John H Armstrong

The Church: A Place Where Things Can Be Messy

I am a devoted churchman. I serve the church broadly through ACT 3. I also serve specific churches locally. I am the member of a local church and a minister in the Reformed Church in America. I am committed to the church as the visible expression of Christ's bride and as a sinful people who have found grace in Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the most frequent question that I am asked, from almost every church background that I know, is this: "Why does it seem that so many churches are in a state of personal crisis and conflict these days?" (It was not always this bad. I have lived long enough to see the level of church problems increase rather dramatically over my six decades.)

I could offer many observations and responses to this question based upon my experience as a pastor and a consultant. I can also offer some answers based on my understanding of the church in the New Testament. For starters, we all know that no church is "perfect." No system or government is without flaws, whether secular or sacred. The reason for this is simple: in all forms of government people are involved and people are sinful. When we put too much confidence in princes or pastors we fail to see that Jesus is Lord. He does not share that Lordship with any human authority. Many evangelicals believe that if they get a system of government that is closely aligned with what they believe the New Testament teaches then the problems will end. I have seen this kind of thinking tried again and again. No system of government works without (often serious) flaws because all such systems involve people. There are many mistakes that pastors and people make but none is more common, from what I've seen, than the myth that by getting the right form of church structure and leadership we can solve the problems. Even the pope confesses his personal sins on a regular basis. We could all follow his model and the church would be better for it.

Another reason for so much of this present chaos in the church is that modern Americans have increasingly treated the church like a corporation and the pastor like a CEO. The idea of a family, albeit a large one in some cases, has been all but lost. The church is a building, but one made up of living stones, not just bricks and mortar. It is family with brothers and sisters, albeit brothers and sisters who sometimes disagree. The church is also a political body, in the sense that it has form to follow with rules and procedures. But the dominant image should be a family.

Further, the church today seems to be suffering under the weight of numerous cultural and spiritual sins that cripple its effectiveness. One such sin is clearly prayerlessness. Another is the misuse of power by our leaders. Then there are people with all their own problems that they bring into the church and expect the church to conform to them. The list could be stretched to include a whole host of similar issues. All I know is that the church in America is seeing one congregation after another turn inward and then divide over this issue and that. The facts are plain. In the era of the great mega-churches Christianity is in serious decline in America.  

I thought about this problem recently because I heard about another church that I deeply love going through a pastor/elder/congregational debate about the future of the pastor's call. (There are no moral charges in this instance, just a disagreement about the effectiveness and appropriateness of the pastor's ministry.) After some back and forth the elders sent a letter to the congregation last week. In the final paragraph the elders encouraged their people to be honest with their neighbors about the trials that their church has endured in recent months. I love the way the elders finished this report with these words:

[When people ask about our church] candidly tell them the truth. Tell them that it is messy. Tell them it is not fixed yet and tell them that we are hurting. Ask them to pray for us. Tell them we need it and then tell them this: if you were ever looking for a place where you could go to church with a messy marriage, kids who weren’t fixed and problems that hadn’t been neatly solved, then we have just the place for them; it is called ________. This is the perfect time to join us. We’re accepting new sinners daily. Jesus told us that there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety- nine righteous men who have no need of repentance. That is true of churches, too! We have great need of repentance and a Savior who rejoices in a people who will do so. God is at work. Please be in prayer for [our Sunday] meeting, our leadership, our congregation, our staff, our missionaries and our community. 

 

Why Theological Education Fails the Need of Our Times

My title is big and broad, I understand. I believe, simply put, that contemporary theological education is failing to produce true leaders. We teach to our level of competence and the competence of most of our best schools is to teach courses that are helpful but not necessarily centered on the missional reality of the church. Generally speaking our seminaries fail to clearly grasp the gospel of the kingdom. Even where they do grasp the kingdom message (some teachers get it as evidenced by their academic writing) most have not learned how to put this message into practice. The kind of changes that are needed to produce real change at the congregational level is not being unleashed by our schools.

Please do not misunderstand me. I believe in higher education. I do not believe that it is desirable, in most cases, to put men and women in pastoral leadership who are not intellectually and spiritually prepared to serve well. What I reject is the idea that a 200-year old German model of seminary curriculum is the best model to base a good education upon. I also do not believe that those who train pastors should be so far removed from the everyday life of the local church. Our present system takes men and women out of the church, sends them off for higher education, gives them degrees in ministry and theology and then sends them back into schools where they will become the primary shapers of the next group of pastors. Something about this is wrong. Maybe this is why Catholic seminaries require their teachers to be active priests, not just teachers and academics.

