Are You Willing to Pay the Price?

God has continually brought me to the place where he asks me whether I am willing to pay the price to be used by him. Sometimes this question comes during times of prayer and sometimes it comes while I am reading scripture. Recently God used the book, "The Anointing" by Benny Hinn to ask me that question.

We are so used to God's grace that talking about paying a 'price' seems like bad theology. Yet as I read of people that God used mightily in the past to renew his church it seems that they paid the price. I think of Wesley, Edwards, Finney and Moody right on down to Billy Graham. Each of these men paid a price. The price it seems was total surrender of themselves. They became instruments that God could use. Their own comfort or agenda was no longer important. Balance in their lives was no longer important. Rather total surrender to Jesus was important. This meant that they eliminated from their lives things that might not have been 'sinful' but were not expedient. It meant they spent significant amounts of time in prayer and seeking God. It meant radical obedience in all areas. It meant passion and zeal. It meant being willing to be misunderstood and criticized.

I admit that I struggle reconciling this idea of total surrender with what I have been taught about living a balanced life. I also am aware of areas of failure in the lives of these 'mighty men of God' (Wesley's marriage comes to mind). Yet I can not get away from the conviction that there is a price to pay to be used by God. The question is asked succinctly by Benny Hinn, "Are you willing to pay the price for the anointing?"

A Haitian Prophecy

Water will gush in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Gladness and joy will overtake them and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah 35: 6b, 10b.

Poverty, disease, starvation and then on January 12th 2010 the earth shook. Now death, destruction, loss and grief join the brokenness that is Haiti.

On February 21st we step out of our cocoon into the devastation of Port Au Prince. Hungry people and collapsed buildings line the streets. Fragile tent cities arise amid the rubble. The entire country is in shock and grief.

Who can rebuild the rubble? Who can heal the brokenhearted? Can there be streams in the desert? Can the prophecy of Isaiah 35 be fulfilled? Will there be renewal?

We arrive at Marchand Desalines and we join a team of four doctors and one nurse for a week of ministry at the Claire Heureuse Hospital. Our assignment is to minister to the emotional and spiritual needs of the patients. We are at ground zero.

We move through the wards patient by patient:
• A five year old girl in the midst of an epileptic fit is healed through prayer.
• A woman who lost four children in the earthquake is comforted and converted.
• Many others are converted throughout the week.
• A 9 month old baby who had been drinking only sugar water for 3 days is
given milk to drink. The mother is converted.
• A woman dying of cancer is prayed for & comforted as Jesus takes her home.
• A woman dies as we pray for her. Several others die.
• The gospel is preached as the patients gather in the outdoor chapel at
6:30am each morning waiting for the clinics to open.
• An alcoholic repents and is given food for the first time in several days.
• Many patients receive grief counseling due to losses in the earthquake.
• Food is distributed at the hospital to about 80 people.
• A two month old baby whose mother died in the earthquake is adopted by her
aunt who was converted.
• The week ends with a funeral service for a young woman who died in the
earthquake and the family receives closure and the healing process begins.

As we pray and give sacrificially and go the prophecy begins its fulfillment. Healing and renewal come to the broken and grieving. Then suddenly one day the prophecy will be complete: Jesus will return and the desert of this world will become a spring eternal and sorrow and sighing will flee forever away. Renewal will be complete.


Crossroads Free Methodist Church: Team Haiti 2010
Pastors Willie & Daisy Kirchhofer, Carlos Rodriguez & Matthew Saldarini

Why Churches Die

Jesus was never interested in quick external fixes. He always went to the heart of the matter. He taught that if we get the internal part right the external will follow. For example if you truly love God with all your heart, mind and strength then all those tricky questions about what you can and can not do on the Sabbath work themselves out and are no longer questions. This being so why do denominational leaders, pastors,and others in leadership spend so much time focusing on the external. It seems as if the belief is that if we just change the way we do things then the church or organization will change. So leaders attempt to make changes and are meet with fierce resistance and in many cases failure. Jesus would remind us that first we must change the inside and then the outside will change. Erwin McManus makes this point very well:

There is a reason churches are dying. It is not about style; it's about values.
If you can change what people care about, you can turn things around or, more
importantly birth something new.

In seeking to renew a church focus on building Biblical values in the lives of people. If you do this consistently the external changes will follow.

Good leaders work to build biblical values in the people they lead. Mediocre leaders focus on externals.

Technology Trap

Technology is great. I tweet, blog, email, utube and have face book friends. I believe it is an inexcusable error for leaders and churches not to avail themselves of the latest in technology. In fact one of the reasons church renewal is needed is because of the failure of the church to keep pace with technological changes (overhead projectors anyone?). The reason the failure to use technology is inexcusable is because it is so easy to learn. When blogging started to develop I knew nothing about it - so I got a how to book ( The Blogging Church) and started blogging. There are even church technology blogs (http://digital.leadnet.org/)to keep you current.

Yet there is a very subtle trap associated with using technology. The trap is spelled out nicely in the following quote from Leadership magazine (Winter 2010 page 31). Rob Bell is discussing using video to beam a pastors message to multiple locations. This is what he says,

There is something more powerful than simply beaming yourself into other
locations, and that is raising up disciples. Over time that will go farther and
faster, but right now it will be more work and slower. With technology today it's
easy to spend all of your energies reproducing your own voice, but there is a
longer view that says, what if instead of beaming video to those ten locations, we
train ten people who can go there and lead? That's a very basic question that
should be in the mix somewhere.

