I Am A Pastor

I Am A Pastor

I am not a leader

I am not even a spiritual leader. 

The work of the pastor looks like a leadership role. But if I allow myself to see myself as a leader I am likely to forget who is the Head. No one needs my wisdom, my skill, my insight, my heart, or my direction. They need Jesus. 

I am not a shepherd

The work of the pastor looks like a shepherding position. But if I allow myself to see myself as a shepherd I am likely to forget where Jesus’ flock gets fed. No one needs my thoughts, my study, my education or my pasture. They need to feed at Jesus’ feet. 

I am a sheep of His fold

At the very best, I am that sheep who is most attentive to hear His voice and follow Him. At the very best I am that sheep who has my eyes on Him so that I am quick to move when He moves. If I lead it is only that I am among the first of His flock to see Him, hear Him, and follow Him.

I am a steward 

My work as a pastor is merely to faithfully manage what the Saviour has placed in my care. 

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

Servant Leadership is a Fallacy

 Servant Leadership is a Fallacy

 

Picture, if you will, a field of lush, emerald green grass. To the side is a fresh stream of cool, babbling water. In the midst of the pasture is a flock of two hundred, three hundred, maybe more sheep.

 

By and by, the shepherd calls for his sheep. First one, then two, and three hear his voice. Their ears pick up, their eyes fix upon him, and they begin to move toward him. Suddenly the flock sees the motion, hears the shepherd’s voice, and begins to follow. 

 

Can the sheep in the front actually be called leaders? I tell you, they are not. They merely heard the shepherd’s voice first. 

 

Servant leadership is a fallacy. To consider oneself a leader in the Christian world is a true fallacy and the cause of much heartache in the Master’s fields. We are at best followers. We are our best when we are followers. It may be that we followed ahead of some others, but ours is not to look around, organize the flock and determine how best they can follow. The best we can do is to keep our eyes on the Shepherd, follow Him carefully, and allow others behind us to follow the Shepherd in our path. 

 

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

We Are Learning

Recently our church family entered into a trial. A family in the church, who has struggled to contribute to the unity of our church for their entire 16-year membership, created quite a stir, accusing the pastors of possibly misusing church funds (he requested detailed breakdowns of our pay packages) and especially demanding that our associate pastor, the son of the pastor and proposed next lead pastor, be terminated. 

The accusations concerning the funds were publicly and honestly settled by being absolutely transparent. We answered his questions but brought them before the entire congregation (on a Wednesday night service). The two deacons he contacted with his accusations went through the expenses, confirmed that there was no extraordinary spending and that each pastor had received the income approved by the deacons. The accuser admitted it never was about the finances anyway. The demand for the removal of the associate pastor was flatly denied and the man, obviously unrepentant, was given the options of either church discipline (we would not remove his membership but would place limitations on his involvement in the church until he had restored trust. If he abided by those limitations his membership would continue. If he broke them, a disciplinary committee, as outlined in our church's constitution would be assembled and his membership revoked) or his voluntary resignation as a member of our church (our constitution stipulates that this action immediately places him under church discipline and may not receive a letter of transfer from our church). At the meeting, he agreed to the limitations of membership. However, the next day he called the church to say that he and his family would no longer be attending our church.

A trial like this is never pleasant, but there are lessons to be learned. If we are able to grow as believers because of it, God is glorified.

What are we learning? The list might be as varied as the members of our church, but here are some lessons we may hope to receive.

We are learning to trust the Lord

Will he pull us through this? We know the promises of the Word of God. We get to see if they are true.

We are learning to forgive

I think I learned many years ago to forgive the multiple attacks upon my person. These attacks have been directed toward my wife and my son. It’s a new bent on forgiving.

We are learning patience

Patience is perfected in persecution, trial, and tribulation. 

We are learning to love

We are taught to love those who hate us and do us evil. We get the chance to practice it.

We are learning unity

Those who rally to support and defend the attacked become truly precious to us.

