2.     What have you been doing about it?

3.     What are your sleep patterns?

4. Reflect on any correlations between the way you manage your emotions and your present physical condition (including sleep, diet, exercise and overall physical condition).

Sexual Filter 

As you know, many pastors have struggled with issues of sexuality, even to the point of losing their ministry.  Because this is an issue we all must confront, we asked Ben Bahsme, a professional counselor who specializes in this area, to give us questions for personal review.  Here are his questions:

1. How (and with whom) do you process your sexual issues as a pastor? 

2. How do you deal with the temptation of internet pornography? 

3. How do your issues with lust hinder your ministry, leadership at home and at church? 

4. What role do your elders or fellow staff members play in accountability with sexual issues?

Social/Relational Life Filter 

1. Name two person (or couples) you would describe as safe and trustworthy in your life.  Why do you feel this way about them? 

2. How do you balance the competing demands of ministry and family? 

3. Describe a new relationship you initiated and build with someone in the past year.

Emotional Life Filter 

1. Mark, rank  and consider those that relate to you right now: 

	Encouraged		Energized		Focused		Affirmed
	Innovative		Discouraged		Overlooked		Fulfilled
	Confused		Confident		Useful		Alone
	Challenged		Frustrated		Overworked		Grateful
	Stressed		Optimistic		Initiator		Concerned
	Integrated		Struggling		Overwhelmed		Organized
	Burned-out		Growing		Appreciated		Unchallenged
	Goal-oriented		Task-oriented		Equipper		Team Player
	Creative		Flexible		Resourceful		Current

 Comments on any of the above:

2. How do you reach when your expectations are high but the results are low? 

1.     How do you handle these reactions?

2.     How do you deal with the loneliness of leadership? 

 Mental Life Filter 

1. Name three people whose biography you would like to read. 

2. Describe the professional develop that you would like to experience (schoolwork, seminars, books, new experiences). 

3. What are you doing to understand the broader cultural trends in America?  Cultural trends in the world? 

4. With whom do you share your ideas? 

5. Who shares their ideas with you? 

6. What are the most significant values that reflect who you are?

Spiritual Life Filter 

1. How would you describe your walk with God over the past year?  Explain. 

2. Reflect on how you are doing in the following areas taken from Acts 2:42-46: 

1.     Worship (personal and corporate)

2.     Instruction (studying and learning “the apostles’ doctrine”)

3.     Fellowship (relationships that stimulate you to grow in faithfulness and obedience)

4.     Evangelism and outreach (involvement in sharing your faith in lifestyle and word)

3. Does someone hold you spiritually accountable?  (Is it “true” accountability?  Are you regularly asked the “hard” questions?) 

4. When did you last get away for a spiritual and ministry planning time?

The Pastor and Social Media

The phenomenon that is now known as Social Media is less than twenty years old.  Webster’s defines it as “forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages and other content.”  It all began when Al Gore invented the internet …. Seriously, as the internet developed there was a series of inventions that were connected and built upon each other.   Here are some highlights, “TheGlobe.com” was a social networking service conceived by Cornell students Stephen Paternot and Todd Krizelman that went public in 1998.  Instant messaging was popularized in 1996 by free IM software developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis.  AOL later acquired the company.  A company named “Geosites” provided customizable “home pages” for anyone who wanted them in 1994. 

“SixDegrees.com” used a series of contact lists where users who, agreed to hand over an email list, could communicate with friends via bulletin boards, e-mail and online messaging.  “Friendster” built on “SixDegrees” and invented “friends.”   “LiveJournal” was an online diary, later acquired by Google as a blog-hosting platform.  “MySpace.com” was started in 2003 and was the king homepage, messaging and photo-sharing site until the easier to use “Facebook” came along in 2004.  “Facebook” now has one billion uses worldwide.  In 2006 “Twitter” capitalized on the idea that people like to keep a blog, but don’t like to write them.  So they came up with the 140-character limit.  “Twitter” is growing and has an estimated 500 million users.   To top all this off, the “I-phone” came along with a “smartphone” that allowed people to be social rather than tied to a computer.  Now we can do all of the above regardless of where we are!  

There is an overabundance of invaluable information on the Church and Social Media available, and I am convinced that the church must not only learn how use social media, but more importantly learn to understand the culture that has developed around it.  I have inserted a helpful chart from a recent BuzzPlant survey that should be helpful.  My focus today however is on the Pastor and Social Media.

First, let’s take a look at the value of the benefits of living in a Social Media World.

