Social media and the pastor’s conondrum

Posted on by justinlewis78

I am not the most social-media-savvy pastor.  I don’t tweet pithy alliterations or wise mantras for the masses.  It’s not me and it probably never will be.  But I do try to stay aware and use the tools of social media to articulate hospitality and hope.  And yes…I occasionally post ridiculously cute pictures of my kids.  My struggle with these platforms is what to say or do when something political strikes a chord with us.  I fight temptations to say something so much that I want to scream but am silenced thankfully by a Spirit of peace and wisdom.

Dear reader, I can’t even give you an example of such an instance because I know that it could incite an unneeded debate…and let’s be honest, are those online debates even worth it?!   Some pastors and ministry leaders step into the mire and deliver heartfelt responses.  I get it.  I really do.  Perhaps it appeases a great number of their congregation, but it undoubtedly alienates some.  Imagine those readers hearing the words of their shepherd chime in on gun laws, civil rights, immigration reform, or alas, POTUS tweets and being hurt, misunderstood, confused or lobbied to a political perspective.  I have imagined it.  I have read them.  And I am heartbroken for either side who cannot stomach what they read from someone they trust to speak God’s Word.

In my battle, I continue to err on silence – usually after commiserating with my wife – but ultimately believing that if I don’t have God’s Word to speak on the issue, I am to be silent on the matter.  This idea was first communicated to me from Henry Blackaby who spoke at a conference on The Power of the Call.  When speaking of the call of Moses, he pointed to Moses’ inability to communicate clearly (really, just one of his many excuses) but to the soon-to-be-prophet heard this:

“Who gave human beings their mouths?  Who makes them deaf or mute?  Who gives them sight makes them blind?  Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”   (Exodus 4:11-12)

Blackaby’s point was that we are to speak what God gives us to speak.  He went so far to say we should only speak what God gives us to speak.  Woah.  What a radical call!  Imagine ONLY saying what God wants you to say!  The idea it intimidating and the weight of responsibility is immeasurable.  But at the same time, imagine the sense of freedom.  There is no worry of saying the wrong thing… because you’re just saying what God says.  It’s terrifying and beautiful.  And this world needs more mouthpieces of God, not more pithy tweets.   (And yes, I realize the hypocrisy of this post on a social media platform.)

In Moses’ story, he finally relents as God promises to speak through him and his brother, Aaron, and he sets off to deliver the message of freedom to Pharoah and the Israelites in bondage.  That should be my task: deliver God’s voice of freedom.  Perhaps that should be every pastor’s social media gut-check.

If I fail at this, dear friends, remind me to return to the call.  And if this encourages those outside of the vocation of ministry, then welcome to the mission of speaking life into the darkness.

The Goal of Groups

Posted on by justinlewis78

With all the different types of groups at WPC, it’s helpful at the launch of a new season to remember that groups have a goal.  Think about it, every group has a goal: the choir leads in artistic worship, a basketball team plays to compete and win, and a youth group provides challenging and dynamic experiences for youth to begin their faith journey.

So what is our goal for adult small groups? Simply put, it’s GROWTH. Spiritual growth is the follower of Christ’s endeavor to become more like Him and live missionally in the world that He died to save.

Now, the realistic challenges of each group are numerous. Irregularity changes the ability to fellowship consistently.  A growing and robust size changes the ability to experience personal depth.  And time… time is always the enemy of groups!

A quick test for every group should be are we growing?  If we are growing spiritually, then our faith seems stronger, our knowledge of God is richer, and our personal application of study becomes increasingly practical.  If we are growing missionally, then our groups shepherd one another in life’s difficulties and joys and we are introducing others to Christ in our community. If we are growing in size, then our community is multiplying!  With multiplication, however, comes NEW groups – with new facilitators, fresh voices, and resources.  We try new things.  We let others step into the gap to live out their giftedness and be used by God.