Marvin McKenzie
In the fields

Why Dying Churches Die

A preacher friend of mine recently shared an article by Thom Rainer[1] with the same title. Rainer’s article cites the following reasons why churches die;

·      They refuse to admit they are sick

·      They are waiting for the “magic bullet” pastor

·      They fail to accept responsibility 

·      They are not willing to change

·      Their solutions are inward focused

·      They desire to return to the past 

I’ve read two of Rainer’s books and a number of his articles and blog videos. I am convinced that Thom Rainer is more of a problem than a helpful mentor to a solution. I understand the desire to see the church we pastor grow. I understand that a church member would like to see his church grow. Most of us would rather not that they die, that’s for sure. Rainer, and men like him, seem to offer solutions. But are those solutions biblical? What if the solution helps to see a church grow, but in the process, it loses its distinctiveness and purpose. What if it becomes altogether different than the commission upon which it was founded? If the ancient Baptists had followed Rainer’s ideas, they would have just given up their ideas, joined in with the “going congregations” of their day, and spared themselves a lot of misery.

I offer a few different reasons why a church might die

The congregation loses perspective of what is life

A living church is not defined by the number that attend, the programs it provides, or the perceived energy in the services. A living church is defined by the truth it preaches. A small church, that is certain the truth is preached among them, will have the motivation to continue attending and continue reaching out to others. The only problem with being small is when the people perceive numbers to be an indicator of worth and therefore, stop encouraging others to come to hear the message.

The pastor loses perspective on his purpose

The pastor’s work is not to build a church. That work belongs to Jesus alone. The pastor’s work is to proclaim the Word of God truthfully.

The pastor loses confidence in his call

It cannot be said that Paul was successful in every field he worked. In a prison cell, awaiting what would be his eventual execution, he said, 

1 Timothy 1:12 (KJV)

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; and later, 

2 Timothy 1:11-13 (KJV)

Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

If the preacher begins to evaluate his ministry based upon how many attend rather than what he has preached, he may lose confidence in his call, stop preaching passionately or stop preaching the truth.

Our world does not need larger churches. Our world needs more churches preaching faithfully the truth of God’s Word. Even if the congregation is very small, if the truth is preached, that lighthouse is alive with power, purpose and a need to keep on!

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[1] https://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/308041-dying-churches-die.html?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

What Are We Teaching at VBS?

I did not grow up going to church. Not even a few times. My church attendance can be count on one hand, and that includes a backyard Bible club once. This irreligious upbringing means that everything I know about Christian work I learned as an adult Christian preparing for the ministry. It gives me a perspective that is sometimes in conflict with some of the “norms” of the average pastor. Vacation Bible School is one of them. 

First, I was taught to call it something other than VBS. 

“Kids just got out of school. They don’t want to go back to school.” But, I was taught, they are getting bored during the summer. Hold your children’s outreach, I was taught, toward the end of summer and call it “Bible Time!” Children are looking for a good time. Vacation Bible School is “something Protestants do.”

Then I was taught to operate it differently than Vacation Bible School

Incorporated in this mentality was concepts such as craft time is “of the devil”[1]and no “age divided classes.”  I was taught to emphasize Bible memory, reward heavily for bringing visitors and auditorium preaching.

I used to have an evangelist come to our church and hold our Bible Time. Boy was he good at it! He could get the kids excited, get them to bring visitors every day and get them to memorize hundreds of verses. He had them yelling loud and had them hyped up for everything but the preaching time.[2]I spent the whole week in knots. I didn’t know why I was uneasy; I just know I had to spend all afternoon praying to get back in a spiritual frame of mind after the morning with the kids. Apparently the evangelist was as uneasy about it as I was. After about 5 years of his coming, I told him I wanted him to come for Bible Time, but I did not want to conduct an evening revival with him at the same time. He confided that the only reason he did the morning Bible Time ministry was for the opportunity to preach to adults in the evenings. He stopped coming and I continued conducting Bible Times, imitating his style. 

