Recovering from a battered Ecclesiology: Part 2

In My Previous Post I began to deal with what I call a "Battered Ecclesiology." Many times in ministry I believe many youth pastors, and even pastors/Church staff can have their view of the Church shaken, and even shaken to it's core. I dealt with a few ways our views of Church can be shaken and in that post promised to deal with several other things that can affect someone's view of Church. My desire in this post it twofold. I would like youth pastors to know and understand that they are not alone in feeling that their Ecclesiology (Theology of the Church) has come under attack by being on a church staff. My other purpose here is to challenge the Church at large to become more biblical in practice. Learning to take care of it's pastors, and to encourage them by having great things in place to keep them healthy by growing their high view of Jesus Church. So here we go...

4. Many Youth pastors do not have "real" spiritual authority in the Church only responsibility. A colleague made this statement a while ago to me. It really stuck with me. I have also noticed this. I think this is where the church needs to really change some things. If a youth pastor is a pastor then biblically they are also an "elder/overseer" as the Bible defines it and have real spiritual authority not just a position and responsibility in the Church. We have made professional ministry just that professional. And so the errors we have made lend to a youth pastor becoming jaded because no one really sees him as having real spiritual authority. If he fits the job description of a pastor in your church, that job description should also have built into it the qualifications of an elder found in Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7. If he is a pastor he is an elder also. So make him one. The congregation usually votes a youth pastor into his office when he is hired, so when a youth pastor is voted in then he should also be voted onto the elder board. Let's change this practice and not only grow leaders but empower youth pastors to mature quickly, and be those with real spiritual authority.

5. The hierarchical model of ministry dis-empowers the students that these youth pastors are pouring into to lead the Church. This can also grate on your view of Church as a youth pastor. If over the years you see the students that you pour into not being given greater church spiritual leadership then this can discourage pastors. I have asked many times, "what am I doing this for if my students have no way to become spiritual leaders in the church?" My thought is two fold here. Youth pastor, you can create opportunities where your students can lead. Let mature students lead often and early. It will grow them into mature disciples. Then, Church, please also create opportunities early and often where they can lead not just in the children's and student ministry but with the greater church even letting them preach when possible.  Don't let the hard work of investment that youth pastors are making go without plugging students into substantial spiritual roles in the church.

6. Most Church Staff/Parishioners mistakenly believe that the building that they meet in is the Church. The problem that we face in the modern church is that we kind of need buildings to meet in. That was not how it was in the early church. They met from home to home and so they realized and held to the community, the Ekklesia of God, that met in a particular house. They would greet Ekklesia of God that met in Jerusalem, or in Lydia's home in Phillipi, etc, etc. They understood the most high God as they worshipped Him in the temple courts, and they understood the most nigh God as they assembled in the home where they met. This is difficult today in the modern church to separate the building from the assembly or to understand them separately. But we must, and we must communicate it often! The church is not anyplace we meet or anything we do! If we have preaching or worship or prayer. That does not make us the church! The Ekklesia is people! I had a parishioner approach me many years ago and alerted me that a student was chewing gum in the church, and that I ought to go correct him. I looked around to locate the perpetrator. When I found the the student in question, and saw that it was a student that had professed faith in Christ, I said, "It looks like to me the Church is chewing the gum." This is how we have to continually communicate to people that WE are the church, this will empower and lift up your view of the Church. The Church is and always will be the PEOPLE worldwide from all time that Jesus has "called out" unto Himself by shedding his blood. Keeping this ever before us will always sharpen out Ecclesiology.

This is all for now. Like a good preacher, I will address these other three points in another final post.

7.  Most youth pastors are young when entering ministry and have an underdeveloped Ecclesiology.

8. Christ (not a person in leadership) is the head, cornerstone, and leader of the Church

9. Most youth pastors have the "fun" personality and so the Entertainment attractional church Ecclesiology lends to youth pastor burn out because they carry much of the burden for programming.

Recovery from a battered Ecclesiology

I have known so many former youth ministers (myself included) who have worked for years in ministry and continually had their view of the Church pounded on by working in the modern Church. Let me explain the a few ways most youth pastors (and maybe even many currently in ministry) have their view of the church (Ecclesiology) battered over the years.

