Bill, the Innkeeper

Every year I hear folks complain that Christmas is so busy and rushed. I guess the only time Christmas isn’t busy is when you don’t have anyone to celebrate with, or anyone who is counting on you. Bill was one of those folks. He was making it through Christmas as a spectator, not a participant.

You could call Bill an innkeeper. He was an assistant manager at a fairly large hotel and he worked the front desk from time to time checking guests in an out: a modern day innkeeper. As Christmas approached, all the employees were asking for the day off. One of the maids even quit to make sure she wouldn’t be asked to work on the Holiday. Everyone who worked the front desk was hoping that they would not be the one stuck with the duty. In staff meeting Fay, the manager, said that she hated to choose someone, but that the hotel would be open, and while it was not going to be full, there were guests with reservations coming. Someone had to work the desk and be on call. She said that from midnight to noon they could probably get by with just one person. All the desk staff held their breath, each afraid he or she would be the one to have to go home and tell the family they had to work on Christmas. Most of them had children or grandchildren they wanted to be with. Bill knew he would not be asked because as assistant manager he could pull rank on everyone except Fay.

Before Fay could even ask for a volunteer, Mildred asked that she be excused because her son and grandchildren were coming from California. Nicole quickly said, “Well, I want to go see my parents at Christmas. I worked Thanksgiving when Mildred’s daughter came.” Chad said, “I need to be with my kids. My ex is going skiing with her husband and I get the kids.” Then, it all became a jumble of words, with a few tears, and Bill could tell shouts would come next. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled loud and shrill. Everyone startled and stared at him. The whistle had the desired affect—the room went silent. Bill said, “Fay, I will work Christmas. I have no plans and everyone else does.” Bill had only been in town a few months and was living in a one-room efficiency apartment. His parents were dead and his sister lived three states away. He was still reeling from a rough divorce. This Christmas was not one he was looking forward to. Thirty-eight years-old and on his own, he had hoped to have a kid or two by now, but his wife made it clear she did not want to be a mother. He found out what she didn’t want was to be the mother of HIS kids. Just last month he heard she had a son by her new boyfriend. Bill would work. It would give him something to do besides sit at home and watch sentimental old movies on TV. Besides, he could do that sitting at the front desk on a slow day like Christmas promised to be. Everyone thanked him, including Fay. He didn’t really want to be at work on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, but there wasn’t any other place he wanted to be either.

Bill arrived at work on Christmas Eve at 8 p.m. He decided to work half of Marcia’s shift so she wouldn’t miss the whole evening with her family. The hotel had very few guests. It wasn’t even 20 percent occupied. The restaurant had just shut down and none of the meeting rooms, which had been so busy with parties the last two weeks, were in use. Christmas Eve drug by. He watched “A Christmas Carol” and looked for “It’s a Wonderful Life”, but had to settle for some college choir singing classic Christmas carols. The lobby was deserted all evening. The guests came in and went to the elevator. One couple came to the desk because they needed an extra key. Two people stopped by to ask if the restaurant would be open on Christmas Day. It would, but not until 4 p.m. There was one security man on duty. Bill talked with him for about a half an hour, but later he was hard to find. Bill suspected that he was staying away, because he had been consuming Christmas cheer and didn’t want the assistant manager to smell his breath. It was what he had feared—a long, lonely night. He found a deck of cards and laid out a game of solitaire. Even that brought him down. His life was solitaire. About 2 a.m. he did the night audit, which kept him busy and made a couple of hours pass more quickly.

At 8:30 a.m. a man and wife and two kids came in carrying sound equipment, a box of books and some decorations. As the man walked by the desk on his way to the meeting rooms he looked over his burden at Bill and said a hearty “Merry Christmas.” For a moment, Bill was at a loss. He saw the man hurry back and forth taking stuff to the meeting room and looking like he knew what he was doing. It suddenly occurred to Bill that it was not only Christmas, but it was also Sunday. This must be that new church that had been meeting for the last several months in one of the ballrooms. He’d heard about it, but he had never been at work when the church met. The man parked his car and came up to the desk with what looked like a microphone stand in his hand. He said “Hi. I’m the pastor of the Hope Church that meets here. You got stuck with desk duty today. Mildred told me last week she was hoping not to be here today.” Bill said, “Yeah, she had plans, and I didn’t have any. So here I am.” The pastor said, “Well that was a nice thing to do, but it must be a bummer working on Christmas Day. Excuse me, I gotta go set up for worship.”

In about twenty minutes the pastor was back in the lobby to open the door and greet people. When no one was coming in, he stepped over to the desk and talked with Bill. “Expect a crowd today?” asked Bill.

“Don’t know, we usually have 80 or 90 people, but a lot of them are young families and I’m sure they have Santa on their minds today,” said the pastor. “I know my kids do.”

Just then a lady came in carrying a big sheet cake. When it was time for the service to start the pastor said, “Hey, if you can get away from the desk, why not come down to the service?” In a few minutes Bill heard the familiar Christmas carols. He couldn’t really be away from the desk, but he did slip down the hall where he could hear the singing a little better and still see the front desk. When the service was over the people drifted out, talking and laughing, and many of them took a moment to say Merry Christmas to Bill. Some of the men helped the pastor load all the stuff back into his car. Finally, the pastor’s wife and kids came by along with a few more people. The pastor’s little daughter had a paper plate with a big piece of cake on it. She said, “Have a piece of birthday cake.” Bill said, “Whose birthday are you celebrating? Is it yours?” The little girl looked puzzled and replied, “No, it’s Jesus’ birthday.” Bill felt a little embarrassed.

The pastor was the last person out. When he stopped by the desk he reached out to shake Bill’s hand, suddenly, Bill didn’t want to be alone. He asked the pastor what his plans were for the rest of the day. Then, he asked him how long the church had been meeting at the hotel, and how long he expected they would be using it? How many members he had? What was their denominational affiliation? Bill kept asking questions, even though he could tell the man needed to go. Finally, the pastor said good-bye and Merry Christmas and left. Bill felt rather foolish for talking the man’s leg off when he knew the man had family to attend to. It was just that the loneliness seemed to crash around him when the church people reached out to him.
The cake caught his eye. It was a big piece. Bill thought to himself, “How dumb am I? ‘Whose birthday?’” He found a fork and took a bite. As he was chewing, he noticed that someone had left a Bible on the counter. Just then the phone rang and it was the pastor asking about his Bible. He asked Bill to keep it there at the desk and he would pick it up later.

As he finished the birthday cake, he opened the Bible to the place that was marked by one of those ribbon bookmarks attached to the binding. He didn’t figure the pastor would mind him reading his Bible. It opened to Luke chapter 2 where it tells about the birth of Jesus in the Bethlehem stable and the angels appearing to the shepherds and directing them to go see the baby. When it said there was no room for them in the inn, he thought to himself, “They should have stayed here. We have plenty of room.” He came to the part where the angels said they had good news of great joy which was for all people. It stopped him cold. Suddenly, he realized his problem this Christmas. That was what put him in his funk. Sure, he was in a rough spot in his life right now, but he usually handled that okay. He knew that things would get better, but Christmas had brought him down, because it seemed to be for other people: for kids, and people with kids, for families with big meals to share. But the angel said the news of Christmas was for everybody. Was Christmas for him too? The angel went on to say that the baby born in Bethlehem was a Savior, Christ the Lord. The pastor had written a little note in the margin by the word Savior that said “rescuer” and by the word Christ that said “anointed leader.” Bill was going to have to think about this. Jesus was born to rescue people and be their anointed leader. If this news was really for all people, could that mean it was for a lonely man like him too? The shepherds believed it. Could he believe it? Maybe he would ask that pastor about it when he came by to get the Bible.

