An elephant!

Have you ever felt like there was an elephant sitting on your chest? You know God has spoken something to you, but you are acting like you didn’t hear him.

A couple years ago God spoke something into my life. It made no sense to me. Logically it looked like a pretty stupid move, but I also felt certain he spoke it. Instead of following where he led I said no. I told him I wouldn’t do it, at least not in his timing and his way. What followed was seven months of being unemployed and the most painful experience of my life.

Last week, I again felt like God spoke something into my life. Again it seems to make no sense. I don’t think I am even capable of doing it (but if I dared to ask I think he would agree and tell me that he is big enough to accomplish it through me). So, here I sit feeling like an elephant is in the room. For days I have been feeling like I don’t even have faith because I am looking God in the face and telling him no.  I sit here knowing I have told God I will follow with all I am, and when he asks I tell him I am not capable of it (sounds like Moses!). Am I really going to sit here, call myself a Christian, and then tell the King of Kings no? I won’t even start with the list of what is wrong with this whole situation.

When will I learn!

Will the Galveston seawall stand…will we?

In 1900 Galveston, Texas experienced the deadliest natural disaster to ever strike the United States. It was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall on September 8, 1900. Following that storm in 1902-1904 a team of experts built a seawall in Galveston. To date it has never been overtopped by a storm surge. The seawall is 10 miles long, 17 feet high, and 16 feet thick at its base. It has been recognized both as a national historic place and an engineering landmark.

I am watching the reports with a strange sense of anticipation to see if the seawall holds. The seawall engineer, George W. Boschke was my great, great, great uncle. He risked his life and his career on that wall. Today, just over a century later, another deadly storm is approaching almost the same exact spot the storm in 1900 landed. Lives are threatened and property will be damaged. Will the work that went into strengthening the foundation and building a protection stand against the surge that is about to hit it?

We also build a foundation and a protection in our lives. When storms and storm surges hit us we also are left with the question, will our foundations and walls stand? Will we survive the storms and surges and if so, will we damaged? The answers depend on what we build our foundations on, and how strong we make them. We may think we have made Christ or God as our foundation, but have we reinforced it through investing in the relationship, studying the truths, and reshaping our beliefs?

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25

Reflecting on the role of pastors

A couple days ago I started the book They Like Jesus But Not the Church by Dan Kimball. I haven’t made it past the introduction because of a story Dan shared from a conference he spoke at. He was speaking to about five hundred middle aged pastors of a conservative denomination about how pastors spend their time and structure their work. Dan and many of the pastors fell on opposite sides of the issue. Dan presented ideas of pastors meeting people where they are in the community, talking in coffee shops, structuring work and work hours in different ways. “Someone commented that they couldn’t possibly go to a coffeehouse like that, since their church expects them to be available in the church office during the week to care for the ‘flock’ (his word).” Many others felt the same way.

I was raised in a mainline church where my father was a pastor. I was raised with pastors that worked in church offices, where there were normal business hours, although that didn’t necessarily mean the pastor was in due to meetings, funerals, hospital visits, etc. Now I attend a non-denominational church where there is no church office and no cell phone, but my pastor is available via cell phone, email, and IM. Just last week he emailed me at midnight and I was able to respond during my free time at lunch the next day. I have not had a problem making this switch over the years as our culture has changed and become more technical and more fluid. Maybe that is aided by the fact that I work in the technology sector.

This has left me reflecting on what the role of a pastor should be. Not about what our denominations, traditions, or culture tell us about the pastor’s role, but relecting on what scripture tells us. It has left me reevaluating my beliefs about pastors and wondering how often I have been frustrated or had reactions to things I have seen and heard from pastors due to my preconceived ideas rather than about what best serves the culture and needs of my community.

What is the role of a pastor? How should that be walked out in our communities? Are there universal elements to a pastor’s role, or can the role look completely different depending on what they are pastor of (head pastor, children’s pastor, outreach pastor, missions pastor) and where they are a pastor? Have you ever been frustrated or had reactions to pastors due to your preconceived ideas, or if you are a pastor have you felt that from people in your church? How can we change that (and should we)?