Our call at its core is to make disciples. Disciple making is a time consuming task that requires a personal relationship (think Jesus and the 12). The question is how does technology either help or hinder the goal of discipleship?

A Reminder

In the busyness of day to day ministry it is easy to forget our source of power. I find myself more often than not relying on my abilities, my ideas and my strength. A few days ago I was reading "The Life and Diary of David Brainerd" a missionary to Native Americans in the 1700's. What he wrote reminded me again of the importance of prayer. Here is what he wrote:

Having now a happy opportunity of being retired in a house of my own, which I have lately procured and moved into, and considering that it is now a long time since I have been able, either on account of bodily weakness, or from want of retirement, or some other difficulty, to spend time in secret fasting and prayer; considering also the greatness of my work, and the extreme difficulties that attend it; and that my poor Indians are now worshiping devils, notwithstanding all the pains I have taken with them, which almost overwhelms my spirit; moreover considering my extreme barrenness, spiritual deadness and dejection, of late; as also the power of some particular corruptions; I set apart this day for secret prayer and fasting, to implore the blessing of God on myself, on my poor people, on my friends, and on the church of God.

A good reminder.

Which One Are You

As a leader I find myself regularly at a fork in the road. In seeking to lead Jesus' church I find two paths open to me. For example - on Easter Sunday do I play it safe and have the regular Easter service in the church building or do I take a risk and rent a tent and have the Easter Sunday service in the park for the whole community to see(what if it rains?). Another example - do I enforce leadership standards and risk losing some leaders or do I compromise the standards to keep people and programs running. A final example - do I introduce a new music style to the church in order to reach a younger generation or do I continue with the top 20 worship hits from the seventies in order not to alienate any of the faithful members. These are all example I am currently working through. I am sure you could add many similar examples.

The choice as I see it is between being an instrument God can use in church renewal or being a status quo leader. Which one are you? Leading the status quo is the safe, respectable way of least resistance. You will do a good job and be known as a good pastor or leader and have many friends. To chose to take the other road - the road of becoming an instrument God can use will involve difficulty, stress, conflict and ultimately you may lose your pension. This is a choice all leaders must make. I also believe leaders make this choice every day whether we realize it or not. Let me ask you again - Which one are you? Are you an instrument God can use in renewal? Are you willing to pay the price?

Church history is full of leaders who faced these same choices that we face. Interestingly we only hear about the ones who chose the difficult road - becoming instruments God can use. The status quo leaders are not remembered. One young pastor named Roberts wrote this;

Two paths are distinctly marked out before me. I saw that I might be a popular
preacher, gain applause, do but little good in reality, and at last lose my
soul. Or I saw that I might take the narrow way, declare the whole truth as it
is in Jesus, meet with persecution and opposition, but see a thorough work of
grace go on, and gain heaven. Grace was given me to make the better choice. I
deliberately gave myself anew to the Lord, to declare the whole truth as it is
in Jesus, and to take the narrow way. The blessing came. The Spirit fell upon me
in an overwhelming degree. I received power to labor as I had never possessed
before. (BT Roberts quoted in Populist Saints by Howard Snyder page 180).

Which path will you chose? Which type of leader will you be?

Clogged Pipes

Here is the scenario. You agree to become the pastor of a church that has been in existence for 35 years. The church has a reputation for being fairly healthy in terms of finances and attendance. The church is able to pay you a good salary and the church is fairly full each Sunday and is not short of volunteers to man the various church ministries that exist. Everyone gets along well and there are no major issues. As you begin your ministry you notice two things. First there are no children in the nursery program and the average age of the leadership core of the church is in the mid forties to fifties. Secondly you notice that most of the pastor's energy is expected to be directed towards ministering to the needs of those who already attend the church.

Is there a problem?

If so what is it?

Give me some feedback and then I will give you my perspective and tell you about clogged pipes.

The above scenario is very common. On the surface the church seems to be doing well. However the seeds for decline and death are present in the church. In determining the health of a church what you measure is the key. If you are measuring attendance figures and budget amounts this church would seem healthy. However if the church is measured by the health of the pipeline then the church is in deep trouble. Each church needs to have 2 clear pipelines to maintain health. By pipeline I am referring to the flow of people into and in a church. The first pipeline is the flow of people from outside of the church into the church. This encompasses several systems which I will not discuss here. There must be a pipeline that reaches people from outside of the church and brings them to faith - disciples them - incorporates them and deploys them in ministry and leadership. Any blockage in this pipeline is a sign of an unhealthy church. The second pipeline is the age pipeline. The church must have significant ministry to every age group and in effect provide for the continued development of a person as they age. Any gap in this pipeline indicates an unhealthy church.

Generally leaders pay attention when the budget or attendance declines. However waiting for that to occur may be to late. As leaders we must be aware of the health of the 2 pipelines and unclog them before attendance and budgets decline. Better to buy a little draino and unclog the pipes than wait for the sewer to back up and call a plumber.