Author: Tim Ehrhardt

I'm just a common ordinary pastor, chaplain, father, grandfather, and dog owner who loves the smell of a genuine leather Bible and the aroma of its message. I'm on a quest to track down the best Bibles, how to best read and use them, and to discover the encouragement inside.

We Need a Few Gray Hairs

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment

In my previous post I emphasized that older generations need to understand how the younger generations think and act.  I want to balance that with pondering church from the elder perspective.  What do you think of when I say “senior adult ministry?”  We almost exclusively consider this to be a ministry to seniors rather than from seniors.  The bald fact is that ministry is fast becoming so focused on youth and younger generations that the church is being “juvenilized.”  Whereas a healthy focus on youth can bring great spiritual renewal and vitality to the church, focusing too heavily on it brings a watered-down understanding of the gospel and the Christian life that is quite unhealthy.

My wife and youngest daughter recently took a mission trip to Joplin, Missouri.  They drove there and spent a week with an “older” couple from our church (in their late 70’s).  It was the New Testament letter of Titus in action for my family.  In fact, Titus chapter 2 stands everything on end by an emphasis of older persons mentoring younger people; it is ministry from seniors and not to them.  This “old” couple had more energy than anyone else on a mission team of over fifty people.  They ate everything put in front of them without complaining.  They worked everyone else in the ground.  They always had something positive to say in the middle of every adverse circumstance.  They had a can-do spirit that was matter of fact.  They loved without ever expecting anything in return.  You see, this couple is not an anomaly; our elders, who have lived the longest with the power of the Holy Spirit, are usually the most able to share the Father’s love in a Christ-like manner.

Values of thrift, simplicity, loyalty, faithfulness, wisdom, and maturity (which can only be gained over time!) are best learned neither from trial and error, nor from the school of hard knocks, but through prolonged exposure to the elders all around us.  Fools are fools because they ignore old people.  The Old Testament book of Deuteronomy is a book that calls people to remember.  In addressing a group of foolish people who had forgotten God, chapter 32 verse 7 says, “Remember the days of old; consider the generations of long past.  Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain it to you.”

What would happen if churches constructed Sunday School programs based on Titus 2?  Can we even think the thought that church renewal could come through spunky and active elders?  Its high time that we in church leadership positions do two things:  first, teach the older persons for the expressed purpose of  them turning around and teaching the younger persons; and, second, stick those teens, twenty-somethings, and young parents out to pasture with godly elders so that they can feed off healthy green grass instead of just talking among themselves in a great circle of collective ignorance.  People rightly lament when there are no children or young families in a church.  We ought also to equally lament when there are no gray heads in the worship center.

Let us honor the old among us by learning from them, and allow them the respect and decency of listening and working together with them to the glory of God.

Keeping My Options Open

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment

One of the great problems of today’s church, in my humble opinion, is that decades of generational ministry has led to people in the Body of Christ only relating to the parts of the body just like themselves.  Even within family units, parents have difficulty understanding teenagers and grandparents have a hard time relating to twenty-somethings.  We only exacerbate the problem by giving such a potpourri of offerings in the church (i.e. dare I say it?  a traditional service and a contemporary service) that the ages are segregated with no meaningful interaction.  In short, we just don’t know each other.  I have heard older generations bemoan the lack of commitment among younger people, and younger people complain of older folks as stuck in a rut.  I believe the onus is always on the older to reach the younger (the New Testament letter of Titus chapter 2, for example).  So, let’s reconsider the perspective that young people lack commitment.

There is a mantra that I have heard many students, twenty-somethings, and young families repeat over and over when considering what they will be doing this summer, how the next academic year will shake out, whether they will stick with a certain relationship or activity, how and when they may commit to any involvement, and if they might show up at a certain event or even church: “I’m keeping my options open.”

At first thought this sounds pretty wishy-washy.  But the thought in a young person’s head is typically one of not wanting to close doors that might be open to them, or to not burn bridges with anyone. They want to entertain as many promising options as they can, because they do not want to miss an opportunity, lose control of a situation, or get locked into something they aren’t sure of. Thus, many in the younger generations are typically loathe to settling down on any one thing.

This is why it is commonplace for people under 35 to try a wide variety of religious and spiritual organizations, and may never settle on just one. They move effortlessly between a large group meeting in one place and a bible study in another, and between a small traditional church and a big contemporary worship service. Spiritual experiences for them often take the form of freedom, exploration, spontaneity, and renewal.

Although it is important for all people to learn the value of loyalty and developing consistent routines centered in spiritual disciplines, in a younger person’s modus operandi they typically will not succumb to a dry faith that is done out of sheer duty or habit. So, instead of pressing or expecting them to be in our mold of devotion and faithfulness through closing doors and making consequential decisions, perhaps we ought to walk alongside them and join them in the journey they are on. The New Testament refers to Christianity as a road or a way, and the Christian life as a walk that we take with Jesus and the Spirit. It is in this walking together with another that we can help them consider the options that are before them, and provide counsel, wisdom, and warning concerning the forks in the road and the exits off the path. Younger generations can learn to forego certain options and commit to something particular when we take the time to journey with them.

So, rather than lament this generation’s lack of focus and ever-present flakiness, may we understand their desire to have genuine relationships with God and others that does not miss out on a vibrant life.

