Three Pastoral Concerns in 800 Words
Aug. 19 2007
Here’s the deal: I’ve been asked to articulate three issues I’m currently addressing as a pastor that are especially relevant to this current generation of Christians. I’m supposed to do this in 800 words. I have 766 words left. That’s a problem.
And I have three other problems. First, I have about a dozen issues that weekly weigh on my heart as a Twenties Pastor and I can only write about three of them. Second, my thoughts are also drawn towards dozens of things I appreciate about this generation of Christians. Third, what concerns me about Christian twentysomethings here on the San Francisco Peninsula is largely identical to what concerns me about myself and my own need for further maturity in Christ.
678 words to go.
Issue #1: Gospel-Driven Living
As a pastor I’ve noticed that many of the Christians I come into contact with inadequately appreciate and apply the gospel. Each week I encounter many believers who don’t appear to grasp how radical, how good, the good news is. Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension are reduced to the long forgotten starting line of the Christian life, rather than appreciated as the message, the oxygen, that enables each new stride, all progress forward, in the Christian life.
About one year ago I asked some Christians to grab a pen and paper and answer the question, “What is the gospel?” One answer read: “The gospel is what Jesus did for sinners on the cross. It’s how you become a Christian.” This answer is true, but it’s not true enough. There’s more to it. I could speak to the incomplete content of this answer, but here I’ll speak to the incomplete application of this answer: “It’s how you become a Christian.” If you view the gospel merely as what makes you a Christian, rather than also what matures you as a Christian, you minimize the Savior and maximize yourself.
That’s dangerous.
The nitty-gritty consequences of this, of holding to a mere starting-line gospel, a mere starting-line Savior, are severe. The negative affects I’ve observed are: legalism, joylessness, pursuit of self-glory rather than God’s glory, fear, prayerlessness, pride, and loss of concern for the lost.
I’m seeking to lead people to the comprehensive, robust gospel presented in the Scriptures which teaches that each step forward in the Christian life is made only through reliance upon our Savior. Our sin is that bad and our Savior is that great. I’m seeking to do this both by preaching this gospel to myself as often as possible and by talking about and applying this gospel in any and every preaching, teaching, counseling, and evangelism opportunity I’m presented with.
356 words to go.
Issue #2: Discipling Godly Men
The statistics say that far more women than men are involved in the church. And so I praise God that our twenties ministry kickoff meeting this last week was attended by more men than women. However, it deeply concerns me that our gatherings consist of far more godly women than godly men. I praise God for the handful of godly men he’s placed within this ministry, but I’m troubled that we have an abundance of Lydias & Pricillas (Acts 16 & 18) (for whom I’m immensely grateful!) but so few Timothys and Epaprhrodituses (Philippians 2).
I have my theories as to why this is. But to the point, there are a few things I’m doing to address this issue. First, I’m praying. I pray regularly that God would use our church and use our twenties ministry to raise up a fresh generation of men who pursue godliness. I’m not exactly sure how to bring change in this area, so I pray a lot. Second, I’m focusing on practicing what I preach, on obeying the godliness commands myself: “train yourself for godliness,” “pursue…godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7; 6:11). By the power of the gospel I’m aiming to become a more godly man who the men of my church can look up to. Third, I hangout with my sheep—my male sheep. Scripture presents pastors with a rich theology of “hanging out.” Jesus hung out with his disciples. Paul hung out with his Timothys. I devote significant slices of my week to simply hanging out with younger men, using these times to variously train men in godliness. To be honest, I ought to be doing, and I want to be doing, much more of this.
67 words to go. I’m not going to make it.
Issue #3: Local Church Commitment
The local church stands at the center of God’s design to redeem the world. Jesus died for the church (Matthew 16:16-18). You can’t obey Hebrews 13:17 unless you’re part of a local church: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” And yet many among this generation of Christians view commitment to a local church as a peripheral concern.
For me this is a central issue, especially as I regularly encounter Christian twentysomethings who find their way into our twenties ministry, operating under the unbiblical conviction that this ministry can be a substitute for involvement in a local church. I’ve sought to respond to this concern by talking loudly week in and week out about the importance of the local church.
Six “core commitments” underlie what my ministry to San Francisco Peninsula twentysomethings is all about. The sixth of these commitments, the local church commitment, is a value that I stress as I encounter non-Christians, Christians from other churches, and Christians who claim no home church who visit our ministry for single and married twentysomethings. This commitment reads as follows:
The local church stands at the center of God’s design to redeem the world. Every Christian is called to be involved in a church (not a twenties ministry), a body of people of all ages who travel through life together and meet regularly to worship God, hear the gospel preached, practice the sacraments of baptism and communion, and submit to the leadership of elders. We love our church—being a part of it and serving it.
I’m responding to this third issue by championing this commitment, by seeking to infect young adult Christians with a love for the local church, the church that Jesus died to create.
Oops. I went over by 270 words.
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Justin Buzzard is Twenties Pastor at Central Peninsula Church, has a blog, and doesn’t understand the concept of “around 800 words.”