If the church needs to recover a kingdom-oriented, missional understanding of its calling, a recovery which I believe is critical in a cultural context where the Christian faith has lost its impact on society and (most) congregations, then it is very unlikely this will happen in our present system. Reform is desperately needed. Some institutions are willing to talk about this reform but very few are changing nearly as fast as we need. The reasons are complex. I do not believe the answer is revolution, which would mean we burn down the house and start over. This is why I invest more than a little time of my own time in this discussion week-in and week-out. I love the church and believe that a good education is still very important for church leadership. I am not persuaded, however, that much of what we do to train leaders for the church is working very well.

If I understand the times in which we live then we need creative, fresh and theologically alive places where a good education happens and real practitioners are taught how to truly serve the church. Until theoria (theory) and praxis (practice) are closely aligned again I believe we will never get the balance that we need. The future is challenging and I fear most institutions are not ready for it.  If we keep doing the same thing, believing that it will produce different results, then the whole process gets very close to the definition of insanity.

Are Christians Effective in Making New Disciples?

I ponder this question every day: “Are we being effective in making new disciples?” And even more to the point, “Are most churches effective in reaching people with the good news and teaching them how to follow Jesus 24/7 in the real world context of the 21st century?”

In short, the answer is a not-so-surprising no. Put in marketing terms author Tim Sinclair is correct when he says in his new book, Branded: Sharing Jesus with a Consumer Culture (Kregel, 2011), Jesus needs to be “rebranded or remarketed” in our fragmented and diversified culture (29).

There are many new religious options and there are many new ways to embrace and talk about faith. What most Christians are saying is just not working. You don’t need a doctorate in missiology to see that this is true. Sinclair asks what I believe is the $64,000 question: “Hasn’t there been consistency in the number of people who are embracing Christ over the years” (29)? The answer is very clear. Actual research shows the church is failing rather badly and the number of actual Christians in North America is in decline. You can put lipstick on a pig, and some authors and writers are doing everything they can to make evangelical Christianity look better on this account, but the math here doesn’t lie. We are in serious decline. Fighting culture wars, reworking the techniques of church, even planting new churches, it is not working. (Yes, thank God, there are a few exceptions!)

Sinclair provides a brief account of some of commonly known data. The number that stunned me the most was that according to the World Christian Encyclopedia the average church  spends $1,551,466 for each new follower of Jesus! Read that again. Be shocked and be deeply concerned if you care about reaching people who are outside the church and outside the Christian faith.

If your church’s annual budget is $500,000 then on average it will take you three years to reach one honest-to-goodness non-Christian who will be converted to faith through your efforts. Sinclair writes, “Seeing that kind of ratio on a balance sheet would get every CEO in America fired. And it should” (30).

There are some churches that are really good at outreach but I am persuaded, after forty years of study and experience, that these are actually very, very rare congregations. Even most large churches are reshuffling the chairs on the church ship more than they are reaching the un-churched and never converted. On the whole most movements, groups and churches that claim great things in evangelism are actually doing a very bad job. One thing is for sure – the typical church does very little inside the church to excite and then equip their people to actually help outsiders come to faith. The real work in reaching people will not happen inside the church so how will people be reached when most churches never teach whole-life discipleship and “business as mission” to their congregants? I am not even sure that pastors know how to teach this way since the schools they attended never taught them how. And given their centuries old penchant for making a sharp distinction between clergy and laity they never will. This is a universal Christian problem not one limited to Catholics, Protestants or the Orthodox. We think evangelization is reaching the already churched!

What we’ve done is create safe places, places for worship and education, places that teach our children (most of whom will leave the church when they are 18 and older). Tim Sinclair opines: “If the World Christian Encyclopedia figures are correct, today’s Christians have run some expensive bathwater, sat down, and gotten all wrinkly from stewing in our own, pricey filth” (30).

Deep Listening

I am not sure who first used the expression “deep listening” but I confess I have come to love it.

By nature, I am not a good listener. I have always struggled with talking too much. I learned it from a young age. It is also deeply rooted in my personality type. But this is no excuse for not listening, ever. And I am convinced you cannot love if you cannot listen. So I need to listen, especially to my wife, my friends and my enemies. I can learn from them all. I now routinely ask God to give me the spirit and skills of “deep listening." I still fail but I will never stop trying to develop this disciplined spiritual and emotional skill.