I am now into my 36th year in the ministry. I have witnessed trends that concern me terribly. One of them is that so many young people quit coming to church when they leave their parent’s homes. The other is that so many of them who do continue in church opt for more progressive ones. Even those who enter the ministry, and call themselves independent Baptists, seem to gravitate to what I consider progressive and sometimes Protestant, styles. It occurs to me that they may be looking for some way to imitate a children’s program in adult church.

I just witnessed a well known Independent Baptist preacher of this generation dress himself up like a shirtless movie monster hero for his Vacation Bible School program.[3]A man who would preach against worldliness. A man who would preach that Christians ought to be separated, holy, modest and temperate but, for VBS, and to get the kids all excited, he made himself look like a shirtless movie monster hero.

I am sure it was fun

I am sure the kids got excited

I am sure it helped attract a greater number of children to VBS

What I question, however, is the long term consequences of hosting a yearly children’s program in the church that consists of 75% or more hype, with 25% or less real preaching of the Word of God.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields.

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[1]I am probably exaggerating this one, but not by much.

[2]Which was, of course, a very small portion of the entire program.

[3]Full disclosure, he wasn’t shirtless. He was wearing a custom to make him look like that shirtless movie monster hero.

Not a Novice

1 Timothy 3:6 (KJV)

Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

He is 23 years old. He grew up in church, taught Sunday school, and did various other ministries around the church. Early he met his bride, and they moved to Arizona. There they united with a church and spent some time there. Soon they were on their way to another city and state to plant a church. 

Their website[1]gives little more information about his background than this. No name of the church he grew up in, no reference of any specific training, no mention of an authorizing church other than a vague reference to the church they left before planting this one. 

The website provides a doctrinal statement that is less than a page long. Of the eleven statements listed, two are in error, and one is questionable.

This young man also has a Youtube channel where he posts many of his sermons. Perusing through the message titles, I found several that are likely of questionable doctrine. His position on baptism is that one should not be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, but in the name of Jesus only. He claims he is not a modalist, but I don’t believe he really knows what he is.

There is a trend today, perhaps not new but certainly much more evident than any other time since I have been in the ministry, of younger men with contentious natures assuming (or perhaps presuming) the working of the pulpit. 

They are generally bold, arrogant, and rebellious against those who have gone before them. 

They are novices.

Men like Steven Anderson, who has now many years of experience, have become locked in their novice state, refusing to be corrected. It appears that he has inspired a generation of novices who now rebel even against him.

These rebellious novices have a right to believe as they do, preach as they do and really, do as they do. I would not choose to stop them physically. But I do advocate for those who are not novices to warn against them. These young men are caught up in pride and in condemnation. They will hurt many by their vain and deceitful words. We must train up young men who cherish humility, submission, and maturity. 

Only then may we stop the mouths of these foolish novices.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

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[1]I ran into this young man through the Facebook page I run called “Baptist History Faith and Practice." In this case I chose not to disclose the actual site and name of the man because I do not want to promote him in the slightest.

Victim Mentality

I saw a phrase the other day that went something like this, “Nobody knows the pain others are going through, so be nice. It’s that simple.”

At first glance, that sounds profound. It has so much meaning and sentiment and it is so easy to understand. But I think it is evidence of the victim mentality of the millennial generation. 

The reason it resonates is that so many see themselves in it. Almost everyone has some sort of pain. Most of them have pain that is hidden from the eyes of others. They embrace this phrase because they only wish they could let others know of their pain. 

Here we have the first fallacy - “no one knows my pain.” 

This can’t be true if most people know some pain of their own. It is selfish, self-centered and arrogant to think we are the only ones with pain. But pain does that. Pain, if given place, will rule us, draw us in and make us fixate on self. Pain, if given rule, will make us see ourselves as victims. 

