A Word-Centered Ministry

In my years in my current parish, I have tried to cultivate a Word-centered ministry. My habit, from my first Sunday here, has been to preach through books (or significant portions) of the Bible. I've done that for several reasons:

1) I don't have to lie awake on Sunday nights wondering what I'm going to preach the following Sunday. (I may still lie awake on Sunday nights but not because I'm searching for a text!)

2) It forces me to look at each text in its greater context, and it teaches the congregation to see the inter-relatedness of Scripture.

3) Over time I will regularly confront all the major themes of Scripture rather than just gravitating to my favorites. I have to preach the "hard" texts as well as the obvious ones.

4) It keeps me fresh. During my 25+ years here, I have only repeated four series: Acts, Revelation, Ephesians, and John. As I began each of those four I did so with the idea that I could save myself some time by simply "updating" the old series, and each time I have found that impossible. The texts may be the same, but I am different, my people are different, and the times are different. And so I have the joy of digging afresh into these magnificent texts.

5) Preaching through books enables me to tackle potentially controversial subjects inductively and from a variety of sources. People at our church don't believe in election primarily because it's in the Westminster Confession (though they're grateful for that confirmation) but because Paul and John and Jesus believed it. So I don't generally preach on the topic of election but on Ephesians 1 or Romans 9 in the context of series on those books -- and it's a lot harder to argue with Paul than with me!

6) Finally, it tends to allow listeners to hear the Word itself rather than be turned off by feelings of personal offense. If Mrs. Jones has a problem with gossip and then hears me preaching about gossip, she's more likely to be able to listen to the text rather than take personal offense if she knows that I'm just preaching through James rather than singling her out! (People will often tell me, "That message was just for me," but we both understand that I wasn't trying to pick on just them.)

On Affirmation

In my old office I had two walls worth of books -- and my three diplomas hung beneath each other on a third wall. Somehow, I think, those were signals to me that I had made it, and I wanted people to see them. When we built a new building, I took the diplomas home and gave away nearly half of my books. I had learned during the construction that I hadn't used them and didn't really need them! And I guess I've gotten to the point where my affirmation comes from my people and my ministry, not the trappings of intellectual attainment.

I was thinking tonight (I don'’t know why) of being in the office of one of my seminary profs. On one rather large wall he had hung -- from floor to ceiling across the whole wall -- all of his diplomas and certificates and honors that he had earned over the years (even including an Evangelical Teacher Training certificate!). I thought it was strange -- that at that point in his life and career he needed to display all of his academic (and other) achievements like that. I could understand, maybe, hanging up his PhD diploma -- a lot of profs did that. But he had a couple of dozen framed certificates, all neatly posted with lines painted on the wall behind sort of tying them all together. He was an excellent teacher, but I think a part of him still needed the support of those pieces of paper.

Sermon as Art

I have long admired artists because they have a “way of seeing” that the rest of us don’t. I look out and see the world and it’s a mismash of things and colors. Artists look at that same scene and see patterns and textures and are able to translate those into a picture. Sometimes just a few lines are all it takes, and we look at the lines and say, “That’s it!”

I am coming to appreciate that in some small way I have that same “way of seeing” with the Biblical text. Not always, but often enough, I can explore a text and see the patterns and textures that translate into an organized sermon. Sometimes I just have three or four “points,” and that’s OK. But sometimes I really “see” the text — not in any magical or mystical sense — but I see the text almost unfolding before me, and I become the servant of the text rather than its manipulator.

A few weeks ago, I had been reading the text for my sermon on Isaiah 6. Friday night I thought about going over to the office to “get it out of my system,” but I didn’t want to leave my wife alone another evening. So I stayed home. But I didn’t want to forget what was going through my mind, so I stood by my dresser to jot down an outline and ended up drafting the whole sermon. I could hardly write fast enough to keep up with it!

Maybe once a year I have that experience … where a sermon just appears … full blown! It is a very humbling experience because you realize that you truly are a servant of the word. That doesn’t mean there’s no work — the “inspiration” usually comes after a lot of work. It’s more like a “birth” — hard work, but the real work has already been done for you.

Church "fads" come and go

Of course, not all of these are "fads" in the negative sense. Many have made substantial contributions to the church. But, all too often, someone comes along and has "success" in his church with one approach or another, and suddenly that becomes THE way to do church. Here are a few that I've seen over the years: small group ministry (relational theology, Faith at Work, Keith Miller and Bruce Larson, etc.), Body Life and spiritual gifts (Ray Stedman, etc.), Evangelism Explosion (James Kennedy), church growth (Donald McGavran, et al), one-to-one discipling (the Navs, etc.), counseling ministry, 12-Step groups, contemporary worship, seeker-sensitive services, the health and wealth gospel, positive (or possibility) thinking.

The wise pastor will learn from the best and ignore the worst but will not be blown about by every wind of change in the church. I've learned that I'm pretty good at some things and pretty mediocre at others. And one of the benefits of maturity is that I am more and more comfortable both with what I can do and with what I can't do. That doesn't mean that I've stopped growing as a person and as a pastor, but I've chosen to build on my strengths rather than trying to shore up all my weaknesses. And I've learned to be more comfortable with my own personality and that of my church, so that I don't have to imitate the latest trend that's working somewhere else.

Every church isn't a prospect for a long pastorate

Not every church (nor every pastor) is a good prospect for a long-term ministry. A friend of mine, a veterinarian, tells me that vets typically graduate from school, take a job somewhere for a couple of years where they make all kinds of mistakes, and then move far away to start their REAL practice! That was not unlike my own experience! I graduated from seminary (and then took a private-sector job for a year to give me time to return to the "real world") and accepted a position as a church planter (I don't recommend anyone trying to start a church fresh out of seminary, but that's another topic for another day!). I had a terrible time and began even to doubt my calling as a pastor. After nearly three years, I bailed out and returned to seminary for a ThM (the subject field didn't matter; I just needed a face-saving way to leave that church!). But now I've been at my second church for nearly 30 years!

While my normal counsel to fellow pastors who are having problems is to "stick it out," I don't always advise it. Particularly in first churches, pastors may need to move on. Or when you've lost the confidence of your leadership. It's one thing to have differences with people, it's another to lose their confidence. When that happens, you both probably need a change.

Welcome to the Long Term Pastor Blog

Having spent over 25 years at a single church, I thought it would be interesting to explore the significance of a long-term pastorate -- upon the pastor and the people. I will be posting comments along the way and welcome your responses.

My own experience has been in a small-town rural setting, and so that will color my comments. But I hope others from different situations will add their own insights.