WARNING: Only those who know what a Flux Capacitor is will fully appreciate this message.
As a kid, I was excited to take a cross-country road trip from where I grew up in Western Tennessee to Southern California to visit my grandparents. We had not visited them at their home much; they would normally make the trip to come see us. This time we were making the trek. Much of our time was spent in their small snowbird town of Hemet, about an hour south of Los Angeles. They were quite a bit older, even as far as grandparents go, so we mainly visited with them at their home, ate out a time or two, and got to know some of their neighbors. We also went with them to their senior community sing-alongs. As a part of the Sentimental Singers, my grandmother led with a beautiful voice, and my grandfather added in some comedy. I look back with appreciation on those experiences now, but back then, the kid from landlocked Tennessee wanted to go to the beach and go see where movies and TV shows were made!
I was thrilled when we took one day to go to the Universal Studios backlot tour. The open-air tram ride included driving by the Leave It to Beaver house, a rotating ice cave from the TV show Six Million Dollar Man, a seaside village where a lurking Jaws shark lunged out, seemingly almost ready to bite one of us, and much more. But one of my favorites was driving around on the actual set of the Back to the Future town square, old clock tower and all. It was a convergence of movie scenes replaying in my mind while seeing it in person at the same time. I was picturing Doc and Marty struggling to connect the power lines at just the precise moment lightning was scheduled to strike and propel the DeLorean “back” to the future.
October is Pastor Appreciation month. I hope you have a wonderful pastor who truly cares about the congregation and is a great example of a follower of Christ. I am sure they are, and I hope you find some real, tangible ways to show your appreciation. Pastors, church leadership, and ministry leaders need our prayer and support. One of the things I have so appreciated about Christian Service Brigade is our earnest desire to honor and serve the role of the local church. These are local expressions of the body of Christ; therefore, each of us is to love, encourage, and support one another.
Pastors frequently experience a deep sense of isolation when attempting to mobilize their congregations for disciple-making. Research from Barna and Dr. Glenn Packiam (author of “Resilient Pastor”) shows that up to 65% of pastors struggle with loneliness and isolation, up 25% from just 7 years earlier. Exacerbating the problem, over this same time, 15% fewer pastors are getting personal spiritual support from a network of peers or a mentor (research and resources HERE).
A piece of Americana is rugged individualism, embodied in the likes of John Wayne or maybe the Marlboro Man. But a study cited by Harvard Business Review found that the impact of feelings of isolation on lifespan is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day (elevated stress hormones, accelerated cognitive decline, sleep disruption, abnormal immune response, etc.). No wonder nearly 1 out of 3 pastors (30%) have seriously considered leaving ministry in the last 12 months. Side note: One of the things I love about CSB is our value on community; we are pushing back against the notion that masculinity is synonymous with rugged individualism, and we are preparing the next generation of leaders with the truth that community actually fuels and supports true biblical manhood. The ministry of Church Answers has a loneliness self-scoring tool for pastors and church leaders: HERE
It’s a shame that so many churches in North America have slipped into the trap of simply showing up to consume a music set and presentation, a sing-along, and an inspirational teaching. This is a challenge for many pastors as they want to lead in a particular way, but feel that people come to church with preconceived expectations of what they want, more so than what church is really supposed to be about. This applies not only to the environment and what happens on a Sunday morning, but also to the role of pastors and other church leaders. We often label them as “the ministers,” when in reality, their core role is to be trainers and equippers. YOU and I are the ministers. According to Scripture (Eph 4:11-12), your church leaders are called to equip and mobilize you for the “work of ministry.”
The trends and trajectory for pastors mentioned above are concerning. And, a significant sub-layer of this epidemic is compounding and has direct relevance to the Great Commission. Leaders often report feeling completely alone in the trenches of spiritual multiplication, finding a massive gap between their pastoral self-perceptions as effective disciple-makers (84%) and actual congregation metrics. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Center for Preaching and Pastoral Leadership states they exist to equip and encourage pastors to lead healthy disciple-making churches. The center’s director, Dr. Chuck Lawless, has recognized how pastors, who are intentionally trying to mobilize their congregations towards multiplying disciple-makers, can feel frustrated and lonely as the congregation is slow to adopt this vision. In his article, “10 Reasons You Should Never Do Ministry Alone,” he warns against the frequent attempts of pastors to implement discipleship plans in a vacuum. When congregants remain passive consumers rather than active disciple-makers, pastors carry the pressure of institutional vision alone.
As I meet with pastors, some with a CSB Unit and some without, I have one key point I want to sink in: CSB is focused on the next generation as the end beneficiary of our programming, but we do this by empowering churches to teach the adults in their congregations how to be faithful to the Great Commission and make disciples. Let me pose this question: How many churches do you know that are effectively teaching and mobilizing their men and women towards being disciple MAKERS?
CSB is focused on reconnecting the body of Christ to the Commission of Christ once again!
I explain to pastors just like yours that churches only get the full value of Christian Service Brigade when they STOP playing host to what they think is a kids’ club and actually take ownership, leveraging our programming to charge the men in the congregation to use Tree Climbers, Stockade, and Battalion, and the church’s women to use Wildflowers, to learn how to make disciples. It never fails: When I share this, pastors feel mixed feelings: feelings of excitement because they have a deep sense that mobilizing the people under their care is indeed their biblical calling, as well as feelings of sadness that they haven’t done well at this.
Most pastors have a deep conviction to be faithful to the Great Commission by propelling the people towards making disciples themselves. Many are just like Doc in Back to the Future, hanging on to two power lines, desperately wanting to see you, me, and all the other Marty McFlys, activated and propelled forward in the great calling of our Lord. So, reaching people in the pews is not the same as activating them, but understand it’s likely your pastor’s earnest desire to see this happen. Love on them, show your appreciation, and encourage them to fully leverage the amazing ministry of Christian Service Brigade to make disciples who make more disciples, who make more disciples, who make more disciples…
In His service,
Michael O’Hara, CSB President