Slowly, the desk began to get active with phone calls and people checking out. No one could see any difference in Bill on the outside, but something was different inside. He wasn’t sure he believed it all yet, but for the first time in months he felt hope. And hope is just a short step from belief.

(Based on a real-life incident)

An Uncertain Christmas – A Certain Faith

We were a daddy and his little boy jostling down the interstate in a 24-foot U-haul truck. It was our third day in the truck which held all the family’s belongings and also pulled our car. The tired tow-headed five year-old, Jarad, tried to sleep, but the ride was just too rough. It was another story for his cocker spaniel. The dog was fast asleep on the hard floor as the boy struggled in the seat. After watching the dog sleep blissfully for a couple of hours Jarad made the dog trade places with him. Soon the dog was fast asleep on the more comfortable truck seat and Jarad was still wide awake on the floor.

I chuckled softly at Jarad’s predicament. It was a laugh at his expense, but I needed to laugh at something. There was not much that was funny about moving the week before Christmas. I was sad that my little five year-old was missing out on the usual Christmas traditions because we were on the road. Sadder still, was the reason we were moving. My sweet wife, Tina, who had long suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, had been fighting an infection for months and no matter what the doctors had tried, it would not go away. It just got worse. She hadn’t been able to walk for a long time; in fact, it was a terrible struggle for her to even get out of bed. Nothing the doctors had done had helped. She appeared to be dying at the age of thirty. I was taking Tina home so she could be near her parents in her last days.

Everything had happened so fast. Tina’s illness had forced her to stop working and I was embarrassed that I didn’t make enough money pastoring a small church to support my family without her income. The church said they couldn’t pay more and they refused to let me work outside the church. I felt I had no choice but to pursue another kind of work. As I started looking for a job, Tina grew worse. Her mom came out to California to help again. My angel of a mother-in-law had spent sixteen weeks at our house in the last year. She was a huge help, but it wasn’t fair for her to be 2300 miles away from her husband the rest of the family in Indiana.

Since we were selling our house, to reduce our debt load, it occurred to me as I watched Tina struggle, that there was nothing holding us in California anymore: I had resigned from the church, and soon we would be out of our house. Since I had to look for a job and a house, there was no reason it had to be out there. Tina needed to be with her family back in Indiana. She needed their emotional support and so did I. I also needed physical help taking care of her, and Jarad.

My parents, who lived in Kansas, traveled to California to help us pack and load the truck. Because she could not have tolerated the four day trip by car or in the moving truck, Tina flew out on the foggiest, dreariest night of the year. The next day, Jarad and I climbed into the truck and headed out with my parents following in their car.

Our plan was to spend the third night of the trip at my folk’s house. The next day they would follow me on to Indiana for as big of a Christmas celebration as we could muster at my in-law’s farm. Everyone was trying to be hopeful, joyous and helpful, but everyone also knew the sad reason for the move.

As we drove a popular song titled “Stand By Me” was broadcast on the radio time and again. The lyrics were of a man promising his loved one that, no matter what happened in life, they would be safe as long as they faced their hardships together. As I drove I would look at Jarad and we would sing it together. I was desperately hoping he might realize, whatever was ahead for us, he could count on me to be with him and uphold him.

It turned out to be a pretty rough trip. When we were going through Albuquerque, New Mexico snow started falling. It was just a few flakes at first, but within a few miles the snow became heavy, after a few more miles, it turned into a blizzard. We passed no towns for a long way, so there was no place to stop or turn around. I had never driven a big truck pulling a car in weather like this. Getting behind a big rig, I copied whatever the driver in front of me did: slowing down as we crested mountains, and carefully trying to keep going straight on the way down. It took four hours to go the fifty miles to the next town and a motel.

My mother took ill in the bad weather. It was not possible for her to continue past their Kansas home, another disappointment in a season of disappointments. After my father and I got Mom settled in her bed, Dad reminded me that the church I attended as I was growing up was presenting its outdoor “Living Nativity” and suggested that I take Jarad to see it. It was a good idea; maybe it would be one special thing in a fouled up Christmastime.

Walking into the church parking lot holding Jarad’s hand brought back wonderful memories of being part of that church and participating in the “Nativity”. This particular presentation was more than a tableau. Actors played out the Christmas story to a beautifully narrated and orchestrated twenty-five minute recording. When I was a youth, I participated heavily in all aspects of the production. As I held Jarad in my arms and watched, my heart was taken up by the familiar Christmas story in a new way. I identified for the first time with Joseph, the one male part I had never played. I was dealing with a lot of uncertainty that Christmas, and it occurred to me that the first Christmas was pretty uncertain for Joseph. Both Joseph and I found ourselves in towns that we no longer called home. Neither of us was happy about the way he was able to provide for his wife. Joseph’s wife gave birth in a stable. Mine was in the midst of moving at time of great suffering. Neither Joseph nor I knew what was going to happen next. Things worked out for Joseph because he trusted God, and God had a plan. I began to realize, that even though nearly everything in my life was uncertain I had to believe that God had a plan for me too, and I needed to trust Him. Whether Tina would live or die, I didn’t know. How I would provide for my family, I didn’t know. But I had given my life and my future to the Lord years before at this little church. Suddenly, I was reminded by the Christmas story, which was coming to life before me, that God would be faithful and that He would not forget my little family. In the midst of an uncertain Christmas, I found a more certain faith.

The next day Jarad and I (and the sleeping dog) jostled on down the road to a new life. Before long “Stand By Me” came on the radio, and Jarad and I again sang with the record. This time I sang it with a new assurance that, just as I would stand by my son in scary times, I, too, had a Heavenly Father standing by me on this uncertain Christmas.

Things didn’t straighten out right away, but the hope in my heart had been reborn. By the following Christmas, things were nearly back to normal. After ten surgeries Tina’s infection was finally cleared up and her health was slowly improving. Our house in California sold in February. After several months of unfruitful job searching, I was asked by my denomination to do something I had always dreamed of doing: begin a new congregation. Christmas that year found me back in the pulpit, my wife doing well, and my son making new friends in his kindergarten class. One thing was certain, God had been standing by us the whole time.

He has continued to do so. In the years since then, Tina finished college with a degree in education. She has recovered to the point that she is no longer considered disabled. After working several years on my staff as children’s minister, Tina now edits a children’s ministry magazine, writes an on-line children’s church curriculum, has authored ten books, and teaches and encourages children’s workers all over the country. Although she still battles rheumatoid arthritis, it hasn’t stopped her. The jostled little boy, Jarad, is an all grown-up and the father of twins. He serves as Lead Pastor at a church not far from Chicago. Tough times will come again, but they won’t be uncertain times because God has blessed us with a certain faith.

What Does God Want the Church to do?

What is the church here for? What is God’s purpose of the church? Why are we called together? These are pretty basic questions, and Rick Warren dealt with them years ago in his great book The Purpose Driven Church. Yet, as I have had occasion to visit many churches, and talk to pastors, and their people, I have found that way too many folks are confused about God’s purpose for the church, and some people are just plain wrong about it. Let me share some things that might help to clear up confusion, and perhaps make some think again about what God wants the church to be and to do.

I believe there are five parts to a Biblical purpose for the church. These all come straight from scripture. Most written church purposes include some of them, but I have seldom seen a church that proclaimed all five as the reason it exists.

