Leadership

We Are Not In Competition

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 16, 2020
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 Comment

“Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.” –  Acts 11:25

 

One of my greatest joys as a pastor is the friendships I have with other pastors in my town. I’ve been having Friday morning coffee for years with other pastors, and we’ve developed great relationships. I’ve taught in their church and they’ve come to mine when I was out of town. In fact, I’ve taught in four different churches and have had seven pastors or teachers from other churches fill in for me. One pastor uses me and my wife Barbara for all his marriage counseling, and another pastor is  my computer guru.

Because of our friendships, we see one another not as competitors for souls, but companions in the work of the Kingdom. We support and encourage one another, share needs, prayer requests and, when needed, finances. We are working together to build the Kingdom of God, because we recognize each fellowship has different gifts with different abilities to minister to different people.

We see the same attitude with Barnabas in the book of Acts. This oft-overlooked character has been both an inspiration and a challenge to me. We first meet him as an example of a disciple who was “united in heart and mind” with the other believers (Acts 4:32). We read his real name was Joseph (which means, “May God add”), but the apostles nicknamed him Barnabas (“Son of encouragement”). We also know he was from the island of Cyprus and the priestly tribe of Levi. In his generosity, he sold a field he owned and gave the money to the apostles to use for the poor.

In Acts 11, we read about the first believers taking the Gospel outside Israel to Gentiles. Up to this point, most of the believers only preached to Jews, like those in Jerusalem, or to those in Israel, like Cornelius in Caesarea. Now believers from Cyrene (North Africa) and Cyprus (an island in the Mediterranean) are preaching to the pagans in Antioch. Because Barnabas would be more familiar with the disciples and the pagan nature of Antioch, the church of Jerusalem sends him to investigate. What he sees makes him rejoice because of all the people who brought to the Lord.

This is good, but what challenges me is Barnabas doesn’t stay in Antioch. Instead, he travels 100 miles west to get Saul, whose God-given commission was to the Gentiles. It appears Barnabas was aware that this ministry in Antioch was the specialty of another minister, so he seeks Saul. The two of them stay in Antioch one year, and it was here the believers are first called “Christians,” which means “Christ followers” or “those of the household of Christ.”

The inspiration and the challenge is the way Barnabas understood his gifts, understood the gifts of Saul, and proceeded to collaborate with his brother in Christ to bring the Gospel to new people. Barnabas didn’t “protect his interest” in Antioch. It wasn’t “his church and his people.” He knew it was God’s church and God’s people and he sought out the best person he could find to continue God’s mission.

My prayer is we all (pastors, people and churches) learn to step aside and allow God to use God’s people without there being any spirit of “ownership” over a group or a ministry. Perhaps then the world will realize we are all “those of the household of Christ.”

 

They Are Not My Disciples

Posted by Jim Thornber on February 28, 2020
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”­ – John 1:35-39

 

Two items bother me about this passage. One, the disciple-making process is a catch and release program. And two, it takes a bit of faith.

But let’s back up. For four hundred years, there has not been a prophet in Israel. Then John shows up, and he’s pretty weird. While wearing camel skins, eating locust legs and living in the desert, John stirs up trouble by calling the religious leaders to repent. Naturally, this behavior draws not only the ire of the religious, but also a crowd and a few disciples.

However, John knows his place. John knows that he is God’s instrument to point the way to the Christ, but he is not the Christ. John knows he is not the Word, but his words reveal Jesus. This, of course, begs the question, “Do my words reveal Jesus, the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world?” Not always, but I’m getting off my point.

John knew how to make disciples, and he knew they weren’t his to keep. A wise friend of mine said that Christian discipleship does not come when a person receives salvation. Rather, discipleship comes when you make a friend and take them with you on your journey with Christ. Furthermore, it continues when you let them go to walk with Jesus on their own. 

John knew that to be a successful follower of Christ he would have to point others to Jesus. He knew that, for a while, it was okay for others to hang out with him, but one day they would have to walk with Jesus and follow Him on their own. Likewise, there are people who are attracted to my teaching and me. But I must remember that they are not my disciples. I serve them best by pointing them to Jesus.

Each of us must come to the point where we ask Jesus, “Where are you staying?” And Jesus will reply, “Come and see.” This means I can’t know always know where Jesus is going until I follow Him. And I must follow Him without always knowing where He is going.

It also means that sometimes “my” disciples will leave me in order to follow Jesus on their own. This is the way it should be, but I’ve noticed that some people have difficulty letting go. Have you ever left a church fellowship to follow Jesus’ calling on your life, only to discover that those you left no longer speak to you, or if they see you around town, feel uncomfortable in your presence? Yeah, me too.