Pastors routinely complain that congregations are resistant to change. In my early days in ministry I first heard the seven last words of the church: “We never did it that way before!” Many (most) pastors, sensing the call of God to serve and change the church in good ways, feel trapped in power struggles that hinder real mission.

This leads me to share about a leadership tool I recently discovered called pastoral ethnography. It is simply a strategic way of listening in a disciplined and attentive way to church members and congregational leadership. It involves a research process that allows conversation, not as a top-down exercise of power by the pastor but as a process in which members are enlisted to help do research into the life and practices of a church. By becoming a researcher the pastor can develop listening skills that will take his or her ministry much, much deeper. Mary Clark Moschella, a teacher at Yale Divinity School, and the author of Ethnography as a Pastoral Practice, says, “Attentive listening and deeper understanding constitute the beginning of growth and change” (Christian Century, July 26, page 28).

Pastors, and leaders, who practice “deep listening” skills and research can find out why members often behave the way they do and believe what they do. The reasons will very often surprise you. When the people better understand their past, and their own views, they are better prepared to be the missional church God called them to be. This is never precisely the church the pastor or a denomination may want them to be.

Wes Granberg-Michaelson’s Faithful Missional-Ecumenism and the Reformed Church in America

For seventeen years Wes Granberg-Michaelson has served the Reformed Church of America (RCA) as general secretary. I not only count Wes as my friend but admire his leadership skills and the job he has done to make the RCA one of the few mainline denominations that remains focused on missional-ecumenism in a vital and Christ-centered way. One of the reasons I am a minister of Word and Sacrament in the RCA is because of leaders like Wes. I believe the vision he has pursued is one of the most biblically faithful in North America. It is not perfect. No leader casts a perfect vision for those he or she serves. But Wes has led with incredible faithfulness.

A few weeks ago Wes gave his last report to the General Synod. He stepped down following this annual gathering to pursue a new phase of mission in his life. When I asked Wes what this new phase would be the answer he offered, in short, was missional-ecumenism. I then asked him if we could find ways to work together in coming years. Time will tell how the Lord leads us both but I am praying that Wes will continue to be a leader in the global church. He has so much to give to other leaders and to the whole church, both of which he knows extensively from travel and friendships that he has made all over the world.

In his final address to the representatives of our church body Wes began with a look at progress related to Our Call, the Reformed Church's 10-year goal to start new churches, revitalize existing congregations, and become more multicultural and freed from racism. It is this very Call that attracted me into ministry in the Reformed Church. I weighed several church families when I concluded that I was no longer a Baptist. The RCA Call made my choice compelling to be honest.

"Our Call has prioritized what is most critical and is changing the RCA," Wes said. "We are seeing new fruitful and faithful ministries emerge. Over the last three years, official RCA new church starts are emerging at a faster rate than at any time in the history of the RCA -- in other words, since 1628."

Granberg-Michaelson highlighted some of the developments in the RCA since Our Call was adopted by General Synod in 2003:

• 185 RCA congregations have been planted and had New Congregation Plans approved.
• An additional 45 new congregations are underway.
• 55 percent of the new RCA churches planted over the past three years involve people of color, and several have been multiracial churches since their beginning.
• Several female church planters have emerged as part of the church planting movement.
• 77 pastors network groups nurture and support 478 RCA pastors.
• 220 church leaders have been trained as "coaches," people who come alongside pastors to encourage and support them.

He also offered a glimpse of the challenges he believes the RCA must recognize and to which the church must react:

• The deep alienation of young people from traditional religious institutions.
• Understanding the nature of the church in a time of rapid organizational change.
• The urgent need for proclaiming and living a whole gospel radically centered on following Jesus.

Granberg-Michaelson then posed a question to the church. "These three challenges can be summarized by one question--a question I'd like to leave with you as you seek to discover God's desired future: 'How do we develop a creative and transforming witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in ways that can be seen and heard by those outside the doors of our congregations?'

"Answering that question will keep the RCA on a journey of deep change. That's where we need to be."

Granberg-Michaelson recognized a number of individuals and instances that have enriched and blessed him in his time as general secretary. He also emphasized that he is eagerly looking forward to the continued opportunities God has in store. "The end of an era is not the completion of a destiny," he said. "Every end is an opportunity for God to do a new thing.

