Returning to ‘Normal’: The Gift of Harmonious Living

By / Jul 15

The Jews, on their ascent to Jerusalem, sang many songs in preparation for their festivals. Psalm 133 was one of them:

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard onto his robes.

It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has appointed the blessing: life forevermore.

From this text, we learn that harmonious living between brothers and sisters is both good and good for us. The phenomenon that is the church’s unity—the church’s commitment to one another—is astounding and almost unbelievable.

First, the psalmist says that “brothers living together in harmony” is “good.” Unity is good. It’s what God wants. Love and peace, after all, are a part of the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5. God’s desire is that his people would be a true brotherhood, not joined necessarily because of their relation to one another, but because of their relation to God, himself. And thus, the “brothers” mentioned in verse 1 aren’t just the narrow kind of “brothers,” as if blood relation is required. Also in mind is a broader kind of “brothers”: the nation of Israel, which according to Scripture, included debtors, slaves, and offenders. So, the language here is familial, but the family being spoken of is the family of God—the people of God, which then, was Israel, but is now, the church. So, it’s no wonder that Luke describes the church as he does in Acts 2:42-47, one of the most essential texts on the church.

Second, the psalmist says that “brothers living together in harmony” is “pleasant.”  Unity is pleasing. So, not only is our unity good, in and of itself, but unity is also practical: it is good for us. My own church’s purpose is to “live in light of the gospel through worship, community, and mission.” We believe that “the gospel enables and empowers Christians to develop intimate relationships with one another, as it frees us from having to disguise our sins and short-comings.” Gospel-centered relationships made “intentionally with other church members,” help serve the “purpose of encouragement, accountability, and spiritual maturity.” During the hardest days of COVID-19, this is why we missed gathering together. This is why we missed regularly seeing one another, face to face. We were missing out on one of the most pleasant blessings that God has given the church.

Why is this unity both good and good for us? Why should we be so intentional about community and unity in our local churches? That’s what verses 2 and 3 tell us. We are offered two metaphors to explain what is so “good and pleasant” about harmonious living—about church unity, community, and fellowship.

#1 – Harmonious living is “good and pleasant” because it makes us holy.

In verse 2, David says that harmonious living is “like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard onto his robes.” The anointing mentioned here was a unique process. We might envision a picture of good, fine, precious oil on the head of Aaron, running down his beard, and then onto his robes. There’s certainly a noted abundance. This anointing is mentioned in Exodus 30:22-33. It’s the ordination oil on the head of Aaron and his descendants. It’s oil that made priests holy. When Moses speaks of this oil in Exodus 30, the word “holy” is mentioned five times.

Our harmony or unity with one another is like this oil: it’s holy. A part of our becoming separate from the world is our unity with one another. In the Old Testament, we are reminded, at times, that it was the norm for people—even relatives—to separate over trivial reasons such as the distribution or use of land. So, what God’s people did—dwelling in unity—was radically different from what was expected. As the New Testament tells us, in our unity, we are carrying out our calling in the world to be holy (Matt 5:16; John 13:35).

What we seek to do in the local church—living as one family with one mission—makes us odd and strange in the world’s eyes.

  • Our corporate gatherings…
  • Our community groups…
  • Our daily living together…
  • The ways that we pray for and keep up with one another…
  • The fact that we recognize our dependency on one another for physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being…

All of it makes us set apart from the rest of this world. Harmonious living is “good and pleasant” because it makes us holy.

#2 – Harmonious living is “good and pleasant” because it makes us fruitful.

In verse 3, David says that harmonious living is “like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has appointed the blessing: life forevermore.” Like the oil, the dew mentioned here is significant because of its abundance. David says that our unity is not like some normal dew; it is the dew of Mt. Hermon, a high, snowcapped mountain at the northern end of their land. The dew that came down in this region was an unnaturally heavy dew. For those who lived there, this dew led to a rather nice crop; that is, it led to fruitfulness.