•  It is a great way to connect.  Social Media allows us to keep up with people inside and outside our church.   It is powerful tool to keep people informed on what is going on.
• It transcends geography.  Social Media is not restricted to the small geographic area where you live.  You can interact with anyone, just about anywhere.  As a child in Africa, the fasted letter was an “air form” and it took at least two weeks to get from the United States to Tanzania.  If you were near a phone that worked you had to yell to be heard across the Atlantic.  The fastest and cheapest way to get information was a “telegram.”   That was only 35 years ago!  Through Social Media I can reach my brother in Kenya, instantly and practically free!
• It is not bound by time.  In other words, you don’t have to actually “reach a person” in real time to communicate to them.  Now you can text or Facebook someone you need to communicate with.
• It provides a broader ministry opportunity.  It used to be that ministry was tied to live communication, recorded media, or printed materials.  Twenty years ago sermons were recorded on cassette tape and through tedious duplication distributed accordingly.  Printed materials were photocopied, or printed.  Distributing information beyond the worship service or the class was cumbersome and costly.   Through the use of Social Media we have the ability to teach and disciple an enormous amount of people almost instantaneously, for practically free. 

With the all the benefits of ministry in a Social Media world, come the need to be cautious.

•  What gets out stays out.   Whether it is a picture, video, tweet, blog or e-mail, once the information is out it cannot be retrieved.   As pastors, you need to be attuned to this reality and to be careful. 
• It distorts reality. 

a.      You can come to believe you are more important than you are.  Having your own website, Blog, or high count in Facebook friends or Twitter followers, can make you think that all these people are actually paying attention to what you are communicating.   We all know that besides “nickels and noses” we find additional affirmation by the number of social media followers we have.  One Christian leader’s bio states that he “reaches 70,000,000 potential households each week.”  “Potential” is the key word. Just be careful when you start thinking that way!  Our hearts are indeed idol factories!  How many of you regularly check your followers or visitors to your blog? 

b.     You can present yourself as someone different that you are.  One of the reasons social media has become so popular is because we only have to reveal the parts of us we like, and can hide what we don’t.  Thus what is often presented is very different than who really are.  Don’t make yourself out to be Mr. extroverted people person, when you are really an introvert.  If you want to be a messenger of the Gospel you have to authentic.  

c.      You can make yourself look more important that you are.  A sad aspect of social media is the “hey look at me” factor.  To stand out in the virtual world we have promote ourselves.  Sadly, most pastor types end up revealing their narcissistic tendencies.  Remember it is about the Message, not the messenger!

d.     It can make people think they have a closer relationship with you than they really do.  Like counselors, pastors need to be aware of people who use social media to have access to you.   There will be people who just because you “befriend” them will really think they are your friend.  Be careful to not make yourself look more available than you are!

• It can clutter your world.   I don’t believe this one needs to be explained.  However, to prove my point, try to go one day without accessing social media. 
• It can distract you from what really matters.  Along the same line, the primary role of the pastor or teaching elder is prayer and preaching – in that order (Acts 6).  Personally, the more cluttered my world gets, the less I pray, and the less time I spend in Scripture.  When that happens, it hurts me, my family and my ministry.  Don’t let social media rob you of the means of Grace given to us!  Make sure there is ample social media free to be still in the presence of the Father!

Being a Pastor to the Workplace

            I don’t have raw data on the subject, however if there were a survey conducted on how often a sermon is applied to work, my guess is that percentage would be miserably low.  Most sermons, if applied at all are directed to the areas that the average American spends the least amount of their time.   Now, please don’t misunderstand me, sermons on marriage, family, childrearing, are all important, but for the vast majority of the world, that is not where they spend most of the their time, nor where they face their greatest challenges. 

            Take a look at the chart below and notice the percentages of time given by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and compare that to not how sermons are applied, and how the average pastor ministers to his people.  My point is I don’t believe the average pastor knows how to minister to those in the work place, specifically the business leader.   As a side note, this could be a reason why fewer men attend church in the United States.        

            

            In order to pastor those in the workplace, you need to know them.  Here are a few suggestions to get you heading in the right direction.  

I.          To pastor people in the workplace you must have an accurate understanding of calling.

A.    Do you truly believe that those in the workplace are called to that work?

B.    Can you correctly articulate how to help them live out that calling?

  

II.          To care for people in the workplace you need to be a student of the work culture.

A.    Knowledge:  Go beyond knowing where people in your church work, and be a student of what their work entails.  In addition keep up on what kind of jobs are in your city or region.  What businesses are thriving?  What ones are struggling or failing?  

B.    Values: To pastor people in the work place you must go beyond knowing “what” they do to learning “why” they do they do. This means going deeper with the goal of understanding opinions, viewpoints, attitudes, philosophies, and convictions. It is here where you will understand why an educated individual spends their life in a small manual skills job.  Understanding “why” people do what they do, takes you to the core their behavior where true spiritual ministry takes place. 

C.    Personality:  How does personality play into the work they do?  Like values, personality plays a significant role in whether someone likes their job, or struggles with it.  Understanding personality also helps you in your ability to interact with and therefore minster someone in the workplace.

