I know after reading the title of this post, many are popping their fingers, ready to fire off a correction to my post. But first, give me a chance to explain myself. The title is not implying we could not or should not be martyrs for the faith. If placed in that position, to renounce Jesus or die, I believe pastors and all believers should affirm with Luther, "Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God." I am emphasizing something entirely different, namely, that the difficulties we face as pastors do not equal martyrdom. We should stop acting like martyrs. This is particularly true for those of us in the United States.
Fake Martyrs
I see a growing trend with pastors and ministry leaders who want to portray being in ministry as if it were a daily burden. We often go from one over-exaggerated crisis to the next. Yes, being a pastor is incredibly difficult, I do not belittle that. I have been a senior pastor for nearly eight years. I get it. I know what it feels like to have a burden for the lost, who think you are foolish. And I know what it feels like to have a burden for the church, who can often assume your incompetent. I have been called names in the community by unbelievers because of my beliefs. I have also been publicly talked about by other pastors in the community because they do not like our church's music style or clothing attire. Regardless of who you are, this is never fun.
However, as much as these things can hurt and frustrate you, it is not martyrdom. Friends, we are not to desire or seek the pity of others for the difficulties we face. And we should definitely now wallow in self-pity.
Real Martyrs
There are believers and pastors today, around the world, who are truly being persecuted and martyred for their faith. When you look at the plight of believers in places like Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Sudan, North Africa, and parts of Asia, you actually find individuals are dying for their allegiance to Jesus. Seventy-Five Christians were killed a few months ago in a church in Pakistan after two suicide bombers blew the place up. It is reported that nearly eighty people were executed in North Korea in the last few weeks, supposedly for being found owning Bibles.
Friends, these stories could fill pages and pages. Christians are truly experiencing persecution around the world. Yes, there is some opposition to our beliefs in the United States. Yes, we are becoming a minority on particular cultural hot-topic issues. But brothers, we are not martyrs.
There are believers and pastors around the world dying for the name of Jesus, not simply being called bad names because of Jesus. We need to keep that in perspective as we talk with others, interact on Twitter/Facebook, write our blog posts, and preach our sermons. Your ability to complain without fear is evidence you are not as persecuted as you think.
I'd love to hear your thoughts...why do you think so many in ministry today want to portray their life as so incredibly difficult?
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Last Thursday and Friday I had the privilege to attend the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit. This is an annual conference for leaders that aims to train and equip them for their church, place of business, or other organizations. It is led and hosted by a church, that if I were being honest, is not really the tribe I follow. What I mean by "tribe" is that group of people who I am like-minded with in areas of theology, church methodology, and other categories of ministry. Willow Creek is not really in my tribe.
Interestingly enough, when I first entered into ministry, I attended the Leadership Summit. I was inspired and blown away by all that I was learning. I had no undergraduate or graduate training in ministry. In many ways, the Leadership Summit was my seminary training for ministry. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and was grateful for the training.
Tribal Arrogance
However, that changed after several years. I started to find myself drawn toward a different tribe. My lack of theological training made me hungry and eager to learn more about the Bible, my faith, and theology. I began to find myself drawn toward the reformed tribe. I gobbled up book after book, website after website, from this tribe. I still classify myself as a part of the reformed tribe.
The deeper and more entrenched I became in the tribe, the less time and desire I had learn from other tribes. All the books I read were from my tribe. All the conferences I attended were from my tribe. It isn't bad to read books and go to conferences that you align with, but in my mind, I started belittling and dismissing other tribes. I developed tribal arrogance. This comes with consequences.
Learning from Others
One of the great blunders of having tribal arrogance is missing out on the wisdom and skills of others. When you only read within your tribe, you are missing out on things God can teach you from other people. If you only attend your tribe's conferences, then you lose the insight that can be gained from attending others.
This stood out to me last Thursday and Friday. I sat in the auditorium listening to men and women pouring out genius wisdom and insight on leadership. I needed this badly. I began thanking God for bringing me to the conference. I was thankful for the guy who invited me to go, for no cost. What a gift God was giving me. Leadership insights were flowing in. So were the convictions about my tribal arrogance. I realized quickly on Thursday that for nearly seven years I had been missing out on the gifts of others because I was too entrenched in my tribe.