"In the end, the purpose of all we do as a denomination, through our committees, commissions, classes, consistories, choirs, and callings; in workbooks and worship liturgies; in benefits programs and church loan funds; in seminaries and seminars--in all of this, we desire to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

"That's why we have to recover who Jesus is, and ask again and again, 'What do we do about Jesus?'

"So that is the question that you and I, and all in the Reformed Church in America, must continue to courageously answer. In so doing, we will become the vessels used by God's love to transform the world."

I cannot think of more fitting words for any church or denomination in 2011. “We have to recover who Jesus is, and ask again and again, ‘What do we do about Jesus?’” Amen Wes. Every church and church family ought to ask this question. Our mission is nothing less than transforming the world by God’s love!

And thank you Wes for serving so faithfully for seventeen years. The RCA is much stronger because of your leadership. You led with courage and deep thoughtfulness. You did not settle for filling an office, putting in your time. You gave yourself to something bigger than you could ever have imagined and Christ, I am persuaded, is pleased. May your successor follow in these steps and do even more by the grace of God.

Fr. John Corapi: Scandal in the Catholic Church?

Fr. John Anthony Corapi is a 64-year old Catholic priest who is well known to many conservative Catholic readers of this blog. I knew very little about him personally until quite recently. I have enjoyed listening to him on Relevant Radio now and then. He is an engaging speaker and in style could pass for a passionate evangelical preacher! He is humorous, convicting, clear and winsomely human. He speaks about his past, sometimes a bit too much for some, but he seeks to exalt Jesus in his redemption. He is dogmatic and generally very opinionated. Corapi has had both extensive television and radio ministries for several years and has conducted speaking tours across North America that have introduced him to countless thousands of the faithful. Fr. Corapi’s story is available at his own web site as well as at Wikipedia.

Earlier this year Fr. Corapi was charged with sexual impropriety and drug addiction. His bishop began an investigation in March. Fr. Corapi pled with his listeners and friends to support him. It was all very moving and genuinely sad. But in June he resigned from public ministry. He unconditionally asserts his innocence of the charges against him. This is why the unfolding story has become so important for a number of my Catholic friends.

After a rather amazing life of sin and religious apostasy Corapi became a heavy drug user and landed in deep trouble. He now refers to this drug use period of his life as an encounter with a demon. His wild and sinful lifestyle eventually led to mental breakdown and homelessness. This sinful background has quite often been used, with great effect, in his preaching.

Corapi actually spent three years wandering the streets as a homeless man following his mental breakdown. His Catholic mother sent him a prayer card with the Hail Mary prayer and asked him to pray it once a day. He eventually changed his life, escaping homelessness and illicit sex and drugs. His mother sent him a one-way airline ticket back to New York, and he returned home. He lived with his mother for some time, coming home to God on June 24, 1984. He then entered a Catholic seminary and was ordained a deacon in 1990.

But his story does not end there. On May 26, 1991, Pope John Paul II ordained Fr. John A. Corapi to the priesthood. He served as a parish priest in Hudson, New York and Robstown, Texas. Fr. Corapi is a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. He received a masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary, Cromwell, Connecticut, and a doctorate in Dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain. He is not only a gifted speaker but also a powerful apologist for the Catholic Church.

Fr. Corapi cut back on his public appearances because of health issues in 2008. He now broadcasts worldwide from his studio in Kalispell, Montana. Fr. Corapi has been a regular contributor on the EWTN radio network. He has great regard for the Virgin Mary as well as several saints, including his namesake, St. John, and the much loved Italian mystic Padre Pio.

There is so much more that you can learn about Fr. Corapi by searching the two sites that I linked above but the next part of his story that I will tell is relevant, or so I believe. In 2002 Fr. Corapi filed a much discussed lawsuit against a cardiologist and a hospital. The doctor was eventually declared a fraud and lost his license. Fr. Corapi received a large settlement from this claim. The details of this story have always been disputed but Fr. Corapi came through it in good standing.

But in March of this year Bishop William Mulvey (photo) of Corpus Christi, Texas, instructed the SOLT religious community to assign two independent priests to investigate allegations, made by a former employee, that Fr. Corapi had been in a relationship with her and is (still) a drug addict. At this time Fr. Corapi was placed on administrative leave by his religious superior, Fr. Gerard Sheehan. Corapi strongly denied the allegations as entirely false and claims that the entire process is flawed. Sheehan issued a statement in March emphasizing that the suspension "in no way implies Father Corapi is guilty of the allegation.” Corapi then filed a civil suit against the former employee for breach of contract, thus entering the court system for the second time in the last decade. The television network EWTN suspended broadcasts by Corapi when he was placed on leave and the story began to quickly spread.