1. They live with the constant pressure to draw more students into their ministries. I met a children's minister/youth minister years ago who was responsible for 500 children in his ministry. He told me that his Sr. Pastor asked him every week about how many children they had that particular week. This led him to really question and always be skeptical of his own view of the Church. He said for a long time he only thought they could be a successful church if they were growing. Is this true? of course not, Jesus is Lord of His Church and He grows His church! He usually doesn't grow His Church by stealing the neighbors churches sheep. He grows His Church  usually through conversion growth. So how do we recover from this? First, I will acknowledge that throughout my years in ministry, I have felt the same pressure, and many others do too. Youth pastor, you are not alone, and you are not crazy that pressure truly exists. Secondly we need to call it wrong. It is a misplaced, hurtful and wrong view of Church that the church can only be successful if it is a huge "growing" church. It can be a healthy church if it is growing but not always. We have to be honest. Then we have to admit when we have fallen into that trap of numbers. I used to go to Youth Pastor meetings, seminars, and summits, etc and always 'fib' on my numbers to see the reaction from guys. I usually got a shrug off from guys from larger churches, and would have much in common from guys from smaller churches even though I was usually at larger churches, I had more Ecclesiological commonality with them than the mega-Youth Pastors. How can we recover a deeper more Christological Ecclesiology? By Seeing and savoring Christ. Focus on Christ the Author and perfecter of our faith, and not on numbers.

2. Most Churches are Attractional in Methodology. This seems to speak for itself. The Attractional model of youth ministry and overall Church ministry is failing. If churches can manage to keep the slick programs, and MTV service afloat for more than a few years they are doing good, but mostly they fold with the succession of new leadership. Needless to say we also create more consumer Christians than true disciples with this model. I have been in so many churches and church traditions, from Baptist, Presbyterian, Brethren, Methodist, Evangelical free, Charismatic, etc. and for the most part their ministries were built around the Sunday Morning services. This leads pastors and youth pastors to only value the meeting on Sunday and much of the other stuff, that really makes us church, falls by the wayside. I found that in my own life, I put so much into the Sunday morning activities, I usually had little time, resources, or energy left for anything else. Have you felt this way? If you have you might be a victim of the Attractional model. Admit it, Confess it, and ask for healing from the attraction of the attractional model of ministry. Dear Lord I am attracted to the allure of the attractional model of ministry, I confess this was not in your heart when you envisioned the Church, I ask that you reform my understanding of what your Church was, is, and is meant to be.

3. Most Churches and youth ministries build their methodology around the Preaching/Charisma of the senior pastor or youth pastor (i.e. attractional model). This has engulfed the Church over the past few decades. The Charisma of the lead pastor and the Church staff have kept many Churches afloat. From the inception of the Multi-site, and the superstar preachers of the evangelical world, most churches will not tolerate less than the best most entertaining, funny, and convincing preachers. Now don't get me wrong, I am for excellence in preaching, but there are average guys out there preaching the NOT SO average gospel in the NOT SO average power of the Holy Spirit. However there are many ABOVE average Communicators/Preachers preaching in the average power of the flesh. The superstar/Multi-site Church Ministry approach I believe is hurting the Church. This view that "Preaching makes us the Church" is wrong! We need to adhere to regular gospel centered preaching, but that does not make us the Church. Jesus makes us the Church. As Acts 20:28 says "The Church/Ekklesia which he purchased with his own blood" No preaching, music, small groups, AWANA, Midweek Youth programs, Men's Ministry, Women's Ministry, or any other thing we could "do" as the church makes us the Church. Jesus alone does that; He makes us the Church. The things we "do" as the church are only a response of worship to the faithful savior who has purchased us. In that great sacrificial act HE HAS MADE US the Ekklesia of God. If our view of Church is anything else we need to recover a biblical Ecclesiology.

I will cover these others aspects that batter our ecclesiology in part two of this series...

4. Many Youth pastors do not have "real" spiritual authority in the Church only responsibility

5. The hierarchical model of ministry dis-empowers the students that these youth pastors are pouring into to lead the Church.

6. Most Church Staff/Parishioners mistakenly believe that the building that they meet in is the Church.

7.  Most youth pastors are young when entering ministry and have an underdeveloped Ecclesiology.

8. Christ (not a person in leadership) is the head and leader of the Church