Dew was crucial for vegetation, especially during dry seasons. The Bible notes this over and over again (e.g., Gen 27:28; Zech 8:12). When harmonious living becomes our reality, we get the fruitful “blessing” of “life forevermore” (v. 3). And this “dew,” be it normal or heavy, is all of God himself. Proverbs 3:20 tells us that, “By his knowledge… the clouds dripped with dew,” and in Haggai 1:10, that God “[withholds] the dew and the land its crops.” And so, our unity is only possible through the sovereign Lord.

So, the thought here is that harmonious living—which only comes through the sovereign enabling of God—leads to a “fruitful land.” Holiness, which is exhibited in our love and affection for one another, is what will lead to fruitfulness. Our harmonious living doesn’t guarantee fruitfulness, but it seems to be near impossible without it. If we want to see the fruit we so desperately long for in our churches, we need to set ourselves apart through our harmonious living. We want to be known for our community and for our unity.

These reminders of the goodness of harmonious living should remind us of someone else. As John 15:13 reads, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” As we dwell on Psalm 133, we are reminded of our ultimate brother and our ultimate friend, Jesus Christ, for he is the reason our community exists in the first place. His work on our behalf is the grounds for our salvation and the motivation for our mission. According to Hebrews 2:11, Jesus is “the one who sanctifies,” and we are “those who are sanctified,” and together, we “all have one Father.” And so, the writer of Hebrews says, “That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call [us] brothers and sisters.”

Though COVID-19 still tries to make its presence known and still seeks to dominate our lives, we are anxious and hopeful for better days. Our hope should be that, in the days to come, churches all around the world will get to gather together in full to experience God’s gift of harmonious living. The stench that COVID-19 has been should make the gift that much sweeter.



What Nature Can (and Should) Teach Kids About God

By / Jul 15

In my house, my children call me “The Lorax.”

I like nature and the outdoors. During church services whilst listening to sermons and taking notes, I also sketch and usually am sketching trees and mountains. When I travel, I am always looking for ways to see what is nearby in nature. My favorite color is green. When my son is building spaceships out of Legos, I build trees.

The Lorax, of course, is Dr. Seuss’s character that speaks in defense of nature, “I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.”

But, the funny thing is, in our world, in so much as trees represent all that God has created, they do have “tongues”—or at least they can speak and do speak for themselves.

For kids, I have found that pointing them to the world God has made, to hear what they are saying, a wonderful tool for teaching them true things about God. As Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

God’s creation does speak, yet we know there is a limit to what creation can say. Christians need, then, to help kids understand and interpret the world around them based on biblical truth, especially when there are many voices in the world telling them contradictory things. Therefore, what does creation say? Why does creation say it?

Christians have formulated answers to these questions through the biblical doctrine of General Revelation. Though God’s revealing himself through creation has limits—it does not give the way of salvation through Jesus Christ—it does point humans to God and reveals to them parts of God’s attributes and character.

God is invisible (1 Tim 1:17), but he has made his invisible attributes known to the world or made visible through what he has made. As Romans 1:20 explains, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

For believers in Jesus Christ, General Revelation calls them both to praise God and proclaim God. Thus believers, armed with God’s Special Revelation—the Bible—are to help others, especially children, understand what they see in creation and how that is meant to point them to God.

This has been a family project in our home in recent years, so much so that my youngest children crafted a song about nature and God’s work in creation that served as the inspiration for a family book project.

The aim of our book is to point the youngest readers and listeners, and those reading to them, to God and help them grow in their understanding of God and how he wants them to understand the world around them.

When seeing the world this way, believers are like a redeemed Lorax—they are speaking for the trees and all creation, based on the singular truth in the revealed word of the Creator, proclaiming his glory and the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

Nature can, and should, teach kids about God. For looking to nature, and then to the Bible, to learn something new about God equips children (and adults) to find joy in the world God has made and in the grand task of making Him known to the world.



