Candidate for Pastor

J. is here candidating to be an associate pastor at our church this weekend. We had a great opportunity to sit and chat with him at a gathering for the three "youngest" adult communities tonight. As he sat ready to answer questions people had for him, I asked, almost immediately, to talk about some of the language differences between the emerging conversation and the traditional ways people talk about church. When Jill and I left, we realized that no one else understood what was happening. J. is TRULY talking a different language. Most of the older people sitting in the room (by older I mean folks about 40) simply interpretted what J. was describing as just another Seeker-oriented service like one finds at Willow Creek, or our own city's Heartland. J. isn't talking about that AT ALL!! He's talking about communicating the Truths of Scripture to people who already love God, but who have a completely different way of communicating. A friend afterward was commenting on the importance of expository preaching. J.'s style doesn't contradict that at all, it just teaches Scripture in a way that this friend's third grade son can comprehend. He'd probably be able to stay in the service and sit with the family under this style of service, because it would be communicating in a way that he, a tactile learner, would be able to benefit from.

Someone asked J. if, by using the term "authentic," he really meant "relevant." In a strict sense of those words, yes, he did. Unfortunately, the message J. gave, when he said, "yes," was not the message intended. Some people interpretted that as carrying the same meaning as Seeker-oriented churches place on the word. What he meant, though, was that people who came into the service would walk out with an understanding of Scripture that they could live out during the week. This isn't a topical theme on how to handle money in a Godly way (though there are a lot of Christians who need to learn that lesson too), but a lesson on how to take, for example, James 3 and actually know how to keep one's tongue under control in specific circumstances where that is a difficult thing to do. This is oriented to people who already love God. It is not a service designed to teach any and all people how they can be better people. It is designed to teach Believers how they can be MORE faithful to God, how they can put into practice the things that Scripture teaches.

J., you've definitely got what our church needs. Jill and I are holding you in our prayers!