So my friends, let’s ask the question about our groups…are we growing?  I anticipate that many of our groups will say “YES!”  And if we say “not quite” then let’s boldly ask God to help us get on track!  

 

How Should We Feel?

Posted on by justinlewis78

Like most of America, I sat through the results of the election last week with anticipation and concern.  In my 20 years as a voting adult, I’ve never felt this way.  Of course, I’ve dabbled in both hyperabsorption and abstinence of the media’s coverage.  The result is the same: I don’t know how to feel about all of this (– probably because I feel too much).

A few days later, Holly and I ran through some of her favorite communicators and their topics.  She shared that one in particular – an author gaining in national renown and encouraging thousands of women daily by her posts and speaking – recently confessed her love for another woman.  It was the first time I witnessed a Christian woman/leader redefining her sexuality on such a public stage.

Now, there was no “coming out” parade.  Conversely, there were no heralds of blasphemy or rebuke.  She simply identified that she is in love with a (particularly well known – besides the fact) woman.  I asked Holly, “How does this make you feel?” And she said, “I don’t know.”

To use the word confused would certainly come to mind for me.  But I don’t think it’s that really.

inside_out_emotions-03So let’s look at the Inside-Out top 5:  Am I sad?  Not exactly, it’s hard to be sad for someone who feels the love from companionship when she never thought she could.  Am I happy?  No.  Angry or afraid? Not really.  Disgusted?  Not at her choice, but maybe at how it’s being easily accepted by the Christian community.

I think we struggle with our feelings on the current climate of political discourse and those of sexuality, gender identity, and relationships because we stress too much how we ought to feel.

The reality is we ought to feel a lot.  It’s how God made us.  In the beauty of his divine design, He bestowed upon us the attributes of himself – physically and emotionally.  We understand this in its base form when someone says they have “fallen in love”; we recognize the beauty of that sentiment.  God is love (1 John 4:8), so the recognition of “love” is something – at least in our basic English understanding – beautiful.  However, if I were to say (and I’m not!!!), “I love my wife…and I love another woman” – this stirs concern in you and rightfully so.  As a result, I hope, you would articulate a loving, biblical response and walk with me through grace and truth.

A biblical response here is key.  In the example above, we know of God’s best for marriage because of His Creation narrative as a design of holy companionship (Gen 2:24), which I understand as between one man and one woman.  But that speaks only to my covenant relationship, not my feelings.  So it will take a concerted realignment of my heart to understand that even though I love this hypothetical other person, it is outside of God’s design for my holy relationship with Holly.

I end my thought here with this: our feelings usually influence our opinions.  Our opinions, then, are simply that… ours.  This means they will continue to conflict with each other and even our biblical knowledge and tradition because they stem from our own motives and desires.  That’s our world.  That’s our reality.

But there is also another.

In June 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States published their ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges, and as a result, effectively legalizing same-sex unions nationwide. With this new “law of the land” change, I preached a sermon and was terrified that I was supposed to address this monumental decision. Across the country, preachers did the same. Some spoke. Some led their congregations in prayer. Some rejoiced. Some tweeted. And I was silent on the issue.

Later that night, Holly and I visited Passion City Church and joined with thousands in worship. Pastor Louie Giglio admitted what I too had felt, yet his words assuaged my tongue-tied heart. He said (and I paraphrase here), the best thing he can do as a follower of Christ is to read God’s opinions in scripture. And as a pastor, his obligation is to communicate God’s opinions from scripture. He then went on to preach his prepared message.

Now, that doesn’t mean that he or the thousands of pastors across the country sat in silence out of fear or shame of the Gospel. It means that they…we accept the Kingdom reality that God’s opinions are authoritatively set above all others – a matter of fact that will continue to be incomprehensible and incompatible to agnostic intellectuals…or even professing evangelicals. It means that when I lead correctly, I will tell only what I know God gives me to tell. And of my feelings, I can be assured that God understands and allows for me to feel everything I feel about the issues and perplexities around us.

