Pastors

The War Within Letters

As you might imagine, “The War Within: An Anatomy of Lust” in our Fall, 1982, issue attracted quite a bit of attention.

We received thirty-five letters about the article, far more than any other single article response in our three years of publishing. Twenty-four of the letters were positive, eleven were negative.

In addition, more readers than usual returned their Reader Surveys (an important source of feedback for us please fill out the one in this issue on page 121). “The War Within” received more 10 ratings than any article we’ve published. It also received several 1 ratings, but still stands as our second highest ranked article ever.

Normally we don’t publish a letters column, but in this case we decided interest demanded it. Following are samplings from the letters.

I object to “The War Within” on two counts: (1) It was unnecessarily explicit; (2) It could utterly discourage one who is being tempted, and imply God’s grace is not sufficient to keep one from a similar tragedy.

The temptation to lust is common to all normal men, but surely such utter defeat is not consistent with the grace of God. When the moral standards of our day are so low anyway, why imply that sexual duplicity is common to the Christian ministry?

Toledo, Ohio

The author of “The War Within” says on page 46, “I cannot tell you why a prayer that has been prayed for ten years is answered on the 1000th request when God has met the first 999 with silence.” This man does not know the biblical principles for conquering lust.

Nowhere does the Bible say to pray for victory over lust. It says to flee (1 Cor. 6:18), read Scripture (Ps. 119:9, 11), walk with the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), make every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor. 10:35), be mutually accountable to one another dames 5:16), and have a satisfying sexual relationship with your own wife (1 Cor. 7:1-9). Where were any of these directives in this man’s “Battle Strategy” on page 46?

I seriously question how long his “deliverance” will last unless he adopts a biblical strategy for conquering lust.

Cedarpines Park, California

One of the author’s big mistakes was his detailing of his lustful experiences. The accounts of “Miss Peach Bowl,” “Miss October,” and Cheryl Tiegs make readers picture in their minds what the author experienced. Ephesians 5 is very clear that we must not “participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret” (11-12, my italics).

The question also arises: Shouldn’t this man have left the ministry, at least while he was being ruled by lust? According to God’s Word, even though we are forgiven, the consequences of our sin still remain, don’t they?

I do not want this letter to be totally negative, for if the above mentioned things had been more generally stated, the article would have been excellent. The idea that pornography deceptively feeds the male ego, while in reality the girls on the pages would have nothing to do with the readers is so true. I also appreciated the ten steps entitled, “Battle Strategy: Some Practical Advice.”

Lockport, New York

“The War Within” was a tawdry excursion into voyeurism. After reading it, I felt I needed a mental bath. The Scriptures manage to deal adequately with sins without giving a blow-by-blow description of their implementation. The apostle Paul puts it best when he cautions, “It is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.”

Artesia, New Mexico

May I as the wife of a church leader comment on “The War Within”? I don’t think that discussing the issue in this way will be edifying to other ministers, other readers, or the author.

Worse, it has given me a sense of mistrust in Christian leadership that I never had before. Name Withheld seems to imply that his condition is normal among ministers today. I find this a horrifying thought.

Yet I find many preachers seem to love to preach on David’s sin. Do they have the same sickness as the author? When a pastor prays penitently for his own sin, I find myself thinking, “You too?” Now I notice how many pastors’ illustrations are centered on sexual problems. Dark suspicions cross my mind. Perhaps I was naive before, but I would rather be naive than overly suspicious.

Wayne, New Jersey

As I read “The War Within” my spirit was arrested and unsettled. Instead of a fire that warms the soul, I felt the fire that hungers for destructive fuel. The essence of the article was on target, the details were ignoble.

Sure, I struggle with lust too. But I desire a challenge to holiness, not a refuge of palatability because so many have the blackness of a lust life hidden in their souls.

We are living in a day of compassionate theology in the church. We feel better if many share our plight, and we unconditionally love and accept because, “there go I but for the grace of God.” But for our soul’s sakes, let’s major on the power and grace of Cod that leads to holiness, and if we mention the pig pen, let’s not describe it.

Erie, Pennsylvania

I could have written every word of the first half of “The War Within.” The sin and the battle are mine. For many years I have lived with the guilt of my sin, thinking I was the only pastor in the world so troubled. My ministry has been blessed, but in the darkness lurked my problem. I felt dishonest, unfaithful, subchristian.

The article has helped me identify my sin, but has also has given me great hope. I feel renewed. Through the encouragement and honesty of the author, I am confident the victory can also be mine by God’s grace.

Midwest

You have allowed God to break in on me. A new love, a new desire, a new devotion, a new hope is now mine because of your courage to print “The War Within.” I can never express my thanks enough. God knows my heart, my new heart, and that is enough.

Name also withheld

I have been a minister for seven years. I can see myself in every paragraph of your article, “The War Within.” I too have prayed for deliverance from my lust-it is coming slowly.

