Feb 2009
Breaking the Mold
12.02.09 09:29 Filed in: Leadership
The church in
general is in need of what the Bible calls laborers.
Jesus actually encourages us to pray to the Lord of
the harvest to send laborers because the harvest is
plentiful but the laborers are few (Matthew 9
paraphrased). Problem right?
I am going to spend a few minutes trying to briefly outline a shift that I have noticed in the last few years as it directly pertains to laborers. 10 years ago I felt the call to be a laborer. I left the plans I had for my life and stepped into a new future that I felt the Lord had placed before me. I didn’t necessarily want to be a senior pastor, associate pastor, worship pastor, youth pastor, or master’s commission director... I really didn’t know what I wanted to. In fact there were aspects of each of those roles that intrigued me. (Well, except for worship leader... although I do have a pretty amazing set of pipes. And by pipes I mean my biceps.) However none of those roles were a perfect fit for me. So what did I do? I stepped into a role and I broke the mold. 10 years ago that is what you did... nobody wants to just fit into someone else’s perceptions of what your role should be, so we started to break the mold.
Here’s the shift I believe we’ve seen in culture. No longer are students coming out of college as willing to step into traditional roles. It feels like, 10 years later, they want the mold pre-broken and there is this picture perfect job just for them. I don’t claim to be an expert on culture, I just happen to be a youth pastor and run a Master’s Commission (discipleship program) and I’m just giving some observations. Maybe you’ve seen the same thing... maybe you completely disagree... either way I’d love to hear your thoughts so leave me a comment... Are you a laborer? Are you waiting for that perfect role to come along?? I encourage you to step into your day and break the mold today.
I am going to spend a few minutes trying to briefly outline a shift that I have noticed in the last few years as it directly pertains to laborers. 10 years ago I felt the call to be a laborer. I left the plans I had for my life and stepped into a new future that I felt the Lord had placed before me. I didn’t necessarily want to be a senior pastor, associate pastor, worship pastor, youth pastor, or master’s commission director... I really didn’t know what I wanted to. In fact there were aspects of each of those roles that intrigued me. (Well, except for worship leader... although I do have a pretty amazing set of pipes. And by pipes I mean my biceps.) However none of those roles were a perfect fit for me. So what did I do? I stepped into a role and I broke the mold. 10 years ago that is what you did... nobody wants to just fit into someone else’s perceptions of what your role should be, so we started to break the mold.
Here’s the shift I believe we’ve seen in culture. No longer are students coming out of college as willing to step into traditional roles. It feels like, 10 years later, they want the mold pre-broken and there is this picture perfect job just for them. I don’t claim to be an expert on culture, I just happen to be a youth pastor and run a Master’s Commission (discipleship program) and I’m just giving some observations. Maybe you’ve seen the same thing... maybe you completely disagree... either way I’d love to hear your thoughts so leave me a comment... Are you a laborer? Are you waiting for that perfect role to come along?? I encourage you to step into your day and break the mold today.
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FOR
04.02.09 10:49 Filed in: Leadership
Last night was
a significant night in my year so far. I try to have
significant moments throughout my year, month, week,
day... Hopefully I can look back at my life and I can
notice multiple peaks rather than one moment in
time--my glory days.
If you are not familiar with myself or what I do I have one desire in my life... to make God famous. We are about to host our second annual National Youth Conference, Genesis (genesis09.com). Countless hours of work have gone into this event and we are expecting great things to happen. I wrote my third drama for the Friday Night of Genesis entitled, “Choose Your Own Adventure”. Last night was our last pre-dress rehearsal.
Let me stop for a second and explain something. I am a pastor. We pastor’s call what we do ministry. I am a pastor not as a vocation but as a calling. It was something that cried out to my heart, something I could give my life FOR. Many Christians have given their life TO God, but they have not given your life FOR God. Let me be very clear, just because you’re a pastor does not mean you have given your life FOR God. There are many pastor’s that have only given their lives TO God. If you are not a pastor and you are where God wants you to be and you live your life FOR Him, don’t look now, you’re in ministry.
Many times in ministry it is easy to get bogged down in what we do and the details of all of the events that take place. Like with our wonderful pre-dress rehearsal, we create environments where God can show up through practices and worship and every creative element under the sun. Pastors and ministers have done it so well for so long that we can manufacture these things with ease. The one thing that can never be manufactured is the presence of God. So last night we just stopped. We stopped practice, we stopped all the preparation and we refocused. I needed that... Maybe you can relate? You not only gave your life TO God but you gave your life FOR God, but something got lost in the excellence and chaos of ministry...
Let me ask you... Do you need to stop and refocus today? Don’t wait. Stop right now if you can. Take 10 minutes, throw on some music, and spend some time with the God you gave your life FOR. Make this moment a significant moment in your week today!
If you are not familiar with myself or what I do I have one desire in my life... to make God famous. We are about to host our second annual National Youth Conference, Genesis (genesis09.com). Countless hours of work have gone into this event and we are expecting great things to happen. I wrote my third drama for the Friday Night of Genesis entitled, “Choose Your Own Adventure”. Last night was our last pre-dress rehearsal.
Let me stop for a second and explain something. I am a pastor. We pastor’s call what we do ministry. I am a pastor not as a vocation but as a calling. It was something that cried out to my heart, something I could give my life FOR. Many Christians have given their life TO God, but they have not given your life FOR God. Let me be very clear, just because you’re a pastor does not mean you have given your life FOR God. There are many pastor’s that have only given their lives TO God. If you are not a pastor and you are where God wants you to be and you live your life FOR Him, don’t look now, you’re in ministry.
Many times in ministry it is easy to get bogged down in what we do and the details of all of the events that take place. Like with our wonderful pre-dress rehearsal, we create environments where God can show up through practices and worship and every creative element under the sun. Pastors and ministers have done it so well for so long that we can manufacture these things with ease. The one thing that can never be manufactured is the presence of God. So last night we just stopped. We stopped practice, we stopped all the preparation and we refocused. I needed that... Maybe you can relate? You not only gave your life TO God but you gave your life FOR God, but something got lost in the excellence and chaos of ministry...
Let me ask you... Do you need to stop and refocus today? Don’t wait. Stop right now if you can. Take 10 minutes, throw on some music, and spend some time with the God you gave your life FOR. Make this moment a significant moment in your week today!