It all depends on the right people

I can remember Driscoll saying you want the the right guy, with the right message and the right mission.
More generally i tend to think in the categories of a leaders character, core theological convictions and competancies. Some then add calling but I like to think of it as personal conviction.
These 4 ‘c’s make for the right guy ( or girl depending upon the ministry)

But there is one more vital ingredient -I think it’s matching them with the right context.

So here’s my suggestion of what is needed under God.
The right guy will have
1. The right character
2. The right theological convictions
3. The right ministries competancies
4. The right ministry context

It worth waiting to line these up, and prayerfully seeking the wisdom of God and his people, which I guess is why we shouldn’t be too hasty to lay hands on the wrong person.

excuse my scepticism Mr Driscoll

the recent feed from Mark’s Hill is a call for 900 men to hear the call and head to Seattle for the boot camp and  leadership summit. To be honest I wanted to go but decided a holiday with the family was wiser, despite the fact that he states he needs

“ Real men. Men who care less about padding their resume and getting their vacation days than about seeing lives transformed and legacies altered for generations. “

I get what he’s saying but ironically he nearly killed himself 2 years ago because he wasn’t taking breaks. This classic Driscollian hyperbole I guess.  

fortunately he also wants men who 

“who love their wives, pastor their children, submit to Scripture, bleed the gospel, and have steel in their spine, love in their hearts, and the lost in their sights.”

Mind you it is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to meet A29’s best men at the World Church Planting Summit.

Again, I know he is trying to sell a conference, but I am yet to be convinced that the best way to raise up planters for the Australian context is going and learning from American culture and context. Please convince me otherwise or save your money. 

regarding the 900, the numbers are sensationally bold- it would seem – until you consider other networks that on the ground seem far less impressive – but have set much bigger targets in smaller countries.

Like MTS for instance, who are aiming at 450 apprentices being trained within 3 years for a nation 1/15 the size of the USA. 

sure the language of planter seems more impressive than “ministry apprentice”, and lets not kid ourselves – not every apprentice will be a planter – but then neither are Driscoll’s.

It is worth noting that for the first time in my memory he has delineated a church planter from a campus pastor. The two seem significantly different. At times I have felt he is not screening for planters so much as searching for workers for can put up screens to beam him in. 

 yet I love this bold call. show up step up nut up. more of it here! These is no denying that his is a formidable movement that will cause many, if they haven;t already, to sit up and take notice.

and what an awesome idea – to run a masters degree in missional leadership. I will be praying my friends at Moore College takes this on board and consider how we might be able to broaden their course on offer in this vital task.  

 

pastoral realities II – do you love God and his word?

2. love the word of the Lord, love the Lord of the word.

you would think that this is elementary for pastors but its not. Spurgeon is famous for saying:

” there enough dust on the jacket of your bible that I could write damnation with my finger”.

There are many ministries that are as good as damned because the word of God is not central, and one of the chief reasons the word of God is not preached or read or promoted is because the leader has ceased to love and delight in the word of the Lord and the Lord of the word.

Psalm 119: 47-48 ” I find my delight in your commandments, which I love, and  I will meditate on your statutes.”

sounds like bibliolatry. Sydney Anglican bible worship. the singer could even be accused of believing in Father Son and Holy Scripture!  but thats just stupid. he delights in the word because it is the word of the Lord.

Its like a young lover who loves the letters they recieve from their beloved. They are powerful symbols - real symbols – of their special love relationship. they are covenant words.

Pastors must love the covenant word of the covenant God, the kind of compelling love that has gripped us by the grace of God in his steadfast love.  It’s a word that is on our lips because the Spirit of God has driven his sword deeply into our hearts.

And if there is a dry orthodoxy creeping into your life? A loveless intellectualism? A joyless correctness?

Maybe meditate on Psalm 119 and pray that God would help you to start singing again. Praying for an “again birthed” experience of God and his word. or as Revelation 2:5 puts it – remember, repent, return – or be removed!

plural eldership in churches – the only pattern?

there is a consistent patten of plural eldership as the main governing group in the New Testament Churches according to Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology. 

he takes a look at the following passages:

Acts 14:23 – they appointed elderS in every church

Acts 20:17 – Paul called together the elderS of the church

Titus 1:5 – Paul’s assistant Titus was to apoint elderS in every town (assuming there was a church there)

1 Timothy 4:14 -  Timothy is appointed/ supported by the elderS laying hands on him.

James 5:14  -when you are sick call the elderS for prayer

1 Peter 5:1 – Peter in his general letter to several dispersed churches encourages the elderS amongst them to do their job of caring

Grudem makes two conclusions at this point;

1. no passage in scripture suggests that a church , no matter how small, had only a single elder/presbyter. There is a consitent pattern of a  plurality of elders in every church and in every town.