Trillia Newbell on Division Between Younger and Older Women

By / Jul 15

FTC.co asks Trillia Newbell, Director of Community Outreach at the ERLC, "What keeps younger and older women divided in the church?"



When Online Education is Best

By / Jul 14

Online education has forever altered theological education. No longer is distance education a niche product operating on the fringes of the seminaries and divinity schools, rather it has become the dominant form of education in most evangelical schools. While some lament this development, online education is neither second rate nor less desirable for students. Indeed, like the New Testament Epistles, online theological education brings the truths of the Gospel to where believers are, in the local church.

Online theological education will often be best for students who are presently serving in vocational ministry. While those serving in unhealthy church contexts might need to consider moving, most churches need their pastors. When staff leaves churches, ministries are disrupted, relationships are severed, and gospel work is often reduced. If Paul could provide theological education to Titus and Timothy from a distance for the sake of the churches, what an opportunity now exists for pastors to learn for their church while within their church. When moving to seminary harms a local church, online education is best.

Additionally, online education should be the first choice for those who want formal theological education but do not desire to serve in vocational ministry. A few years ago, Dr. John Witt, a neurologist outside Nashville, completed his MTS at MBTS. Dr. Witt desired both to equip individuals in his church with theological training and to better prepare for evangelism and discipleship as part of medical mission trips. Moving to seminary would have hindered Dr. Witt’s present ministry, forced him to establish a new medical practice, and removed him from his present place of service in a local church. For Dr. Witt, and for many other professionals seeking to better serve their local churches, online education is best.

Lastly, online education is the preferable option for those being discipled well by their local churches. On-campus theological education is unique in providing students in-person direct access to well-known theological minds and proven practitioners. The residential model also provides a cohort of peers to refine one’s day-to-day walk with Christ. For a student who is being well-discipled in his local church, online education provides an equivalent educational outcome without the need to start the discipline process fresh.

There are, of course, many students who should consider moving to seminary or bible college: those needing more in-depth discipleship, those who would be well-served living around other committed Christians, those just starting out in life and ministry, and those considering a career in the theological academy. Nevertheless, for many thousands of Bible students, online theological education is not a second-rate option but is the absolute best option. At MBTS & Spurgeon College, we offer a world-class Biblical education, both on-campus AND online. We would love for you to join us.



Walking to Death: Isaac and Jesus

By / Jul 14

How beautifully and intricately the Old Testament prefigures Christ. Today I read the following words concerning Abraham and Isaac walking to the mountain where Isaac was to be slain. Some, not all, believe this to be the same mount where the Temple was later to be built and close to the very place where Jesus was later crucified.

“Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together” (Genesis 22:6).

Isaac, clearly a type of Christ in his death and resurrection as the writer of Hebrews states (Heb 11:17-19), carried his own means of execution, just as Jesus bore his own until he could do so no longer into the darkness of his death. John said succinctly, without mention of Simon of Cyrene’s eventual help, “They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha” (Jn 19:17).

The wood for burning and the wooden cross for crucifying was laid on Isaac and Jesus. The son Isaac walked along with his father, Abraham, just as the Son Christ walked with his Father in perfect unbroken union as He had always known for all the eternal past to the place of his impending death. It is there that the great separation death brings was to be experienced.

Isaac rose from his near-death at the voice of “The Angel of the LORD,” a term often chosen for the pre-incarnate Christ when he appeared in the Old Testament. It is precisely the term used in the Genesis passage so that we might make this connection between Jesus as the later Isaac and Jesus as the deliverer. Jesus was the one who cried out to Abraham to stop his knife, and he was also prefigured in the ram caught in the bushes provided for Abraham as the substitute sacrifice. Beyond what happened to Isaac, yet similar, Jesus rose after fully dying for the sins of those he came to save. Imagine how the eternal Son must have contemplated his death in those Genesis moments, and that deliverance of Isaac, which he would someday experience himself in a much more profound way.

