A CONVERSATION.........

My

Conversation

with

Discouraged Pastor

February 12, 2010 by Darryl http://www.christpoweredministries.com/cpm2010/?p=214

This is a question and response that took place during a counseling session with a local pastor who came to me in 2008. I was later asked by him to put my response down on paper (best I could) so he could share it with other ministers and his church family. Please understand that I was trying to make a simple point…I know there are awesome young men and women doing great things for Christ at this very moment…I have had the privilege of working with many…but the frustration of many ministers and churches is very real also…they are scared when they envision the future of their churches and ministries/missions. I just wanted him to look at things from another perspective and know that the answer lies within the Church and the capable hands of God.

Pastor:

“Darryl, do you think God wants my church to grow? To see people saved, discipled, and baptized? I have been praying and working to grow my church for almost ten years and all it does is go from 50 people to 120, back to 75 to 50 and so on. Why will God not bring me a passionate, anointed, gifted worship leader to lead my church in worship? Why can’t I find a dedicated, soul-winning youth pastor to help me grow this ministry? I don’t get it…what am I doing wrong? You would think that God would send these guys to me…I have been praying, begging God for years. I am so frustrated and at times just plain angry about it. Maybe I missed God somewhere. I just don’t understand.”

My response:

I would like for you to look at this problem from another angle. Possibly the simplest answer is that you will not find these two men because they do not exist in the form you desire. Let me explain my reasoning.

Most modern day Christians in America hold the belief that the church is for, and about, them. “What is in this for me?” You know the drill. Lots of unhappy campers trying to push their agendas until they disappear or push others out the back door of the church. The reality is that Christians are the Church. The Church is here for a variety of reasons but the main one is to proclaim to the world that Jesus Christ is alive, that He is God, and that He is the risen Savior and Lord. It is the Church that is called to worship Him in Spirit and Truth, to love Him above all. We are light and salt. We are the Body of Christ holding out the Word of Life, bringing His love, mercy, grace and salvation to a hopeless and dying world.

As 21^st century Christians we have turned our focus from Christ to ourselves. We think church is buildings, programs, coolest praise band, best speaker, biggest crowd, nicest light show, or a children’s carnival with dancing monkeys. Tons of fellowship, stunts, public relations, and rituals, but very little substance. Not much of Jesus.

We have left our first love. We are adulterers. The Bride is cheating on the Groom with other lovers. We are also liars, gossips, thieves and murderers (and, yes sir, I have been all of those…you too, if your honest: check out Matthew chapter 5). Many Christians have become superstitious idolaters (I better go to church today or God will do something bad to me) and in return God has quietly left us to ourselves. He can’t compete with our busyness, whining, bitterness and pride. Jesus will not be second place. Not in our churches, homes or our individual lives. He is pre-imminent. He is God.

Pastor, may I remind you that the largest nationwide confidential pastoral poll in history (taken in 2003 I believe) revealed that 96% of pastors in American churches do not believe the Bible is fully reliable or fully inspired. It also revealed that 35% of them were having an affair, (it was a confidential poll, no names had to be given, to insure honest reporting), or had an affair with a member of their church. 40% struggle with pornography addictions. There seems to be no fear of God and little remorse for our sin in this age. As you know it is getting difficult to find young people and adults who will stay sexually pure. This lust of the flesh is killing the soul of our churches. It is amazing how arrogant we have become to think we are entitled to do whatever we want no matter the cost. The day of sacrificing for the greater good is pretty much over. We are intimately connecting ourselves with evil through our illicit sexual behavior. Satan throws out the bait and we bite. The destruction is overwhelming. Our reputation’s as Christians is damaged deeply but we still insist on trampling the blood of Christ. Our sin is finding us out in the American church. It is time to wake up and repent.

If our church leaders and members are unwilling to submit to the ultimate authority of the Word, why then should we be surprised that so many young Christians will not submit to any kind of authority? No authority, no discipline. No discipline, no spiritual fruit.

We have come to believe that every aspect of a church service has to be entertaining and comfortable for the attendees. So now we have produced a youth culture that sees church as irrelevant because they are more entertained and comfortable at home. Not many preachers can compete with an Xbox. So here we go down a familiar path… “I will do whatever I want to do. Please do not engage me fully, please respect my space…thanks for the pastry and de-caf latte, though…see you in a month or two.”