Our first response to pain must be to reject the very idea that no one knows, no one identifies, no one cares. We must no yield to the victim role. We must force our eyes outward and see that we are all in this same boat. Our circumstances may not be identical, but we are not alone. 

Then we must see that the people who do best in life are the ones who move forward despite the pain. 

·       George Washington 

·       George Patton 

·       George Bush

Name whoever you wish who has succeeded in whichever field you wish and realize they got where they are despite their pain. They refused to let pain rule them. 

"So be nice." Here we have the second fallacy. 

Of course, we ought to be nice. It’s a simple concept that simply ought to be practiced. The problem is that the millennial defines “be nice” as “agree with me.”

·       Is it nice for a doctor, who knows his patient is ill, to tell him otherwise? 

·       Is it nice for a teacher, who knows his student has not mastered the subject to graduate him anyway? 

·       Is it nice for the Christian, who knows that one cannot go to heaven without Jesus, to keep back the gospel? 

·       Is it nice for a friend, who sees the damage someone’s selfishness is doing them to smile and say nothing?

Proverbs 27:17  

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. 

Sometimes the nicest thing we can do is be brutally truthful. We don’t have to be mean spirited or angry. But out of genuine kindness, we really must be blunt. 

Nothing good will come from letting pain rule you. Yield to God’s Spirit and bring the pain into submission.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

The Importance of Holding Services in Foul Weather

Recently a well-known Baptist preaching commented about the shame that some churches were canceling their services due to inclement weather. I got my start as a believer in churches with his attitude and I’m all for it. I understand that certain comments can come off with more of an adversarial spirit than perhaps the author intends. Perhaps the responses to his comment were a reaction to the perceived spirit of his words rather than the sentiment itself. I have to say, I was surprised at the aggression of the opposing comments.

I would never suggest that a person do what they believe to be personally unsafe in bad weather conditions. I personally know of persons who lost their lives and others who are permanently disabled from accidents that happened as they attempted to get to a church service in the middle of a storm. No one should try to come if it is unsafe to do so.

That said, it is important that church services are held even if the weather is terrible.
The testimony of Charles Spurgeon, arguably the most effective preacher in modern times. Spurgeon was just 15 years old when, because of a terrible snowstorm, he ducked into a small Methodist church instead of going to the church he regularly attended. Weather was so bad that only a handful of people were there. Even the pastor could not make it to the service. After waiting for some time, a layman in the church stood up to offer something from God’s Word to those in attendance. He took his text from Isaiah 45:22 (KJV)

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

He made a few comments about the passage:

"Looking is no work. Anyone can look," etc. Then he fastened his eyes on young Charles Spurgeon. He told him that he would be miserable in life and miserable in death if he did not look unto Jesus.

Spurgeon said at that moment he felt like he could look his eyes away.

He looked unto Jesus and was marvelously saved.

All because a handful of people did not let inclement weather, or the smallness of the congregation, or even the lack of their pastor prevent them from holding church services.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

THE CALL TO THE MINISTRY AND CAN WE TELL WHEN OTHERS HAVE IT?

Charles Spurgeon said that there are three components to a call from God:

1. A burden for the work
2. An obvious, observable gift from God
3. An opportunity for ministry

Every Christian ought to have some sort of burden for the work of the ministry. 

But the burden alone is not evidence of a call into the work of pastoring or planting a church.

The problem with planting a church is that the need is so great that 

a person, if not disciplined by his church, can find a place without a Gospel witness. But a town without a church is not evidence of a call to ministry

Therefore the deciding factor has to be that other Christians SEE the gifts of the ministry in the candidate - 

not only that they are doctrinally sound and talented enough to deliver it but that they are stable enough spiritually, emotionally and with health to do the work without creating a excessive burden upon their marriage, their children or those they minister among.

