In my final part on leadership I want to bring what have been sharing to a close. I could share so much more on the history of church leadership. But, for now I would challenge you to do your own research and study. I want to close this segment out with ministry and leadership in our own recent history, and then share a little of my own experiences, and thoughts.
In the 19th century we have two great men of God that changed how we view church and ministry to this day. Both of these men were considered two of the greatest evangelist of their time. The first was Charles Finney (1792-1875), he was considered to be the one to give us the alter-call as we know it today. He would have those who needed salvation to come forward and kneel and pray. He also started laying hands on those he prayed for, and also had teams going to homes for follow-up. Finney was considered a great revivalist, and by many a modern day reformer.
The second person was D.L. Moody (1837-1899), the father of the evangelical movement and our modern day charismatic ministry. He traveled more than a million miles and ministered to over 100 million people. This was all done without media, modern travel, or electronics. He came up with the door to door witnessing, and evangelistic advertising. He also gave us the "gospel song" or "gospel hymn", and he popularized the decision card. Moody was also the first to ask those who wanted to be saved, to stand up and leave their seats and he would lead them in the sinners prayer. Many years later Billy Graham upgraded Moody's technique, having everyone bow their heads and close their eyes.
Both of these men gave us the pragmatism of ministry and leadership. Pragmatism is the philosophy that teaches that if something works, it should be embraced regardless of ethical considerations. Basically, the end justifies the means. This has greatly influenced contemporary Christianity. The focus of the church had changed to more on winning souls than spiritual growth. The early church ideal of mutual edification and every-member functioning to corporately manifest Jesus Christ was lost.
Now, these men and many that have followed them have created many different styles of ministry. I will never question their love for the Lord or their salvation. Many have done greater things in ministry than I will ever do. Yet, I will question many things they have taught over the years. I will question how so many people could so blindly follow a man or a woman no matter what is done or said.
Then there came men such as Charles Fuller (1887-1968), who gain prominence through his radio program, Old Fashioned Revival Hour. It aired from 1937 to 1968, reaching from North America to all over the world. At the time of his death, he was heard on more than 650 radio stations. We also have Billy Graham, who in the 1950's working with Campus Crusade for Christ developed the four spiritual laws of soul winning. These two men perfected the use of the sinner’s prayer and the term personal savior. Now there is basically nothing wrong with such evangelism, but what was now lost and still is today, the teaching of biblical body of Christ and us being sons of God the father. The primary focus of the church had shifted to Jesus our personal savior, and what were lost were Jesus our messiah and restorer of God the Father's kingdom. That by grace we are restored back to God and his kingdom.
Through this pragmatism we now have today's leaders. Now we have many well intended, good hearted men and women of God, who are legitimately serving God and his church. Yet, we also have a great many professional preachers, (a list today that I will not go into) that preach and teach for their own gain. We have Christian TV, radio, presses, and media, which are used to promote their ideals and ministries. From small churches to large mega churches, a personality is promoted and a life style is gained on the backs of deceived followers. They have become household names with many followers, sort of a celebrity status.
We have had man made revivals, and so called movements. In the last hundred years or so we have seen large ministries setting the stage and the course of the church today. The pressure is on every ministry to be like them. We have seen truth reduced to new revelations and emotionalism. At times it seems anything goes as long as God’s name is attached to it. You can watch a secular positive thinker and then switch to a modern evangelist and you can’t tell the difference. Let’s face it no matter how you wrap dung and put perfume on it, at its core it’s still dung. Then we still have the traditional legalist telling us we are all still going to hell, unless we do it their way. All of these ministries are vying for our money to keep their ministry going.
Don't get me wrong there are those that truly love the Lord, but I feel that number is far less than those who use the gospel for their own gain. I will even question those who seem well intended but, then use someone that everyone knows is perverse and corrupt to help them raise money for their ministry. They will allow these individuals to speak false teachings only because they raise large sums of money. No matter what you say this is biblically wrong no matter what and I feel that even though the person may be well intended they sacrificed their integrity for money. I believe God will hold them accountable for the people who have been hurt or deceived by such.
I guess I may need to get off my soap box here. But, let's face it the system of today's churches and ministries is designed to fail and cause corruption. Let’s look at our statistics.
There are over 500,000 paid pastors serving in the United States
94% feel pressured to have the ideal family
90% work more than forty-six hours a week
81% say they have insufficient time with their spouses
80% believe being pastor affects their family negatively
70% have lower self-esteem than when they entered ministry
50% feel unable to meet the demands of the job
80% are discouraged or deal with depression
40%+ suffer from burn out and unrealistic expectations
33% consider pastoral ministry and outright hazard to the family
40% of the pastors resign due to burn out
Over 1,400 ministers across the United States
You see our system of leadership as we know it today is based on how entertaining you are, how friendly, well dressed, how your family and spouse behaved, not solely on the truths of the word of God. One can see how that a person may reach a certain lifestyle through ministry will often get caught up with doing whatever it takes to maintain that lifestyle. What we need today is not more pulpiteers, but more facilitators of God's spirit, bringing ministry back to the body of Christ not the professional.