We have left our first love. Here is some proof: Jesus said that the gates of Hell would not prevail against the church. Let’s be honest, we have more “Christian” TV, radio, mission trips, internet, books, bookstores, churches, conferences, youth workers, pastors, teachers, evangelists, sports programs, entertainment, seminaries, bible colleges, music groups, record companies, publishing companies, church plants, coffee houses, and para-church organizations than ever before in history…but the church is declining and dying in our nation. Only 4 % of our young people truly believe in Christ as Savior. No great surprise when only 4% of Pastors are proclaiming the truth week to week. If you were a salesman and you had a 4% sales record you would be fired. Bottom line, millions of young people are lost without Christ in our nation. “Big deal”…yes it is, because 90% of all people who come to Jesus do so before the age of 19.

We need pulpits that are alive and on fire again with the uncompromised preaching of the Word of God. Why? Because this is the primary transforming agent in all of human history. Want faithful, passionate young ministers? We better get them under the Word now. That means in this day we have to go where they are because they are not coming through the doors of the traditional church. Seen a twenty- something in your church lately? Might need to leave the walls of the church building and go find them. What a great opportunity for the church to come alive and impact this generation…but will we?

Pastor, you and I both know that few churches nation wide really reach out to our youth. Most have their little group of 10 to 15 young people that play games, eat pizza and have a devotion and call it youth church. If a church has 30 students they are seen as a large youth group in America. The fact is that most churches seemingly do not care about lost people.70% of church youth drop out of church when they hit college age. Place on top of that the avalanche of fallen, disgraced church members and it is little wonder why they see the church as a non-issue. Most do not care about young people specifically. Maybe that is why

“We do not have a student ministry or child evangelism in our church programs. We concentrate in other areas.” My advice to these churches that are within reach of young people in their community, but choose to ignore them, is to put up a big sign in the front yard of their church that says, “Go to Hell…we really just don’t care.”

It is staggering that only 5% of Christians ever lead anyone to Christ in their lifetime. The other 95% must be totally distracted by the shiny things of the world…or just numb. Something is off balance. A Christian who is not concerned with soul winning is not right with God. A Christian that does not witness is a contradiction in terms. Could it also be that this same 5% of soulwinners are having to carry the duty of discipling new converts too? Throw on top of that scenario the reality that only 6% of all Christians actually tithe to their local church. Looks like a perfect storm brewing. Even if your two ministers are out there your church will pass them by because there is no legitimate funding for those positions.

Let me mention this: Every day in America 3,000 kids watch their parents divorce and break up their family. Parents saying to their children with deafening clarity, “Kids, I don’t love you enough to work on this marriage, or to have said “no” to the affair. I don’t care about you enough to stay with you full-time. I love my sin more than I love Jesus. I refuse to do the hard thing. My happiness is all that really matters.” Ah, divorce…the gift that keeps on giving and echoing in the hearts of our children. We are strolling through the wreckage of devastated marriages and displaced, fractured children and trying to act like it is just another walk in the park. We have taught a whole generation how to cop out and never be accountable. We have taught ourselves to be perpetual victims, never taking any blame or any responsibility for our sin. No wonder this generation coming up marries 40% less than the previous one. “Why commit? You know it won’t work out….just look at our parents. Let’s just use each other until we are tired of the dance…then dispose of accordingly…Next…”

Pastor, let’s also take a look at another heartbreaking reality: The church has stood by and allowed a modern day holocaust called legalized abortion to destroy 50 million of our citizens over the past 36 years. Here is a sobering thought…maybe your youth minister and worship leader were lost to abortion. Who knows? Only God knows their names and what their earthly ministries could have produced if given the chance to live. Three decades later we are scratching our collective heads and wondering how a “throwaway” philosophy captured, and enmeshed itself into the consciousness of a whole generation.

Our generation is flaky, transient, detests hard work, is entertainment and sex driven, anxious, drunk, self absorbed, uncommitted, Biblically illiterate, and passionless about evangelism. We drown ourselves in movies and games that feature blasphemy, killing, torture, and rape. We are more interested in video games, chat rooms and blogs than real live relationships. Our idea of communication is to have MySpace, Facebook, and text messaging blurring and blending together to create some odd alter ego in cyberspace. What can you say about a medium that worships our image and is built on self promotion, gossip and impure motives. Students actually have arguments with friends over who has the best cell phone, game system, or newest technology.

