Monday, December 08, 2008

The Environmentalist, Take 2

This is an extended and more complete version of the last post. Enjoy.

1.           Environmentalist

Up to this point in time, there have been a relatively small number of books on leadership in post-modern ecclesiology. However, one such work has redefined the way I view the idea of church leadership in a post-Christian society. Tim Keel’s book Intuitive Leadership is an attempt to reconcile the ideas of post-modernity with a living gospel as it meets the church. Keel describes the trend of the modern church to exist primarily in structures, hoping that those structures will be infinitely transferable to any context. So, we trade strategies and tactics, assuming that “growth” is mass producible. And what we have traded for all of this is creativity and imagination. We have swapped living, breathing relationships for pragmatic programming. This, however, creates huge problems for creative souls. Creativity despises vain repetition.[1] It will not tolerate the preservation of a system, particularly one that loses its primary identity. In the case of the people of God, we crave established “success” and have neglected concern for the oppressed, love for one another and genuine commitments to Christ.[2]

Creativity is easily identified, Keel says, by its fondness for tension.[3] Creatives thrive on the difficult questions that arise from differing perspectives. Creative souls love to take previously established dichotomies and discover new ways between the two. These people do not require all the answers, instead, they only long for the next set of questions. Tension allows for possibility. It opens the door to an unknown number of realities, if the environment is ripe.[4]

Such creative communities require leadership that recognizes the potential grass-rootsy type of community that a freedom of expression might create. It is a place where dialogue is preferred to authoritative lecturing. It is a community, Keel says, that values a life defined from the “bottom up.”[5] If this is truly the case, than the pastor’s primary role as the most powerful decision-maker and communicator might tend to hinder the life of such a community rather than enhance it. Keel says it best when he says:

As a result, the linear dynamics of an organization oriented around a plan are not as important as creating an environment in which values shape a creative identity and expression comes as a result of adaptive engagement within a specific context… {L}eaders become environmentalists… Such environmentalists help to create and shape cultures of trust that respond and adapt creatively to their location and what God is doing there. But that doesn’t mean that all of the organizational needs are lost in favor of a purely organic expression. Leaders who understand themselves as environmentalists must maintain a healthy regard for the operational aspects that give expression to the corporate identity and common expressions of life that flow from this identity.[6]


A pastor’s primary responsibility is to nurture an environment ripe for spiritual growth. Rather than a Sunday-morning-performer, a pastor works the soil, preparing carefully and thoughtfully to allow growth in the community.

Often times, we think of the pastor in business terms. The pastor is the CEO of the church. Therefore, the pastor's responsibilities can only be judged in dollars and attendance records. Unfortunately, such a view of the pastor neglects the primary role of the church: to serve the world and create disciples that are actively following Christ. While it's true that the big churches with their big numbers are probably reaching more people in terms of making disciples, such a system utterly neglects those churches in communities where only the few are drawn to Christ. More than that, it necessarily elevates the potential of an urban church to a rural church. The little church in the country has no chance of being deemed "effective" on this model, because the population per capita of their reach is significantly smaller. And truth be told, I'm not sure that if we focused our energies on advancing the gospel with any shred of pure honesty in suburban areas (where most megachurches seem to flourish) that people would come. It seems to me that we have simplified the gospel to make it more marketable. We've gotten exactly what we wanted, but what did it cost us?

So instead of being a CEO, the pastor's job is first and foremost to create an environment of authentic growth and development. The pastor works the soil to nurture those in her care towards a more authentic and holistic life of faith. This means that the pastor's first task is to know the shape of the congregation, to know what needs to be communicated and to find any and every way possible to challenge the people. This means that a pastor's primary responsibility ought to be to any corporate times where the pastor can lead all people at once. Having spent time working in churches, it seems that this often becomes the pastor's last responsibility, squeezed in wherever there are a few spare minutes.

Instead, the pastor ought to thoughtfully prepare a service that is coherent, that includes challenging questions and that utilizes a variety of elements to continually till the ground and sow the precious seed of the gospel. The produce of a pastor's work as an environmentalist will be evident, but immeasurable.



[1] Keel, Tim, Intuitive Leadership. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books), 2007, 199-200.

[2] This assessment may seem harsh, and it may be. For further thought on these ideas, see Rob Bell’s Jesus Wants to Save Christians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan), 2008 (particularly chapters 1 and 2).

[3] Keel, 200-201.

[4] Keel, 201.

[5] Keel, 201.

[6] Keel, 202.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

An Environmentalist

I'm up early today, and I'm a little bit excited. See, today is the day that my friend Roger's new church meets for the first time. In honor of him and of Wayfare, I thought I'd share some ideas about the Environmentalist of my "job description."