I write because I was under the impression I was the only one with this problem, who had a strong call from God to minister, yet battled lust. Thank you for sharing your struggle. I am more assured that my problem is not unconquerable and can, with God’s help, be overcome.

West Coast

When I began to read “The War Within” I was stunned. I had to write and tell you how unusually helpful it is. It’s well-written, sensitive, but most importantly, so very realistic. Please carry on in this tradition of articles, so unusual in our world of pablum and prepackaged success stories.

East Bend, North Carolina

To the editor of LEADERSHIP and the author of “The War Within”-thank you. It was the best article I have ever seen on this subject.

East

I’d like to express my great appreciation for “The War Within. ” I work on the staff of a counseling center in San Francisco. We deal mostly with Christians coming out of homosexuality into wholeness in Jesus Christ. My three and a half years here have opened my eyes to the dark side of the church today. I know all too well the struggles with sexual sin so many Christians have. Keep up the good work. You’re right on.

San Francisco, California

In view of your timely and helpful articles on temptation I would like to raise the following question: Who ministers to the minister who has fallen into sin? Adultery seems to be a sin that isn’t easily understood by Christians and therefore categorically defined as unmentionable. Is it that much more damaging than theft, lying, gossiping, gluttony, and backbiting?

Because it’s such a secret sin, we don’t have the resources for help that we have for other sins. Thank you for providing some help in your article.

California

Although “The War Within” was explicit, and could lead to fantasizing if one would allow it, I still feel the article had tremendous value. We need to sense the depths to which lust can carry us and often by sticking our heads in the sand we avoid even thinking of the degree to which we can be controlled by Satan.

I think you gave us a genuine picture of how we as pastors and church leaders need to guard our minds and hearts. In addition, it gave a tremendous sense of hope as the author came through to victory.

Thank you for the courage to print such an article. I look forward to future issues with the relevance of this one.

Pennsylvania

Your issue on “Temptation” must have been directed to me from the Spirit. For years I’ve been troubled with the temptation to lust. For too long I’ve asked the question, “At what point does looking become lust?” I have come to believe that what Jesus was saying in Matthew 6 is that since we have the Holy Spirit as individuals, God expects more from us than he did from the Israelites for whom only the act counted.

In any case, we must fight it, and pray to God for deliverance.

South

For years I have wrestled with the conflict of emotions described in “The War Within.” It was a tremendous help to me to read about another who has experienced what surely must be a very common but very hushed concern not only among religious professionals but among many Christian males.

Southwest

It took a great deal of courage for both author and publisher to address the issue of “The War Within.” I commend you for being willing to do it. It was a powerful, moving testimony to God’s power to deliver.

Santa Barbara, California

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastors

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLISHER

Harold L. Myra

You’ll notice a change in this issue. For some time now, Paul Robbins has been encouraging Terry Muck to take over the editor’s note on page 3. True to his strong academic background (M.Div., Bethel Seminary; Ph.D. in comparative religions, Northwestern), you’ll find in his note that Terry provides careful thought and historical perspectives combined with practicality-as, in fact, he does throughout LEADERSHIP. Paul and I are delighted that Terry has assumed the full responsibilities of editor and has developed such an unusually gifted staff.

This completes a cycle that gives Paul and me deep satisfaction. I recall a walk on the Illinois Prairie Path when LEADERSHIP was just an idea, and we wondered if, with our corporate responsibilities, we could or should take on this new publication. Churches seemed in great need, but we knew we would have to “do it out of our hip pockets.” We pledged that we’d bail each other out if the rising water threatened either of our prime responsibilities. At that time we were fond of quoting the verse about one chasing a thousand and two putting ten thousand to flight. (This is the core concept behind our forming the Office of the Publisher,; a team approach we have used for several years. The “office” is actually the two of us working in tandem. { We’ve found a true partnership can multiply effectiveness enormously.)

This is why you’ll also notice we’ve retitled this page. From now on Paul and I will share it, depending on who has the time (and inspiration) to write it. From the beginning, Paul has been deeply involved in the marketing and financial aspects of LEADERSHIP as well as being its founding editor. We will both, of course, continue to be available to Terry for editorial interaction and for specific writing assignments.

* * *

I’d like to share with you this response to my last note:

“I read with interest your ‘Message from the Publisher’ (Fall, 1982). I, too, have received my ‘twenty-six’ promotions from your organization. Rather than be disgruntled, I have received them with interest. I enjoy seeing promotion. I want to find out how others do it. And I am impressed with the drive, the enthusiasm, and the color with which you present your product.

“However, yesterday I discovered my own subscription had lapsed. This is not because I am uninterested. My brother is senior editor of LEADERSHIP. I definitely want the magazines. I faintly recall, in the back of my mind, being aware that my subscription was about to expire. I planned that when the next reminder arrived-number twenty-seven?-it would probably be the one I’d mail in.