So many of our ministry students are visionless, immature, reckless, and motivated by cash. As one local pastor gleefully counsels…“Go where the money is, God is everywhere!” So many young guns unresponsive to the real needs that surround them and the churches they go to serve. Serve? Come on…most youth ministers only last 14 months, Pastor’s only 30 months in any one church at a time. Sounds about right. As soon as real pressure, boredom, challenges, personality conflicts and spiritual unrest crank up they crumble and run. No one even knows what conflict resolution means. “I feel…I don’t feel”…that is how we do church. That is how we get direction and vision. What a waste of spiritual gifts. Church staffs have made an art out of running for the hills. Nike should look into some kind of sponsor tie-in.

Where are the preachers that will teach prophetically the Rapture, the Second Coming of Christ, the Tribulation, and the stark reality of Hell? Someone who will stand on the Word and the courage of their convictions seems rather antiquated and naïve to this generation. To make absolute statements of truth and live by them has the ring of hostility and controlled madness to these gatherings of watered down religionists, and secular society as a whole.

Need proof? Have a young person walk on any USA college campus and promote abstinence and purity as a viable sexual option. Put a megaphone in their hand and have them shout out that they are proud to be a virgin and that Christ has called them to be pure and holy, that sex is for the marriage bed alone. It will be about as close to a modern day crucifixion as you will ever experience on American soil.

“ Sound the alarm! Those insane backwoods, uptight evangelicals are here. What an absurd, Puritanical mindset…why, it’s child abuse! Let them do what they want with their bodies…you guys are ridiculous and medieval in your views…grow up. Sex is natural…sex is the reason we live. Pre-marital sexual freedom is an American birthright. You cannot tell me what is right and wrong. You do not own the truth.”

Think it’s just young people that are being silenced? How many ministers back off or dance around moral issues and deep spiritual truths because they are scared of the backlash from their own people and the community?

A youth pastor in town used to tell his students to only have sex if they really “loved” the other person. Wow… brilliant…ok, he is a moron …and he is a disgrace. But he is simply one who is awash in the constant blithering and blathering of social liberalism and secular humanism. Tolerance is king. “Do what you want to do but keep your opinions and sermons to yourself.” God help us to get a backbone.

Our churches are hotbeds of gossip, humanism, bitterness and ego. The dirty little secret of the American church is that we rejoice when others mourn and we mourn when they rejoice. No wonder no one really hears Jesus when He whispers Truth in our church sanctuaries. No wonder 35,000 church goers leave the church every week in America and never come back. They find no power or comfort within the church anymore. Prayer is the power cell of any Christ-centered congregation. No Prayer? No power. Many church “experts” see prayer as boring and killing the flow of our services. “Keep peoples attention, for the love of Pete don’t let there be a minute of silence in the service…is the video clip ready to roll? But Jesus said His House would be a house of prayer. “If my people humble themselves and pray…” What if we did?

Oh well…whatever… we can’t find peace and unity in the church today because of the constant noise of running feet stampeding towards the exit as we dash to the nearest restaurant to feed our real god.

We have ample evidence in the Word that God calls, but many times people do not answer. Maybe it is the high cost of living the Life. Maybe it is laziness. Maybe it is fear. Whatever the reason, we are walking away in mass exits. I realize we are a broken, wounded generation. There are very few spiritual giants and role models left. I get that. I know we have all these spiritually and emotionally crippled people laying in sad little piles all over our churches…some get up and some just get used to the floor, so weary, and they just stop trying.

Maybe this is another reason you can’t find those two ministers. They have become disconnected, burned out and are now buried deep in therapy struggling to breathe. It is going to be quite the revival that can stir these dry bones. It is hard to imagine who the young men and women will be that will pick up this mantle of selfless, passionate, Christ-centered ministry. I know there are exceptions but the reality is upon us. Even though I believe this is a spiritually hungry generation they are being bombarded by cultism and false religion and so many are seeking after other gods. We are watching the rise of the “cool, detached” minister, the emergent who will play the game of purpose and self realization. Can these men and women stand in the gap for a generation? Maybe they could, but, because they cannot seem to commit to anything or anyone, we may never find out what God would do with a handful of sold-out believers.

