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Posts tagged as:

pastor

Obliterating the Pastorate & Multiplying Impact

by Lon on October 8, 2008

A friend of mine was just messaging me about their church’s inability to find an additional pastor.  The church is currently fixated on finding someone to maintain existing programs, while he would like something much more expansive.

Here’s an idea, and I challenge any church to seriously consider take this up.

How about rather than spending 30 thousand dollars a year filling up another position, the church gave 30 people a thousand dollars each to do something kingdom advancing with?

Imagine the ideas and innovations this could birth in your community.  Imagine what this would say about your church as a community of faith.

What would 30 people affirmed and empowered in your community look like?  What people might they rally?  What causes might they honor God with?

What do you think?  Would this fly?

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Seminary – was it worth it?

by Lon on June 19, 2008


(Photo by ambery)

Before I begin, I need to say that I’ve never been a fan of any schooling system I’ve ever been a part of.

- In high school, I was a 90s student but on academic probation for missing too many classes.

- I scraped by university, passionless for my engineering degree, and was probably in the bottom five of my graduating class.

- I wasn’t at the very bottom of the barrel because after my third year I had decided to go to seminary, and realized they didn’t just let you in by grace.  I had to work my butt off in my final year just to raise my overall mark to a C+

So here’s the bottom line now that I’m done seminary

- 27 classes – not all of my choosing

- over a thousand hours in class

- at least two thousand hours spent reading and writing papers

- 440 hours of supervised ministry experience for the internship requirements

- $30,000 on tuition and books

- I left a corporate job I loved – Where I worked from home most of the time, had opportunities to travel, and interacted with people every single day.

- I made 60-70k+ a year depending on bonuses/commission – it’s been two years now so that’s $140,000… gone.  I don’t even want to think about what might have been over the course of a lifetime.

So was it worth it?

Is each lecture really worth $80 to (for the most part) passively listen to?  Is it worth the drive and the time away from family?  Is it worth the stress and uncertainty placed upon loved ones?

Could over a hundred thousand dollars be given elsewhere, that could have produced far greater kingdom impact?  Could I have used all that time to better engage the world rather than other seminarians?

There was a lot of assigned reading, but I probably read more and learned more from personal readings than class readings.  Could I have learned and grown to where I am today, without seminary?

I guess the other question is, would I have?

I really don’t know if I would have done something nobler with my time or money.  If you’re at a stage where you’re deeply engaging God, the Scriptures, His people, His mission, and His calling in your life, my goodness, don’t go to seminary.

At least I wouldn’t.  Not with where I am today.

Note that I am indebted and incredibly thankful that I had the opportunity to be in a seminary.  Who on earth has the luxury to sit around and contemplate the things of God?

I still feel like a noobie follower of Jesus, but I got an idea of where I’m going and where to go for help and what I need to get there.  But seminary, at least in its traditional sense, is definitely not a requirement on the journey going forward.

Seminary’s will always have their place.  Go if you feel God’s calling you in that direction (but realize it’s only a structure/form/place of learning, and typically God calls us to deeper things than that).

When I get some time I’ll probably compile a list of books, articles, experiences, resources that I think could just about replace the traditional seminary.

With all that being said, a price just cannot be placed upon time and space to grow, friendship, an environment that fosters learning, divine encounters, and wisdom from local prophets.

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Pagan Christianity…

by Lon on May 30, 2008

I finished Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna about a month ago.

I can see why people say it’s a controversial book, though I really wasn’t all that shocked by the content at all.  I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Below are some quotes (I swiped from Tony Morgan’s blog) of the book

  • “If the church is following the life of God who indwells it, it will never produce those nonscriptural practices this book addresses.”
  • “Almost everything that is done in our contemporary churches has no basis in the Bible.”
  • “The stunning reality is that today’s sermon has no root in Scripture. Rather, it was borrowed from pagan culture, nursed and adopted into the Christian faith.”
  • “There is not a single verse in the entire New Testament that supports the existence of the modern-day pastor!”
  • “Nothing so hinders the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose as does the present-day pastoral role.”
  • “Therefore, to our minds, these passages show that every Christian has the right to participate in ‘leading worship’ under Christ’s headship.”
  • “Giving a salary to pastors elevates them above the rest of God’s people. It creates a clerical caste that turns the living body of Christ into a business.”
  • “The one who plants a first-century-styled church leaves that church without a pastor, elders, a music leader, a Bible facilitator, or a Bible teacher… They will bring their own songs, they will write their own songs, they will minister out of what Christ has shown them–with no human leader present!”

    • Your thoughts?

    Below is a spoof trailer of the book

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    Rock Star Pastors?

    by Lon on January 24, 2008

    rockstar silhouette
    Photo by Roger Cullman www.rogercullman.com

    Preaching last week, I slipped out something I probably needed to hear more for myself. I told people that they don’t need a rock-star pastor or a superstar leader. They need Jesus in their lives.

    With the very best of what church’s and the world has to offer available on the internet these days, I’ve talked to many fellow seminary students about the nagging feeling we’re in competition, or that we can’t even compare, to the leaders, speakers, and principles that can be found online, in books, or on video.

    So somewhere deep down we join the race to become super-pastors and mega-leaders. I actually have the audacity to think that by the grace of God, I might be able to pull this off. But what would that really accomplish?

    I’ve always said that I want a church of church planters. My fear is that people might look at me, or other leaders and say, well I can’t do that.

    Are there better ways of doing church, than having the elite few ministering to the many? Are there more spontaneous and sustainable, organic and reproducible forms of church for our cities today?

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    Pastoring vs. Jesus

    by Lon on November 22, 2007

    My question of the day:

    Is the role of a pastor today conducive to following Jesus?

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