“Please do not cull me out of your mailing list too quickly. Some of us need twenty-six reminders.”-Daryl Merrill, pastor, Christian Life Church, Mount Prospect, Illinois.

Well, Daryl’s letter indicates why direct mail must work as it does and why we need all those renewal letters and promotions. Thanks for bearing with us!

As I write about good things happening at LEADERSHIP, I pray for those struggling with bad things happening to them. Many are going through personal and economic crises these days. May those of us caught up in exciting ministries not be blind to God’s rather different work in others, nor think our “successful” endeavors are the axis of all God’s blessing on earth.

Many of us jest about writing the book Humility and How I Achieved It. My son Gregory, six, recently helped put my efforts into perspective. I had just returned from a radio interview and asked, as I came in the door, “Well, Gregory, did you hear me on the radio?”

His response was reassuring and kind: “Yes, Dad, it was a good talk.” I blinked, and then grinned. His tone was paternal, just the way I would say to him, “Yes, Greg, you colored that giraffe beautifully.” Having given me adequate strokes, he returned to the more interesting tangibles of running speed racers across the floor.

We who for a short time give leadership need ever to look through God’s glasses at the labors of others.

Armed with a ready humor toward our own pretensions, we can more genuinely appreciate the ministries of others. Paul expressed this spirit in Philippians 1:3. “All my prayers for you are full of praise to God! When I pray for you, my heart is full of joy, because of all your wonderful help in making known the good news about Christ” (TLB).

We who currently enjoy “success” as well as all those caught in dire circumstances stand together childlike before the Father. Let us pray for a great sensitivity to each other-those who “abound,” and those who face great adversity or seeming barrenness.

Harold L. Myra President, Christianity Today, Inc.

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastors

Bacteria in the Body

Dave Jackson

How can we build strong churches when we keep attracting weak, even unhealthy, people?

Seamless pattern with microbes and viruses.

Sara wanted help. She was 27 and dying. No self-respecting Christian would blatantly turn aside, and yet the cost of caring for Sara seemed overwhelming. She had ALS, a degenerative nerve disease that would soon kill her.

The rehabilitation institute had done everything it could to help her cope with what was happening so rapidly in her body. She wanted to go home to her apartment for a couple of weeks before spending her last days with her mother.

A nurse would be with her during the days, but Sara was terrified of sleeping. Her father had died of ALS in his sleep less than a year ago. She asked if some women from our church could stay with her at night.

Sara was not a Christian, but she had heard about our church from a co-worker a year ago—before her disease was evident. Jerry and his wife, Kathy, had stayed in contact with Sara as the disease progressed and was diagnosed. When they brought her to church, many people reached out to welcome her. One was Martha, a paraplegic who knew the agony of living in a body that did not function properly.

We could have sent Sara to a nursing home or encouraged her to move in with her mother sooner. Both options might have met our Christian duty, and they would have avoided disrupting anyone's schedule. But she had asked for our help.

Would Sara receive the Lord if we cared for her? Who could know? It wasn't even fair to toy with such an expectation. There was only one legitimate question. Sara had asked for our help; could we, would we give it?

Sixteen women volunteered to spend the nights with Sara in teams of two. In some cases the volunteers had to find care for their own children; they adjusted their schedules, dropped out of other church obligations, and agreed to live with exhaustion the day after their turns. Seventeen other people joined a support team to pray for Sara and the care givers. Little by little a way was found, and a will to help emerged.

The volunteers usually stayed awake while Sara slept. They calmed her panic when she awoke, communicated God's love to her, helped her talk about her impending death. They did every physical thing for her from feeding her to moving her foot to a more comfortable position. She was still able to talk and move her head. But there was always the possibility that Sara's diaphragm would receive no more signals to draw another breath.

The Long and the Short of Ministry to the Needy

The task of ministering to Sara seemed huge, but it also promised to be brief. Most of us can mobilize for short-term compassion. Ambivalence creeps in when it looks like we will be saddled with ongoing service to weak or disturbed people. How can a pastor hope to build a congregation of strong, mature saints if all the time and energy is devoured by needy people?

There is no lack of scriptural injunctions to receive and serve the poor, weak, and needy. Jesus "came to seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10), "to preach good news to the poor," etc. (Luke 4:18), and our very salvation is tied to how we serve the least of Jesus' brothers (Matt. 25:34–46). But we usually expect those needy people to be quickly transformed into the strong and mature. What happens when they are not? What should we do when we foresee that the needy are likely to remain needy for a long time? How do we engineer a "balanced" congregation?

Our church happens to be divided into small groups of about a dozen people each. Every group has a designated pastoral leader plus a couple of assistants. In filling out these groups, we have traditionally selected mature support people to help add stability. Then, into that context we could invite new Christians or weak, needy, even disturbed people.