After resigning my last staff position, a member of the church said, “I’m mad at you.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because you left my church,” he replied.

“That’s true.” I said. “But I didn’t leave you.”

That didn’t seem to console him too much. I’ve seen him a few times since but he seems uncomfortable with me, and all I can do is pray for him.

            My encouragement to you who are leaders is to know when to let people go, and when you do, make them feel comfortable and accepted in the going. Remember, they are not really leaving you. They are following Jesus.

Got Character?

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 15, 2018
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Leadership, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3)

 

A few years ago, a church I attended in Arkansas hosted a Thanksgiving service to raise money for the ministerial alliance. The alliance asked our church to lead in the praise and worship, and I played the piano on the worship team. Looking over the congregation, I noted a pastor from another church who, no matter what we sang, refused to either clap his hands or raise them in worship. He simply sat in his pew with his arms folded.  That struck me as strange, because outside of church he was a happy, vivacious, demonstrative man.

I have never been known for my extreme subtly or bashfulness, so as we gathered for refreshments after the service, I questioned him his about posture. “Why, when Scripture instructs you to lift up holy hands to the Lord, and you have a chance to do so in a public service, did you sit with your arms folded across your chest?”

“Well, you see,” he began to stammer and laugh, “I’m a . . . .” and he named his denomination. I cut him off and said, “Are you a denomination first or a Christian first?”

At this point, he began to look around for help from the people who had gathered, including my pastor. He asked, “Is he always like this?” to which my pastor replied, “Hey, he’s going easy on you.” And everybody who had gathered around laughed.

I find it sad that many church members (or goers) around the world are more concerned with offending their denomination and the people in the next pew than they are in obeying the Word of God. The congregation led by the pastor in my story will have trouble obeying Scripture because he was not setting an obedient example. In a simple sense of the word, this pastor lacked character.

Regarding His eternal relationship to God, Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the “exact representation of his being” (1:3). James Moffat says He was “stamped with God’s own character.” The phrase “exact representation” translates the Greek word charaktēr, which gives us our English word “character.”

Originally, this word meant to cut, to scratch, to mark. It indicated the tool or agent that did the marking, and eventually came to mean the mark or the impression that was made. It also indicated an impression made in a wax seal. Or, think of a coin: its image, numbers and letters bear the exact image of the raised numbers and letters of the original die from which the coin was cast. To see a dime or a quarter is to know exactly what the original die or stamp looked like.

Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the father” (John 14:9). This is true, because He was the “exact representation” of God, “stamped with God’s own character.” To see Jesus is to see God, for He is the exact image of God, the perfectly engraved representation of the very nature of God.

This brings up a very difficult question, especially for me: “If to see Jesus is to see the Father, then, when people see me, do they see Jesus?” As I was looking for the Christ-like qualities in that pastor, I began to wonder:

  • When I am at my church, what do people first see in me —   ­­­­­­­­­the Kingdom of God or a denominational version of God?
  • Am I stamped with the very character of God?
  • Do people see Jim or Jesus?
  • As a disciple of Jesus, am I exhibiting the character of Christ the way that Jesus the Son bore the character of God the Father?
  • When people see the church out working in the world, whose character do they perceive? Are they seeing the compassion, mercy, patience, and love of God, or do they see the values of MTV, ABC, Wall Street, Hollywood, Cosmopolitan, and Men’s Health?

We must all ask those tough questions if we are going to live the character of Christ and represent God in all we say and do. Jesus said,  Now I want to be able to say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen Jesus.” Maybe one day, at my funeral, some kind soul will say, “Jim was the most Christ-like person I’ve ever met.”  Then I’ll know I got character.

 

Give Your Staff Permission To Be Themselves

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 24, 2017
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Leadership. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Earlier this week I was reading Eugene Peterson’s book Under the Unpredictable Plant.  In it, he shares that someone once asked him his favorite part of being a pastor, and he answered, “The mess.” Yes, being a pastor is messy, which contributes to the creative side of allowing God to be God in situations that don’t always fall under the category, “Stuff I Learned in Seminary.”

As I thought about this same question, my quick answer was, “I get to love people on my own terms.”

I’ve worked with more than one pastor who felt the need to micro-mismanage his staff so they’d behave in ways that made him comfortable. Regardless of their gifts, talents, backgrounds and personalities, these pastors made sure their staff understood what was and was not acceptable in the ways they spoke to and related with people. I had a sense they were trying to make me into a mini version of themselves, and something in me always rebelled. They wanted to control my sense of humor, what passages of Scripture I could teach on, how I could speak to people and what stories about my life I could tell. In spite of my unique gifts, talents and skills, they seemed determined to make me in their image. Needless to say, I didn’t last under their leadership.