I would illustrate it like this…

1. In a healthy marriage both the husband and the wife have all their needs met in their relationship with Jesus Christ. They do not  marry because they have need of the love of the spouse. They get married so they can give of themselves to their spouse. It is a great relationship because both give freely without ever feeling like they are being taken from.
2. In a healthy church the members have all of their needs met in in Christ before they ever make it to the church house. They do not come to church because they need the others. They will receive what they need from God. They can therefore give fellowship at church rather than taking fellowship.
3. In a healthy pastorate the preacher is gifted of the Spirit so that he can give to his community. He has temporal needs of course, but he is not consumed by them. Because he has his needs met in Christ He is in a position to gratefully receive as blessings those means that are: provided by the church he pastors, the people of his community and the pastors with whom he fellowships. He can live in good conscience that his ministry among them has earned his compensation.

I am afraid men often enter a ministry in such need that they are almost incapable of giving to their church or their community. They go to a town insisting God has called them there but, not being properly gifted, they almost immediately become an emergency situation. Their marriage is strained, their children are strained, the fellowship of pastors is strained because of the obligation (imposed upon them by an unprepared man) to help repeatedly rescue this family. And the people of the community/church become strained by the bad experience of a professed preacher who should never have come, is now forced to leave and in doing so gives a bad testimony for Christ.

I do not mean that everyone should have their finances raised and be self sufficient before they come to a town to plant a new church or to pastor one. What I mean is they need to be sufficiently gifted, spiritually, emotionally and with health so that they can truly offer Christ freely.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

Our Current Church Paradigm Is Robbing Us

I do not know when the current paradigm of the successful church became the reality. Almost everything we can get hold of concerning church life in centuries past has been written, and therefore interpreted by those immersed in the current paradigm. It is likely that they read into and then write into history their own paradigm. 

My concern is that the current church paradigm is robbing our churches of the most valuable asset we possess; the wisdom of the seasoned, hoary headed preacher. 

Current church culture demands the pastor to be active. He must attend to weddings, funerals, hospital visits, and late night family interventions. He is expected to live by his telephone, answer it every time and respond to the perceived emergency of the caller in a moment’s notice. Frankly, we reach an age where this just isn’t possible. I am afraid it has never been practical and neither is it healthy for the believer. The pastor becomes a sort of surrogate savior. The average Christian leans upon his or her pastor more than the Lord. A young preacher can only do that so long. An older man cannot do it hardly at all. 

And so we put the older preacher out to pasture. Because he hasn’t the energy to build a ministry he is expected to step aside and make way for the younger man who can. We thus perpetuate the paradigm. The elder preacher becomes complicit to the paradigm by yielding to it. 

We hear preachers encourage the older guys to step aside, to know when to hang up their spurs. We watch them denigrate the man who chooses to do otherwise, viewing him as irresponsible and robbing the world of a strong, vibrant church. (By that they mean one that suits their paradigm.)

I think worse tragedy than that, the tragedy of leaving the ministry in the hands of novices, in some cases men who will forever remain novices because they lack the input and example of the older, wiser and well seasoned man of God. 

We need a paradigm shift. 

I propose this shift requires we stop seeing churches as these growing businesses, meant to be large and operated by sound management. We need to stop seeing pastors as executives and view them as men of God, responsible for prayer and the ministry of the Word. We need to see churches as families; of necessity, smaller bodies of believers who are locked together in purpose. The church should be more than a different brand of store where one might prefer all the options of multiple super departments to select from. 

I propose the elderly preachers must be more visible. They need to be present at gatherings of preachers. They need to be given the pulpit frequently. Their voices must be engaged in the conversation of preachers. This, I believe, would happen more readily if those elderly preachers attended fellowships and other preachers’ meetings regularly. 

They also need to write. 

The elderly preacher needs to become involved where people are:

-Blogs

-Vlogs

-Electronic books

-Social media

-Podcasts

These are not difficult to master and do not require that he get involved in what might be considered the seedier side of Social media. He simply provides encouragement where appropriate and content that, I am certain, would elevate that of the audience. 

No preacher ought to fade from memory due to his years. We need his wisdom until his race is fully run.