Random Thoughts on Church Life

Many times in the evenings Hannah and I will sit in two easy chairs to wrap up the day. She quite regularly says: “Random thought” or “Random question”. Sometimes she does that 2…3…or 4 times…just to get parts of her day processed and off her mind or chest.

I too have had some “random thoughts” floating around, namely regarding church life. These are three separate thoughts, none of which are systematically linked. However, they seem quite relevant to our day and time.

1. Church Hopping

It has its different forms. The motives vary and are not all identical. For some it is the whimsical floating from this church to the next anytime that is the discomfort from change of style or conviction of sin. There is the new church plant that is fresh and edgy or the music at the church down the road that is more their taste. Brotherhood goes sour or the prayers are too long. We could go on and on with the list.

In a consumer culture this is really not surprising. When most towns possess multiple churches (in an age when doctrine does not have much weight) we can go from here to there, from this church to that church multiple times. This would not only be unheard of 100 years ago but for the vast majority of Christians it would be impossible. You were dedicated or baptized into a church, raised and taught there…and buried in the cemetery out back. When you did not care for the pastor’s sermons or the music style there was not option b.

But all of this in principle is not only true of some church members but also of pastors. That is the church hopping that I have found disturbing of late.

Pastor’s going from one church to the next every three or so years. As my father-in-law says, “treating it more like a career than a ministry.” This has become so common place that it in part has become a part of some church cultures. Some of the reasons for this are:

• Not the pay they want (…I did not say need)
• Results are not coming fast enough
• The newness of the pastoral experience at that particular church has worn off and now it is feeling normal
• Tension among leadership or in the body as a whole
• Looking for a better opportunity
• When being fresh out of seminary serving at a small church in hopes of hopping to something better

I have heard of these with my own ears…but some of these I have heard from myself. After being at Central Baptist for three and a half years I started getting an itch to move on. I grew up moving an average of once a year. I moved to Central Baptist when I was 26 and the house I moved into was the 26th structure I had lived in. I felt like I should be living somewhere else, yet by prayer God kept my heart here.

We need pastor’s who are, as a general rule, committed to the long term. Be the farmer that Paul speak of to Timothy (2 Tim. 2:6). He waits through the various seasons of planting and reaping…with patience. Our pastors must be careful to build convictions as to why they are serving the churches which they committed themselves to. It is easy to turn in the letter of resignation when a seemingly more appealing offer comes along.

Pastors need to see their service to a local church as an investment, an investment in which they sit on and wait for God to bring about the increase (1 Cor. 3:6). It is hard in a consumer culture in which there are many churches to choose from. A pastor may go from this church to the next in search of utopia: prestigious context, higher pay, stronger staff, nicer climate…the experience of the new.

Pastors, we need to patiently pray, preach, and practice discipleship. Let us read of the prophets of the Old Testament and foreign missionaries of recent centuries who saw great works of God upon patient prayer and practice.

2. Do you want a pastorate or power?

On social media and ministerial meetings at coffee houses I hear a lot of talk of those pursuing ministry. I hear their personal ambition. They express their critique of how things are currently handled in their church. There is love for the lost that compels them on. They love the Bible and want others to share that love. I hear much talk of leadership, preaching, teaching, changing, etc.

What I do not hear so much of is a desire to lead by quiet service…not so much about being cautious when pursuing a church office that is held to a higher level of accountability (James 3:1). There is much zeal expressed about teaching without much life-experience exemplifying godliness.

And I understand that some things you don’t know until you are in the trenches:

• the call away from a date night with the wife because an elderly member of the church is hospitalized…
• the intense study of scripture so as to be informed in leading out in a decision at church, and the intensity of study pushed by the heat on the back of your neck due to knowing I am responsible before God for that church…
• the week-in-week out of criticisms of your weakness and almost no word on your successes
• (being called away from typing this blog in mid-thought because someone from church forgot to deliver meals on wheels and I had to cover it lol)

So often they who are speaking with eagerness of getting into ministry to “fix stuff” only see the power, they don’t see what a pastorate truly is. And once again I throw my curve ball into this. This can be said for many individuals but the ideas above I would temporarily like to direct toward women wanting to be pastors. (By the way…I had this blog draft typed up weeks before the SBC 2022 convention…incase you have been keeping up with the events there in Anaheim, CA).

To clarify, I am not talking about teaching in general or serving in the 101 various ways available to the people of God. I am speaking of the office which is defined by Paul in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. God has said “yes” to countless opportunities to be an active part of his church yet in one place he has said “no”. So not to belabor the point with technicalities yet being aware of what is spread across the internet, and what I have heard form women of the denomination in which I serve (North American Baptists). I must ask:

1. Do these sisters really know what they are seeking?
2. How many sisters who are pursuing the office of pastor are primarily after the platform at the front of the room where they can lead out.

That last question is valid for most of the debate today regarding women pastoring is tied to the pastor’s role as teacher. There are other critical roles that pastors preform that are not at the forefront of this controversy. The debate over women as pastors centers on should a woman hold the office in which she will have the responsibility of teaching and exercising that authority over the congregation.

I would ask the woman who wishes to be a pastor: Do you desire to pursue the spotlight where you are able to be the loudest voice in the room or is your conviction about what a pastor is broader than that?

3. Objections to the use of Creeds and Confessions

I get the unrest that comes with the topic of creeds and confessions (CC). They have been abused and abusive. They have been treated as ultimate authority in doctrine and practice. People have been manipulated by them. I sympathize with those who wish to avoid them.

Personally and pastorally I see great value in them. Yet I do not so much want to argue you into seeing them as I do. I more so want to run a few thoughts by you with regard to what a confession is.

“Confessions are about what we believe.”

Donald Fairbairn

Various confessions of faith have been formed by different bodies of theologians since the earliest centuries of the Christian church. Even in recent history we have seen the Baptist Faith and Message established (2000)…hopefully the SBC doesn’t shred it but we won’t talk about that now.

Truth be told, most people who profess to strongly oppose creeds and confessions actually are confessional believers and just don’t realize it. The most common objection is: “It’s just a man made document; I only want the Bible.”

Let’s consider some other “man made documents.” What is a hymn, a Bible study, a sermon? Have you ever said, “The Bible teaches…” yet you did not quote a verse but stated a biblical principle in your own words?

These are all forms of holding a confession of faith. In a hymn we are singing words that not word-for-word scripture. A Bible study or sermon is not plain reading of scripture but is reading accompanied by declaration of what it means (i.e. what we believe). When you say that the Bible teaches the Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, rose on the third day, and then ascended to the Father, that is making a confessional statement.

Can we overtly oppose a creed or confession but then whole heartedly affirm hymns and spiritual songs. Is it reasonable to reject “man made creeds” when we make such declarations ourselves: “The Bible teaches that Jesus will physically return to earth to raise the dead, judge, and establish his eternal kingdom.”

We must understand that Christianity by nature is a confessional institution. It is true that the historical creeds and confession have been misused and abused. However, is that a good enough reason to reject them? I can use a hammer to build an orphanage or I can bash someones head in out of anger. I can’t vilify the object, the object is amoral.

So before we toss the confessions out (baby and bath water) lets consider if we are already confessional and did not know it. Let me close with a light-hearted question: What is your favorite musical-confession (aka hymn)? What song has been formative or informative to your faith; a song that was written by a man or woman and accurately represents the truth of our faith? Here is the first verse of mine.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation!
Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near,
join me in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord the Almighty by Joachim Neander

Conclusion

Thus ends my “random thoughts” regarding life in the local church. Would you let me know if and how you have seen these topics present in your home church? I would love to hear about your church with regard to one of these topics.