I am the SENIOR PASTOR of Chestnut Grove Baptist Church. Not that there is a junior pastor. There is just me, but the title remains. I am simply the pastor. So, here I am 2 months into my first pastorate. I probably know it all by now, right? Not hardly. Luckily, I was blessed with a salesman's brain so names are coming easy, which makes things much more smooth.
So, 8 weeks in I was hoping to have some great pearls of pastoral wisdom to share, but again I say, not hardly. Anyways, I will tell you a few things. The first thing is that people here are amazing. They have been a blessing to both me and my family. We have been provided with a great home and much more.
Secondly, I will confess that I love my job. I know I am not supposed to call it a job, but it is that and a lot more. It is a calling, a lifestyle, and really just a lot of fun. I have had some great and not so great moments already, but I hope that in time everyone will be able to discern my heart. I do have a purpose for writing this blog, and here it is.
There are people out in the country that need preachers too. That sounds pretty simple, right? People out here are starving for someone who gives a rip to come and preach to them. Not that this church or any other have pastors that don't care. Quite the opposite. There are people out here preaching for nothing or almost that. What I am trying to say is that we have to bring these types of churches back to the forefront of the landscape of American Christianity.
Some say it is too difficult. People are too set in their ways. That is a cop out. I know it sounds simple for me to say just starting out, but it is still true. The impact of a country church is so underestimated that it is mind boggling. A country church can realistically be the backbone of a community that encompasses both a wide territory and a large number of people, if only there were preachers. There are many,many, vacant churches starving for leadership. Who will answer the call? These are churches, not stepping stones. These are God's people, not bodies in a pew. They are deserving of someone who desires to preach God's Word to them faithfully.
I wholeheartedly believe that I am not alone in this. There has got to be more young pastors out there that have the right skills and gifts to minister in this context. If things go the way they are going there will not be many churches left outside of the cities and towns with pastors. These old preachers are going to die and there is no one waiting in the wings who is going to fill their shoes.
Why?
Because it is not the cool thing in the minds of many. It is not the type of "cutting edge ministry" that they are pushing in many Bible colleges and seminaries. It is because people do not want to be more than a short drive from all of life's conveniences. I do not doubt the call of those to certain areas and contexts, but God would not abandon His people to be sheep without a shepherd. Somewhere across this country there are people ignoring God's call to the place they think is the middle of nowhere. Well, your middle of nowhere is someone else's home. It is a unique community with lost people that need the Gospel and saints that need to hear the Word rightly divided.
Pray for these churches. Pray that there will continue to be ministers with a burden to preach wherever God calls. Not just wherever God calls that has a Walmart and a Chik Fil A nearby.
So, 8 weeks in I was hoping to have some great pearls of pastoral wisdom to share, but again I say, not hardly. Anyways, I will tell you a few things. The first thing is that people here are amazing. They have been a blessing to both me and my family. We have been provided with a great home and much more.
Secondly, I will confess that I love my job. I know I am not supposed to call it a job, but it is that and a lot more. It is a calling, a lifestyle, and really just a lot of fun. I have had some great and not so great moments already, but I hope that in time everyone will be able to discern my heart. I do have a purpose for writing this blog, and here it is.
There are people out in the country that need preachers too. That sounds pretty simple, right? People out here are starving for someone who gives a rip to come and preach to them. Not that this church or any other have pastors that don't care. Quite the opposite. There are people out here preaching for nothing or almost that. What I am trying to say is that we have to bring these types of churches back to the forefront of the landscape of American Christianity.
Some say it is too difficult. People are too set in their ways. That is a cop out. I know it sounds simple for me to say just starting out, but it is still true. The impact of a country church is so underestimated that it is mind boggling. A country church can realistically be the backbone of a community that encompasses both a wide territory and a large number of people, if only there were preachers. There are many,many, vacant churches starving for leadership. Who will answer the call? These are churches, not stepping stones. These are God's people, not bodies in a pew. They are deserving of someone who desires to preach God's Word to them faithfully.
I wholeheartedly believe that I am not alone in this. There has got to be more young pastors out there that have the right skills and gifts to minister in this context. If things go the way they are going there will not be many churches left outside of the cities and towns with pastors. These old preachers are going to die and there is no one waiting in the wings who is going to fill their shoes.
Why?
Because it is not the cool thing in the minds of many. It is not the type of "cutting edge ministry" that they are pushing in many Bible colleges and seminaries. It is because people do not want to be more than a short drive from all of life's conveniences. I do not doubt the call of those to certain areas and contexts, but God would not abandon His people to be sheep without a shepherd. Somewhere across this country there are people ignoring God's call to the place they think is the middle of nowhere. Well, your middle of nowhere is someone else's home. It is a unique community with lost people that need the Gospel and saints that need to hear the Word rightly divided.
Pray for these churches. Pray that there will continue to be ministers with a burden to preach wherever God calls. Not just wherever God calls that has a Walmart and a Chik Fil A nearby.
The need for country preachers is the same as the need for suburban and urban preachers. The solution to this problem is also the same, though not always as easy. The need for preachers stems from the need to raise up leadership within the congregation, which in my limited experience is a mutual lack of responsibility of both the pastor and the members of the church. Sometimes either the pastor is not willing to raise up leadership from within, or when the pastor is willing, there is no member to be found who is willing to be molded into a new preacher. With that, when it comes to discipleship and raising up a new preacher, the task ought to fall upon the preacher who has the discernment to single out one or a few young members of the church to disciple, mentor, and mold into a preacher to one day hand over the pulpit. Remember, it was Jesus who called his 12 closest disciples and while others followed on their own, it was the Teacher who did the selecting.
ReplyDelete-Adam L.