The Purpose of the Church in Five Parts:

Part 1 – The church exists to glorify God. That is the purpose of all creation. All through the Psalms we are reminded of this fact. In particular, the church exists to proclaim the glory of God, our Savior. This part of the purpose of the church overarches the other parts. All the rest are ways that we glorify God. Everything the church is and does should be designed to give glory to the Lord.

Part 2 – The purpose of the church is to reach out to those who don’t know Jesus with the message of salvation and discipleship. Jesus’ last words on earth make this very clear:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8 (NIV)

In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus told his followers to make disciples of all nations. Notice that he didn’t say to go get people to make decisions; instead he said to make disciples. It is not enough to push people into a moment of decision. We are to lead people into a life of following Christ. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told those who were on hand for his ascension to be his witnesses everywhere they went. We are to reach out by simply telling people what Jesus has done in our lives and showing them what it means to be a disciple as we reflect his love and hope on those around us.

Part 3 – The purpose of the church is to grow up to be like Jesus in our thinking, standards and maturity. Take a look at Ephesians 4:11-13:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephes. 4:11-16 (NIV)

Seems to me that this means we all have a lot of learning and growing to do, and that we must never stop doing what needs to be done to become more like Jesus.

Part 4 – The purpose of the church is to grow together in the fellowship of Christian love for each other.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35 (NIV)

Christ-followers have to learn to love each other. Sometimes that is a breeze, and sometimes it is nearly impossible, because we can be impossible. The love that we share must be a love that others can see and desire to experience. It is also a love that wants as many people as possible to be part of it. The church is to be an open, inviting, fellowship, not a closed clique or club.

Part 5 – The purpose of the church is to lift up those in need simply because they are in need and we have help to offer.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:34-40 (NIV)

This part of the purpose of the church is often missing in written purpose statements. Sometimes, it is thought to be included with the “reach out” part, but I think it stands alone. The church is to help people with out expecting anything in return. If you don’t think Jesus is serious about this read, the whole context of the quoted passage: Matthew 25: 31-46. He is not messing around. He means for us to do it.

The temptation for a congregation and for a pastor is to pick the part of the purpose that they find the easiest, and concentrate on that. That is the reason that there are a lot of small churches that love each other deeply, but don’t do much to bring other people to the Lord. Other churches feel like a school where people have piles of notebooks from all the church courses they have taken. The members do a lot of training, but they never get into the battle. Still others do a lot for their communities, but they have become little more than simply another charity that does good, instead of being a place with more to give to those in need than a warm meal or free clothes. And some churches like to count the rear ends in the seats, but that is all that happens. People come to those churches for the “show”, but there is nothing beyond “the show” for them.

A friend of mine says the purpose of the church is to “grow more and better disciples with emphasis on the more.” He finds that churches tend to concentrate on things that are comfortable. Reaching out to the unchurched is often uncomfortable. Most churches tend to be more enthusiastic about the other parts, so they have to be encouraged to reach out. He may well be correct. I think a church needs to be and do the whole package to the glory of God. Is your church doing all these: reaching out, growing up, growing together, and lifting up? Why not? Small church, large church, and everything in between, all of us, need to live the whole calling of God. The church was God’s idea. It was paid for by his Son’s sacrifice. So it stands to reason that we should do church his way. Are we?

What Now?

It has been a year and a half since I resigned as pastor in Kokomo. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out what God wants me to do with this next chapter of my life. The Lord drew my attention to a verse of scripture that has become my theme:

“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation.” Psalm 71:18a (NIV)

This is exactly what I want to do.  Accordingly, I have looked at several possibilities:

1. I looked at becoming a specialist in helping churches as an interim pastor. I did an interim last fall and enjoyed my time with the church in Walla Walla, Washington. To do interim work on a full-time basis is tough, because you never have a real home. You move every nine months or so. That becomes problematic on several levels. I don’t think that it would work for our family as a permanent way of life. However, doing an interim from time to time could be possible.

2. I had hopes of overseeing a group of churches. I spent a long time going through an extensive candidating process with an area church fellowship, even becoming a finalist, but someone else was chosen, so that door was closed.

3. I asked the Lord if He was done with me in ministry and should I look for a secular job? I considered this carefully, but I’m trained and experienced in ministry. Even though I have a master’s degree in business, I have used it solely in the context of ministry. Besides, the secular job world was not crying out for this old pastor.

4. What I would most like to do is to consult and coach pastors and churches. This would directly fulfill Ps. 71:18a, and I think I could help churches that are plateaued or declining see what they need to do to get moving in a positive direction. My age would help me challenge older church members to get behind younger pastors who want to make the changes necessary for a church to reach the next generation. Making a living at consulting and coaching is not a very easy proposition. I’ll continue to seek ways I can do this, but I won’t rely on it as a way to put bread on the table.

5. Perhaps, the most obvious thing for me to do is to return to pastoring somewhere. I put my name out to churches that are looking for pastors, and I had preliminary interviews with six churches and been invited to candidate by five of them. To each I have said no. Not because they were bad situations. All of them held good possibilities. As a matter of fact, two of the churches are larger than any of the churches I have led. I just did not feel that God was calling me to any of them. This past week, when I turned down the last two of these churches, it finally occurred to me that God doesn’t want me to pastor anywhere at this time.

6. Then what am I going to do? What has God led me to do? For the last six months or so I have been working as the administrator for Tina Houser Ministries. I kind of fell into it, because Tina is my wife, her ministry has been growing at an explosive pace, and she needed some help. I’m doing things that I haven’t done very much (bookkeeping), learning to do some new stuff (website maintenance), and getting to brag about my wife (promoting her books and her workshops). I get to travel with her (and lug her books and stuff around), and see her shine as she shares her heart for ministry to children. This is what I believe God wants me to do now. It is a means by which I can make an impact on the next generation. This is a part-time job, so I’ll continue to seek ways to serve the church. Actually, the thing that has made this a hard decision is that it lacks financial security, but Tina and I both believe that God is directing us to do this. In a couple of weeks we are moving to Woodstock, Georgia, at least, temporarily. We will get to be near our son and his wonderful wife. We’ll get to be grandparents to our beautiful grandtwins (see above). In addition, I hope to do some preaching, and I’ll have time to do some consulting or coaching, should those opportunities present themselves. Finally, for the first time in 38 years I will be involved in a local church without being on the pastoral staff. (By the way, I intend to be some pastor’s big supporter!)

So, if you see Tina anywhere in the world, you will probably see me behind her book table. And, if your church can use my help, I am very available. Thank you to all those who have been praying for me through this time. You have been a rock for me. Please keep looking for this blog. I plan to continue to use this platform to share with you all and to proclaim God’s power to the next generation.

My Mother – A Good Woman

At 2:30 on Sunday, October 23rd, my mother drew her last breath, 93 years, 4 months and 11 days after her first one. She was a great mother, a fine wife, a hard worker and I loved her deeply. Wanda Houser, nee Holloway, was born just outside the tiny Kansas town of Anson to a tenet farmer and his wife. She and her twin sister were welcomed by five older brothers. From the beginning she was a survivor. The baby twins were victims of the swine flu epidemic that swept the country in 1918. Mom’s sister died, but Mom recovered. As a child she loved school, and saw education as her escape from the poverty she knew. Soon she realized that if things were to be different for her, she would have to leave Anson and discover the rest of the world. The school in her little town only went to the 10th grade, so at age 15 she went to the town of Wellington to finish high school. Going to school by day, this teenager served a family as a live-in babysitter to support her education ambition. Her dream was to become a teacher, but to do that she would have to attend college and that obstacle proved to be a financial impossibility, so she found a new dream. She chose to continue learning at a business college and received training to be a secretary. To manage this, she had to move to the relatively large city of Wichita and work as a live-in caretaker of an elderly lady to make ends meet. By age 20 she had her training, a good job and she was living in the city.

