Tag: spiritual growth

The Challenge of Change

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
            People are all for change – we just typically want everybody else to change but ourselves.  Just say the word “change” in a church and you will get responses from some guy going apoplectic about not changing ‘on his watch’ to another person lamenting loudly over the lack of change within the congregation, to every response in-between.  Peter Steinke, a respected church consultant who deftly applies systems-theory to congregations, has made the most basic of observations:  “Change is a magnet for emotional reactions.”
 
            Every church leader has inevitably run into an emotional buzzsaw when attempting some sort of change, whether minor or major.  When people feel they are losing control or not getting what they want from a proposed change, they might try and throw a monkey wrench in the whole deal through some means of sabotage.  Yes, it does happen in churches.  People do not always play well or fair.  There are individual parishioners who will go to almost any length to have things their way or keep an existing system entrenched.  As a result, some pastors and leaders wither under the pressure, afraid of the emotional reactivity that might result from implementing some sort of change.  But when we take up the mantle of leadership, like Nehemiah of old, we regulate ourselves to staying on task even when the naysayers and saboteurs look for a way to frustrate the vision (Nehemiah 6:1-15).
 
            It must be kept in mind that every healthy living organism will grow, change, and reproduce.  Churches that never change are unhealthy.  At the least, they are just plain ineffective at ministry; at the worst, they become stagnant pools dispensing spiritual death.  But good outcomes can and do happen as leaders take courage to address issues and implement change without abandoning the goal.  The Apostle Paul stated the goal like this:  “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him… I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11).
 
            Sometimes, we as church leaders do not immediately think like Paul.  We desire a successful ministry, full of resurrection power, but neglect the bald reality that there must be suffering.  You cannot have a resurrection without having a death.  Paul embraced suffering and death as the means of attaining new life.  It would be sage for us all to reflect on this and how it applies to our ministries.  Change is typically a slow, often painful process, of dying to self and old ways and re-awakening to a new spiritual life of knowing Jesus Christ.  In order to truly know Christ, we will experience difficulty.  Our congregations are going to know Christ not by always having their way and/or never having to endure the hardship of change.  No, they are going to know Christ through sharing in his sufferings.
 
            Resistance to change will come.  Bank on it.  Plan for it.  Anticipate it.  It will happen. I have to admit that I am no expert in this area.  I have made more mistakes and flubbed more ideas and attempts at ministry than you can possibly imagine.  From the school of hard knocks, here is what I have learned:  it takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to move an existing congregation to a new way of seeing and living; and, there needs to be a biblical goal in order to stay the course and realize transformation.  I believe the best goal is to help people know Christ better, and introduce people who don’t know him to a new relationship with Jesus.  All our strategic plans need to keep on track toward this grand pursuit of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.
 

 

            So, what will you do to help move such a goal forward?  How will you work together with others to achieve knowing Christ?  In what ways will you deal with the inevitable resistance to change?  What things do you need to put to death in order to realize new life?  Where do faith, hope, and love fit into your plans for growth and change?  Let’s all pray for one another, so that we come to maturity in Christ together, knowing Jesus better and living and loving like him in all things.  So may it be.  Amen.

Spiritual Growth

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be” (Jesus in John 12:24-26).
 
This was the message of Jesus.  There is no wiggle room or fudge factor to it.  Jesus unequivocally said what people really need to do:  die to self.  To make his message clear and understandable, Jesus used the illustration of a seed that must die before it bears fruit.  Seeds wait to germinate until three needs are met: water; correct temperature (warmth); and a good location (such as in soil). During its early stages of growth, the seedling relies upon the food supplies stored with it in the seed until it is large enough for its own leaves to begin making food through photosynthesis. The seedling’s roots push down into the soil to anchor the new plant and to absorb water and minerals from the soil. And its stem with new leaves pushes up toward the light.
 
            This is exactly the kind of process that Jesus said needs to happen with people in the kingdom of God.  People must never settle for being seedy because that is not what we are designed for.  Jesus wants us to be transformed, to experience new life, and to bear righteous fruit.  To follow Jesus means to die to being a seed and growing into a fruit bearing plant with more seeds to have the whole process occur again (reproduction).  We are to push down and anchor ourselves firmly into the soil of God’s Word and pull vital nutrients from it.  At the same time, we are to push upward toward the light of Jesus Christ so that his warmth and grace can cause us to be spiritually formed into the disciples that he intends us to become.  The process is only complete when we reproduce ourselves in others as followers of Jesus.
 
            Jesus said that the person who “hates” his/her life will gain eternal life.  That is, the person who is willing to give up everything to follow Jesus will find true life in Christ.  The one who serves Jesus will follow him.  Hate is simply a biblical term that means we make the choice to avoid one path in favor of another.  My girls were all born in West Michigan.  When we lived there, my wife and I would take our three girls to the beautiful sandy beaches of Lake Michigan.  We loved being there on hot summer days.  The beaches are actual sand, not with any gravel or dirt, so it was difficult to walk on them.  I would tell Sarah, Charissa, and Mikaela to follow me and walk in my footprints.  I told them to follow me not only because it would be easier for them to walk, but so they would not stray from me. 
 
            We are to forsake all other paths that stray from Jesus, and are to follow him by walking in his footprints.  We are not to turn to the right or to the left.  We are to hate all other avenues that are not behind our Lord Jesus.  We are to love his path and his ways.
 