It's been a good model, but our categories haven't always worked. The lines of distinction are not so neat. The strongest and most successful among us are at times very needy. And those we view as basically needy have come through with gifts just when we needed them most.

Martha, for instance, was one of the primary organizers for the ministry to Sara, even though Martha is confined to a wheelchair. Her handicap has developed in her a strength of character and compassion unequaled in many people. Michele was another of the organizers. And yet she is a single parent who has received much ministry from others in the church.

In more recent times we have been paying less attention to who is or isn't "needy" and more attention to spiritual gifts. The biblical analogy of the church as a body indicates that each member has a vital role, each member needs all the other members, and those members who appear less comely are actually to be most highly esteemed.

Recognition of spiritual gifts still enables us to be careful when organizing small groups, but it does not see ministry as a one-way street.

Intolerance of the Weak and Needy

In spite of agreement among many pastors concerning what we ought to do, it is sometimes hard to welcome the weak. We fear that if we really open our arms, we will become a magnet for overwhelming numbers of needy people. Love is so rare in this world that there is some cause for that concern. At Reba we have not been able to incorporate all the people who come to us. We can't put everyone in a small group.

But there are other, more insidious reasons for repelling the weak and needy.

1. We don't want to turn off the successful and the gifted. Modern marketing philosophy tells us a congregation filled with well-tailored executives and professionals will probably attract similar people. After all, who wants to associate with losers?

When I look around on Sunday morning, I usually see eight to ten young people from Grove School, a live-in program for those with mental disabilities and special needs. The same number of older adults wander in from Ridgeview, a local sheltered-care home. Several are in wheelchairs.

I admit I squirmed the day a man rolled in in his wheelchair wearing a big floppy hat with campaign and PTL buttons all around it. Lavender and chartreuse feathers hung down in his eyes, and a dirty serape was thrown over his shoulders. He smelled from ten feet away, and on the back of his chair was a bag with what looked like a bone in it. A sign on the bag read, "In case of seizure."

I couldn't prevent the worry that something embarrassing was going to happen, and I wondered how often our ragtag assembly offended the more refined visitors.

2. We want a powerful, transforming religion. Spiritual success can become more important than physical success. Is our faith powerless if so many of our people are needy, crippled, and even sinful? It's easy to feel that way. Does our God reign?

A couple of Sundays ago, after a teaching on prayer, one member got up and suggested we should seriously pray for Sara's physical healing. Sara was not present, but did we dare take such a public risk before our children and visitors? What if God did not heal her? What if she died? Where was our spiritual power?

We did pray—a simple and direct request to our Father. We asked him to heal Sara and save her life.

We made no claims of knowing God's will, and we did not insist that he grant our request. But we let him know what we fervently wished.

3. We don't like to count ourselves among the truly needy. I have sometimes wondered if God leaves some physically handicapped people in our midst, unhealed, to remind us that we all are needy, but all able to give. That has been one of the impacts on me of the obviously needy people in our congregation. If that is the case, we owe them a great debt. Because, without a consciousness of our own weakness, we could lose our sense of dependence on God. And that would be disastrous.

But it is human nature to want to deny that dependency, and it can lead us to be intolerant of the more obviously needy.

Grandiosity, the Greatest Danger

Intolerance of the weak and needy can find another expression besides outright rejection. It can come out in a compulsive, fix-it mentality. Their lives must be turned around, quickly. We start playing God. Whether with radical measures to save a marriage, dramatic counseling techniques to rescue the emotionally disturbed, or high-pressure efforts to reform a sinning member, we barge on, drunk with just enough success to be oblivious to our error.

Finally, when our hearts are arrested and our eyes are opened to the folly of our over-intervention, we begin to search for understanding and guidance. I have found David's words comforting.

My heart is not haughty, nor are my eyes raised too high. I do not exercise myself in great matters nor in things too high for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul like a child quieted at its mother's breast, like a child that is quieted is my soul.

Let Israel hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever.

Psalm 131

We have been trying to learn a more modest sense of responsibility and, with it, the patience to live with what we cannot change. A situation like Sara's is helpful. Apart from God's miraculous intervention, Sara will die within weeks. There is nothing we can do about that. We are not called to save her life, and only God can save her soul. Our mandates are more simple: to care for her for a limited time and to share the Good News. How Sara responds is between her and the Lord.

Guidelines for Ministry

How can one minister best to those who are needy without getting top-heavy?

1. Be sure those who feel their need are welcomed. Some of us don't realize our own neediness, and because of that we expect to be welcomed wherever we go. Not so with handicapped people. If you don't really want them in your midst, they'll soon know it. Welcoming them can be as basic as providing ramps for wheelchairs or sign language for the deaf.

Our ministry to many of the emotionally disturbed and retarded people began simply-by a member who worked in their institution inviting them to church. We have encouraged members with interests in social service or medical fields. They are worthy occupations with many opportunities to befriend people in need.