D.    Below is a sampling of some work areas of people who attended the churches where I served as pastor.  Notice the diversity and therefore the challenges of ministry in their context. 

1.     Airline Pilot.

2.     Air Traffic controller.

3.     Airline Maintenance worker

4.     Attorney.

5.     Bail Bondsman.

6.     Bartender.

7.     Chief Financial Officer.

8.     Chief Operating Officer.

9.     Commercial and Residential developer.

10.  Dentist.

11.  Educator.

12.  Hospice Chaplin.

13.  Infectious Disease Physician.

14.  IT Specialist.

15.  Regional Account Manager for Microsoft.

16.  Nurse.

17.  Pharmaceutical clinical liaison.

18.  Plant Manager.

19.  Self employed Electrician.

20.  Tennis Pro.

21.  Veterinarian.

E.     Remember, you will not have the time to master all work cultures, but you can gain a basic understanding quite easily, and therefore pastor each more effectively.

III.          To care for people in the workplace you must be aware of your own Pride, Fear and Idols.

A.    Pride can cause you to look down on those whose job you don’t respect, and seek acceptance by those you esteem.  Either extreme will hinder your ability to pastor effectively.  If you venerate someone, you will not be able to engage them effectively.

B.    Fear will cause you to distance yourself from those who might intimidate you.  

C.    Not identifying your own idols will hinder your ministry effectiveness and cause you to focus your ministry on people who feed your idols.

1.     The Idol of Approval is the belief that you are whole when others respect and approve of you.   

2.     The Idol of Comfort is the belief that you are whole when you are experiencing a certain quality of life.

3.     The Idol of Security is the belief that you are whole when your life is secure and safe.  

Networking Before a Crisis

Crises Happen: Over the last two weeks we have seen the devastation caused by tropical storm Sandy.  In one neighborhood residents watched houses across the street burn to the ground as a six foot tidal surge left them trapped in their own home.  Two weeks later thousands of residents are homeless or without power.  Though most communities did not see this level of destruction, the potential of crisis is in every community.  They could range from a tragic death to a shooting rampage.  It is important for the church to be positioned to step in when it happens.

Preparing for Crises: Being a resident of the great state of Florida, preparation means being ready for that one hurricane that could obliterate us.  Because we never know what kind of crises our community will face, it is impossible to fully prepare ourselves with the adequate physical supplies.  Nevertheless, one way we can prepare for Crises is by letting people in your community know that you are there long before anything happens.  In other words when a crises occurs, you and your church are one of the first one called. 

Like the Serpent lifted up in the wilderness: After a time of crisis someone came up to me and said something that at first seemed strange and was clearly not theologically correct.  Basically they said this, “Pastor you are kind of like the serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness.  God has put you here up in front of us, and when we look to you we feel some hope.”  Those of you who know me probably get the serpent part, however the point is that I believe that God uses His people as beacons of hope in the middle chaos.  The question then is how can we position ourselves to be one to bring that hope?   I believe it is through networking long before the crises occurs.

Networking: The term “Networking” is used in numerous ways.  Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: The cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.”  When applied to the business context it refers to building and maintaining a list of contacts to promote your product.  If you are in sales that means you are on the constant look out for new people who may be interested in your product, or people who can connect you to someone who may be interested in your product.  

The Networking Pastor: I am sure there are many who are reluctant to see networking as a responsibility of a pastor and as a result it not generally a task they undertake.  On the other hand I would argue that networking is essential for a church planter.   Before I give you some suggestions on how to network, there are two important points that I need to mention.

• Networking is not Evangelism.  Though I believe networking is a step in providing an opportunity to share the Gospel, its primary goal is developing relationships with people who are not in your church or present circle of relationships.
• Networking is face to face.   There are clearly benefits to internet driven social networks, however the type of networking that I encourage you to do goes beyond that and is done through traditional interaction.   For people to fully trust you in a time of crises that need to experience you in person.

Tips for Networking:  There is a lot of helpful information available on the topic for networking.  Though written for business, they are applicable to the church or church planting context.  Here are a some of the  methods that I have used.