Disclaimer: These ideas are not original (what ideas are). This particular facet of ministry is one I learned from Tim Keel, pastor of Jacob's Well Church in Kansas City, MO.

Often times, we think of the pastor in business terms. The pastor is the CEO of the church. Therefore, the pastor's responsibilities can only be judged in dollars and attendance records. Unfortunately, such a view of the pastor neglects the primary role of the church: to serve the world and create disciples that are actively following Christ. While it's true that the big churches with their big numbers are probably reaching more people in terms of making disciples, such a system utterly neglects those churches in communities where only the few are drawn to Christ. More than that, it necessarily elevates the potential of an urban church to a rural church. The little church in the country has no chance of being deemed "effective" on this model, because the population per capita of their reach is significantly smaller. And truth be told, I'm not sure that if we focused our energies on advancing the gospel with any shred of pure honesty in suburban areas (where most megachurches seem to flourish) that people would come. It seems to me that we have simplified the gospel to make it more marketable. We've gotten exactly what we wanted, but what did it cost us?

So instead of being a CEO, the pastor's job is first and foremost to create an environment of authentic growth and development. The pastor works the soil to nurture those in her care towards a more authentic and holistic life of faith. This means that the pastor's first task is to know the shape of the congregation, to know what needs to be communicated and to find any and every way possible to challenge the people. This means that a pastor's primary responsibility ought to be to any corporate times where the pastor can lead all people at once. Having spent time working in churches, it seems that this often becomes the pastor's last responsibility, squeezed in wherever there are a few spare minutes.

The reason I feel so passionately about a pastor's duty to a weekly gathering is partially because it is the first thing a church does. For example, my friend's church which is beginning today is only a once a week gathering right now. That's all that there is. For many church's you could take away everything, and they would still consider themselves a church. But if we were to forfeit our communal gatherings for worship of Jesus Christ, we have lost the essence of what it means to be a church.

So why are we putting this things on the backburners? Why are we allowing all the other tasks of the church (most of which ultimately don't matter) to dictate our time in such a way that our sermons are crap, our services are jumbled and we feel the need for small groups to supplement our pathetic corporate experiences with God (another rant for another time)?

On the opposite end of the spectrum, it must be remembered that the pastor's job is to work the soil, to allow life to grow. This is not an obligation to put on a flashy show. In fact, a performance would seem to only entertain rather than promote genuine growth.

Instead, the pastor ought to thoughtfully prepare a service that is coherent, that includes challenging questions and that utilizes a variety of elements to continually till the ground and sow the precious seed of the gospel. The produce of a pastor's work as an environmentalist will be evident, but immeasurable.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

It has its place.

I read an article today about mega- versus missional churches. The basic agenda of the article was to defend the megachurch mentality without discrediting missional churches. It seemed a little targeted at missionals in a friendly way from the megachurches just to say, "We're not worthless, and neither are you." A sentiment I can resonate with, no doubt. I suppose what makes me sad is the over-arching assumption that a church's set of strategies for filling its building with people is what makes it a church. Having been away from school for over a year, and working full-time in a church, I've found myself with a great deal of questions, as I'm sure that you-who-read-this-blog have discovered. My attitude toward the institutional church has become increasingly cynical, and I've even spent a good deal of time wondering whether I wanted to be some sort of pastor or simply sell shoes for a living. These have been dark times (I apologize to any whose life's ambition is to sell shoes). But the truth is, the thought of ministry seems to be the one thing I can't not do. I'm fascinated and disgusted by it. I'm drawn to it without thinking, though pausing long enough to think causes me to hesitate. As jacked up as the church is oftentimes, I can't leave it behind. I see too much potential.

So, I think both kinds of churches have their place. I wish we could stop competing, stop bickering about whose right, stop comparing our tactics (I throw up a little every time I hear such words), stop striving to be successful and just be churches again. I wish a pastor's primary duty was to teach the way of Jesus and inspire people to live like that. I wish my job wasn't marketing and branding, accounting, and ultimate problem-fixer. I don't want to be the Christian that a congregation lives vicariously through. I don't want to be so "in charge" that it can't be my church, too. I know the pastor serves a unique role. I know it is not an easy calling, and that every job comes with parts that suck a little. But after a year and a half, it feels like my job pushes me in directions entirely contrary to my call.

I'm gonna try to start another blog series (something I suck at). This time, I want to spend some time expounding on what I feel like I am called to do, or rather, who I am called to be as a person in ministry. I see (so far) five roles that I desire to live into as a "pastor."

1. Enviromentalist
2. Conversationalist
3. Dreamer and Story-Teller
4. Philologist
5. Philanthropist

Stay tuned for more explanation of each (hopefully).