Editor’s Note: This originally published at Christian Communicators Worldwide.



Episode 126: Sho Baraka on Shepherding Culture-Makers

By / Jul 14

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson talks with artist and author Sho Baraka about his new book and about creativity and culture-making by and in the Church.



The Lasting Influence of Carl F. H. Henry

By / Jul 13

Various interests occupied Carl F. H. Henry throughout his life.

He was a journalist as a young man, ascending the newspaper ranks as he covered athletics, politics, and local stories on Long Island. He was an illusionist, an act he trotted out at parties and gatherings. Later, travel consumed his schedule, and he was fascinated by the diversity that dots the globe.

More than anything, Henry was occupied by a singular fascination from his conversion in 1933 until his final breath in 2003. It gripped him early and did not relent. He was the happy captive of this amazing thought: the Trinitarian God of all creation saw fit to reveal himself to fallen man. God voluntarily spoke and revealed himself in the incarnate Son and inscripturated Word. Henry was a man of the Book, and a man amazed by the Book—not only for what it said but that it existed at all. God was under no obligation to present himself so clearly and graciously to his creation. God’s revelation was revolutionary for Henry’s world, and he recognized the ramifications of such a reality. It meant that the Bible, breathed out by God himself, was relevant for all areas of life. Nothing escapes its reach. This controlling thought led Henry to pen some of the most important contributions to American evangelicalism as he emerged as one of the movement’s key figures.

Carl F. H. Henry (1913—2003) was an American Baptist theologian primarily remembered for his writings on the nature of Scripture, the relationship between the church and wider culture, Christian ethics, and for his role in the establishment of important evangelical institutions in the mid-20th century, such as Fuller Theological Seminary and Christianity Today. He also traveled the world providing theological education for pastors and students from China to Romania to Latin America.

What does Henry offer by way of encouragement and instruction today? Because of his massive output, it is impossible to summarize all that Henry affords in a few words, but certain themes do arise in his work, themes that continue to arise in our world today. Three of his convictions seem especially relevant in 2021: the power of the gospel, a theologically-informed mind and ministry, and a commitment to the Great Commission.

The Power of the Gospel

Henry understood that the gospel demands a personal response, but that it is not limited to an individual appropriation of biblical truths. He thought the gospel should shape people, families, churches, communities, and institutions. In The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism, Henry highlighted the social dimension of the Kingdom of God, a dimension he thought was important for Christians to recognize and give attention to. One of his favorite designations for God was “The God of Justice and Justification.” Henry thought God spoke to both issues, and, therefore, Christians should as well.

As believers today grapple with issues surrounding the relationship between the church and the wider culture, politics, systemic social sin, the nature of justice, and the gospel’s ramifications for institutions and structures, Henry has much to offer. The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism provides pertinent insight into these very issues—issues at the forefront of today’s dialogue. As one not easily pigeonholed into any contemporary ideological camp, Henry’s voice provides clear and compelling reflection on the very issues that confuse and divide evangelicals today—all from over 70 years before our current moment.

A Theologically-Informed Mind and Ministry

Much of Henry’s ministry was devoted to correcting aberrant views of Scripture that were gaining steam in American evangelicalism. He was convinced that to combat deviant theology, one needed to construct and articulate rich, rooted, and informed theological positions. He was not interested in simply tearing down; he wanted to produce thoughtful theological reflections that engaged the best of modern theology from around the world.

Christianity Today was designed to help translate advanced theological conversations into digestible articles for leaders and lay-readers. Why give himself to this project that consumed so much time and energy? Because he was convinced that Christians ought to think theologically about the issues of the day. He thought doctrine deserved a seat at the table of every Christian’s discipleship. Some of Henry’s work is theologically heavy and philosophically winding. I would not start with Volume I of God, Revelation and Authority, for instance. Nevertheless, Henry intended to draw attention to the importance of theological accuracy, faithfulness, and beauty for the Christian life.