Our ministry to Cambodian refugees began simply by sponsoring one family. When we invited them to church, they came, and even though we could speak no Khmer and they could speak very little English, they soon invited their friends, who invited their relatives, and on and on.

A wife and mother contributed many hours, and over a summer, a student spent full time establishing a relationship with the first family. Now there are eighty Cambodians coming regularly, and forty-three adults have been baptized and have joined the church. One of our retired men devotes most of his time to our Cambodian population. We didn't plan a ministry to Cambodians. They came and stayed because they felt welcome.

2. Share the task. Any difficult ministry will fizzle and possibly burn out the person trying to carry it if it is not shared.

3. Create a community. Part of sharing the task is to make sure the church really functions like the body of Christ. People need to support one another, know their different gifts, and be free to use them. This comes from being together.

One night I was awakened at 3:30 a.m. by the doorbell. I opened the door to find a body sprawled on our steps. I yelled to my wife, "Neta, call the police!" We have a lot of crime in our city, and my first thought was that the woman was a rape victim. A great bruise was appearing on her bloated face. A moan assured us she was alive.

Then Neta said, "It's Pat! Look, Dave—it's Pat!"

She was right. Pat looked so bad I had not been able to recognize her. In a complete daze, she began to try and get up. We helped her into the house.

She was drunk, totally stoned.

Pat is an alcoholic. For years she had been part of our church, and dry. Then she spent a year in Europe. When she returned, she avoided the church, and we couldn't really engage her.

But in her great need, as she ran down the dark street, she knew help was available. When she fell and smashed her face, she crawled to our door. Because many in the church have moved into our same neighborhood to build a ministry environment, she could have gone to the six-flat next door, the family four doors down, or any of a dozen other homes on nearby streets. Almost anyone who comes in contact with the church soon learns where our houses are in the neighborhood, and they know they are welcome at any of them.

Today, with the assistance of AA, Pat is dry again, and she is renewing her relationship with the Lord.

4. Squander your resources. Modern industry and business have taught people to be costeffective. Do our efforts produce tangible returns? Sometimes in the church we worry too much about that.

For example, we have a church supper each Friday evening. Not all members come, but it is an enjoyable time of fellowship that enhances our experience of community. However, in the last year or so, more and more people from the Ridgeview Sheltered Care Home have been coming. Some of these folks also come to worship, but there are several who only take advantage of the free meal.

For them it is a chance to "go out" for an evening. They show no interest in the Lord, they are uncouth, drink up the coffee before others get their share, and spill things without cleaning them up adequately. I suppose we could ask them to help in the meal preparation or clean-up, but it would probably take more supervision than it would be worth.

Some of us were about to propose some method of restricting their participation or requiring something in return-even if it was just church attendance. But then we were reminded of Luke 14:12–14, where Jesus said, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you are repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

5. Avoid being manipulated. The last big fight Neta and I had was sparked by a needy man manipulating me.

Our family was ready to leave for a short evening at the library when the phone rang. When I answered, Les said he had to talk to me immediately. He really had something on his mind that he had to take care of. I said there was no way we could do it right then.

"It could be very important for you and several other people," he warned.

"Can you tell me briefly over the phone?"

"No. It's too serious to mention on the phone. "

"I'm sorry. I'm ready to walk out the door with my family."

"Where did you think that one up? How come you won't talk to me, Dave? Are you afraid of me?"

"No. You know I'm not afraid of you, Les."

And I wasn't, personally, even though Les had once tried to punch me in the stomach. But Les is a very unstable character. He has frequently been arrested and institutionalized. And he has genuinely frightened children by entering people's houses, threatening and yelling. Once our children were terrified when he pulled a knife on our barking dog.

I did not want to take a chance that in his rage (whatever the cause), Les might show at our home the next day while I was away. It was then that I took a fateful short cut. Without checking my schedule, I said I would see him if he came by the next night at 7:30. Grudgingly, he accepted the plan.

But when I told Neta, she reminded me I had agreed to take care of the kids that evening so she could go to a practice for a special church program. Counseling erratic Les and overseeing two children at the same time simply wouldn't work. Bewildered, I froze. I had made my commitment to Neta, but Les had also extracted a promise from me. I knew him well enough to know that if I tried to cancel out on him, he would only become more irrational.

My fault in those times is to become silent until I think of a solution. Neta read this as not caring and as expecting her to accommodate her plans to my changes. It was a rotten evening at the library until we got things worked out.

I agreed to try and reschedule the meeting with Les the next day. God had graciously calmed his anger by then, and he went along with the change. I vowed not to let other people commandeer my appointment book in the future.

6. Be clear about sin. Including sinners in our midst is sometimes confused with approving their sin. This shouldn't surprise us, since it happened frequently to Jesus. But we can and should do certain things to prevent misunderstandings, especially when something more than our reputations is at stake.

