FAITHFULNESS OR STUPIDITY?
As I've mentioned here before, one of the benefits of surviving (trust me, I use the word advisedly) in ministry for more than 35 years and still loving it, is that a lot of younger pastors (and let's face it, most of them are) assume that I have some idea of what I am talking about.
Eager to tap into what they misgudedly consider to be a reservoir of wisdom, I find myself interacting with an incrReasing number of church leaders from all over the country on the internet, by phone or over Weightwatchers' lunches at Applebees.
Among my list of FAQs is this one ...
How long do you try to turn a church around when most of the people in it are not only totally content to remain in the Dark Ages, but are prepared to do you actual physical harm if you persist in suggesting that you sing something other than hymns written by Wesley, Martin Luther or some other body who put pen to paper before America declared independence?
Of course there's a martyr mentality in some pastors. They think that the more it hurts the more godly it must be. These poor souls live under the misconception that serving God should make them miserable and so they should look for nothing more. They call it faithfulness and consider it a virtue.
So they spend years trying to bring an unwilling congregation into the 19th century, suffering all kinds of grief along the way and causing untold pain to their families.
If it sounds as if for once I know what I'm talking about, I do. Way back when, I gave four years or more to attempting to transition a very traditional church and experienced all that goes along with that.
I thank God for the day that I quietly decided enough was enough, extricated myself and those I love from that predicament and moved forward.
So when do you move on?
When you no longer have the vision to see and the faith to believe that things can turn around, it's time to go.
That's it, plain and simple.
The same goes for good Christians sitting in dying churches too.
Eager to tap into what they misgudedly consider to be a reservoir of wisdom, I find myself interacting with an incrReasing number of church leaders from all over the country on the internet, by phone or over Weightwatchers' lunches at Applebees.
Among my list of FAQs is this one ...
How long do you try to turn a church around when most of the people in it are not only totally content to remain in the Dark Ages, but are prepared to do you actual physical harm if you persist in suggesting that you sing something other than hymns written by Wesley, Martin Luther or some other body who put pen to paper before America declared independence?
Of course there's a martyr mentality in some pastors. They think that the more it hurts the more godly it must be. These poor souls live under the misconception that serving God should make them miserable and so they should look for nothing more. They call it faithfulness and consider it a virtue.
So they spend years trying to bring an unwilling congregation into the 19th century, suffering all kinds of grief along the way and causing untold pain to their families.
If it sounds as if for once I know what I'm talking about, I do. Way back when, I gave four years or more to attempting to transition a very traditional church and experienced all that goes along with that.
I thank God for the day that I quietly decided enough was enough, extricated myself and those I love from that predicament and moved forward.
So when do you move on?
When you no longer have the vision to see and the faith to believe that things can turn around, it's time to go.
That's it, plain and simple.
The same goes for good Christians sitting in dying churches too.
posted by Roger Blackmore | 9:23 PM
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