I’m not trying to burst any bubbles or say that pastors aren’t great people. They are…at least, most of the ones I know. But being great and being different aren’t the same thing. Like I said, I know a lot of great pastors, but I can assure you, they are not different than you.

• They laugh and cry.
• They have highs and lows.
• They counsel and sometimes need counseling.
• They get hurt by the words of others and sometimes, like the rest of us, hurt others with their words.
• They can be both strong and insecure, both loving and insensitive.
• They have fought with their spouse, yelled at their kids, silently cursed the car in front of them because it’s not going fast enough.
• Like you, they can make really big mistakes. Mistakes they aren’t proud of, wouldn’t want to tell anyone, and just flat out make them ashamed.

Don’t get me wrong, most pastors I know are “stand up” kind of guys. They do their best to model the faith, live strong for Christ and exemplify the qualifications for elders found in passages like 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. Again, most are sterling followers of Jesus.

They’re just not Jesus.

They don’t live on some super-spiritual level that’s above temptation and sin. If you feel that way about the pastor, it’s a nice sentiment, it just isn’t true. But this should help both our sympathy and gratitude: Our sympathy, knowing that the guy preaching to you this Sunday is just one more broken person forgiven by the grace of Christ and who will likely, until the King’s return, demonstrate his very common brokenness every now and then. But his brokenness should also inform our gratitude, trusting that God didn’t give up on people because they ceased to be perfect. On the contrary, because of his great love, God, in Christ, became perfect for them. Now that is Good News.

Good News for you and your pastor.

So remember the next time you see your pastor, Bible in hand, alight upon the pulpit to preach God’s Word – that the hope of the pastor is the same as the hope of his people: Jesus.

Because pastors are people too.

So, I thought I’d take some time to give everyone the latest…

Honestly, it’s been somewhat of a roller-coaster with its “ups” and “downs.” Tap has been before publishers, pastors, agents, editors and friends – and almost to a person has received high praise. In fact, maybe one of the most surprising things to me about Tap is the reception it’s gotten. This has been true across the board and has deeply pleased me. In fact, the reason Tap got before several publishers is because a well-respected theology professor and author, read my manuscript and liked enough that he personally recommended it to some senior editors he knew. Indeed, there were several times I felt moments away from signing a contract with a publisher.

Nevertheless, that hasn’t happened up to this point. Granted it sill might, as a few more publishers have recently asked for my manuscript. But if it doesn’t, I won’t be surprised. Why? The response from the industry has been fairly united. I’ve been told that while Tap’s content is  sound, accessible, readable, etc., the analogy of MMA is one which mainstream publishers will shy away from. No matter that it’s the fastest growing sport in America for men ages 18-35 (the New York Times even did an article on MMA’s influence in evangelical circles), it’s simply too controversial for them. Add that to a competitive book market in which men aren’t the largest group of readers and you can see why Tap has its own battle “in the cage.”  And while it caused some disappointment, I can’t tell you how thankful I was for the gracious, honest assessment of both my book and the publishing industry (Thanks A.W.!).

I was thankful because I felt free to proceed with different publishing avenues. Even though in the last week two more publishers have asked for Tap, I am moving toward releasing the book fairly soon unless something develops quickly with those publishers.  For me, the book is done, I believe it will be incredibly helpful in the Christian’s fight against sin and am ready to work on new projects in the future.

So, here’s what has happened lately with Tap:

1. Finalizing artwork and cover
2. Outside editorial process should be completed within the next week
3. Sent Tap to fellow pastors for theological, doctrinal reflection
4. Distribute advance PDF copies of Tap for potential endorsements
5. Mock up website for Tap
6. Formatting master manuscript for publishing

There you go. Maybe over the next few days I’ll post the cover and other tidbits of Tap. For the scores each week who keep asking about the book, thanks for thinking about me. I hope this post helps shed a little light on the latest.

Honestly, it’s easier to pick out one thing you like about the church’s mission, focus on it at the exclusion of others and recruit like-minded individuals to the cause. That’s the luxury…and weakness of the parachurch ministry…and why it is never the substitute for the local church.

Unfortunately, the church can forget this as well. It happens when a pastor believes his church is called by God to pick one aspect of the mission (usually what the pastor is most passionate about) over and above other aspects, and revolve his church around it. For example, I heard a pastor tell me one time, “We are a missions church. We aren’t big on discipleship. If you want that you need to go to another church.” The only problem with that is the pastor doesn’t get to choose what the church should and shouldn’t do. The reason is that it’s not his church. It’s Jesus’ church. And being so, Christ gets to dictate what the church should be about. And he did.  Matthew 28:19-20 says, “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.”