-IF this is the case then then there is as muc evidence in the bible for RECTORS as there is for UNICORNS.

2. there is not a diversity of forms of church government but rather a unified and consitent pattern in which every church had elderS governing and keeping watch over it.

- If this is the case then for the Anglican church in which I minister needs to appoint/ recognise  additional elders/ overseers/ pastors in roder to be consitent with the pattern of government we see in scripture.

The way Grudem points it out it seems so simple and clear – what do you reckon?

pastoral realities – fighting,running,ploughing,lifting.

this is an expansion of a previous post on realities a pastor must grasp.

1. I am a soldier, a farmer, an athlete, an ox.

I need discipline and a good eschatology.

if you take a look at 2 Timothy 2 you will notice that God gives us three pictures to describe pastoral reality. the fourth you will find in 1 Timothy 5.

Paul says in 2 Tim 2:7 ‘think over what I say and the Lord will give you understanding in everything’.

all of this presupposes God grace to strenghten and sustain you.

• a soldiers wears battle fatigues and is dressed in God’s armour. a soldiers business is suffering. if you are not prepared for that then do not sign up for the pastorate.  he deals in pain, obedience & sacrifice. he needs disciplined focus so as to please his commanding officer and move forward in battle toward victory.
• the athlete is stripped naked with nothing to weigh him down or entangle. he has his eyes set on the prize, the crown  -the finish line, and there are no short cuts.
• the farmer is wearing work boots and his hands are toughened in labour. he is hard working from dawn till dusk. he doesn’t see an immediate return for his labour for this will be revealed at harvest.
• the ox is a beast of burden. it carries a heavy load on its shoulders in treading out the grain. it needs a feed to keep going.

there are two things that are indispensible in ministry in relation to these metaphors.

1. discipline.

you just won’t cut it in gospel soldiering unless you are disciplined and fit for the work. discipline in the bible, in prayer, in follow up, reading, organisation, even rest. disciplined doesn’t mean frenetically busy, but it does mean focused, self controlled, diligent, persevering labour.

intrinsic to discipline is delaying gratification.

no discipline seems pleasant at the time but later produces a harvest of righteousness and peace. Hebrews 12:10

2. eschatology.

there is a cup, a crown, a crop which is to come -this gives focus and motivation to our present labours. It makes it all worth it because there is a future reward for faithful labour, but this is also sobering for all will be revealed for what it truely is. because of the victory Jesus christ has won already over sin death and the devil – I can fight,  run, plough & lift -  with confidence and security that my labour in the Lord is not in vain. Take the cross and the new creation out of the pastorate and you are beaten.

this guy was refreshingly good

There has been a bit of fuss about some music coming out of Sovereign Grace Ministries. The man behind the movement is a guy called CJ Mahaney. Here he is speaking at the Text and context conference on Pastoral Character. Its the first time I have heard him. I found his humility and gentleness winsome. It is interesting that he is an old school evangelical pietist in many ways (not a bad thing) with a solid focus on God’s sovereign action in salvation. He approaches the bible wiht great reverance and communicates key ideas in Corinthians with an exegetical precision wrapped in pastoral insight. I wonder if we see the same clear conviction, experimental joy and passion in younger punk pastors. I have a lot to learn from men like CJ Mahaney, and I thank God for him.

Falling Man

Who will it be next week?

I think I’ve finally understood the difference between Sydney and Seattle’s two great reformed pedagogues – and just maybe it highlights our growing leadership crisis?!

The dominant metanarrative of Sydney for the past years has fundamentally been “become a minister” or in other words – love Jesus, leave what you are doing and give yourself to pastoring and evangelising.

On the other hand, the dominant metanarrative of Seattle has not been “become a minster” but more significantly -” become a man!” or – love Jesus, leave sin, get a job and a wife, give yourself to Godliness.

Whilst I recognise this might be a stretch for the ladies the reality is that in relationship to leadership we want elders who are biblically qualified man who are able to teach – not able teachers who are biblically disqualified because they are porn addicts, drunkards, inhospitable or neglectful of their wife and kids because they love their ministry more than anything else (including Jesus it seems)

I am beginning to wonder whether we have a Corinthinan problem in Sydney that has placed so much emphasis on ability and gift – looking for the gun guys, that we have we have taken our eyes of fundamental issues of godliness and biblical manhood that loves Jesus, leaves sin, loves wife and family and then serves the gospel in whatever way God enables.