This leads me to prayer and reflection, to examine my own heart, to repent for my actions, inactions, and thoughts. And friends, I confess I do not do this consistently enough. Yet, when I do, this saves me from the abyss of despair, rage, prejudice, terror, or even ecstasy. For as a communicator of God’s authoritative word, I set my mind at ease that I can trust Him and more often than not, accept that my opinions will continue to shift, while God’s will stay the same.

When the day comes when I open my mouth to declare his promises and truth, I want to be the man who will speak what is his and not what is mine. That way, how I feel, will pale in comparison to the power and beauty of what I know to be true.

A Legacy of Discipleship

Posted on by justinlewis78

I imagine the Apostle Paul at the end of his life; his memories of recent years of preaching and suffering are filled to the brim and somehow the corners of his mouth are curling up with an unspeakable joy.

I’m not sure if one can call it “pride” when we describe the satisfaction of churches planted, heresies silenced, hundreds of both Jewish and nonJewish men and women discovering the truth of the resurrected Savior, more than a dozen churches.  Paul could not know in these moments that his letters would pass through the fingers of servants and strangers to reach our minds and encourage our souls.  And yet, that’s exactly what the Holy Spirit worked in him to do.

In spite of the direct impact of Paul’s legacy, we often overlook his initiative to take on future leaders…his own disciples.   Timothy, Silas, Sylvanus, Epaphroditus, Philemon, and others.  And while these men saw Paul as a mentor-figure, he saw them as “co-workers”.  I imagine the honor these men would cherish – to know that Paul thought of them and treated them as men who shared in the apostolic mission to carry his name to the nations:

…the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man (Saul) is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Acts 9:15-16 (NIV)

Such a mission! To carry his name. His holy, weighty, powerful, majestic, life-giving name.  It was on this name…on this person…that Paul claimed all of his churches are built on him.  In perhaps one of his more famous metaphors for the church, Paul describes the people of God as a building:

Through God’s loving-favor to me, I laid the stones on which the building was to be built. I did it like one who knew what he was doing. Now another person is building on it. Each person who builds must be careful how he builds on it. 1 Cor 3:9-11 (NLV)

The Greek here is arkitekton – that’s right, the architect.  The head-designer AND builder.  Paul looked at Christ as the perfect foundation and then chose the best human-materials to build the rest.  (Not “best” as in worthy, but best as in the best available resources.)

So, friends, where do we do this?  By looking at those whom God has placed around us.  We invite one, two, five, (maybe even!) twelve people into our lives to learn and grow with us.  And we reject the notion that we have nothing to offer the kingdom.  For the ungodly lies seek to thwart our disciple-making work with..

…because of my past,
…because of my sin,
…because I’m too young,
…because I’m too old,
…because my wounds are fresh,
…because I’m not a good teacher.  (and on and on…for we will never run out of excuses)

It does not matter if you call yourself a discipler, a teacher, or a mentor.  What matters is that you BUILD UP the kingdom with fellow stones.  What matters is the obedience to multiply God’s family.  What matters is the community that becomes more creative, breathtaking, and dynamic all because we never give up on the mission to live like Christ in this world and invite others into the journey.

In this work of disciple-making, remember that the spiritual gifts were given to all to develop a stronger and healthier Christ-centered community:

So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. (1 Cor 14:12, emphasis mine)

So let your imaginations fly!  Begin to live into Paul’s vision of the beautiful Kingdom of God that takes the best available materials around you — namely, your neighbor — and creates cathedrals out of common stones.

After all, that’s all Paul was.  Just another stone willing to be used by God.

Some dangers of Gossip

Posted on by justinlewis78

When Jesus entered the Temple and saw vendors profiting on worshipers, his infuriated response was rooted in his clear perspective on worship. Worship should be unhindered and should stir disappointment or guilt on the way to the altar. In churches today, we rarely see such blatant parallels and affronts to the holiness of worship. But there are seasons in the life of a church where community behavior hinders us on the way to worship.