What is the church to do? Make disciples. What does that mean? It means implicitly that the church should be a missions church, a evangelism church, a worship church, a small groups church and everything else which flows from the mission of making disciples.  I know that every church will be better in some of these areas than others, but having strengths and weaknesses is different than neglect. That’s what parachurch ministries do. They unapologetically focus on one area to the neglect of others, and consequently, it’s why they don’t consider themselves a church. The local church doesn’t have that option.

So if you find yourself proud of the things you’ve accomplished in your church, ask yourself, Are we doing everything Christ’s mission demands of us? Are we doing whatever it takes to make disciples? Do we stress the need for corporate worship, the call to share the gospel, the role of loving our community, the grace of getting involved in a small group of believers and a whole host of other practices which revolve around leading people to becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ? If you feel no need to do so and are happy letting the church exclusively ride your own personal hobby horse passions, that’s okay, you’re a ministry, just not a church.

Don’t let your church become a parachurch. Let it be what Jesus called it to be.

Initially this might appear to be an arrogant assumption. It is true, I cannot see into the heart. I can’t make guarantees for who has or hasn’t genuinely received Christ as God and King. But I am reminded of Christ’s sobering words in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…” There will be those who think themselves converted by God in Christ only to find out in the end that they were alienated from God and his grace. Dare I say I encounter some of those individuals every week at my church – the ones who see Jesus as another accoutrement to their life, not wanting him but only the gift he gives, ready to abandon him at any moment of discomfort or inconvenience. In the West, it’s hard to pastor churches full of rich young rulers (cf., Lk. 18:18-23).

I’m further reminded of this sad reality when I hear parishioners talk about their confidence in morality as justification for their right standing with God, or how he loves them less when they drop the ball spiritually, or why their religious activity is an indication of their favor with him– and all this while holding big, thick Bibles faded and tattered not from neglect but consistent use. All of it grows my conviction that, especially in the South (i.e., Bible Belt), part of my calling is to convert the converted. What does this mean for a pastor?

Chiefly, I believe it means he should be tireless in the proclamation of the gospel from the pulpit. Like many of my Reformed forebears, I am persuaded that the gospel isn’t just a door we walk through but the room where we live. In other words, Christ crucified doesn’t only show me where eternal life begins but from where (and whom) it continues to flow. Thus, the gospel is for both the unbeliever and believer and should proceed from the pulpit with great regularity. However, I sense neglect from some preachers of gospel-oriented preaching because it may feel remedial for the older believers in the congregation. They’ve heard this before and need something different, something more. My earlier comments notwithstanding, let me encourage you to keep faithfully and consistently reminding your congregants of the gospel from the pulpit if only for the fact that the continual ringing of the grace bell will, over time, be a clarion call finally heard by many of those who already think they’ve received the gospel…but haven’t.

In a world given to a consumer, pseudo-faith called Christianity, Inc., my dear pastor, make it your mission to convert the converted.

But for me, my heroes at the conference weren’t on stage. In fact, most wouldn’t know their names. They don’t have big churches or a book to push. When you introduced them to others you’d probably just have one title – “Pastor.” And when you talked to them you’d likely find out not only do they NOT have the answers and solutions people travel many miles to hear, you’d discover they work very hard and long for little victories that the “big guys” dealt with ages ago. If you gave them a chance to speak at a conference they’d probably lead seminars on “How To Take Risks And Have Them Blow Up In Your Face,” or “Trying to Make Ends Meet When Your Core Questions Your Leadership.” I know, probably not going to be well-attended breakouts.

If you haven’t guessed it already, my heroes are the church-planters and the staff that have “crossed the line in the sand” with them. Often my strategy at conferences is more to connect relationally than it is to hear the speakers. I can do that online…for free…without leaving the comfort my office. What I can’t do is connect and reconnect with the guys in the trenches of doing what I’m trying to do. Lead a church. And when I get around men who have the courage and faith to plant a new church in order that the gospel might reach those which other churches might not, I’m star-struck! I am amazed at their love, passion and laser-like focus for the mission of Jesus. For example, Saturday night I spent a late evening fellowshipping with church-planters and their staff in downtown Austin. To know their names, to shake their hands and to hear their stories, for me, beats sitting down and listening to speakers nine times out of ten. I was beside myself, totally amazed and honored and humbled to hear about how Jesus was at work in the lives of my brothers and the churches they led. Again, it only reconfirmed in my heart what I already know. These guys – these no name, small attendance, scraping up money to even come to a conference but would charge Hell with a water-pistol for Jesus – these guys are my heroes.