On June 17 Fr. Corapi announced that he would no longer be involved in public ministry as a priest. On a new website entitled The Black Sheep Dog, Corapi made the following statements:

There are certain persons in authority in the Church that want me gone, and I shall be gone. ... They can't prove I'm guilty of the things alleged because I'm not, and they can't prove I'm innocent because that is simply illogical and impossible. ... My canon lawyer and my civil lawyers have concluded that I cannot receive a fair and just hearing under the Church's present process. The Church will conclude that I am not cooperating with the process because I refuse to give up all of my civil and human rights in order to hold harmless anyone who chooses to say defamatory and actionable things against me with no downside to them. ... I am, indeed, not ready to be extinguished. Under the name "The Black Sheep Dog," I shall be with you through radio broadcasts and writing. My autobiography, The Black Sheep Dog, is almost ready for publication. My topics will be broader than in the past, and my audience likewise is apt to be broader. I'll do what I can under the circumstances.

I have been asked by several to comment on this story. The best that I can provide is a few general observations and a recounting of the relevant material for those who want to learn more. Fr. Corapi’s own information is available online at his site. Here you can listen to his announcement as to why he is leaving the priesthood. A dear Catholic friend wrote to me the following: “I have thoroughly enjoyed his preaching over the past few years, so this is quite a shock.  I seriously question the sanity of his decision, but that is between him and God.  All I can do is pray for him.” That is a very charitable response and sounds about right to me. Further news of this sad decision by Fr. Corapi can be accessed and read here.

I am afraid this Catholic brother expresses my general impression of this matter, at least based upon the limited research that I did over the last few weeks. I so hope that Fr. Corapi is entirely right and that my impressions are proven wrong. The tragedy is that there will be no real way to know if he is innocent or not unless his accuser admits to lying. This kind of charge leaves a person in the ministry in such a vulnerable place. I am personally convinced, by a good deal of my reading and dialog with Catholic leaders, that most of the accusations of sexual misconduct against priests are false. Had the church never allowed attorneys to file suits against the Catholic Church, not simply the individual priest, much of this would never have gotten to first base.

But, and this is huge in my mind, the Catholic Church provides a well-ordered basis for investigation and response in these cases. Priests down through the centuries have been suspended for a time and some for a lifetime. And some of this has eventually proven to be unjust. Yet good priests have chosen to suffer and allow the process to go forward. It seems to me that this is at the core of the vow a priest takes in terms of loyalty to his bishop. Fr. Corapi has chosen to go around his bishop and defend himself, all on his own. In this case he didn’t even wait for exoneration or conviction but simply left his order and vows. And he did this after only three months. He may be entirely innocent but his actions are not those of a faithful priest, at least so far as I understand the matter. (I am sure my Catholic friends can explain this far better than me.) Meanwhile, I pray for Fr. Corapi and all of those who gained so much good from his mission. The disillusionment and loss to people is huge, underscoring that this problem is not a Catholic or evangelical problem, but a human one.

Fr. Corapi’s self-proclaimed moniker is "the black sheep dog.”  You can listen to his message about this new name and even read some of the blogs about Fr. Corapi posted on the National Catholic Register. 

All Christians should feel sadness in this matter. And all Christians should pray for Fr. Corapi, as well as his bishop and superiors. We should all “take heed to ourselves lest we also fall.” The whole story brings grief and loss to many. I hope Fr. Corapi is eventually exonerated but it seems unlikely he will be given his choice to walk away from the process. His choice, which is so un-Catholic in both process and conclusion, is much more typical among evangelical preachers, especially those who are not aligned with a specific denomination. Our stories have made the news, much, much too often. Now this one joins the sad legacy that harms the faithful and the work of Christ around the world. There is nothing here that is new under the sun but this still hurts the witness of Christ deeply. I pray for this man and all of those who love him and were helped by him.

The Pastor: A Memoir

One of my favorite modern Protestant writers is Eugene H. Peterson. I’ve never met Eugene, though I’ve spoken to him on the telephone. I invited him to participate in a writing project and he phoned me to decline. He was the only person, in a long list of invited contributors, who did that. (Some didn't bother to even respond in writing.) I am still impressed. He owed me nothing but a polite “turn down” but he wanted to encourage me by telling me my goals were worthy but he could not help me. He was apologetic and gracious. It made an impression.