This manipulation went beyond the basic and necessary training a good leader engages in when communicating the vision, mission and culture of this particular local church. They seemed to think if the church members saw a staff person as more loving and forgiving, more personable and likeable, more capable of handling God’s Word and feeding the spiritual appetites of the congregants, there’d be competition on the team. Instead of working together as companions in the Kingdom, these pastors often viewed others with a wary eye, watching for any sign their staff might be better pastors than they were. I walked many a year in different churches not with the hopeful challenge of, “What would Jesus do?” but with the fearful question, “Would the pastor approve of this?” Continue Reading

Getting Out Of The Way

Posted by Jim Thornber on February 26, 2017
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Leadership. Tagged: , , , , , , . 2 Comments

“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ” – 1 Corinthians 12:12

 

keyLast year I told my Bishop that I hope I never perform a baptism at the church I pastor. He looked at me a bit strange. Since I didn’t elaborate, he asked me if I knew that baptism was one of the ordinances of the church. I said I did, but I repeated that I sincerely hope I never did a baptism at my church. He said, “Okayyyyyy, I’ll bite.”

I said this to my Bishop after discovering that one of the greatest joys I’ve had as a pastor have been the times I’ve not ministered. I may be the pastor of the church, but I also know I’m not the only minister in God’s Church or in the local church where I pastor.

When I read this passage in 1 Corinthians 12:12, it makes me wonder why, in most churches, the pastor is the one who does most of the ministry and has all the key roles. The former pastor of my church was there for almost three decades, and his son was still at the church when I arrived. One day I said to this pastor’s son that one of the things I hope I never do is baptize. Again, that look. I said, “Why should the pastor have the privilege of baptizing people who were invited to church and, in many cases, discipled by others? I think the person who is most influential in the salvation of a new believer should have the privilege of baptizing them. Furthermore, why is it the pastor is the only one who gets to baptize his own kids? Why shouldn’t every parent have that joy?” Continue Reading

I Will Never Stop Teaching

Posted by Jim Thornber on January 28, 2017
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people” – Mark 6:6

bibles-jdtI was in the produce section of Wal-Mart the other day when I saw Charles, who pastors another church in town. As is our custom when we run into one another, we stood there talking about God, church, Scriptures and life. We laughed, shared, commiserated and truly enjoyed ourselves. It’s strange that we can’t seem to find the time to have a lunch together, but we have the time to share and encourage one another for half an hour while we lean up against the banana display in the produce section.

While we were talking about teaching the Scriptures, Pastor Charles reminded me of the scene in Mark where Jesus couldn’t do many miracles in Nazareth, His home town, because the people there lacked faith. Mark 6:6 says, “And he was amazed at their unbelief.”

I know how Jesus felt. And so does Pastor Charles. We spend so much of our time as pastors soothing the saints and reassuring the redeemed we are the first to be amazed when people still doubt God and His Word and make the life of the church fifteenth on their list of important places to get involved in. We listen to people claim to love God’s Word but fail to show up consistently to Bible studies when they are offered. We hear people claim that their life is not their own because Jesus is their Lord, and then they complain when life isn’t going their way all the time. It is about this time in the life of a pastor when we wonder if we are doing anybody any good.

That’s why meeting Pastor Charles was so timely for me. I needed to know that Jesus felt my confusion, was amazed at people’s unbelief, yet never gave up His mission or His ministry. After telling us Jesus was amazed at the people’s unbelief, Mark goes on to say, “Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.”

            My job as a pastor isn’t to get people to accept the Word I teach. Neither does my calling ever include a time to stop teaching. If only five people show up for Bible study on Wednesday night, I need to teach like there were five hundred there. I know what I want to do. I want to tell the church, “You have voted with your feet that Bible study isn’t important to you so we are cancelling it. Call me if you change your mind.” That’s what my pride wants to do. It wants to stand up and tell people how good and holy I am because I want to teach the Word but how unholy and selfish they are because they don’t want to study the Word. I want to take the bully pulpit and justify my bad attitude at the expense of others. And by talking with other pastors, I’m not the only one.

But then I run into a brother in Wal-Mart who reminds me that after being rejected by His hometown, Jesus turned and went from village to village, teaching the people. Jesus never forgot His mission and His purpose for being with us. He was amazed at their unbelief, not angry. He was amazed, but didn’t take it personal. He just continued on. And this is what I sense He is telling me.

And so I will.