“Who will go?”….”well, uhmm, maybe I will Lord…I will let you know when I am ready, when I feel it is right for me…oh, these couches are so uncomfy, where are the donuts?” “How dare God inconvenience us with His Will for our lives. How frightening that we might actually have to live by faith.” It’s very sad to watch spiritual hope swirl down the drain. When did we stop caring?

Pastor, you can’t find dedicated, selfless, loving Christian workers for the Harvest because for the most part the American Church stopped birthing real men and women of God many years ago. Why are we dismayed? It is clear…we have reaped what we have sown. Did we actually think evolutionary humanism would not cripple the church somewhere down the line? It’s amazing to me that so many people would so quickly deny the first verse and chapter of the Bible. The Devil always casts doubt on the Word and his scheme has worked once again. “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” We can’t serve 2 masters. It is time to learn how to fight this spiritual battle. It is time to put on the full armor of God. It is not too late.

So I don’t think you can make a blanket statement that God doesn’t want to send you a couple of “on fire” people to help ignite your church. Could it be that Jesus’ desire is to still seek and to save that which was lost?…that His will is that all should come to Him? But maybe, just possibly, at this time and place God has no one who is willing to patiently study the Word, grow in purity, knowledge and grace and therefore willing to be equipped, prepared and anointed to stand with you now or in the near future. Gee whiz…They may have to give up their porn addiction.

I will be praying for you and your church. Your duty in this may be to re-assess and prayerfully and diligently raise up ministers out of your own congregation. Pouring your life into a few young men and women, feeding them, nurturing them and watching them grow. I believe Jesus is pleased with that approach to filling ministry positions. He is also pleased with using the small, the insignificant, the plain and unremarkable to bring Him glory and confound the wisdom of the wise.

Pray with me that God will raise up young men and women that will humbly submit their lives to God. Picking up their cross and following Him no matter the cost. Men and women that will say with the Apostle Peter, “Lord Jesus, where else can we go? Only You have the words of eternal life.”

Watch and pray with me for coming revival in America. May we be ministers that train up and help equip the next wave of ministers of righteousness. Be assured… we must step up and model true Christianity and ministry now. This is our fight and our responsibility today, so they will someday be models for a generation we will never see.

Am I cynical? No…actually I am hopeful and I will seek to be faithful with what God places in my hand. I believe pointing young people to Christ is worth us giving up our lives for. I also have seen what can happen when young people get real with God. He gets real with them.

How much is one soul worth? Look to the Cross, stained with the Blood of the Lamb and we might get a glimpse of the price. What is the cost of giving up and leaving the ministry because people don’t play fair and the outlook is grim in America? The cost will be multitudes cast into Hell, lost without Christ for all eternity. The cost could also be your integrity, your purpose and destiny…maybe a crown or two. Stay in the race, let’s finish faithful.

Pastor, I encourage you to stand whether anyone stands with you or not. I don’t think Jeremiah the prophet had much help either. I know the American church is damaged and in trouble but do not despise the day of small things. Jesus will build His church. Let’s be thankful for the light we do see. Let’s praise Him for anyone who calls on His name whether in a church of 50 or 5,000. The Heavenly Hosts rejoice over the repentant one…may our hearts join in praise with theirs as we faithfully share the magnificent love of Jesus. He did not call us to be great. He called us to be faithful and serve. Let’s get back to being the Church…the “called out ones.”

I believe that these two young men that you are asking God to send to your ministry and church can exist. But I also know it is going to take real work, sacrifice, time and attention on our part to see them rise up and shine. God builds the man. We have to be willing to offer our gifts, encouragement and Godly guidance throughout the building process. This is no small task. The end result, I pray, will be dynamic, faithful men and women who will go into all the world and preach the Gospel…or simply lead your local church to greater heights.

I will leave you with this quote from A W Tozer:

“The church at this moment needs men, the right men, bold men. The talk is that we need revival, that we need a new movement of the Spirit, and God knows we must have both. But God will not revive mice. He will not fill rabbits with the Holy Spirit. We languish for men who feel themselves expendable in the warfare of the soul, who cannot be frightened by threats of death because they have already died to the allurements of this world…..and when these deliverers come, they will be men of God and men of courage. They will have God on their side because they will be careful to stay on God’s side. They will be co-workers with Christ and instruments in the hand of the Holy Ghost…”

Praying always, Darryl Riden: President/ CPM Student मिस्सिओंस Association