There is no other way for me to express this other than a rant. Rant, though it may be, it does not in anyway take away from the fact that it is true.
I am so tired of seeing churches/pastors/leaders (because lets face it, some churches are run by the pastor, some by the board and some by the people) spend their time and resources on protecting the Kingdom of God rather than furthering it.
We have taken up a defensive stance in the Body of Christ as if we have forgotten we are over-comers and the victory has already been won.
We are called to be watchmen on the wall staying vigilant to areas of weakness and attack and commit those to prayer so the Lord can help us see strength and defense in those areas. We are called to be OFFENSIVE (yes, in this context it does mean both senses of the word). We are called to take back the land, and to do that it gets dirty, messy and uncomfortable so people will be offended. Because lets face it, offense is the scapegoat of conviction. PLEASE, we must STOP living in a fearful stance like the nerd who is perpetually flinching while the bully is acting like he’s going to hit him. The devil has a roar but no bite. BE OBEDIENT, to what Gods called you to do. And dont think for a second you can use your so called obedience to God as an excuse to spend countless hours, resources and meetings on strategizing but never having the guts to do it. I LOVE and believe in strategy. But strategy without action is scared men hiding in a boardroom. The Gospel doesn’t change but our tactics need to and if your tactics are being held back by people in your church then Im sorry to say Pastor you serve your people NOT God. And sure you can tell me that He gave you the flock and your supposed to take care of them. However they are a flock you lead, teach, guide and protect (sometimes from themselves). NOT a rock around your neck to keep you complacent. Ive seen too many insecure, fearful pastors with complacent staffs who are just treading water, collecting a paycheck, too scared to make a mistake because of the culture of perfection and hidden sin that has infiltrated our churches. Meaning dont rock the boat and no one will call me out. We weren’t called to rock the boat we were called like Peter to get out of the boat.
I will end this with two things. I share this because I believe its truth and a mindset/perspective all people (pastors, leaders, churches) need to have. KEEP MOVING FORWARD!! I love the church and it is out of my love for the Body of Christ I have a deep seeded passion to see it rise up and be the blameless/spotless bride of Christ. Not the promiscuous, confused and identity lacking eclectic mix of trends it has become. In no way am I saying this is a blanket statement that ALL churches are this way. Im saying Im just tired of hearing time and time again churches stuck in defense due to their fear and insecurity.
I heard a statement today that broke my heart, it was shared by a staff member of that church. They said, “Under this leadership, nothing bad will ever happen, but nothing good will either”.
The church, was created to be a safe place to get, refreshed, restored and rest so you can go out and live dangerously, furthering the Kingdom. We want revival but to be honest we can’t be inconvenienced for revival. The 2nd thing I would like to address in closing is this. I know some would say well thats all fine and well coming from someone who isn’t serving in full time ministry and has never been a Sr. Pastor. To those I say this, I have served for 10 years in full time ministry, I am a nationally traveled speaker and have worked with hundreds of churches. I have been doing ministry for 22 years and am in the midst of a faith filled journey of planting a church. If that isn’t good enough for you to justify hearing my heart and discontentment with where the church is….then you might want to read this twice because its probably is talking about you.
I dont profess to say I have it all figured out. But Im willing like few others to step out and not worry about failing because failure is only failure if you fail to learn from it.
Success and taking back the land doesn’t happen by sitting down and staying where your comfortable. Some of us work sooo hard to keep the boat on smooth calm waters like a bass pro fishing show when we are called to be more like Alaskan Crabbers on Deadliest catch. Its an adventure get out there and live!