One such area is gossip. Gossip (in my own definition) is the spreading of information about another with the goal of causing ridicule or disgust. The motive here is important; we can share news (i.e. “John and Sue had their baby!”) and it is not gossip. It becomes gossip easily when we attempt to stir someone to mockery or anger based on a self-righteous opinion:

  • “John and Sue had a baby… have you seen it? That’s one funny-looking baby!”
  • “…John went back to work that same afternoon!”
  • “…I can’t believe they have 12 kids! Can you imagine?!”

The letter of James expresses a strong pastoral concern for believers’ tongues. He describes is as a fire – a contagious, forest-consuming fire. James’s passion for action is magnified by his caution to using speech as a weapon. Even in his 1st-century perspective, the Church of Jesus would be known for something better than unwholesome speech. For the Church of tomorrow, we must guard ourselves against the ways that gossip might eat away at our community health. If you need a reminder of what gossip can do, here are a few possible outcomes.

  1. Fosters doubt in leadership – When we gossip we tend to gossip about the people of influence – whether it be the influence of social groups or entire communities. The danger, of course, is that we begin to treat someone as objects of ridicule. With leaders, our gossip burns through the layers of trust and encourages others to deny their authority.
  2. Fosters distrust in community – If we have the awareness of gossip in our own communities, most likely it is because someone has been caught in gossip – even about yourself. When this happens you begin to consciously or subconsciously distance yourself from others. Insecurity in our relationships is the death of peace and not the will of God.
  3. Disrupts biblical peacemaking – We tend to gossip because of hearsay from someone “in the know” OR because we have personally witnessed behavior that causes concern. As brothers and sisters, we have an obligation to confront each other when someone’s behavior unsettles you (Matthew 18:15-17). Now, if you’re like me, you justify this behavior by saying “I just need to vent” or “I just need to confess to someone”. In doing so we fail our neighbor by subjecting them to our version of right-ness. Peace – as Jesus would demonstrate – would come at the cost of self-sacrifice and others’ edification. Therefore, we honor Christ and his church by facing our brothers and sisters head on when we are in disagreement.
  4. Promotes self-righteousness – selfishly we speak of others with or without the facts and manipulate moments of conversation to make ourselves look important. Gossip always seems to have a motive: to tear someone down in the eyes of another, or elevate ourselves. I confess that many times in my life, both motives come into play. But no matter how I look at it, I am confronted by the truth that I am playing into a power struggle that I have created or nurtured. Jesus said, “he who is first shall be last…”
  5. Corrupts healthy intercession. When we spread gossipy news – even in the hope of inviting others to prayer – we fail to intercede for others with God-centered intentions. To be clear, I am referring to both intercessory prayer and intercessory mediation. Many times, we are thrust into moments of communication on behalf of another. But by becoming bearers of news, requests, apologies, or explanations, we dance into temptation with the false feeling of security – neglecting the reality that we might subconsciously choose a side. Our words, then, well-intended or not, might carry inflections or other nonverbal cues that invite your listener to be influenced or tempted to react, instead of pray.

For the Christian, gossip falls into the biblical understanding of sins of the tongue (along with deceit, slander, blasphemy, complaining, mockery, foul language, sarcasm, etc.). In this category, we are constantly fighting a raging fire – an untamable beast (James 3). We cannot begin to imagine the results of playful match wielded above dry straw. Yet one glance to the left and we rivers of gasoline; to the right, we see the dry timbers of our well-built cathedrals.

One never imagines the catastrophes of gossip and therefore we must return to the disciplines of silence, meditation, journal-keeping. We must embody direct communication fueled by gentleness and eagerness to forgive. And the hardest of all – we must rebuke gossip with expediency.

Remember, the tongue is a flammable instrument – yet one that can “build up” and give grace.

(Eph 4:29). Let us therefore be people who speak life, practice discipline, love our neighbors and call the community to accountability in speech. You never know whose character (or even life! Leviticus 19:16) you might spare, including your own.