 

 

I Get To Love People

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 18, 2016
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Earlier this week I was reading Eugene Peterson’s book Under the Unpredictable Plant.  In it, he shares that someone once asked himpermission-granted-red his favorite part of being a pastor, and he answered, “The mess.” Yes, being a pastor is messy, which contributes to the creative side of allowing God to be God in situations that don’t always fall under the category, “Stuff I Learned in Seminary.”

As I thought about this same question, my quick answer was, “I get to love people on my own terms.”

I’ve worked with more than one pastor who felt the need to micro-mismanage his staff so they’d behave in ways that made him comfortable. Regardless of their gifts, talents, backgrounds and personalities, these pastors made sure their staff understood what was and was not acceptable in the ways they spoke to and related with people. I had a sense they were trying to make me into a mini version of themselves, and something in me always rebelled. They wanted to control my sense of humor, what passages of Scripture I could teach on, how I could speak to people and what stories about my life I could tell. In spite of my unique gifts, talents and skills, they seemed determined to make me in their image. Needless to say, I didn’t last under their leadership.

This manipulation went beyond the basic and necessary training a good leader engages in when communicating the vision, mission and culture of this particular local church. They seemed to think if the church members saw a staff person as more loving and forgiving, more personable and likeable, more capable of handling God’s Word and feeding the spiritual appetites of the congregants, there’d be competition on the team. Instead of working together as companions in the Kingdom, these pastors often viewed others with a wary eye, watching for any sign their staff might be better pastors than they were. I walked many a year in different churches not with the hopeful challenge of, “What would Jesus do?” but with the fearful question, “Would the pastor approve of this?”

Now I’m the pastor, and I get to love people on my own terms, not on the terms of a leader who is more afraid of his reputation than in promoting the Kingdom. When it comes to forgiving and restoring people, I don’t have to wait years for the senior pastor to put the divorced piano player back on the worship team. When it comes to humor, I can be myself without the senior pastor giving me the evil eye while his children get away with saying anything they want. When it comes to teaching the Word, I can preach any passage I want without the senior pastor telling me that some people will be offended at those verses.

I now enjoy the freedom to do my own imitation of Christ without having to worry about what someone else will think or approve of based on their fears and anxieties. Don’t misunderstand me: I am a good team player. I know the necessity of supporting leadership and being of one mind and purpose. But when that purpose is to make the pastor look good at the expense of the spiritual life of the staff, then something is truly amiss.

I think about these things every time I have a staff meeting. I’m always checking myself and wondering:

  • Am I encouraging this person to be who God called them to be, or who I want them to be?
  • Have I prayed about their gifts and where they fit best on the staff?
  • If what they did makes me uncomfortable, am I uncomfortable personally, or because it was scripturally out of line?
  • When it comes to correcting my staff, am I doing so in order to raise their level of leadership skills, team support and Christian maturity, or because I have a personal problem with their behavior?

I’ve come to learn that one of the greatest mentors in my life is my previous pain. It reminds me how much I hurt and how much I don’t want anyone under my authority to feel that pain. Ever. I want everyone who works with me to say with joy and enthusiasm, “Pastor Jim gives me permission to be myself in Christ Jesus.” For me, that is one of the greatest compliments I can receive, and it is one of my favorite ways to love people.

 

 

 

How NOT To Be A Dittohead

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 15, 2016
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

ditto headAnd I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. – Jeremiah 3:15

I did not grow up wanting to be a pastor. I sort of stumbled into it by default. I’ve been told from my early teen years that I was a good teacher and I’ve developed that skill over the years. But I didn’t want to be a pastor, just a teacher.

However, this was the problem I encountered with not wanting to be a pastor: in order to be a teacher in a church, too often I was forced to fit into the mold of the senior pastor. He wanted to recreate me in his image, make me be like him. He wanted me to think like him, have his sense of humor and his manner of speech. Too often they wanted a “mini-me.” And since I wasn’t always willing to be like him, my teaching opportunities were infrequent.

The Lord says in Jeremiah 3:15 that He will give people shepherds (pastors) after His own heart. If this is so, then why did most pastors I served with (read that, “under”) want to make me in the image of their heart at the expense of God’s heart? Why did I have to do an imitation of them in order to do what God called me to do? I finally determined that to do what I felt called by God to do I had to be a pastor, a shepherd and leader, after God’s own heart. I couldn’t do an imitation of a pastor still living in the 1970’s. I had to be who God called me to be.

I’ve been reading Eugene Peterson’s new memoir The Pastor. In this book he quotes Baron Friedrich von Hügel who said “there are no dittos in souls.” When I read that I wanted to jump up and shout, “That’s it! I don’t have to be like anyone else. I just need to follow the heart of God!”