The New Testament word for minister is diakonos. It means to serve, the minister is in the body to serve those they are associated with not to be served. This is why I myself have chosen a different path and approach to ministry. I have learned over the years that my preaching didn’t change much in people, but my letting them get to know me, and I just facilitate the spirit and truth, causes true growth in those around me.
What I have shared with you up to this point has been some history with my opinions inserted, with a few quotes. Now let me share my own perspective.
Over the years I have looked at the word of God and seen what we where doing in today's churches and ministries raise more questions than to give answers. One day I confronted a friend of mine over something I felt was biblically wrong in what they were doing. Now this was something that a great many of preachers were also doing as well. After a much heated exchange he said something to me that rocked my world and made me more determined to walk in truth. He said "Peter you are just starting out, I have been doing this for over ten years and know this, I give you about ten years or more. You will soon learn and eventually do it exactly like me if you last."
I drove home angry telling my wife how he dare think I would sell out. I purposed in my heart that I would not submit to the ways of men. After I had been a pastor for a few years I could easily see how my friend got to the place he did. The position and pressure that others put on you creates a loneliness, and ownership that does not belong to a man. Now, I still consider this man my friend and love him, I still disagree with his methods.
Over time I have often tried to move towards what I felt God had for his church in the New Testament. I had an open mike in our services, for anyone in the service to share and obey the spirit. I tried not to be the center of the service, but tradition is hard to change. Not having a model to go by and pressure from others I would just find myself doing what we are all familiar with, and this frustrated me.
When I traveled and still today, I will not take up an offering. I let the church be the ones to determine what to give. At one large church I made a pastor mad because he wanted me to take up an offering while I ministered to people and I refused. He told me I would get a larger offering that way. I refused and turned the service back to him to collect an offering. Now what happened next shocked me. He turned to me in front of the whole church and said “Peter if I have anything against you, is that you have too much integrity". I asked my wife that night “how was I supposed to take that”, as a criticism or complement. I decided to give God praise and never to go back to such a church.
Over the last several years my philosophy of ministry has change much. I really struggle with today's modern ministries. I no longer watch much Christian TV, or listen to radio preachers. It just gets me angry to see what is done and preached today. I do take the time through the internet to stream what I feel is a quality ministry and teachings. I am consuming the word of God and have read more books in the last ten years than ever in my life. I choose to be a reformer and seeker of truth. I will not give false teaching the time of day or my money. As far as I am concerned, if God's true people would stop funding much of today’s ministries there would be a great change in how ministry would be done. I told our group one day that maybe the best thing that could happen to churches and ministry is to lose our tax exempt status and then we could truly operate outside of the worldly system.
Now, I know myself that God has called me for a special reason and I am still discovering what that is. I have many great friends in ministry and who pastor great churches. Some of who are great joys to associate with and minister in. I have one church where the leadership turned all the chairs from facing the pulpit to facing each other in a circle. In that church the people have a greater openness to obey God and share with the rest in the service. I love going to that church and seeing God at work. There are many others I know that are trying to bring true ministry back to the body of Christ, fulfilling I COR. 12. I am not trying to be critical but, yet make a stand for truth. I am not perfect but I choose to follow the one who makes us perfect. I love to see God's spirit move through his body, and love to talk about his word, and not be afraid to ask the hard questions, in doing so I am not afraid of being asked the hard questions, and want to find answers together.
The New Testament church had no fixed order of worship; they had no paid staff, or a headquarters to answer to. Believers gathered in open-participatory meetings, where everyone could share their experience of Christ. There were no buildings to maintain, so funds were used to help each other and the poor around them. They met to glorify Jesus and God his Father, and to edify each other in spiritual growth. The leadership was from among them and was there to facilitate the God’s spirit, and order. They were usually the older ones mentoring the younger, and sending out those who were set a side for ministry to further God’s kingdom. Every joint is supplying to the needs of others (Eph.4.11-16). These meetings were informal and spontaneous in nature, Christ was truly the head.
Someone once said that “a rebel attempts to change the past; a revolutionary attempts to change the future.” Jesus Christ brought drastic change to the world. Our Lord came to bring radical change to the old order of things, replacing it with a new order. He came to bring forth a new covenant, a new kingdom, a new birth, a new race, a new species, a new culture, and a new civilization.
“If Christianity is to receive rejuvenation, it must be by other means than by what now is being used. If the church in the second half of the (twentieth) century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler of the synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes ( hope there will be many not one) he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom.”
-A.W. Tozer, Minister and Author
Wow! It is as of we think alike. These are the very same thoughts that got me looked down on in more than one 'church'. I have been afraid to ask questions of pastors or preachers out of fear of ridicule. I am glad that I now have a church group that allows us to be ourselves and lets us ask questions.
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