Finding Balance
I share this post, of my own personal experience, because I imagine I am not alone. I imagine this is a natural tendency for many of us. We tend to run with those most like us. We tend to listen to those most like us. This will never change, maybe it shouldn't, but we must always remain open to learn from others. We need to find balance. I have shut out other voices and influencers from my life for seven years, because I had belittled the need I had for the things they could offer.
It is arrogant to believe our tribe is the only place for us to gain wisdom. I would encourage my friends, in the reformed tribe, to be more open to those in other tribes. Be humble enough to learn from those who are different. There are many helpful leadership insights and strategies we could profit from those people. To my non-reformed friends, take time to learn from the reformed brothers and sisters. Learn from their rich insights into Scripture, theology, and applying Christian thought to cultural issues. You may have certain opinions of the reformed tribe, but do not be like me and discount what you may be able to learn from them.
I am repenting of this attitude and approach I have displayed. I do not want to display tribal arrogance. I am grateful for my tribe. I am grateful for how much I have grown in my love for God because of my tribe. But I need to have the ears to hear from the voice of others. This week has reminded me of this truth. So I am turning from this arrogance and foolish behavior, and making the commitment to sit more frequently at the feet of other leaders, from other tribes. I think you would benefit from this too.
Has this post been helpful? Share it with others below. I'd love to hear from you. Have you ever been guilty of this trap? Share your insights and stories in the comments section below.
There are many traps that lie waiting for pastors. Over the next few weeks I'm going to write about those traps. One of the reasons I feel compelled to write about them is because, as a pastor, I have noticed my struggle with them. In talking with other pastors, I have come to realize that these traps are not isolated to me, but something many others deal with as well.
The trap this post will highlight is Building Personal Kingdoms.
In Matthew 4 the Spirit of God leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. He is then approached by Satan at the end of the fast and endures a series a temptations. Jesus is weakened physically, but battling Satan with Scripture, he is able to withstand the attack.
However, the third temptation Jesus experienced stood out to me specifically as a pastor. Jesus is taken to a high mountain and showed all the kingdoms of the world and their glory (4:8). Satan then tells Jesus, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." (4:9). The temptation Jesus is presented with is not worshipping Satan, it is having all these kingdoms and the glory that is associated with them. Worshipping Satan is the vehicle to getting the actual offer being made.
As I contemplated this, I realized that this temptation lies at the feet of every pastor. If we are not careful, we will subtly slip into building and working for our own kingdoms. If not guarded, we will stand on the mountain peak daydreaming of those kingdoms of greatness that we are pursuing, and the glory that come with them.
This trap is hard to see because the actions you are doing may not look differently than the person focused on serving God alone. The actions look the same, but the motivation and goal become different. So pastoring can be for personal glory. Writing can be for personal glory. Preaching and teaching can become about personal glory. The kingdom built can become the kingdom of self, and the glory sought can become the glory of a famous name.
Not every pastor is guilty of this; however, every pastor should be on guard for it. Building personal kingdoms is a trap that lies waiting for every pastor.
Jesus' response to Satan shows us the nature of the offer that was made. Jesus says, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." (4:10). This is vital to see. Jesus counters Satan's offer by telling him that God alone is to be worshipped, not Satan, and not the glory of personal kingdoms. It is the Lord our God that we shall serve, not ourselves.
Here would be three recommendations I would make for pastors to do:
1. Continually evaluate and prayerfully examine the motives behind the actions you are doing.
I think it is good for a pastor to regularly ask, "Why am I doing this?" When you ask that question, avoid giving yourself the cheesy church answer. Examine your heart. Search your motives. And move aggressively when you notice seeds of personal kingdom building present.
2. Remember that there is more joy and satisfaction in serving God and His kingdom than all the glory of serving your own.
If we want true joy and satisfaction, it will never be found in making much of ourselves. True happiness and is found in making much of God and living for His glory.
3. Invite some other local pastors or current pastoral friends into conversation about this trap, and share honestly with one another the personal struggles in this area.
Other pastors struggle in this area. This trap is something any person can be vulnerable to. Grab some local guys together and be real with one another in this area. It will be both refreshing and helpful to all involved.
I hope this will be helpful. I would love to hear other recommendations you have for avoiding this pastoral trap. Contribute your thoughts in the comment section below.
