Seth Godin for Pastors – Part 4

In his blog post on Worldliness, Seth Godin defines “Intelligence” as knowing a lot about a little and a little about a lot. He talks about how knowing a little about a lot has become exponentially more difficult as the internet gives us access to nearly everything that is known. (If only it gave us access to the unknown!)

Thinking about “worldliness” along with him, of course he doesn’t mean in the biblical sense, but in what we might call being shrewd, wise, or intelligent. It’s an important quality to possess. With all the talk in church circles of “engaging culture” and the like, this means we need to know at least a little about a lot.

However, Godin challenges, in our endeavor to know a little about a lot, we have to know a lot about a little. Pastors presume to understand the Bible and speak on God’s behalf from his Word. As a pastor, this is the one thing we must get right. I may not understand reality TV shows, modern art, or survival skills, but if I fail to plumb the depths of biblical knowledge, I have neglected my calling. After all pastors, Paul reminded Timothy to watch his life and doctrine closely.

Artifacts from the biblical era of King David

I read an article today about a significant find for Biblical Archaeology. An archaeologist has uncovered a site that existed near to the time when the Bible says King David ruled Israel. This find showed no idols nor any remains from pigs. This is significant, because all over Palestine, sites are found with idols and pig remains. It may not seem like much, but it’s evidence of people living like the Bible says they did during this time period. They didn’t eat pig meat, nor did they worship idols, or “graven images”. I think this is pretty cool!

Old Man and The Sea

One of my favorite stories of all time is “Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway. Today I read a very similar story with a couple of differences: 1) it is true, and 2) there is a happy ending for the fisherman.

should I stay or should I go now: reasons to leave the church and reasons to return

I ran across these two blog posts that are worth reflecting on if you are frustrated with “the church” or if you are thinking about returning to “the church”. The first blog is the reasons this woman left the church at age 27. The second blog is the reasons this woman returned to the church at age 30.

I think many of these issues are important because they go deeper than just the matters of personal preference. My observations are that many people switch churches for stylistic and/or selfish reasons. But, some leave the church because of more serious matters like crisis, major life changes, or because they fail to see how their church adequately interprets the Gospel into practice (even if they don’t articulate it that way). Other times, there is just a compelling feeling that it’s time to move on, even if you can’t place your finger on it. I find that these deeper reasons are the same ones that cause people to return to church. When tragedy or children or spiritual questions arise, people see the church as the main place to go to find answers, help, or depth.

If you are among those who have left the church, what was it that caused you to leave? What would it take for you to return? What is preventing you from returning? If you are among those who have returned, what was the compelling reason?

I would guess that people who return to church don’t return because of what makes a church “cool” (is that possible?) like logos, marketing, entertainment factors, or the like. So the reasons they do return would then include qualities like depth, authenticity, relationships, etc. Thoughts?

Seth Godin For Pastors – Part 3

Yesterday, Seth Godin wrote about the “Mathematical Impossibility of Universal Delight“. I think he intends this to be another application of the saying, “you can’t please everyone”. Sometimes you can’t even please “someone”. Another important product of this Mathematical Impossibility is that neither you nor I can ever be correct all the time (maybe even most of the time?). So, for pastors and as a pastor, I think this calls for two responses. First, we must cultivate humility in our hearts. If you and I know we can’t always please everyone and at least some of the time we are wrong, then we must approach every truth claim, every church strategy, and every piece of advice we distribute with humility. Secondly, we must be faithful to our calling. Every leader we read about in the pages of Scripture was opposed at one point or another. Opposition to what we say and do as pastors isn’t necessarily an indication that we are going in the wrong direction. But, remember response #1.