A Commitment to the Great Commission

Throughout his career, Henry championed cooperation for the Great Commission. He kept the bumpers on various denominational lanes low because there was a greater game at play than denominational squabbling. He was a theologian; he took theological convictions seriously. He didn’t diminish or avoid them; he sought to cooperate, not quarrel. He included in his circle leaders from a wide swath of denominational backgrounds who affirmed the Reformation understanding of the gospel. He knew the danger of requiring rigid agreement to the nth degree. He saw that firsthand and was unimpressed by it. He was committed to a different path forward. Henry’s approach deserves continued attention, and, where possible, adoption.

Much more could be added regarding Henry’s importance for today. Reading him firsthand on these issues and more, one wonders, “How could he see this coming?” Pick up The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism. It is a great place to start, and you will work through it at a good clip. He wrote reams of Christianity Today articles and editorials, available in their online database. God, Revelation and Authority awaits the willing reader. There you will encounter detailed and formidable doctrinal thought undertaken with a devotional heart. It is an investment, but the return on reading Henry firsthand is significant.

By God’s grace, that is what I did about ten years ago as a seminary student. I was fresh out of a secular English undergraduate program at a state university. I did not have the traumatic experience one often hears of; my faith wasn’t challenged at every turn. I did, however, leave with questions about how best to read texts—could I trust them? Did what the author intended matter, or was meaning constructed elsewhere—in my mind, experience, or community? I knew the Bible was God’s word, but I had some uncertainties about interpretation. My seminary professors helped iron out these wrinkles, but Carl F. H. Henry was the lasting influence I did not expect. Because of him, I too remain amazed that God has revealed himself to us in the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Scriptures. That thought has not relented yet, and I pray it never does.

Editor’s Note: This article appeared in the Spring ’21 edition of Midwestern Magazine. The full issue, entitled They Still Speak: Wisdom Today from the Voices of Yesterday, is available free online at mbts.edu/magazine.



Speak Only What Is Good to Give Grace

By / Jul 13

Take a glance at Twitter, cable news, or your most active group texts. To say that kind words have been in short supply over the past year would be an understatement. On any number of issues, consider how many words people have deployed to divide rather than reconcile, to hurt rather than heal, to demean rather than lift up. Sticks and stones still break bones, but you can’t tell me words don’t hurt.

From your computer to your church to your kitchen table, what’s been your strategy for choosing your words this year? As those who confess and serve the God who speaks, who created the world by his Word, and whose Word gives life, have we forgotten how eternally important and powerful the gift of speech is? After all, the Triune God has revealed himself through his words. In Christ, he has freed us to use our speech for astonishing and enduring ends.

How do I know this? The book of Ephesians.

Ephesians begins with soaring expressions of God’s sovereignty over all things (1:11). Paul shows us God’s election of and love for his people from before the foundation of the world (1:4). He considers how God raises us from spiritual death to spiritual life (2:1–5). He unfolds how God includes us in his cosmic plans to unite not just Jew and Gentile (2:15) but all things in Christ (1:10). In Ephesians, Paul leads us to the breathtaking mountaintop vistas of God’s glory.

And yet, he doesn’t leave us there. He calls us to respond—or, more specifically, to speak. Paul draws out for us how God’s great work of redemption in Christ transforms our lives, and in so doing transforms our speech. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:29: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

Read that again! Ephesians teaches that God’s glorious purposes for the universe and his people in Christ extend to our speech. Apart from faith in Christ, sinful hearts spew words that amplify the death and decay of the fallen world. But now in Christ we can use our speech to give what was previously impossible: grace.

Let’s consider two ways this teaching should shape our speech.

1. God uses your speech for ends you can’t fully fathom.

I bet you can easily recount words that have hurt you. But I hope you can also remember times when a fellow Christian spoke intentionally to build you up—when someone surprised you with a kind response when you expected a harsh word or shared the gospel with you when you felt far from God. In those ordinary moments, God did something eternally glorious through your brother or sister’s speech. He used those believers to speak what is good in order to give grace.