A couple of years ago our family invited an unwed mother and her new baby to live with us for about six months until they could make more permanent arrangements. The young mother had repented of her sin and had received God's forgiveness. This was known and accepted by the adults in the church. The life we were able to provide Connie and her daughter, Brea, had almost all the benefits of a normal home. Neta gave a lot of physical help. There were hot, regular meals, laundry facilities, plenty of space, warm fellowship and support, and protection.

Our five-year-old daughter, who adored babies, was watching all this. One day she announced, "When I get big and have a baby, I don't think I'll get married."

We had a talk about how important daddies were, and it gave us the nudge to be more deliberate in our teaching about God's plan for the family.

The Rewards of Ministry

The fear that too many needy people in our midst may weaken our faith in a God who transforms and restores is like Peter's fear of walking on water. We may be afraid to try because we don't want to face the possibility of sinking. On the other hand, if we don't try, we can be sure we won't be present when God does work in mighty ways.

Last January a Scientologist family in our neighborhood was having severe financial problems. Their electricity was cut off; they were facing eviction, and they had just had a new baby when we discovered there was literally no food in the house. Tom McHugh's wallpapering business had for a long time been slowly slipping, but there was hope of recovery. Then the bottom dropped out, and they had no reserves.

Some church funds and personal contributions paid the back rent and got the electricity turned on. We organized to deliver hot meals-a custom we do among ourselves when a baby is born. (This made our help appear less condescending.) We also provided groceries for the shelves. It took time, but Tom found another job, and the family is slowly getting back on its feet financially.

To the McHughs, it was a direct miracle, a provision from the hand of the Lord. Scientologists believe failure is the greatest humiliation, the worst thing that can happen. The Church of Scientology, therefore, completely ignored them. But to the Christian, failure is no disgrace. Our church did not strive for an image of success.

The McHughs counted Jesus as their physical Savior, and they turned to him for their spiritual salvation too. They were soon baptized and are now active members of the church, giving to others.

Embracing those in need diffuses the horror of being weak and needy. Maybe the most frightening aspect of personal need and tragedy is the prospect of having to face it alone. But when we welcome those in need, we underline the message that it is OK to have needs; we all do, and we'll not forsake you when you face your hard trial. We're not God, and so we can't fix everything, but we can stand by each other.

When our daughter first saw Sara, she asked anxiously about her disease: "Will that ever happen to me?"

Last Sunday Sara was wheeled into our worship service to feebly give her testimony of her new faith in Jesus and to be baptized. Our Rachel leaned over to say, "Now I don't feel so bad for Sara, because I know she's going to see Jesus pretty soon."*

We have not resolved all our misgivings about the various bacteria that course through the body's bloodstream, and sometimes the more I ponder this condition, the less I think I have the prescription. But we have found truth in a children's song we often sing: "Love is something if you give it away you'll end up having more."

*The day after Dave Jackson mailed his article to LEADERSHIP, his daughter's s prediction came true.

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastors

AN ANTIDOTE TO STRESS

A Danish museum curator tells the story of how he and his staff released the tension of mounting an exhibit whose 900 pre-Columbian pieces were particularly fragile.

“We drove to Tivoli and proceeded to a little booth where for a couple of kroner you can throw three hard balls at several piles of ceramic plates. We reduced the place to a shambles. There wasn’t a saucer left whole.”

Stress needs an outlet, and some tasks require an antidote if you are to get to peak performance. Though, most times, a manager may not find a plate-shattering way to reverse emotional gears, looking for any kind of diametric change of pace can be well worth the effort. By deliberately going in the opposite direction after immersion in one type of work, you avoid feelings of burn-out, exhaustion, frustration. You may also avoid errors in judgment, short-temperedness and lowered personal productivity.

So, consider the activity pairs below. Next time you find yourself flagging at one activity, think of it as a signal to swing the other way. It could reenergize you, and get you back to a better level of functioning:

¥ Sedentary/Active. The antidote to a wearisome meeting can be as simple as a brisk walk. If you can get in some tennis or running at lunchtime, this can undo the weariness you may have felt after a morning of poring over reports.

¥ Caution/Risktaking. You have to be cautious when, for instance, making promises to your boss, or handling interpersonal problems among your staff, or dealing with a new supplier. On such occasions, there are ways of going in another direction: delegating one of your jobs to a subordinate, authorizing a new system, funding an exciting idea.

¥ Careful/Spontaneous. Exercising tact and diplomacy can be stressful-when, for example, you host the corporate brass, or deal with customer complaints. After such efforts, make a point of associating with someone with whom you can let your hair down. Even a few minutes of this can loosen up the knots.

¥ Serious/Light. Effective speakers know that a laugh can help people absorb the message better. And this complementary pair works the other way, too; after a serious meeting, some laughter in the hall outside the conference room will help break the tension.

