Toward Unity :: A Follow-Up

6 min. read

This is a follow up to my recent post “Not About People :: A Brief Theology of Worship.” It speaks more toward unity than worship.

Opening Statements

I’m a communicator. I’m a pastor, preacher, and writer. I value the gifts of communication God has granted me.

I’m also a prophet. I’m a renovator, changer, and agitator. I do not take lightly this role God has given me.

What humbles me most is when my communication is not clear, and, at the same time, my prophetic voice has unnecessarily hurt people.

So with my last post regarding worship, both of these humbling situations occurred.  This is my effort to clarify and apologize for any hurt caused.

Why I Blog

Next year marks the 10th anniversary of this blog. I started blogging because it was a cool new technology in 2006, and I wanted to try it out. It quickly became a platform for resourcing the local church I served. That had positive and negative outcomes.

When I left vocational ministry in 2008, this blog became a place for me to lend my voice to the noise surrounding theology, discipleship, scripture interpretation, and Christian practice. Not being a pastor of a local congregation gave me great freedom to write just what I wanted.

Over the years, many of you began to follow this blog because I seemed unafraid to speak harsh truth to power. Many times I got carried away and wrote more than a few articles from a place of angry discontent. I grieve that fact.

Since taking up the call again to preach and pastor in a local church, I’ve tempered that prophetic voice to some extent. Though this blog is not affiliated with my local church, I am still a pastor there and from time to time my words may be taken differently than intended. This blog is not an extension of my local church ministry. Rather this blog is now used as a platform for a larger voice to speak into the US American church in general.  However, I know full well that many who I serve as pastor will also read it.

If you are reading this and you are not part of my local church, and something I’ve written has stepped on your toes, or made you uncomfortable, of flat out angered you, I make no apology.  The burden of the prophet is to not be liked quite often.

If you are reading this and do not know me on a personal level, than it would be impossible for me to hurt you. Hurt is something that comes out of a relationship.

Yet, it is with a heavy heart that I think of those I currently pastor who have read something on this blog and been hurt.  I know many will be offended or challenged by what I communicate.  I preach the same way.  But to be personally hurt and feel attacked by my words is a graver matter.

So, I write on this blog as just one means to use what God has given me to tear down and pluck up that which needs renovation in the Christian life in general, and to build and plant newness into the Christian journey.

Words Can Accomplish Much And Destroy Much

The letter of James is a constant reminder to we who are “professional” communicators:

A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! (James 3.5)

Now, when I preach, teach, or write on this blog, I know that not everything will be feel-good, fluff. More often than not, what I communicate is a distinct and different perspective from what many who receive the message have previously thought. This will lead to some ruffling of feathers. And that’s okay. All through our spiritual ancestors’ history, God sent prophets to speak harsh truth in order to change the way a people were going, or the way they thought of God, or the way they lived life.

But for people with whom I share relationship to be hurt and feel singled out on a personal level is not the modus of Christian communication.  Nor is it ever my intent.

When I wrote the post about worship, I was writing in response to a conversation taking place next to me at a coffee shop. Two young Christian hipsters were talking about crafting a worship service for a church plant. One of them was the church planter, and the other was part of a worship band “brokerage” of sorts, that worked with new churches to farm out talent for quality music in their worship services.

The conversation they were having, I’ve heard many times, with slightly different dressing, at various big conferences.

For a solid hour these two talked about all things worship service related, but never once mentioned God, Jesus, the Trinity, or anything about pleasing God through worship.

The prophet in me awoke, grumpily.

I began to write the post. I used the word “worship” to refer to everything that takes place in a typical US American worship service, not just music. I wrote trying to drive home the point that any worship service should never be about a product, a demographic, or a style more than it is about our savior, Jesus Christ.

I wrote thinking of the US American Church in general, knowing that churches branded as “contemporary” or “traditional” or “liturgical” or anything else could equally be culpable of what I was describing.

It wasn’t until several hours had passed that one of my friends from my local church mentioned that some in our church might think I was talking about us, and pointing them out.

I reread the post again, and recognized that could be the case, but I didn’t think it would be too much of an issue.  After all, I know what I was referring to, I know how much I love my church, I know what my intention was.

But that is irrelevant.

This morning, another brave friend of mine who is part of my church spoke the truth in love to me about how that post may be perceived by others in our church.

It doesn’t matter that it was never my intent, nor did my local church even cross my mind as a church I was pointing my finger at.

Regardless, it did happen. My words were not clear, and my prophetic voice caused personal hurt.

Neither of these outcomes is acceptable.

Never Preach to the Local Church On the Internet

When I am preaching to my local church it’s always just that: when I’m preaching.  What I communicate on this blog is about the larger issues facing the US American Church as a whole.

It would be irresponsible of me to “preach at” those I pastor in this forum. If that was what I was doing by writing here, then I should no longer be allowed to pastor the people I love so dearly.

And I do love them … immensely! I often joke that I pastor so that I can fulfill my call to preach. But even as introverted as I am, I deeply care for the people I pastor.  And so I want to always be growing into a better pastor for them, so that their trust is never misplaced.

Yes, I’m a better preacher than a pastor. But just like Jeremiah, my heart is inextricably tied to those I shepherd. Though I may challenge them when I preach, I do so out of obedience to our Father and out of love for them.

No church is perfect. In fact, our church often proclaims just how imperfect we are! That doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit isn’t moving us toward perfection in love. Rather, it recognizes our flaws and states we refuse to judge. There is only one judge.

Toward Unity

As I write this, I’m rejoicing in the reality that I’m part of a local church, a geographic body of people, who are willing to enter crucial conversations so that we may move toward unity.

Many people walk away from local churches or run pastors off because they are so afraid of things like love, truth, and reconciliation in dialogue, that they would rather sever relationships than seek to be unified.

The beauty of serving a God who is Trinity reveals that we can have differences without dissonance. We can practice tough things like repentance, forgiveness, and Christian love, trusting that we are moving toward the same goal in Christ.

I love the people I have hurt with my previous post. I love pastoring them, sharing life with them, learning from them. I love that they accept me with all my imperfections. I love that we are seeking unity.

Concluding Statements

I am a communicator. An imperfect communicator. And I am a prophet. An imperfect prophet.

This flawed pastor is so grateful of the gift his local church has been to him. With this body of people, I healed from past ministry hurts. With this body of people, I’ve learned to worship better. With this body of people, I imperfectly serve a perfect Christ. With this body of people, I rejoice when God uses us in his Kingdom. With this body of people, I continue to live out the call God has placed on my life. With this body of people, I pledge to be ever humbled, ever renewed, ever improved by the Spirit’s work in me.

So Tell Me Something

How are you working toward unity in your local church?