A number of friends know Eugene and some had him as a teacher at Regent College in Vancouver. They have shared numerous stories with me about this senior statesman of the faith. Peterson is one of those guys who makes me listen when he speaks, even though I do not always agree with him. (But then who do I always agree with anyway and who really cares?)

I thus eagerly awaited the newest Peterson book, The Pastor: A Memoir (Harper One, 2011). When my friend Mark Elfstrand, of Moody Radio (WMBI, Chicago), gave me a copy at lunch last week I was overjoyed. I began reading almost immediately. I am not disappointed.

In the introduction Peterson writes of his disdain for clericalism. I share that response deeply. “Somewhere along the way while growing up I developed a rather severe case of anticlericalism. I had little liking for professionalism in matters of religion. If I detected a whiff of pomposity, I walked away” (2).

But Peterson goes on to tell how people began to call him Pastor, and then the children called him “Pastor Pete.” He admits he loved it. He said, “Pastor sounded more relational than functional, more affectionate than authoritarian” (2). I profoundly agree. I loved being called “Pastor John.” Some of my former congregants still call me “Pastor John” and I admit I love it. I care not for titles like “Reverend” or “Doctor.” I’m not even enamored with “Professor” as such. But I love “Pastor.”

Peterson’s book is right from the heart. He writes about being a pastor and about the church and real ministry. He is human, insightful and refreshingly honest. This is a book every pastor ought to read. In fact, those who love pastors would get a great deal from it too. Why not read it and pass it on to your pastor. He, or she, would likely thank you with great love.

Are Our Pastors Leaders or Managers?

I begin by stating what I hope is obvious to my regular readers. I was trained to be a pastor, planted a church I served for four years and pastored another for sixteen. I owe everything I now do in mission to my pastoral experience and training. On most days I loved being a pastor and I often miss it. I have had numerous opportunities to return to the pastoral ministry and served for eight months as an interim pastor in 2004. Many of my best friends are pastors.

Now, I have formed many impressions about churches and pastors from my wide range of experience over forty years of service to the church. I have witnessed major changes. I believe we are in a time in which major changes are taking place and very few pastors understand this or have the important skills to navigate this change well. This is not an indictment, it is an observation. I am committed to doing something about this which is why our mission statement is: “Equipping leaders for unity in Christ’s mission.”

Working with Tom Burns for the last four months has helped me focus on the leadership part of our mission more than ever. Tom is a leader and understands leadership. When we began working together Tom would routinely mention that only 8% of the pastors in America see themselves as leaders. I was so astounded by this figure that at first it did not sink in at all. After hearing it form him over and over (what is that saying about hearing something seven times) it sank in at the end of 2010. If this is remotely true we are in deep trouble.

The source for this statement is Experiencing LeaderShift: Letting Go of Leadership Heresies, by Don Cousins. Don cites The Barna Group, "The Year's Most Intriguing Findings, From Barna Research Studies," December 17, 2001,  http://Barna.org/, where this number arose out of their research.

Don writes, " . . . only 8 percent of America's pastors see themselves as having the spiritual gift of leadership." (19)  And he adds, " . . . If 92 percent of America's pastors don't possess the gift of leadership, yet occupy positions of leadership in their churches, then they must be mis-slotted.  Maybe the Holy Spirit didn't make a distribution error, but many of His servants must have made an application error. . . . They're confused about what leadership looks like on a day-to-day basis.  'What should I be doing?  What is my role?  What priorities should I be focusing on?...[These questions] come not only from pastors but also from team members who serve under their influence.  'How can we help our pastor become a better leader?'"

Tom adds: “This introduction has opened many doors for me in coaching pastors over the past three years.”  I believe, with Tom, that there is a tremendous opportunity for ACT 3 to walk through these doors by equipping and coaching true leadership. If we are to “equip leaders” then it starts with understanding what leadership is and how those who are leaders can actually be coached to become excellent leaders.