¥ Taking in/Putting out. Physical strain can reduce your effectiveness. Why not try to balance the use of your eyes and ears? Get on the phone after a long bout of reading. Or initiate a meeting when your eyes start to glaze over the budget you’ve been working on.

¥ Gregarious/Solitary. The amount of contact you have with others sometimes needs to be balanced out. After a long business lunch you will probably do better alone at your desk than at a meeting. And, after hours behind your closed door, seeking out someone to talk to can help keep you going well.

¥ Negative/Positive. The emotional weight of, say, having to fire someone, having to refuse a request, having to scrap an idea or a project can cast a pall. You’ll best be able to recoup by directing your energies to positive tasks-making plans, offering congratulations or praise, considering something new.

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastors

Ministering Undercover: A Survey of Church Librarians

Marshall Shelley

Pens outmuscle swords, and books can help people in ways sermons cannot. Here are six secrets of developing a library that ministers.

Pens outmuscle swords, and books can help people in ways sermons cannot. Here are six secrets of developing a library that ministers.

Good books are like close friends-they wait patiently to speak until you’re ready to listen. No hasty words escape their covers until you open the pages.

They’re willing to repeat themselves as often as necessary. If you want them, they’re never asleep. If you misunderstand, they don’t scold. If you’re ignorant, they don’t laugh. They’re steady and reliable-they won’t change from one day to the next.

Ever wonder at the fact that the apostle Paul, with one of the world’s most fertile and inspired minds, asked his friend Timothy to bring him his cloak and “the books, especially the parchments”? Apparently not even Paul could merely meditate, think lovely thoughts, and write inspired prose. In a damp jail cell, he needed a cloak for his body and books for his mind.

Like friends, books can bring comfort, shape habits, and mold character. They have the power to inflame, inform, and inspire.

But for that to happen, the books must first be opened.

And there’s the problem for church libraries. Too often the church library is only a dusty depot of books discarded from someone’s attic. Or perhaps the library showcases the latest titles, but no one uses them, and thus the books serve only as expensive wallpaper. Lost is the potential ministry that happens when people learn from godly writers who’ve published their collected wisdom and experience.

To address this problem, LEADERSHIP surveyed nearly 200 church librarians to discover effective ways to make the library a ministry, not a misery. The responses were full of innovative ideas, but even more significant was the librarians’ perseverance.

Church librarians tend to stay at their posts. Of those surveyed, 48 percent had been on the job more than five years, and 83 percent had been there more than two years. This is all the more remarkable since 53 percent had received no training for their position, and 95 percent receive no pay for their services.

Librarians reported that though the job isn’t lucrative, it does have its rewards. Satisfaction comes from “bibliotherapy”-applying the right book at the right time to help people and mend relationships.

“I enjoy guiding and encouraging youngsters in their Christian reading,” said Jean Hillman, a church librarian in the Los Angeles area. “One young boy took out the little book No Longer a Nobody at least seven times. I could look into his personality by noticing the books he read and reread. Conversations with children can be very rewarding!”

Another librarian wrote, “There have been so many rewards-hearing about lives being changed and marriages being repaired thanks to books from our library, an ‘A’ on a much researched term paper for a high schooler, a three-year-old proudly getting his own library card, a Sunday school teacher leaving the library feeling good that her next six weeks are all planned with extra filmstrips, pictures, and a puppet play, and a young mother with an armload of books and tapes saying, ‘I’m so thankful for this library. We could never afford to buy all this for our family.’ “

What are the secrets of an effective library? Those surveyed suggested six ways to develop a library that ministers.

Start with the kids.

The librarians observed that usually the same people frequent the library. It’s hard to get new readers. Their suggestion: Get children in the habit of reading.

“Schooling a television-oriented public in reading is a full-time job,” said Virginia Acheffter, a librarian at Calvary Independent Church in western Pennsylvania. “Starting with children proves the best place. High schoolers either don’t want to read or have too much going on in their lives to be bothered.”

How can children be infected with a love for reading?

“I take individual groups of children up to the library to show them where the books for their age are located,” said Pearl Kiehlbauch of Racine Bible Church in Wisconsin. “I start with the threeyear-olds and go on up through junior high. It’s exciting to see the kids get enthused. They each get to check out a book, and this lets the parents know we have books for children also. I’ve noticed a nice increase in children’s books being checked out.”

Another librarian conducts a story time for kindergartners through third graders. “It has inspired the children to read on their own,” she said. “I’m delighted when they walk in and ask for a book I’ve just read to them.”

In Alberta, Sylvia Van Haitsma boosts circulation among small children with “The Book Box”-a sturdy cardboard box filled with picture books and easy-to-read titles.

“I leave it in the Sunday school classroom of one of the younger age groups-kindergarten or primary- for about a month at a time,” she said. “Teachers are most helpful and assure that children sign out their selections. After a month the box moves on. By the time the box gets back to the class in two or three months, it’s new and interesting again.”