            Church ministry that focuses on anything else other than true Christian discipleship must be, without compromise, jettisoned.  We are to be about the business of spiritual growth, helping others to take root in God’s Word and bring them the light of Christ.  Evaluation of programs, procedures, and ministries are to center in the path of Jesus and nothing else.  Determining the effectiveness of ministry based on how many butts are in the pews, how much money gets put in the offering plates, and how pleased people are with the pastor are not biblical criteria for church ministry.
 

 

            Lent is a season that is designed for us to remember Jesus, to recognize that we belong to him, and to repent of anything that keeps us away from him.  This is to happen on the corporate church level, as well as the personal individual plane.  There cannot be the new life of Easter without the crucifixion of self.  There will not be spiritual growth without dying to ourselves.  Ministry can only be truly Christian when it follows in the way of Jesus.    

Renewal

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
In this time of year, there are many who do not have to think twice about purchasing and giving gifts for Christmas.  We have blessings, both material and spiritual.  And we can always identify those persons who are in much more need than we are.  We may even believe that those in need are in that position because of their own unwise individual choices.  But we must recognize that the maladies of ourhearts are very real. 
 
There are specific conditions in our lives that leave us in bondage and in need of restoration, renewal, and revitalization, just like all kinds of other people. 
 
            Being a vital part of a local church does not automatically immune one from having serious needs.  We must not suppress those realities and those needs, but name the conditions which are packed away in a closet of our heart deep inside us:  the love of things and money; severed relationships; old grudges; hidden addictions; domestic violence; denial of depression; secret affairs; cutting; fear; anger; greed; and, hatred. 
 
Outward smiles and small talk conversations may hide the truth from others, but they do nothing to hide ourselves from a God for whom everything is laid bare.
 
            The good news is not just something for someone else who has “obvious” needs.  The gospel must touch our lives and bring us freedom so that we can pass on that very real good news to the legion of social ills that make our world sick.  There are people all around us who need spiritual, emotional, and material help.  But we will not have eyes to see them or have hearts to help if we are ourselves stuffing burdens so deep within that we are blind to others.
 
            Far too many church-going Christians have become expert emotion and need stuffers.  We might think that other people, “those people,” need ministries of justice and help.  But the truth is that many of us are either one paycheck, one prodigal kid, one mental health diagnosis, one serious illness, one drink, one affair, one bad decision away from being one of “those people” – the people we typically identify as in need – the ones that bad things happen to – the ones we do not want living next door to us.
 
            We just may not yet be vulnerable enough to admit our situation and so we keep practicing the denial of our spiritual poverty.  What should we do?  We should turn from the things that have caused us to be in poverty and be prisoners (not just secretly!) and delight greatly in the LORD by focusing on his grace, mercy, and justice (Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11).  Our souls ought to rejoice in our God because he will make a sprout come up.  God will cause us to grow. 
 
God will rebuild our ruined souls.  God will restore the places of our lives that have been devastated.  God will even renew the places that have not seen renewal for generations. 
 
But it must begin with you and me allowing the justice of God to work within us.  God cannot bring comfort to those who do not mourn; he cannot turn grief into joy if there is no acknowledgment of a dire situation.  If we want to be an oak of righteousness there must be in existence a confession of despair and an allowance of the justice of God through Jesus Christ to work its way completely through us.
 
            What is your true situation?  What are the realities of your life that need to be named?  Where will you go to address those needs and truths?  Will you keep stuffing them, or will you become able to voice your inner personal needs?  Will you be vulnerable enough to allow the church to minister grace to your needy soul?
 

 

            Let us have a vision of Jesus coming into our lives and replacing a tattered hat of grief with a crown of beauty.  Let us picture the Lord placing on us a garment of praise to replace our stinky clothes of grumbling.  Let us allow our lives to display the grace of God in Christ because we have been profoundly touched by the justice of God.  Let us herald the coming of the Christ child as the hope of us all.

Psalm 126

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            You reap what you sow.  This principle is not only true with farming and gardening, but is also a reality of the Christian life.  Growth does not occur quickly.  Instead, a constant and vigilant attention to the spiritual life is what eventually bears fruit in good works and godly attitudes.  In our Western society of wanting everything immediately, this is a difficult principle to grasp.  We may think that when we sin and lightning does not strike us right away that what we did must not have been so bad.  But eventually our sin will find us out.  Conversely, we might believe that when we commit ourselves to service and see no immediate benefits and results that we must be doing something wrong.  So, we easily become discouraged and give up.
 
            But the psalmist reminds us of the necessity of patience.  Just as it takes continual watering to reap a harvest in the field, so the Christian’s life of weeping and tears, of tilling deeply into the things of God, is necessary to realizing a sprout, growth, and finally fruit.  Thus, the tedious patient development and weeding of our souls is the task before us.  If we wait, we will realize a harvest of righteousness. 
 
            Jesus taught us his Beatitudes to help us understand that righteousness, peace, and joy come through being in touch with our poverty of spirit; mourning over personal and corporate sin; becoming humble and meek; hungering and thirsting after righteousness.  Only through the blood, sweat, and tears of agonizing over the state of our souls will we come through to the deep happiness of seeing the Lord accomplish great things in our lives.  In other words, joy is neither cheap nor easy.  It is the fruit of many tears.
            Living God, plant yourself so firmly in my soul that life and joy will result.  Let my mouth be filled with laughter and shout the deep satisfaction that comes from having great things in my life, through Jesus my Lord.  Amen.