Pastoral Softness

I know I am going to get flamed into next Friday over this but there has been a lot of posts and comments that seem to want to blame the churches for spiritual struggles for pastors. I can't except that for a lot of reasons. First of all there are places in this world which has put a lot more external pressures on believers and pastors than church politics and people find a way to survive. Secondly, churches have been putting pressure on pastors since long before the postmodern reformation and you know what, some caved, some thrived. External pressure is what weeds out a lot of leaders. I got an e-mail from someone complaining about his salary that was three times what I have ever made in Spiritwood. If you are looking for your church to take care of you, you won't last long. That is why you are called a leader.

Are some churches abusive. According to Lyle Schaller, many churches he has dealt with don't even deserve a pastor in his opinion. I still remember my first encounter with former Bishop Gary Walsh when he said in no uncertain terms that not every pastor deserves a church either. (I am getting old... I imagine he is too).

What I am saying is that there are a lot of people who have ended up in churches where it is a bad fit and people have gotten hurt. That is the new reality and many people who are postmodern in worldview are going to get killed in modern settings. Dr. Robert Webber said this about the transition in an interview I did with him

The pragmatic churches have become institutionalized - with some exceptions. They responded to the sixties and seventies, created a culture-driven church and don’t get that the world has changed again. Pragmatics, being fixed, have little room for those who are shaped by the postmodern revolution. A clash is emerging. The younger evangelicals will not have a voice in the pragmatic, fixed mentality. Stay there and your spirit will die (there are some exceptions, pray for discernment). Many pragmatic churches, like old shopping malls are dying. Very few people under 30 are in pragmatic churches. The handwriting is on the wall. Leave. Do a start up church. Be a tentmaker. Build communities. Small groups. Neighborhood churches. Be willing to let your life die for Jesus as you break with the market driven, culture shaped, numbers oriented, Wall-Mart-something-for-everyone church. Be an Abraham and take a risk. God will show up and lead the way.

The modern church is not going to listen to us, it won't affirm us, or give us any of its resources there is no point anymore in letting it get to us. It will be there in decline our entire lives and will probably go down fighting and wasting a lot of lives and money but to let that define us spiritually will be an even bigger loss. We can't blame it for being what it is and if we are going to have a long term future in serving God, we need to stop looking at our enviroment and instead in our hearts. That is the lesson from the church history that all reformers have learned and we need to also.