"To the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To those who are victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is also in the paradise of God."
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To those who are victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is also in the paradise of God."
Revelation 2:1-7 (TNIV)
I recently re-discovered this Scripture while doing some leadership and ministry development reading, and since then, it began to open my eyes and my heart to a grave and growing concern I have for the Church. But first, a little background:
I'm in a brand new appointment as senior pastor of First UMC in Laurel, and like any new pastor, spending my time doing a lot of watching, listening and learning. This is a multiple-staffed, growing, highly active, large congregation with a history stretching back to 1840. So not only am I learning a lot, but also realizing every day how much more there is to learn!
And I'm also beginning to think of leadership strategies I could use here. First Church brims over with ministry activities, meetings, and more. And like most churches its size, it struggles to understand where all this activity is headed. In other words, it's like a cruise ship-- all the people, staff, amenities, activities, and lots of food!-- without a sense of where the next port of call is. So, I've been reading on strategies, mission and vision definition, trying to see how I can work with First Church to discover how Christ would have us in mission with him in making new disciples of his.
Then it hit me... I mean, it really hit me hard. I found the above passage from Revelation 2. As I read and re-read that Scripture, God began to open my eyes. The mainline church, of which I'm a part, suffers from many profound problems, but this one problem lies at the heart of it all.
Any casual observer of the United Methodist Church or any other mainline church can see that we are in the throws of institutional survival and redefinition. We feel it at every level, but most acutely in everyday local congregations. Numbers are plummeting, ministries are failing at their effectiveness, churches are struggling to grow, and clergy find themselves burdened with increasing pressures and expectations.
Where has the mainline church looked for its salvation? In large part, we've turned to the business world. We've delved into the world of marketing and business development. The pastor is chief strategist and CEO, and the administrative board is now the research-product development-design team. We think that if we can properly assess the market (the world) and package the right product (God), we can increase our revenues (bring in new members.) I think there is much to learn and employ from this kind of thinking, but that alone will not save us.
There is a much deeper problem within ourselves, and it all begins with our heart. The vast volume of Scriptures that deal with the state of our heart astounds me. Before anything else, God desires our heart. It makes sense, really. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23, NIV). From the heart comes the very essence of who we are, what we think, what we say, and what we do.
All along, God has only desired two things. Jesus sums it up well. He says, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV). This love for the Lord and love for people is our driving passion as the Church. Our love is the Church's signature mark of excellence. Before any ministries or programs, our love is what makes for healthy, growing churches.
We have lost the love we had at first. Our love for God and our love for all people has been replaced with far lesser things. Love has been replaced with sentimental traditionalism. Love for lost people has been replaced with a club mentality. Genuine love for God has been replaced with God-consumerism. And the holiness of love has been replaced with harsh judgment towards lifestyles, beliefs, or ways of doing things that don't pass our self-righteous litmus tests.
What is the answer? As Jesus warned the Ephesian church, we need to repent and do the things we did at first. I think this begins with a renewed emphasis on prayer and worship. At the same time, it begins with open conversations and relationship-building with people who are outside of our churches. It's all about reconnecting with God and the creatures God lovingly made in his image.
The alternative is to continue suffering under what's happening now: the Lord Jesus removing our lampstand.
As a pastor, I've got my work cut out for me, first with myself, and then with those I serve!
I'm in a brand new appointment as senior pastor of First UMC in Laurel, and like any new pastor, spending my time doing a lot of watching, listening and learning. This is a multiple-staffed, growing, highly active, large congregation with a history stretching back to 1840. So not only am I learning a lot, but also realizing every day how much more there is to learn!
And I'm also beginning to think of leadership strategies I could use here. First Church brims over with ministry activities, meetings, and more. And like most churches its size, it struggles to understand where all this activity is headed. In other words, it's like a cruise ship-- all the people, staff, amenities, activities, and lots of food!-- without a sense of where the next port of call is. So, I've been reading on strategies, mission and vision definition, trying to see how I can work with First Church to discover how Christ would have us in mission with him in making new disciples of his.
Then it hit me... I mean, it really hit me hard. I found the above passage from Revelation 2. As I read and re-read that Scripture, God began to open my eyes. The mainline church, of which I'm a part, suffers from many profound problems, but this one problem lies at the heart of it all.
Any casual observer of the United Methodist Church or any other mainline church can see that we are in the throws of institutional survival and redefinition. We feel it at every level, but most acutely in everyday local congregations. Numbers are plummeting, ministries are failing at their effectiveness, churches are struggling to grow, and clergy find themselves burdened with increasing pressures and expectations.
Where has the mainline church looked for its salvation? In large part, we've turned to the business world. We've delved into the world of marketing and business development. The pastor is chief strategist and CEO, and the administrative board is now the research-product development-design team. We think that if we can properly assess the market (the world) and package the right product (God), we can increase our revenues (bring in new members.) I think there is much to learn and employ from this kind of thinking, but that alone will not save us.
There is a much deeper problem within ourselves, and it all begins with our heart. The vast volume of Scriptures that deal with the state of our heart astounds me. Before anything else, God desires our heart. It makes sense, really. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23, NIV). From the heart comes the very essence of who we are, what we think, what we say, and what we do.
All along, God has only desired two things. Jesus sums it up well. He says, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV). This love for the Lord and love for people is our driving passion as the Church. Our love is the Church's signature mark of excellence. Before any ministries or programs, our love is what makes for healthy, growing churches.
We have lost the love we had at first. Our love for God and our love for all people has been replaced with far lesser things. Love has been replaced with sentimental traditionalism. Love for lost people has been replaced with a club mentality. Genuine love for God has been replaced with God-consumerism. And the holiness of love has been replaced with harsh judgment towards lifestyles, beliefs, or ways of doing things that don't pass our self-righteous litmus tests.
What is the answer? As Jesus warned the Ephesian church, we need to repent and do the things we did at first. I think this begins with a renewed emphasis on prayer and worship. At the same time, it begins with open conversations and relationship-building with people who are outside of our churches. It's all about reconnecting with God and the creatures God lovingly made in his image.
The alternative is to continue suffering under what's happening now: the Lord Jesus removing our lampstand.
As a pastor, I've got my work cut out for me, first with myself, and then with those I serve!
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