Before many pastors will desire help in this area they must become disturbed by the roles they have been assigned, namely managers of a system we call a church. When a man or woman is called by God to serve the church in ordained ministry of the Word and sacrament then they have been called to lead people. If the church is a “spider” organization where the pastor is the “head” and everything depends on him/her then the church will never thrive as God intended. This takes us right back to Ephesians 4. The pastor is to “equip” the people, not manage the organization. I find many pastors want out of the church so they can lead. We need nothing less than a full-scale reformation in our understanding of the laity and of leadership if there is to be a change. I will be writing a new series of articles on “A Theology of the Laity” for the ACT 3 Weekly series in 2011. If you are not a subscriber sign up and you will get these each Monday. 

The Danger of Theology

One can find several different dictionary definitions of theology. Perhaps the best comprehensive answer is that theology is “the rational and systematic study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truth.” More particularly, for the Christian, theology is a situated system of teachings; "Roman Catholic theology" or “Protestant Theology,” etc. In an academic context theology is a profession acquired by specialized courses in religion and Christian studies (usually taught at a college or seminary); e.g. "He/she studied theology at Fuller Theological Seminary.”

Now, theology is a needed and useful discipline. I am not only committed to theological study but I believe it is a properly recommended course of study for ministers, priests and many non-clerical leaders (elders, deacons, teachers, etc.) In the most broad sense everyone who thinks about God at all is a theologian, professional or not.

But here’s the problem---theology is often very cold and sterile, especially when it is limited to intellectual forms and human systems of thought. What changes all this is when theology serves as a means to understanding God. In this instance it can result in a healthy understanding that we will never possess a precise sense of God thus we cannot define Him or limit Him by human concepts or systems. Joseph Girzone says about his own theological training as a Catholic priest: “I . . . saw from our extensive study of Scripture that God had a sense of morality that was much more open than the narrow, rigid morality of moral theologians, or even the Church itself” (Never Alone, 1994, 6). Because Girzone read the Scriptures and understood them in this way he writes: “That was to effect radically my understanding of people later on when they came to me with very disturbing moral problems. I could always see abundant goodness alongside the very severe moral weakness in people, and learned to treat them as whole persons and not as sinners, the way Jesus, for example, treated the Samaritan women who was married five times and did not even bother to marry the last person. Jesus still saw goodness in her and chose her to announce the Good News to that Samaritan village. Churches do not treat people that way. Sinners are very carefully avoided in our churches and not allowed to take part in the real life of the church. We do not feel comfortable with sinners and we make them feel uncomfortable by not allowing them to perform services and ministries that are open to others whose lives superficially are more in keeping with Church standards (Never Alone, 6-7).

If that paragraph doesn’t resonate with you I seriously doubt that you’ve been around the church for long. It is so self-evident that a growing number of Christians are actively serving Jesus, and clearly love him deeply, but cannot relate to the church any longer. There is, in other words, growing evidence that the church actually hinders the growth and ministry of many serious Christians.

In contrast to many of us Jesus could actually look at bad people and see their great potential for good. He could see their confusion and respond to them with love. He could embrace them and thus give them hope. He continually reached out to broken people and treated them like bruised and broken sheep who were invited to approach him even though they felt unworthy in his presence. If you do not think this observation to be correct you need to put down your theology book and read the four Gospels anew.

Fr. Girzone concludes that this is the reason why a precise understanding of Jesus is more important than all the theology courses in anyone’s curriculum. “If Christianity is merely a theological system, it will at most produce a highly educated elite devoid of anything resembling the living Christ in their personal lives (Never Alone, 7-8). Ouch, that seems very close to the reality of our own time.

Sadly, much of the theology I’ve seen taught and studied over the course of my lifetime was done to validate certain positions, biblically or socially (usually both), with regard to other Christians and (sometimes) non-Christians. It was not done to foster deep love and spiritual development and formation in souls. Adds Fr. Girzone, “We teach theology, we explain Scriptures, we enact nice liturgies, we debate public issues, we parade the streets in protest marches. . . . [but] we rarely provide people with the tools they need to find their way to God” (Never Alone, 9).

I have been in at least 1,000 different congregations over the course of my lifetime. I have pastored three different congregations. The first was a small Baptist church I served while I was doing graduate work. The second was a church-plant begun in 1972, long before the modern church-planting movement. The last was a sixteen-year ministry in a fairly healthy church that was disrupted in my early years and then put back together over time. Over nearly forty years of public ministry I have preached in congregations and large evangelistic settings in South America, India, Europe and North America. I have preached in all but a few of the 50 states of America and almost every province and area of Canada. I have been in churches of almost every denominational variety, large and small, and spoken to rallies where nearly 20,000 were present. I have also taught in house churches to 5 or 10 and lectured in numerous seminaries and colleges. The problem that Fr. Girzone writes about is so obvious, at least to me, that it is not to be seriously questioned.