-How can we be a help, and not a hindrance to others in their journey?
-What can God do for and with individuals who keep their options open?
-Where is the Spirit taking a young person in his/her walk?
-What are your options in relating to particular persons, and generations of people?

Distracted by Grace

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment

 

          With summer, church ministries typically take a hiatus from their normal schedules.  Along with that reality, our own spirituality may suffer as we turn to other things like vacations or being around the kids all the time.  Summer distractions may overwhelm our good intentions toward walking with God, as if we have a condition of spiritual A.D.D.  We seem to… “squirrel!”… be easily distracted by the next thing that comes running along, and have a hard time focusing on what is important in life.

But before we get too perturbed with ourselves, think about the nature of our lives. Teenagers and twenty-somethings are learning to flex their independent muscles and are developing a whole new skill set of handling a budget, paying bills on their own, creating new social networks, adjusting to new schedules, and finding and holding a job.  Young families are constantly adjusting to the next crazy thing their pre-school kids are doing, trying to coordinate both parents working, all while attempting to keep both sets of grandparents happy.  Parents of teens probably aren’t even reading this article because they are driving kids from one end of the planet to the other (it seems), and wonder if they will ever catch up on the sleep they need.  And grandparents in our culture today are just as busy, but with the added irritation of constantly dealing with the next ache and pain.  It is easy in the daily demands of life to have Jesus squeezed to the margins.

Let me suggest that rather than feeling guilty for our spiritual lives because of all the distractions and seeming lack of discipline, that we shift our distractions by being distracted by grace.  When we sense our schedules are awry, our financial budgets won’t budge, and our work never seems to get done, that we use these situations to be distracted by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  When we are forever chasing the next shiny thing that comes along, and/or complain about our own schedules as if there are not enough minutes in the day to accomplish God’s will, let us be distracted with the forgiveness that is available to us through the cross.  After all, the Christian life is about having a realization of our sin, and of a renewal to our relationship with God.  Allow our distraction to point us to grace.

Most of life, frankly, is lived in the mundane. How we live for God day in and day out, through all the details and tedium, speaks volumes to those for whom we seek to minister to, whether it is our own children, fellow believers in the Church, or others who do not know God.   Establishing solid spiritual patterns of life can be hard.  But maybe a key for us is in allowing grace to distract us enough to connect us with accepting God’s forgiveness, instead of just running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  Allow grace to distract us toward thinking on these questions:

–Am I living in a consistent rhythm of life that reflects my most precious values?
–Have I learned to practice the presence of Christ in the mundane activities of life?
–Do I have healthy patterns of work, rest, and play that others can emulate?

In being distracted by grace, we may find that we have actually become engaged with God.

Reputation

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment

One day at a parent-teacher conference several years ago when my middle daughter was in second grade, the teacher, as usual for such an occasion, told my wife and I about the things the class had been doing.  The class had been reading some Winnie the Pooh books and the kids were to talk about which Pooh character they liked the most and why.  Since my daughter, Charissa, is a very outgoing and bouncy type of person I was certain that she would immediately say that Tigger was her favorite.  But instead she responded with Eeyore.  Okay.  Not what I would have guessed.  Why?  Charissa said, “Because Eeyore reminds me of my Daddy.”

Ouch.  I wasn’t ready for that one.  Yet, as I reflected on Charissa’s answer I saw that since I was working as a supervisor in a factory, going to grad school at night, and being a lay minister in my local church had left me drained to the point that whenever my daughter saw me it was as if I was Eeyore just loping about the house with a pinned on tail.  Before that parent-teacher conference encounter I never would have described myself as my daughter did.  Obviously, my reputation did not match my own perception of myself.

Every church leadership team needs to periodically struggle with this question:  What is our reputation in the community?  Notice the question is not:  What do you think your reputation is?  The only way to know a church’s reputation is to interact with those outside of your church.  And the answers may be very different than what you think they might be.  Whenever I have conversations with those in my community who are not members of my church, I will often ask something like:  “So, what do you know of our church?”  “Do you know any people in the church?”  “What is one word that you would describe the church?”

What should we do if there is a clear disconnect between what the community says about us, and what we think is true about us?  First, we ought to never dismiss what another says about our church.  Sure, we might not like it but we need to weigh the words and glean as much wisdom as we can from it.  Second, if it is a negative perception, or truly off the mark, use the information to help inspire you toward change.  Third, if there are things that you know need changing, discuss what kind of reputation you want to have and begin setting some goals for achieving what you want.  Begin with the results you want, and then focus on the particular tasks you might do.

There is yet one more critical question to continually ask:  What is our reputation with God?  The way we answer this question is critical and demands the utmost honesty.  Our approach is the same as asking persons in the community:  ask God himself.  Pray.  Read Scripture, especially the Prophets, and the first three chapters of Revelation.  No church can ever hope to glorify God and be effective in their community unless they are genuine and urgent about where they stand before God and what their reputation is with those outside of church.  Resist the temptation of talking the subject to death and instead determine to set a plan of action.

At your next leadership meeting or team meeting, be brave and ask the questions of reputation.  Use them to spawn the kind of interaction that is needed to help address what God wants for your ministry.