What if we really believed our words could give grace? I suspect we would start to look for ways to deploy our words for this eternally good end. What if—based on Ephesians 4:29—we looked at our church’s weekly gathering as an indispensable opportunity to speak good into the lives of others? Given what we read here in Ephesians, the God who speaks must get particular glory by using the words of his redeemed people to accomplish goals that we cannot fully fathom on this side of eternity.

We don’t yet comprehend the extent of God’s grace to his children, but we know he uses our speech to extend a measure of grace.

2. God uses your speech for what lasts.

If we took an inventory of everything we wasted over the last year, how many words would make the list?

As with any other scarce resource, even the most verbose have a limited amount of words in a lifetime. What a tragedy it would be to come to the end of our lives and realize that we wasted our words on speech that had no lasting value.

But if we speak what is good to give grace, then God uses our ordinary words for his extraordinary purposes. He even uses them to build his people together into his dwelling place in the age to come (2:22). In Christ, God means to use our speech to build what lasts.

We shouldn’t reduce this command to mere positivity or flattery. The speech that gives grace is saturated in the gospel! This means sometimes delivering a hard word when it’s appropriate because that will do the most eternal good. It means apologizing when we’re wrong or encouraging someone in their gifts, even when that means ours take a backseat.

Consider what a wonderfully countercultural place our local churches would be if we all strategically planned to use words for what will be celebrated on the last day. God’s Christ-exalting, universe-transforming, destiny-shifting plans in Christ include deploying our words for eternal ends. In this present cultural moment where words seem to be many but good ones seem so few, let’s make it our ambition to spend the years the Lord gives us speaking what is good to give grace.

My generation was rightly summoned, “Don’t waste your life!” In order to fulfill that call, we need to hear another one “Don’t waste your words!”

Our days and our words are numbered, and before long we will have to give an account to God for how we used them. His words are always true, always good, and never wasted. As his children, may the words we speak bring glory to his great name and grace to all his people.

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared at the 9Marks blog and is used with permission.



Afshin Ziafat on Christians Loving Their Muslim Neighbors Well

By / Jul 13

FTC.co asked Afshin Ziafat, Lead Pastor at Providence Church in Frisco, TX, “If Christians want to love their Muslim neighbors well, where should they start?”



Dependence On Christ For Pastors

By / Jul 12

That which makes us weak in ourselves makes us dependent upon Christ.

This paradoxical truth is at the heart of Christianity and applies to all believers. After all, is true faith characterized by having circumstances comfortable and relationships trouble-free, or is faith about the ability to trust through times of chaos and challenge? I think you know the answer. Just re-read Hebrews 11 if you need help.

Yet, many of us would prefer a pain-free kind of existence— which means, according to the Word of God, a faith-absent kind of life. We would instead embrace comfort in life’s circumstances and adequacy in our own resources. Life this way is simpler and easier, but it is not a life of dependence upon Jesus.

What is true for all believers is amplified to a greater degree for those in vocational ministry— particularly pastors. That’s because when you are involved in daily “spiritual” work there are expectations for proper behavior among Christians and for proper functioning of the church. It’s unlike any other job on the earth. Ministry is filled with complexities, tensions and spiritual ambitions, and the vast majority of well-intentioned pastors carry deep burdens for the health of their churches and the spiritual welfare of their people. They want to be effective in the Kingdom of God and they desire their people to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

For pastors, there are unique points of dependence upon Jesus that should be highlighted. Bringing them to the surface helps them pray over these areas (and their people for them); helps normalize these matters (there is strength in knowing you’re not the only one facing them); allows pastors to become more self-aware of the emotions they battle (that which stays in darkness gains more power to harm); and navigate these spheres of trust by the Holy Spirit’s power.