Theology that serves people by showing them how to know God in Jesus Christ is good theology. Theology that helps people develop their unique mind and spirit (so that they can stand on their own in the freedom of Christ not simply in a system or a denominational expression) by forming them inside and out by the person and word of Jesus Christ is good theology. Theology that brings people to Jesus, the person revealed to us in the four Gospels, is always central. Ask yourself, if you are a teacher/minister/priest: “Do I truly bring people to the feet of Jesus?” And if you are not charged with teaching and leading a church then ask yourself when you go to church: “Does this bring me to Jesus or to religion and cultural norms?” Very likely this will rattle you and drive you to Jesus if you allow the Spirit to disturb you deeply enough.

Tony Dungy: Blessed By Hatred?

Tony Dungy, former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, is an outspoken and wonderfully consistent Christian. His story is told in several books that reveal his faith and principles of personal coaching and leadership: Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices and Priorities of a Winning Life, Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance and The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Consistently. Dungy has recently become an NBC analyst for NFL games. This new job has opened Dungy to a lot of harsh criticism. He has been called by critics a “high priest, the oracle who passes judgment on all moral questions.”

Since football involves a whole host of moral and personal issues Dungy is frequently asked to weigh in on people and situations in his new role. Questions such as: “Should Reggie Bush have returned his Heisman Trophy?” Or, “Does Michael Vick deserve forgiveness?” Or recently, “Should Coach Rex Ryan cut back on the f bombs?” Dungy has answered yes to all three questions. He has urged compassion toward LeGarrette Blount, the Tampa Bay running back who punched an opposing player while at Oregon last season, and also proposed stiffer punishment for Jets receiver Braylon Edwards, who was benched for one quarter for a DUI. Dungy said one game was more appropriate. Some of players, both Blount and Vick, have actually turned to Coach Dungy for personal counsel.

But Coach Dungy has recently come under considerable fire for his stance on virtue and life. A Google search will reveal that Tony Dungy’s name is now connected to “holier than thou,” a fact which Sports Illustrated noted in the October 18 issue. This site got 871 hits in one week. Another source attacked Dungy, calling him: “Tony Dungy: An Insufferable S---.”

In Phil Taylor’s Sports Illustrated (SI) article he quotes Dungy saying: “I’m not trying to be anyone’s judge or conscience. I don’t feel that I’m saying or doing anything different from what I always have. NBC has given me a platform, but I’ve always been passionate about doing what’s right, about Christian values, and I’ve never hidden that. I really haven’t changed.”

What has changed, says SI’s Phil Taylor, is that “Dungy has a freer rein, unconcerned with the taboo against a coach sticking his nose into another team’s business. He’s a media member, paid to give his opinions, and the more often he speaks his mind, the more likely he is to encounter opposition.” Dungy says, “People are going to disagree with me sometimes, which is fine. I’m not suggesting that I have all the answers.”

Phil Taylor writes that “The vitriol aimed at Dungy is hard to fathom. He has none of the bombast of, say a Limbaugh or a Sharpton; he’s not an attention junkie and doesn’t revel in stirring up controversy. He has the ability, increasingly rate among those who consider themselves social commentators, to criticize without mockery or sarcasm. How exactly does this make him insufferable?”

My answer to Phil Taylor’s question is rooted in the gospel that Tony Dungy loves and lives in his life day-in-and-day-out.

God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12, NLT).

Tony Dungy is not Charles Barkley for sure. Barkley can take on various people and decisions and folks say, “Sir Charles is just being who he is.” Dungy humbly answers a question with an honest answer and the response is akin to sheer hatred. Taylor asks, “Could it be then, that Dungy’s virtue makes some of us uneasy? Maybe we are so unaccustomed to a good man simply trying to apply his own set of values to the world around him that his critics have been reading him wrong. You needn’t believe he is always right to appreciate his efforts to do right. There’s nothing sanctimonious about that.”

When I read Phil Taylor’s words I thought to myself: “Blessed are you Tony Dungy.” I wish more public figures lived their faith in this way, speaking the truth but doing it with humility. Tony Dungy is hated for his Christian values and practices and openness. I don’t think there is much doubt about this when you listen to him and understand his life.

If you do not know Tony Dungy’s story here is a great video about the man and his faith.