I’m seeing a growing trend lately that bothers me. I will admit right up front that I’m tempted by it myself at times. So what is this trend? Good Leaders leaving the church. I can think of 5 guys off the top of my head that I know personally that have left the church or are seriously considering it. Whether it’s the frustration of church politics, serving with burnt-out or arrogant pastoral staff who won’t return calls and seem unreachable many are moving outside the church to use their gifts. I’ve known guys who worked in a church world for a decade jump ship for a para-church ministry. I’ve seen other guys get frustrated as the church places more and more responsibility on them while keeping their salary the same year after year. Still others avoid church leadership because they don’t have “everything together”…and who would blame them with how the typical church responds when someone has a “moral failure?” (Check out this article on Mars Hill) Recently I learned of youth pastor I respected being fired because of kicking a water bottle in an apparent exhibit of out-of-control anger at a soccer game. Parents put enough pressure on church leadership till they caved and fired the guy after he had served faithfully there for 7yrs! Good leaders shouldn’t be so expendable. No doubt there can be a freedom that comes working outside of the church world, I’m experiencing that right now in my season away as I focus on school and family. Most of the time I remain excited to jump back into vocational ministry, yet at other times I think about creating a non-profit organization aimed at helping churches be more effective and still other times I think it might be smarter to get a “‘real” job and volunteer at a church. Sometimes these thoughts are motivated by a better understanding of my gifts but usually come when I hear from friends struggling on the inside.
As I said many times before, what is the church left with when all the good guys jump ship? Or maybe better put, what happens when all the guys with leadership & pastoral gifts leave the church? I will let you answer that…but I can tell you for the rest of the guys on staff it becomes a drain. Instead of looking forward to go to work you dread it. You bet as I interview for my next ministry position I’m going to be picky. Yes I’m looking for a place to use my gifts to impact God’s Kingdom, but I am also looking for a place that will invest in me, using time and resources to invest in my development.I want to be part of a church that extends grace not only to the congregation but also to its staff.
Sitting on my kitchen table is a 3X5 card with one of my goals as it relates to my next chapter in ministry:
To be part of a ministry team of like-minded and passionate individuals.
I still think and hope that will be within a local church…but who knows.
concert or sporting event. In the center on the floor is where the action is at and then the seats circle around that action. The courts would be the hallways around the arena, like where the food and bathrooms were…the hallway that you use to get to your seats within the arena. Whew…not sure how much I would enjoy a concert or sporting event from standing in those crowded hallways…and yet this is precisely what this Psalmist is saying…better to be on the fringes near God’s action then any where else!
night I watched: 
I suspect that we would feel a great deal more confident in our lives if we agreed with Shakespeare and viewed our past as prologue. I also think we would have an easier time making peace with our past if we thought of it this way. The good, the bad and even the ugly stuff can bring about great things in our future if we choose to let it.
What does being busy do for us? While we don’t typically give it much thought…I think we are often busy simply because we think it’s what “normal” people do. In our culture the people who aren’t busy are often labeled lazy, weak, mentally/physically handicapped or some other title that isn’t a positive one. I know personally life can seem just plain overwhelming at times. While it can run at a pace that I usually keep up with, I don’t feel like I am excelling in much of it. This is what I believe Socrates was driving at with this quote…we tend to think that it’s the busy people who live fulfilling lives and yet if we aren’t careful, being busy can steal life right out from under us.