1. Get out of your office.  This may seem like a no-brainier, but you cannot be an effective networker by spending all of your time in the office.  You have to be where the people are!
2. Get out from behind the computer screen, I-Pad and phone.  A lot of guys like to hang out at the local coffee shop.  Just sitting in the corner of a coffee shop working or playing with your electronic device is not networking.  It actually may have a negative effect as you will be the weird guy who takes up valuable space.  At least get to know the baristas and be sure to tip well.  
3. Join the Gym.  We pastor types are generally unhealthy and larger than we should be.  Join a local gym, get healthy and build some new relationships.  I can’t tell you how many relationships I built and maintained at the local YMCA.  One word of caution, learn gym etiquette before you get zealous and learn to recognize when a person doesn’t want to talk. 
4. The Goal is to serve not sell.  Your primary goal is not to sell your preaching or the ministry of the church, it is to look for ways to serve the person you are talking too or the community. 
5. Meet with key community leaders.   This can be done in several way, but the goal is to let them know you are there and available to serve.
6. Coach. Coaching my son’s sports teams was a powerful networking tool.  
7. Don’t expect anything.  Not everyone will like you, so expect people to ignore you or a look at you weird.  Don’t expect people to treat you any better just because you are pastor.  
8. Be a good listener.   Don’t worry about what to say.  Remember this is not a sales pitch.  Master the art of listening and asking follow up questions.  You will be amazed at how people love to talk about themselves.

On Being Missional

^“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:1-20).

For many years the United States was considered a Christian nation, as such the culture as a whole affirmed the existence of the church and many in fact considered themselves to be Christians.  Going to church was not only acceptable, but in many parts of the country was expected of every good citizen.   Most of the country had ordinances, called “blue laws” that kept most stores closed on Sunday.  Church buildings were located on the square and highly visible to all.  Competition between churches was through buildings and architecture, each church constructing a higher steeple than the other.  Though many churches moved away from the authority of Scripture, and were irrelevant, people still came simply because they should.   

By the 1970’s the societal changes that were occurring began to have a striking effect on the churches as attendance declined.  For the first time in their history many churches had to determine how to get people back to church.  The consensus was to make the church more attractive through programs and methodologies that would be attractive to the un-churched.  As a result we began to see terms like “contemporary worship” and “seeker driven” in defining philosophy of ministry.  Through aggressive marketing plans this method did in fact draw people to the church and is basis of many of the mega churches in the United States.  In the 1980s it was not uncommon for churches to study corporations as McDonalds and Disney to learn their methods of marketing and customer service.  Unfortunately, they adapted too much of McDonald’s methodology and produced a generation of people whose spiritual food was as nutritious as McDonald’s burgers and fries!  In this era, people came to church because the marketing worked and they stayed as long as they liked the product.

Marketing the church has run its course and is no longer effective for the average church.  People are weary with empty marketing and are looking for what is authentic and addresses the deeper issues of life.  Even more disturbing is the awareness that marketing has resulted in an increased skepticism of the church as the programs rarely address the true issues of the heart and promoted a self-centered consumer attitude.  Though there are more mega churches, there are few churches per capita and the United States is becoming increasingly less Christianized.  We are now a mission field!  In fact, missionaries are now coming here from countries we at one time sent our missionaries!

If the United States is a mission field, then the church must be missional[i] in that it has the responsibility of equipping its members to live out the mission given in Matthew 28:19-20.  All of God’s people are called to be missionaries in the places they live, work and play.   The church cannot assume people will show up simply because they exist, and they cannot merely market themselves and believe many will be drawn through their doors because of creative programming.  Rather the church must be committed to sending her people out of the church to reach people in their spheres of influence.  

           

There is not ample space in this context to fully address all that has been written on being missional.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion surrounding the term resulting in both a shallow missiology and an incorrect ecclesiology.   Many in fact have turned the popularity of this movement in to another program!  Never the less, at the heart of being missional is a call to be God’s witnesses, or to state in more pointedly, evangelism.  Any missional approach that does not have this as its end goal is not truly missional.

           

In his book entitled Bible and Mission, Richard Bauckham writes, “Mission is God’s work before and after it is ours. . . God continually makes more of what we do for him than we can make of it ourselves, and God continually prevents the harm our foolishness and failures would do. The Bible does not map out for us the path from Pentecost to the kingdom.  It invites our trust in God rather than the mastery or calculation of history.  God can be trusted to be faithful to his promises, but remains free in his fulfillment of them. . . In many ways, therefore, mission is not the imposing of predetermined patterns on to history, but openness to the incalculable ways of God in history. . . Scriptures often associate mission with the making known of God’s name. . . Witnesses, then, mediate the particularity of the biblical story and universality of its claim. . . When Christians find their metanarrative in confrontation with an alternate, aggressive metanarrative – whether that of globalization or Islam or something else – nothing is more important than telling the biblical stories especially that of Jesus, again and again.  This is both an essential part of our witness and the way we retain our knowledge of what it is to which we witness” (pp 99 -101) 

           

In conclusion my challenge to all Christian leaders is that they begin to look beyond the church doors and see themselves as missionaries to the world around them.  That they ask the Father for a fresh appreciation of the Gospel and a deep compassion for the lost that moves them to deep and lasting friendships with non-Christians.  And as these relationships are lived out in the routine activities of life, the biblical stories and their own conversion narratives are a constant subplot pointing to the hope that is in them.       

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[i] For more information on this topic please read Tim Keller’s excellent article entitled The Missional Church.