Soon she found love and married Gene Farris. Not long thereafter, along came my sister, Glenda Jo (Jody). A few months later, Mom found herself carrying her second child. At age 25 all her dreams seemed to be coming true. Suddenly, that all changed when she got the call every wife fears most. Her husband suddenly died on a business trip in Kansas City. Instead of being a working wife and mother of two, she became a widow and had a miscarriage. But mom survived. Her father, who was quite elderly by then, told her that if she found a place where he could keep his cow, he and my grandmother would come and help her “take care of that girl.” So Mom bought a house and some extra lots on what was then the edge of the city. She continued her work for the vice-president (and later the attorney) of the Wichita Bank for Cooperatives and raised my sister with Grandma’s help.

Four years later my mom found love again. She met my dad, Veryle Houser, at a small hamburger café, and after a year’s courtship married him. Four years later along came Claude Raymond (yours truly, Ray). My mother loved her job, but she wasn’t so much a working mother as she was a mother who worked. I always knew that I was her priority. She went the extra mile to be involved in my life. When I was in grade school and they needed a room mother to put on the little classroom parties for Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day, my mom took time off work to be there. When I was sick, mom would manage to get away from work to make sure that I was cared for. I don’t think mom ever missed a ball game, Boy Scout event, or anything else that was important to me when I was small.

Mom’s belief in the importance of education extended to her kids. Neither my sister nor I ever considered doing anything after high school except go to college. The question about college was not if, it was where. Mom and Dad made great sacrifices to see that Jody and I were the first in the family to get that college education which elluded Mom. When many of my friends at the small Christian college I attended had to sweat out how they would pay for each semester and finished school thousands of dollars in debt, I could relax because my folks paid for it all. I worked through high school to save for college, but I got to use the money I had saved for student trips to Rome, Athens, Israel, and Peru. At college the pay for the few hours I worked each week was used for personal items and my dating life.

Jody fulfilled Mom’s dream by becoming a teacher, and I became a pastor. Both of us extended our educations beyond Mom’s dream by getting master’s degrees in our fields (to be precise, I earned two). Mom was proud of us. On the day after I graduated from seminary, she rode with me from Anderson, Indiana, where I went to school, to the Louisville, Kentucky area where I was to be married a few days later. Mom, who seldom shared her feelings, said to me, “I don’t know what I am supposed to do now. You and Jody are through school, and now you will both have your own families. I feel like I have done what I was supposed to do.” Her mission was accomplished. She was proud and satisfied.

A couple of years later she retired and began traveling with Dad. For the next 15 or so years they covered all the contiguous states and part of Canada. It was great for her, because she got to satisfy her curiosity and learn many wonderful things. Finally, her body began to betray her and her mobility was limited. Her last trip was to attend my son’s wedding in 2003. I know the trip was very uncomfortable for her, but she would not be denied the chance to be there. The last few years of her life my Dad was her caregiver. He helped her with everything and pushed her wheelchair wherever she needed to go. They celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary last September.

My mom had a good life. She was a survivor …. more than that, she was a hero. She overcame a very difficult beginning and tough times along the way to build the life she hoped for. She passed on her love for learning, her sense of fair play, and her devotion to her spouse and family to Jody and I.

I am going to miss you, Mom. I love you. You hated the word good-bye, so I will say what you usually said: so long, I’ll see you later.

Can a Gray-Headed Congregation Reach the Next Generation?

I have had the privilege this year of visiting a lot of churches, and I’ve found many of them are dominated by people my age and older. Sometimes people from the church want to share with me about their church. Often I’ve heard them say, “Our church needs young people. I just don’t know why we don’t have very many any more.” Many of them have noticed that the attendance of their churches is not growing. Some are even willing to admit, at least to themselves, that the congregation is dwindling. Long-term members remember past glory days and wish for a return to those exciting times. I think there is good news and bad news for congregations in this situation.

The bad news is that the old days will not return. You can’t turn the clock back in the church any more than you can turn it back in your family. We may long for the days when our grown children were small, but wishing will not make it so. In the same way, we may want the church we had in the 1960s or 70s, but that church is gone. It’s the same place your son’s little league team is: in the past.

The good news is that God’s church is not in the past; His message and His love are the same, and your church can once again be vital and alive. Just like new children are playing on the old ball diamond your kids played on, there is a new generation of adults that the church can reach for the Lord. When you drive by the kids’ ball field on a summer evening, you’ll see and hear the excitement of the children and their parents and realize that they’re experiencing the same fun and joy you did. I believe it can be the same way at church. When young families find the Lord, they fill the church with the enthusiasm that many churches filled with senior citizens are missing.

It can happen! The church can again be an exciting place, but seniors have to want it to happen. Seniors hold the control. Whether they are “in office” or not, they hold lots of power. They’re usually major contributors financially, and they’re in position to make or break new proposals by vote, by their complaining, or by withholding their giving. You see, if the next generation is to be reached, the older generation must understand that the priority of the church must be to reach people for Christ—as Jesus put it, make disciples. To do that, seniors have to realize that changes will be required to attract and hold a new generation. And there is the problem: older people hate to change. It comes down to deciding this question: Do we want this church to grow and see people the age of our children and grandchildren find God’s hope, love and salvation, or is it more important for the church to be like we have always known it?

Looking at surveys and reports, we find that many of our churches have become a kind of club that caters to the needs and whims of its members, instead of the church Jesus commissioned. The church that takes the Great Commission seriously puts the needs of people in the community to find salvation ahead of the need of church people to be comfortable with doing things the way they are used to.

I issue a challenge to gray-haired church members like me to ask God to give them an extreme love for the unchurched next generation, and let Him have His way in you to welcome and encourage them to find what you found in Christ long ago. Then, your church will once again ring with excitement and be the lively place you remember and long for. The music probably won’t be the same. The schedule might be different. The decorations will change. But, you will once again feel the same Spirit moving that moved the church long ago and you’ll know that young lives are being changed.

(I suggest a specific way churches can reach the next generation in my post of 2/21/11 titled "A Winning Strategy")

Loving Like Jesus

Christ-followers talk a lot about love, and well we should. Love was the main thing Jesus talked about. It was the hallmark of His life, as well as His death and resurrection. If you know any Greek words you probably know the word Jesus used for love: agape. Agape was an interesting choice because there are at least three ancient Greek words that are translated into the English word love. Eros is the word for love between a man and a woman from which we get the word erotic. Eros shows itself in the desire to possess the love object. Phileo is what we call brotherly love. Phileo loves the love object because of the given relationship, like brother to brother. It shows itself in loyalty. Agape is God’s unselfish kind of love. This word is seldom found in other ancient Greek writings, but it is by far the most used word to be translated love in the New Testament. Agape is love that shows itself in the desire to help the love object. It gives whether or not the giving is returned. Agape is shown in the way God loved the rebellious Israelites and the sinful you and I. It is “the love that will not let me go.” Agape says “I love you.” There is no “if”, “and”, “until”, “unless”, “or”, “as long as” added on … simply, “I love you.”