Like I said, my heroes weren’t on stage. Okay, maybe one or two of them were…

Dustin Neeley

• On Leadership
• On Preaching

I must say after watching these videos:

1. I really like nodding my head (doesn’t that just mean I’m engaged in the conversation?). It looks great, especially when Dustin begins the preaching interview saying “Yancey, you’re obviously a gifted preacher…” [Me: nod, nod, nod] I’m thinking, “Yes, I’m tracking what you’re saying,” but it looks like, “Yes, of course I’m a gifted preacher. Move on and get to your question.” Needless to say, it’s painful to watch.
2. I probably need to blog to better explain myself at every point. So don’t be surprised if you see a post on “emotional eisigesis.”
3. I am an animated guy – always have been. I am reminded of it every time I see myself teaching on video at our other campus. It’s a full, life-size image of me on the stage, and hard to swallow with my energetic gestures, random pacing and other general movements that make it more like watching a tennis match than a pastor behind a pulpit. These videos are no different.
4. At least I’m glad I’m (halfway) comfortable being in my own skin, or these videos would never be linked here.

This, my friends, is so very good…

You and I are not integrated, unified, whole persons. Our hearts are multi-divided. There is a board room in every heart. Big table. Leather chairs. Coffee. Bottled water. Whiteboard. A committee sits around the table. There is the social self, the private self, the work self, the sexual self, the recreational self, the religious self, and others. The committee is arguing and debating and voting. Constantly agitated and upset. Rarely can they come to a unanimous, wholehearted decision. We tell ourselves we’re this way because we’re so busy with so many responsibilities. The truth is, we’re just divided, unfocused, hesitant, unfree.

That kind of person can “accept Jesus” in either of two ways. One way is to invite him onto the committee. Give him a vote too. But then he becomes just one more complication. The other way to “accept Jesus” is to say to him, “My life isn’t working. Please come in and fire my committee, every last one of them. I hand myself over to you. Please run my whole life for me.” That is not complication; that is salvation.

“Accepting Jesus” is not just adding Jesus. It is also subtracting the idols.

HT: Christ is Deeper Still, Thanks Ray.

1. Show respect. “We can never look down on anyone as unworthy of our love, honor and respect of we would be disqualifying ourselves.” (194) “So often as Christians we behave as if we everything to give to the non-Christian and nothing to receive.” (199)
2. Build bridges for the Gospel. “[Unbelievers] are in the image of God because that is the way God made them. Consequently, there will always be contact points for the believer to find.” (206) “Every human being is religious in the sense that he or she puts his or her trust in something…The challenge for us is to find out where the person’s trust lies.” (208)
3. Understand what others’ believe. “…caricaturing or misrepresenting the ideas of unbelievers will be no help to us. It will simply alienate people, for they will rightly be offended by our failure to treat their beliefs seriously. As well as failing to show respect, we will make our work more difficult by unnecessarily wounding their pride.” (212)
4. Speak the right language. “Evangelism that bypasses understanding runs the risk of offending people and turning them away from Christ.” (237) “The New Testament challenges us to express God’s unchanging truth in language of our time rather than in the language of the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries or even of the early part of the twentieth century.” (242)
5. Employ reasoned persuasion. “If we reflect on this thoughtful use of language by the apostles, it is evident that they were building a carefully reasoned presentation of the truth to their hearers.” (245)
6. Clarify the Good News. “…accommodating ourselves to our hearers is precisely what all faithful communication of the Gospel must be, for the Gospel itself – God becoming flesh for us – is the greatest imaginable accommodation to those who need to be saved!” (261) “…the task is always the same, to give a wise word that will assist the understanding of non-Christians.” (265)
7. Challenge the heart and mind. “…the Gospel will always be experienced as a challenge…It will challenge our heart, for our hearts are devoted to many masters in place of the one true Lord. Any faithful communication of the Gospel must come with this challenge. In fact, it is appropriate to assert that if there is no challenge, there is no genuine presentation of the Gospel.” (267-268)

…if you are thin-skinned. It’s a given that people will take shots at your sermons, even more so, they will take shots at you. Get tough or get gone.

…if you are lazy. Preaching is work. No matter how gifted you are, studying and preparing well should regularly take hours out of your week.

…if you are cowardly. The “whole counsel of God” has parts which will challenge and provoke even the godliest of your congregation. Be ready to “gird up your loins.”

…if you are prayerless. The worst sermons are preached by men who confidently but independently alight upon the pulpit. Only God can bring life to dead men’s bones.

…if you are insecure. Preaching doesn’t need to be about you, but unfortunately it will be if your identity is based on your performance in the pulpit. Let preaching be about God’s glory, not yours.

…if you are loveless. Anyone can preach at people, but loving people leads us to preach to people. How we say something really does matter. Loving people will motivate you to practice this well.

What would you add to this list?