Now, before you go off and just “be yourself” (claiming all you need to do is obey God, not man, quoting Acts 5:29 as your proof text), you should know that when you follow the heart of God you also follow the leadership structures He has set up. I have willfully submitted to the leadership structure of my denomination. However, in that submission I am also free to be the pastor God has called me to be. No one in my denomination has ever suggested I would be a better pastor if I were more like Bro. So-and-So.

I want to encourage you, my half-dozen readers, to be the shepherd/pastor/leader that God has established after His own heart. Stop trying to imitate your favorite pastor in order to be “successful.” Or worse, stop being manipulated by other leaders to do their imitation of what it means to be a successful shepherd/pastor/leader. When God gifted you, He did so knowing what He was doing. He didn’t make a mistake. He didn’t make a ditto soul or a ditto pastor.

Now, when you feed on that “knowledge and understanding,” you’ll be ready to be the best at whatever God has created you to be. There may be some dittoheads on the radio, but there are none in the Kingdom of God.

What Is In Your Future?

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 5, 2015
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Leadership. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem. ‘And after that.” he said, ‘I must go on to Rome.’” – Acts 19:21

 

long-road-into-the-sunsetWhen you talk about the dreams you have for the future, what do they involve? Do they include a comfortable retirement, a good 401k, perhaps some traveling? Those are a few of the things I think about. But then, as I’m preaching through the book of Acts at my church, I come across this verse where Paul says he must go on to Rome. It seems Paul’s idea of a future involved going to Rome and dying for His Lord, while Jesus’ earthly future involved Calvary. Both these men finished their lives with the needs of others on their mind and the promotion of the Good News on their hearts. Now I have to ask myself this question: Does my vision of the future involve the Good News of Jesus brought into people’s lives? How about you? What is your Gospel hope? Where do you plan to take the Gospel next?

If the Gospel is truly moving in you; if the Word of God is so deep into your life that it is able to judge and separate the thoughts and attitudes of your heart (Heb. 4:12), then it will confront any vision of the future that does not include speaking about the goodness of God and the sacrifice of His one and only Son. I’ll take it a step further. I don’t know if it is possible to be a fully dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ and have a vision for the future that does not include making disciples, because the Great Commission of Jesus to the Church is to take the Gospel into all nations and make disciples. It wasn’t to make churches, construct nice buildings, develop an exciting Children’s church, put together a killer worship team and hire a dynamic preacher that makes you feel good about your relationship with God. Christ commissioned us to make disciples.

Can we truly be obedient to God and not be involved in making disciples of Jesus? If you will not put yourself out and involve yourself in the lives of others in a way that introduces the full story of Jesus and the power of Calvary, then you can say you love God until you run out of breath, but the truth is you’re not obeying the Word of the Lord. Continue Reading

Is There An Elephant In The Room?

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 9, 2015
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David. 2 Sam. 5:6-7

elephantI don’t know if I’ve ever been to a church that didn’t have an elephant or two in the room. Even the church I pastor has a few. They seem to be everywhere, sitting right in the middle of everything, acknowledged by everyone and addressed by no one.  However, elephants don’t make good church members. They take up too much room and will eventually make a mess that might be impossible to clean up.

David had an elephant in the room when he became King, and they were the Jebusites who still occupied Jerusalem. Everyone knew they were there, squatting on the hill that Abraham took Isaac to in obedience to God’s command to sacrifice his only son. But David, who wasn’t afraid of Goliath or lions or bears, certainly wasn’t going to let a nasty little elephant stand in the way of God’s desire to establish His name in Jerusalem (Deut. 12:5; 2 Chron. 6:6).

How do you exit and elephant from the room of your church? Or your life? These are the points I used last week to address some of the elephants at Journey Church, and help people address their personal elephants – those things everyone (including yourself!) knows is there but no one wants to talk about. Perhaps they will help you.

You exit an elephant from the room by:

1. Admitting it exists (2 Sam. 5:6). That’s just common sense. You cannot address an issue if you won’t admit it exists. But many people won’t. King Saul didn’t. If you don’t think you have any personal elephants, ask your friends or family. You might be surprised at their answer.

2. Ignoring its taunts (2 Sam. 5:7). Elephants can be loud and noisy. They walk on padded feet, but when they start to make noise, the trumpeting is not something you want to listen to all day. The Jebusites told David even the blind and lame could keep him out of Jerusalem. Elephants will taunt you with an element of truth mixed with a lot of lies. Your elephant is probably right in the middle of your territory. It looks impregnable. It mocks you. It says you will never overcome it. It says you are so weak that two people, one blind and one lame, could defend it from your efforts to overcome it. Ignore it. Remember that Jesus said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Continue Reading