Jesus’ command to follow Him includes loving as He loves. The incarnation of Jesus and His death on the cross are examples of God’s agape for us. We can’t die on the cross as a sacrifice for mankind, but we can love people the way He loved others. Agape must become the hallmark of our lives as we imitate Him. We can put the needs of others ahead of our own wants and preferences. How did Jesus do it? How did He live out His own commandment to love one another?

First of all Jesus took initiative to make friends, often with unlikely people.
He still chooses to love people, not because He needs them, but because they need Him. When He chose His disciples, He didn’t choose the intellectuals or the most religious people. Instead, He chose simple working men (Peter, Andrew, James and John), a radical (Simon Zelotes), and an outcast (Matthew, the tax collector). If we are going to love like Jesus, we must think of prospective friends the same way. The friends that God wants to give you to influence for Him may not have the right looks, wear the right clothes, or use the right language.

I learned this lesson when we started a congregation several years ago. Our son was a little leaguer and I was a coach. My wife and I saw his baseball team as a great opportunity for us to meet unchurched people who could become prospective members of our new church. Little league baseball parents are notorious for getting into heated arguments. I don’t remember what exactly happened, but one of the mothers on the other team and a grandmother from our team got into a profane shouting match in front of the kids. My wife and I had a habit of speculating about which team families might wind up as part of our church. We were sure that that cussing grandma would not be one of them. She didn’t seem too interested anyway. The next Sunday, to my surprise, as people were arriving before church, I saw that grandma crushing out her cigarette with her foot to bring her grandson to worship. She was a rough one, but she had a tender heart and within a few months I had the privilege of baptizing her. I had written her off as a prospect, but God had not. This showed me that I needed to go beyond being friendly and take the challenge of being a friend even to those who I don’t think would be interested in the church or knowing Jesus.

Jesus demonstrated His love in tangible ways.
How do your friends know you care deeply for them? If you are going to love like Jesus your must be willing to do more than what is expected. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to help your friend? Jesus talked about going the second mile and He washed the disciple’s feet as an example of how they (and we) should treat each other.

One Sunday I preached loudly that, in the light of Jesus’ teaching on footwashing, we must be willing to do anything, for each other and for the world. I pounded the pulpit and challenged the church. The very next day the Lord required me to practice what I had ranted about. The police dispatcher called me (I was a volunteer police chaplain.) and asked me to go to the scene of a teen suicide. I joined several of the officers there a few minutes later. The coroner was in the boy’s bedroom to pronounce him dead. Apparently, one of our high school football players had skipped practice that day, gone home, put a pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger. I called the family together, had prayer with them and did my best to comfort them. Since they were Catholic, I called their priest who came a few minutes later. A suicide, especially when it is one so young, is tough for the cops too, so I milled around with them until the body was taken out. The police began leaving and I was ready to go back to the church when Sgt. Thornberry walked up to me. He was one of the department tough guys. He said to me. “Rev., I hate to see that mother have to clean up that mess.” I said, “Me too.” I thought he was talking hypothetically. The next thing I knew, he had found a bucket, some liquid soap, a few towels and some sponges and recruited a neighbor lady to help “us” clean the boy’s bedroom floor. I wasn’t sure how bad I wanted to be part of “us”, but I couldn’t refuse. The tough cop had taken initiative to do a loving act, because the chaplain (me) was oblivious. Not only did I not want to wienie out on Thornberry, more importantly, I had my own words from my sermon pounding in my head, “You have to be willing to do anything.” As I scrubbed that poor boy’s blood and brains off the floor, it was like God way saying to me, “Now you know what you were preaching about and what Jesus meant when he told His followers to wash one another’s feet.”

How about you? Are you willing to do what needs to be done for others to God’s glory? Do you really want to serve others, or do you just want to talk about it? God had to force me to find out what it means to say yes to serving others in His love.

Jesus backed up His words with actions. His friends knew He loved them because of the way He treated them. Words by themselves are hollow, but Jesus preceded and surrounded His words with actions. To love like Jesus we must both live love and speak love. Love must become the thing for which the church is known. For too many people the church is known for making people feel guilty. The church gets a reputation of love only when her members learn to love like Jesus

John 15:9-17 (NIV)

My Talents, Time, and All

The other night I was awakened by a dream. That happens from time to time, but always before, it was when I had a nightmare. Usually, I wake up just as I am falling off a high cliff or a ladder (or stage), but this time it was different. The dream woke me up, not because it was scary; in fact, it made me feel good … kind of puzzled, but good.

Here’s what happened in my dream.
I was with a group of people who had been in my youth group when I first started in the ministry. We were all the age we are now. One of the women had brought us all together for some kind of reunion and it was a lot of fun. We gathered round a fire at the close of the celebration to sing some songs we sang in church and youth group in the old days. I awoke when we sang,

My life, O Lord, I give to Thee,
My talents, time, and all;
I’ll serve Thee, Lord, and faithful be,
I’ll hear Thy faintest call.

I lay there for several minutes thinking about the dream and the song in particular. The words were familiar, but at first I couldn’t remember which song they were from. As I thought about it, I began to remember the words to the verses and recalled the song as one of the songs often used at the close of worship. It was part of the invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. It went along with the theme of much of what Pastor Jones talked about. Over and over he told us, “God has something He wants you to do, and you have to find out what it is.” He was all about total commitment to following Christ. That little chorus brought back the times when I decided to accept Christ as Savior, to invite Him to guide me, and to use my life for His purposes. In other words, this was one of the songs that the church was singing when I fell in love with Jesus. I hadn’t heard it or thought of it for years. I love contemporary music, but some of the old songs like this one, also hold deep meaning for my life.

I spent the day thinking of the dream, the song, and what it might mean. I had never before had a dream that I thought meant anything. (Except, perhaps, that I should keep myself from falling.) Was the Lord trying to tell me something through a dream? I know He sometimes speaks to people that way, but not me, at least not before now. When I sang those words as a youth, I meant them. I heard His call—to go to a private Christian college and seminary, to youth ministry, then pastoral ministry, later to church planting, then back to pastoral ministry. This last year and a half I have been trying to figure out what God wants me to do with the next chapter of my life. I have applied for several jobs that I thought fit my gifts and calling, and I turned down some that didn’t. I was disappointed when the position I really thought I wanted, and for which I was best suited, was given to someone else. Let me admit that I have been confused, frustrated, and sometimes felt sorry for myself. Through this dream God reminded me of the commitment I made to Him as a teenager. I think He is asking me if I still have that same trust in Him. So now I am renewing my commitment to do whatever He wants me to do. I’m not going to try to make something happen on my own, but I am going to be open to whatever He brings my way. Right now, I am enjoying my work as the administrator for Tina Houser Ministries. Basically, my role is to make it easier for her to do her workshops, be her traveling companion, sell her books, and take care of her website. In addition, I am speaking wherever I am invited, and writing this blog. I remain open to whatever else God lays across my path to do. Will it be a full-time ministry position of some kind? Part-time? I don’t know, but I will do what is set before me. Also, I am listening for His further call, if He has something else, or something additional He wants me to do. “I shall be wholly Thine.”

By the way the little chorus comes from the song “Consecration” by Andrew L. Byers and Mildred E. Howard. Below are the lyrics for the entire song. They move me still.

Since Jesus gave His life for me,
Should I not give Him mine?
I’m consecrated Lord, to Thee,
I shall be wholly Thine.

Chorus:
My life, O Lord, I give to Thee,
My talents, time, and all;
I’ll serve Thee, Lord, and faithful be,
I’ll hear Thy faintest call.