The Now and the Not Yet

Nothing created more discontent in me as a pastor than believing in what was possible to achieve and then having to wait for it to come about. I had to grow comfortable with the tension between embracing the good of the now and the yearning for the not yet. There never seemed to be enough human and financial resources in the moment. Yet in time, God provided both. It may have not been everything wanted in the present tense, but it was everything needed. For me, it was a matter of trusting God by being patient and being OK with the difference between what I’d like to see done and what can be done in the moment. Pastor, trust God in this tension.

I Can’t But He Can

Surveys reveal that most pastors feel that they are inadequate when it comes to the skills, leadership, and emotional resources necessary for the job. Exactly! The partnership between us and the Holy Spirit means that we do our very best with what God has already given us in the form of competencies, and we trust Him to do that which is beyond our ability. Better said, our skills are expressed in the power of the Holy Spirit and when we feel our portion falls short, God works through our inadequacies and continues His eternal work beyond them. This is specifically the place of trust where the Father wants us to reside. I can’t, but He can. Ultimately, our confidence is not in our abilities, but in the God who works beyond them.

Faithfulness vs. Fruit

While the vast majority of pastors are sincere and altruistic, there are moments when desires to succeed in ministry can become misguided and more about self-ambition… even without knowing it. For me, this became expressed in seasons of subconscious striving and crossing lines of trying to make things happen. It was the difference between being driven, which is of the flesh, and simply expressing my gifts, my love, my energies, and resting in God for the results. It’s about the need for control and the focus on faithfulness or an obsession with fruit. Here are some ways this preoccupation with outcomes is manifested:

  • A focus on what works as opposed to what’s right (moral shortcuts)
  • False courage where that which labeled “faith” is actually presumption— not trusting God, but testing Him.
  • The urgency of now and the inability to wait.
  • Energies and priorities toward numeric growth as opposed to spiritual health
  • Obtaining a following as opposed to remaining obedient to God
  • Attracting church attenders instead of developing disciples of Jesus

Trusting God here means focusing primarily upon and falling in love with the process of pastoring, and being content with the idea of letting God bring fruit. While never used as an excuse for laziness, not growing or learning new skills, your job pastor is faith and faithfulness. God’s job is fruit.

Conflict and What To Do

Nothing emotionally drains pastors more than the matter of conflict in church. It is the primary reason many leave churches or ministries altogether. It is a regular part of congregational life as it occurs between people in the church, between staff members… and between people and staff with the pastor. My strongest moments of dependence upon God came in times when I had to decide whether to engage in conflict or not and moments when I actually did. I prayed for courage, wisdom, calm, the right words to say, and the right heart to say them. Pastor, your intimacy with the Father and your faith in Him to see you through will be deeply enhanced through conflict. See conflict with spiritual eyes. Go into it with bold courage confident in the fact that the Father is with you. Learn from it. Grow from it. Trust God in it.

Failure and Success

Many pastors struggle with the feeling of failure in ministry. This is mostly due to harmful patterns of comparing, contrasting, and competing with others in ministry. Beyond that, there are real moments when we fail as pastors and leaders. Times when we didn’t live up to our own expectations or those of others. Times when we blew it and experienced major blunders. Pastor— you’re human. People will expect perfection from you. You might even expect it of yourself. You will mess up. At times, problems will be your fault. Confess quickly. Let God forgive you quickly. Forgive yourself quickly… and move on. Trust here means applying the ointment of God’s grace to your soul and finding power in Christ to put the mistake behind you. Satan wants your blunder to stay lodged in your heart. Don’t let it.

The above represent tensions to manage, not problems to solve. Where you will not find resolution, but instead strength. Yet, they are exactly the matters where trust in Jesus can be most evident and where God’s glory can be manifested in you. Unresolved, ambiguous, and sometimes anxiety-ridden areas are precisely the places where God meets you. By faith, you will see God’s glory through them.