I care not where my Lord directs,
His purpose I’ll fulfill;
I know He ev’ry one protects
Who does His holy will.

My home and friends are dear to me,
Yet He is dearer still;
In my affection first He’ll be,
And first His righteous will.

My all, O Lord, to Thee I give,
Accept it as Thine own;
For Thee alone I’ll ever live,
My heart shall be Thy throne.

Hope for the Church (Part 6): The Church must show Christ to the World

More than anything else, if there is to be hope for the plateaued or declining church, it must clearly show Christ to the world. That sounds like a no-brainer, but surveys are finding that, while Jesus is very popular, the church isn’t. It seems people want to know Jesus, but don’t want to know the people who represent Him. We have to find out what we’re doing that turns people off. What do we do that blocks, rather than magnifies the love and hope of Jesus? People crave love. They desperately desire hope. They want relief from the guilt and pain they carry, and they want to know that their lives have purpose. Jesus offers all of these things to everyone, but the church is often the last place people go to find them. What is it that congregations are doing wrong? Why don’t people realize that we want to share what we have found? Here are four common reasons that must be overcome for the church to turn around or get unstuck from a plateau.

1. Churches often seem irrelevant to people living in the 21st century.
The message of Christ is for every generation and every kind of person, but many people don’t believe that. To tell you the truth, in many cases I don’t blame them. Many congregations and some denominations are stuck in another century. For some it’s the 18th or 19th century; even if a church is still acting like it’s living in the 20th century, it’s passé. Congregations get hung up on traditions and appearances. These are things that only the members care about. A world that needs love, hope and salvation, doesn’t give one wit about worship or music style, and can’t figure out why it’s such a big deal to the church. If and when they show up to worship, they simply need to be able to understand the message. A congregation that puts its preferences for any kind of style over its desire to communicate the Gospel is asking to be considered irrelevant.

2. Congregations keep to themselves.
Declining churches talk about being a family, and perhaps they are, but not the kind of family Jesus envisioned. He declared that we would be an open family, always welcoming the new brothers and sisters that our Father adopts. Declining and plateaued churches are often great families to each other, but they are closed families. If you ask them if their church is friendly, they would say, “Oh yes.” More often than not, they are very friendly … to each other. They don’t realize how hard it is for a new person to become more than a guest. They aren’t prepared for new people. They don’t think about new people joining them. In the abstract they say they would like new members, but in reality they fear that new people would upset the way things are. New people can make the old-timers feel uncomfortable, and perhaps, dilute the old-timers’ position of power within the congregation.

3. Too many congregations present an angry face.
Unchurched people are repelled by congregations that show anger at people. God hates sin, but he loves sinners so much He sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for their sin. Some pastors and congregations seem to have forgotten that. They’re always against “this” or up in arms about “that.” It’s scary for people who aren’t part of their group and it doesn’t attract people to join. Don’t get me wrong. Sin is abhorrent, and Satan’s schemes should make us angry; however, we must not repel the very people who God loves and wants to save from sin. We do that every time we are perceived as hateful people. The face of the church should be God’s love. His judgment and wrath should not be hidden; they are parts of the story, but it was God’s love that drew Him down from heaven to bring the lost to Him. Love was the hallmark of Jesus’ earthly life. Churches that are plateaued or declining need to find ways to be seen as places where His love is shared.

4. Internal dissension turns unchurched people and new Christians off to the church.
Finally, the people God wants to reach often resist becoming involved in a congregation because of church fights and disagreements. Some people who have called themselves “Christian” for a long time seem to think (and some say it openly) that their role in the church is to be the “devil’s advocate.” Folks, the devil needs no advocate, particularly in the church. He does just fine advocating for himself. I have actually heard people say they wanted to make sure that someone kept the pastor in check. In other words, they thought that someone in the church should make sure the pastor didn’t get his way. If the pastor’s intention is to make disciples, and he is not proposing anything heretical, why does the church need someone to get in his way? If, in fact, the pastor’s way is the way God wants the church to act, these people are in God’s way. The Apostle Paul had an opinion of those who cause dissension in the church, “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy” Romans 13:13 (NIV). Look at that! In Paul’s opinion, dissension is a sin on par with orgies. I think many church dissenters would be offended to be lumped in with orgy participants. If that is the case, they should quit dissenting and get with the program. The earthly consequence of this sin is not merely frustrating the pastor, it also turns prospective Christians away from becoming part of the Lord’s work in your congregation.

There is hope for the church! Even for churches that are plateaued or declining. That hope comes from the Lord and will become reality when pastors and congregations are willing to pay the emotional and financial prices, choose making disciples as their top priority, become willing to adopt new methods, organize for agility and growth, and become known as communities of God’s love that both want and expect newcomers to join with them.

(If you are interested in having Ray present the "Hope for the Church" series, or any other blog topics as a conference or sermon, you can contact me at ray.houser@gmail.com for scheduling information. If you are interested in seeing Ray speak, go to Vimeo.com and put Ray Houser in the search box. You will find several of my sermons there.)

Hope For the Church (Part 5) The Church Must Organize Itself for Growth

If there is to be hope for a plateaued or declining church to get back on track and become a place where people find Christ, it needs to be organized for growth. To get a church going and growing the congregation’s decision-making process needs to be nimble and able to make adjustments quickly to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves. Here are six questions for the congregation to ask itself about its structure:

1. Is the church over- or under-organized?
Many churches are over-organized. The decision-making process takes so long and goes through so many steps that a new idea doesn’t have a chance. If it makes it through the bureaucracy, approval often comes so late enthusiasm has waned. Sometimes the opposite is true. Some congregations are so unorganized that no one feels they have authority to make a decision. Everyone is waiting for someone else to get the ball rolling; consequently, nothing happens. Because no one knows who is in charge, things just keep going as they have been, until they are stopped by inertia. There is no vehicle for change. For a church to do its mission of making disciples, it needs to be organized in a way that encourages new ideas and finds ways for ministry to take place. Some congregations seem to be organized to prevent ministry instead of facilitate ministry.

2. Do the committee meetings enable ministry to happen?
In many established churches members think that sitting on a committee and going to meetings is doing ministry. Committees, task forces, teams, or whatever they are called at your church should be seen as necessary to make the ministry in their charge happen. For example: the meetings of the Christian Education Committee are not the ministry of the Christian Ed. Committee. Its ministry is Sunday school, small groups, teacher training, etc. Team members should meet to find ways to organize, fund, and publicize ministry. They should work together to remove obstacles so the ministry can be more effective. There is no need to have a meeting for the sake of having a meeting. Meetings should be about receiving exciting reports about what is happening in the ministry and making plans for more great things.

3. Is the pastor a leader?
Another leadership problem in a lot of declining and plateaued churches is that the pastor doesn’t lead. This usually happens for one of two reasons. 1.) The pastor doesn’t know how to lead. He doesn’t have leadership gifts, has not been trained to lead, or is lazy and doesn’t want the responsibility of leadership. 2.) The pastor does not have the freedom to lead because he is constrained by the by-laws, the traditional way of doing things at the congregation, or someone or some family has control issues. If church is going to get unstuck from a plateau or turn around from decline, it is imperative that the pastor be a leader and has the freedom to lead the congregation. In some denominations leadership has not been a gift that was considered important in pastors, nor has it been rewarded. However, the word “pastor” means shepherd. Many churches see their pastor (shepherd) as a caretaker of the sheep (church members). Actually the biblical shepherd, (pastor) was first and foremost the leader of the flock. He also protected and cared for the sheep, but the main emphasis of his job was to lead them to pasture and water; and away from danger. See Psalm 23 for a description of the shepherd’s job. It was not by accident that this word was applied to the God-called leader of a congregation in the New Testament church.

4. Is the pastor doing everything?
In some churches one of the things that holds a congregation back from doing the mission God gave it is that the pastor does everything, either because he hasn’t learned to delegate and doesn’t trust others to do ministry; or because the people either don’t understand that each of them have a ministry to perform, or they refuse to perform it. The pastor can’t do it all. If he tries, the church’s growth is limited by his capacity. Besides, that is not the way God intended for the church to function. For a congregation to become what God intends it to be, the members must see themselves as workers, not spectators, ministers, not consumers.

5. Do the pastor, the board, the staff, and the members know their jobs?
A congregation should be organized so that the pastor can cast a God-inspired vision that the board endorses. The pastor, with the counsel of the church’s leadership, then sets measurable goals and objectives that will enable the church to fulfill the vision. In other words, the pastor’s job is to lead. Then board’s job is to hold him accountable to meet the goals in a Christ-like way. The staff’s (paid or unpaid) job is to manage the ministries that are necessary to meet the goals and objectives. And the job of church members is to do the ministry of the church. This is an accountable and measurable way of doing God’s work (often referred to as the governance model).

6. Are newcomers intentionally asked to get involved?
Finally, a church that expects to grow by bringing people to Christ must be intentional in getting new people involved in ministry. Declining and plateaued churches often make it difficult, or have no path to help people get involved. Leaders need to find out what new people are interested in doing and match them up with things that fit their gift mix. If there is nothing for new people to do, then the church needs to try some new things. New people may well also be the source of new ministry ideas. Encouraging them to discover and use their spiritual gifts and talents is the first, and possibly the most important step. The most exciting thing in the world is to discover and do the work that God equipped and called you to do. All church members must be challenged, encouraged and expected to somehow be involved in ministry.

Is your church’s structure helping or hindering your work of making disciples?

Hope for the Church (Part 4): The Church must be Willing to Choose the Right Methods

So many congregations these days are plagued by stagnant attendance figures, or find their attendance dwindling, that the church is in crisis. Some churches realize the danger and are afraid of the future; others are as oblivious as the band that played on the deck as the Titanic sank. However, there is hope for plateaued and declining churches if they realize the danger and do what needs to be done to once again become places where people find the love, hope and salvation Jesus offers. In this series, we have looked at the price the pastor and the congregation must pay, and the priorities that the church must adhere to. The next avenue of hope for churches to fulfill God’s mission of making disciples is to discover and/or choose appropriate methods of sharing the Good News of Jesus.

Let me point out four assumptions which are both frequent and problematic, that congregations make when choosing the methods it uses for building God’s Kingdom.

It worked for Grandpa.
When a congregation, particularly one that has had past greatness, realizes that it must do something to regain its old vitality, it often decides to start doing the things that worked years ago. Tactics that were effective in days gone by seldom bring the same results today. So much of life has changed. Means of communication have changed. People have a higher degree of expectation for quality in preaching, teaching, and music. Also, most Americans these days know much less about the Bible and the claims of Christ than did the unchurched of a few decades ago. As much as it hurts some folks to realize it, Grandpa’s methods will likely fall flat these days.

It worked in another place.
The location of a congregation is unique. The fact that a method works well in one area does not guarantee its success elsewhere. A lot depends on the demographics of the community in which the church finds itself. Still more depends on the make-up of your church. The first thing a church must do is figure out who it is and who it has the best chance of reaching. Many churches balk at the idea of targeting a group because they like to say they want to reach everyone. But the truth is there is a segment of your community that you have the best chance of reaching. I would go so far as to say those folks are the people God has called you to reach. Now, hear exactly what I am saying, and don’t read any underlying meaning into that. A church should never be exclusive; in fact, I think God calls us to be inclusive. However, reality shows that there are some people that some churches can reach with greater ease, likely because that is who God has in mind for them to reach first. And as a practical matter if a church has no target, it will get what it aims at, nothing.

An idea that has worked at another church might work if that church works hard to tailor it to fit their situation. Very few methods or programs are “one-size-fits-all.” Assuming you can plug a program that worked in another location into your church is a mistake that many churches have made over the last 40 years. A better way might be to allow a borrowed concept to inspire an idea that is made for your church’s very special situation. Borrow ideas. Don’t transplant programs.

It worked for so-and-so
Methods that have worked for big name churches or leaders are a blessing to the Kingdom of God. Don’t expect those methods to work the same for you. You are not that other guy. You don’t have his personality, his resources, or his situation. Don’t assume someone else’s methods will work for you. Robert Schuller and his Crystal Cathedral inspired Bill Hybels as he developed Willow Creek Church near Chicago, and also Rick Warren in Orange County at Saddleback Community. Neither of those churches resembles the Crystal Cathedral, nor are they anything like each other. Hybels and Warren skillfully adapted Schuller’s principles to each of their unique situations. Learn principles and apply them … don’t copy. If you copy you will likely be disappointed when you don’t get the same results as so and so.

We never did it that way before
Congregations sometimes resist trying new methods simply because they are new. They fear doing something they haven’t tried before. Some will even keep doing things that haven’t worked in a long time because that is all they know to do. To discover the methods a particular church should use in a particular time and place takes study of both the community and the congregation; wisdom to choose the things that have the best chance of working, and, most of all, the courage to take a risk and try different things. Many churches are paralyzed because they fear that if they try something new it will fail. The truth is some things will fail, but the church and its leaders must have the freedom to fail and learn from the failures. You can learn a lot by failing. You can learn what not to do, and/or what needs to be changed to reverse a failure.

God gave the church the mission to make disciples. He won’t leave us without a way to do that assignment. To reach this generation congregations must get creative and be willing to take risks. This could well be the dawning of the finest hour for the church in America, if she takes the challenge and refuses to retreat. First of all, open your heart to those who need to know Jesus, then open your head to the ideas God wants to give you for reaching them, and finally, do the life-giving work.

Comments?

Next time: Part 5: “The Church Must be Organized so that it Can Fulfill Her Mission”

Hope for the Church (Part 3) The Church Must be willing to Change Priorities to Make Disciples

This is my third post in a series that is intended to give some reasons for hope in plateaued and declining churches. Not only must the pastor be willing to pay the price (part 1), and the congregation must be willing to pay the price (part 2), but it also needs to examine its priorities and adopt ones that will enable it to accomplish the mission God gave it.

Let’s look at some priorities that congregations need to change to accomplish its mission:

1. Congregations need to quit choosing neatness over usefulness. Some churches are so afraid that children or youth, or families will make a mess in their building that they prevent many programs designed to reach the very people they say they most want to reach. These churches may be in pristine condition, but if they’re not careful, they may find that they are also empty.

2. Many declining and plateaued churches hold the convenience of members as more important that attracting the lost. One example is the church that decides it wants to attract young families by starting a contemporary service. Then it schedules the contemporary service at 8 a.m., leaving the traditional service in the 11 a.m. time slot. Anyone who ever had children knows that’s not the best time to attract either young families that have to get little ones up and dressed, or the college age/twenty-something age range.

3. Churches that aren’t attracting people who don’t know the Lord tend to forget how to be good hosts. A good host/hostess does whatever he/she can to make the guest feel comfortable. All regular attenders should see themselves as hosts and go out of their way to make guests feel accepted, comfortable, and loved from the moment they come on the church campus until they go home. Some of these things are obvious, like not taking a seat away from a visitor because “I always sit there” or long time members taking up all the parking spaces close to the building. It could also mean doing some things that take organization and work, like valet parking and coordinated greeting. There are many ways to help guests feel welcome, if you are willing.
(If you are interested in more stuff I have to say about this, take a look at four blog postings I did titled “The Winsome Church” in the spring of 2010.)

4. A congregation will not get unstuck from the plateau, or turn around from declining, if it finds its traditions to be more important than doing what needs to be done to share the Gospel in a relevant way. Many times the schedule of the church is pretty much the same year after year, and if something new is added and is successful, the church feels it has to do that event every year. Consequently, the schedule is ruled by stuff that may no longer be helpful in reaching new people. One example is the evening service. A half century ago the evening service was often the “evangelistic service.” It was well attended, people brought friends, and folks found the Lord, but, in most congregations, that ended many years ago. Consequently, church staffs spend time to prepare a worship service that few people attend. Also, Sunday evening might be a good time to have small group studies or fellowship events that could help make new disciples and/or train church members. Why do churches keep having an evening service? “Because we have always had one.” It is an example of tradition taking precedence over effectiveness.

5. This leads to a broader “must” for a congregation that hopes to return to effectively expanding God’s Kingdom by making disciples: Churches need to get their priorities right. If making disciples is the top priority for the congregation, all other priorities must fall in behind that one, and be in support of it. Here are some observable wrong priority mistakes that declining or plateaued churches often make:
a. Some choose neatness over usefulness. (ex. The church that gets a new carpet in the fellowship hall then bans eating or drinking in there)
b. Others choose the convenience of the members over attracting the lost. (as in #2 above)
c. Many congregations choose to satisfy the preferences of the members over making changes designed to communicate in a way that is relevant to people who don’t know Christ. (classic example: traditional vs contemporary music)
d. The overall mistake concerning priorities that declining and plateaued churches make is choosing to focus inward on those who are already members (and should be part of the process of making disciples), over focusing outward on attracting, converting, and assimilating new disciples.

Turning a declining church around is tough, and so is getting a plateaued congregation unstuck, but if a church is to do God’s assignment of making disciples, it must get serious about doing the difficult work. Being committed to God’s priorities is the place to start.

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Next time: Part 4 - “The Church must be willing to Choose Appropriate Methods” to hope to accomplish God’s assignment for her.

Hope for the Church (Part 2) The Price the People Must Pay

Some churches are flourishing in this culture at this time, but in this very same setting the attendance in the vast majority of congregations is on a plateau or declining. This is the second in a series of postings that offer some practical guides for declining or plateaued congregations that want to become places that change lives and their communities by making disciples. Last time, I wrote about the price the pastor must pay; this week it’s the price the congregation must pay to restore hope for the future of the church.

The price a congregation must pay if there is hope for the church

1. The people must truly want new people to become part of their church family. People in some congregations have an intense love for the folks in their church. The church has become a second, and in some cases a first, family for them. This is wonderful for the members, but, if that family feeling includes excluding new people, it’s dangerous for the Kingdom of God. The church should have a family feel, but if it hopes to fulfill its great commission, it must be a family that is open to new members. Not only must the established members welcome visitors and new members, it needs to be anxious for new folks to become part of the family.

2. The people must be willing to make changes. First, it is important to know for sure that the one thing that can never change is the wonderful message of the Gospel. However, the way the message is delivered and packaged needs to be continually changed to keep it relevant to the people God wants your church to reach for Him. Churches find it hard to change. One of the reasons is that they find it almost impossible to stop doing what they have done before, even if a program lost its effectiveness long ago. It’s hard to start new efforts when the church calendar is cluttered with events and old programs.

3. The congregation pays a price by surrendering leadership to leaders, particularly the pastor. This may seem like a no-brainer to some, but it’s very hard for many congregations. Congregations are led by various things. Sometimes it’s the past. Perhaps the church has had some glory days and it attempts to repeat those wonderful times by doing the same things. The problem with that is the culture and their community keeps changing. In other churches, a pastor once did something bad and caused the church a lot of grief, so they want to make sure that doesn’t happen again. As a result of their distrust of anyone in the position of pastor, there is very little real leadership (by the pastor) taking place. In other congregations, there is an influential family, or person who is the acknowledged leaders. Too often this person or family refuses to let anything, or anyone threaten their position of power, and they see a pastor who leads as a threat. If a congregation truly desires to get off its plateau or turn around from dying, it has to pay the price of allowing the pastor to be the real leader.

4. The people must be willing to be trained and to work. The pastor’s job as shepherd is to lead the church. The job of staff is to manage the various ministries of the church. And the role of the members of the church is to do the ministry. (Don’t believe me? Check out Ephesians 4:11-12.) Too many congregations believe that it’s the job of the pastor and staff to do everything, but that’s not the way God planned the church. Ask many members what ministry they do in their church and they will tell you about a committee that they’re on. The extent of their idea of their ministry is to attend committee meetings. My experience tells me that a great majority of committee meetings are not ministry; they are bureaucracy. If the church is to win the world, the people need to discover their spiritual gifts, hone those gifts with training, and then actively pursue an area of ministry that requires their gifts and training.

5. The people need to accept God’s vision for their congregation with enthusiasm. The vision that God gives them through their pastor may well be different from what they have seen before. The pastor will ask the church for input, but when it comes to the future of the church, the input that really counts is God’s input. You have a say, the pastor has a say, but the vision must come from God. The congregation that is plateaued, or declining, should expect the vision to challenge them to do something new. Don’t make the pastor have to pull and prod you to do what God has assigned the church to do. The pastor should lead the church like a shepherd leads sheep. He should not have to drive the church like a cowboy drives cattle.

6. The people must pay the price of sacrificial giving. Increasing the influence of the church so that it can make more disciples costs money. Church members should arrange their personal finances so that they can give 10%, and sometimes more, of their income to the church. Also, church members need to remind themselves that when they give money to the church it is God’s. Some want to attach strings to their gifts. By doing so, these members are seeking to control the vision and the future of the church. Make sure that your tithes, offerings and gifts are given to the church to be used as God sees fit. It is sad to see a congregation unable to seize an opportunity that God has laid before it because all of its savings are designated for someone’s favorite project. Give it to God. Pray for the leadership of the church. Trust God to lead the leadership.

7. The congregation must do all it can to keep the pastor long enough to see the trajectory of the church change. Even in the best circumstances, change takes time. Churches that change pastors often, almost never grow, and almost always lose influence in their community. It only takes a small minority of people in the church to dishearten a pastor and make him/her want to find somewhere else to minister. Pastors become open to the possibility of moving because of the pain generated by unrelentingly difficult people. Your pastor, particularly in a church that votes their pastor in, is God’s gift to the church. He should stay until God removes him. The congregation should do its best to make a long stay with them a pleasant prospect for the pastor and his family. Pay him as well as you can. Encourage him to take his vacation time. Provide money and time for him to take training and find spiritual refreshment. Protect him from any people associated with your congregation who somehow feel it is their duty to make life hard for the pastor. The church should hold the pastor accountable to live a moral live, take care of his/her family, and lead the congregation to accomplish the goals that will enable it to fulfill God’s vision. It should also love him and reward him when he/she does a good job. Most of all, the congregation should pray for their pastor and his/her family.

I encourage and welcome your comments.

Next time we’ll look at “The Price of Having the Right Priorities.”