Offer tapes as well as books.

“The most successful thing we’ve done in our library is starting a tape ministry,” said Jo Ann Rettig of Chicago’s Armitage Baptist Church. “Tapes are checked out three to one over books.”

Cassettes are made of church services, and tapes by nationally known speakers such as James Dobson are purchased for the library.

Topeka Bible Church in Kansas also started a cassette library-mostly of sermon tapes by the three pastors and guest speakers.

“There are a lot more listeners in our congregation than there are readers, if the popularity of these tapes is any indication,” said librarian Brenda Hall.

Cassettes are a way to minister to those who don’t have the time or the inkling to sit down with a book.

Acquire quality books.

In addition to keeping track of books already on hand, most librarians are responsible for acquiring new titles. Surveys showed that by far the most common sources of discovering new books were reviews in Christian magazines, congregational requests, and Library World, the newsletter of the Evangelical Church Library Association.

Having a part of the church budget designated for new books is, of course, preferred by librarians. When money isn’t available, however, librarians are forced to rely on others’ donations or their own creativity to build the collection.

Donations, unfortunately, aren’t always cause for rejoicing, as we are reminded by the poem by Carolyn Wells:

The books we think we ought to read are poky, dull and dry;

The books that we would like to read we are ashamed to buy;

The books that people talk about we never can recall;

And the books that people give us, oh, they’re the worst of all.

Most librarians can appreciate the humor, but they confess that telling donors their books aren’t acceptable is tough.

“When well-meaning people give us outdated books, we tell them we have a simple rule of acceptance or rejection by the library committee,” said one California librarian. “This process removes the responsibility from any single individual. If a book is rejected, the donor has the choice of reclaiming it or having it given to Goodwill. They almost always prefer the latter.”

Among the creative ways to acquire books are . posting a “wanted” list of titles that people may donate as they come across them; holding a Library Night on a Sunday evening to focus on books and taking a collection for new titles; or offering a Book Fair.

“For three years, we’ve had an annual supper to benefit the church library,” said Patricia Shoemaker r of Community Alliance Church in Dixon, Illinois.: “The youth group made spaghetti and salad. We, ordered some short, free films through the public library and interspersed them with musical numbers by the youth. Our local Christian bookstore agreed f to set up a table of books I selected, and each person was expected to purchase a book and donate it to the; church as payment for supper. We put donor nameplates in the front of each book, and purchasers could be the first to check it out and read it, if they wished.”

Let people see what you have.

Before a book can be checked out, obviously, the reader must know it’s available. Promotion, publicity, and visibility are all areas that test librarians’ creativity. But those surveyed offered some unique ways to get books and people together.

In Ontario, Grace Anderson places a book on each section of the pews before Sunday morning worship. A note is attached that says, “Mark this book out in the library. It is for you.” The library is always open with a self-service checkout system.

“Often we have five or six people check out the book that was on their pew,” she said. “Many times members have said, ‘This book has met my need- thanks for placing it there.’ We do meet to pray that this would be God’s leading.”

Does the self-service checkout system cause books to disappear?

“We don’t worry if we lose a book or two,” she said. “Our goal is to get books off the shelves and into people’s hands.”

In Pennsylvania, Robert Kern also decided that if people wouldn’t come to the library, he’d take the library to the people.

“We placed satellite libraries throughout the church-racks containing ten to twenty books,” he said. “We’d put young adult books next to the senior high room, storybooks in the primary and junior departments, and so on. We’ve increased circulation dramatically.”

Other churches place a two-sentence review of a new book in each week’s bulletin, while others distribute an insert describing new titles once a month.

“Probably the best promotion for a church library is a satisfied user,” said Phyllis Ranson of Saskatchewan. “And I try to help even in casual conversations around the church by talking about ideas and new books instead of the weather.”

Organize books so they’re easily found.

The great Dewey Decimal debate rages on. Some librarians insist that “books should be catalogued by the Dewey Decimal System from day one.” Others said, “It’s hard to fit every book you’d have in the church library under the 200 section (religion) of Dewey.”

“The Dewey system was too difficult to understand,” confessed Elaine Stoner of Winona Lake, Indiana, “so we made our own codes:

Biography-B

Bible Study-BS

Christian Education-CE

Christian Living-CL

Devotional-D

Evangelism-E

Fiction-F

Marriage and Family-MF

Reference-REF and so on. Our children’s books are set off with CH (a biography written for children would be CH-B),” she said. “We’ve had good comments on how easy it is to find books. But you have to make sure all the author and title cards are coded in the beginning. It’s very difficult to go back and do it later.”

One church reported that it hired high school students during the summers to code and catalogue library books.

The librarians agreed that no matter what system a church uses Dewey, Library of Congress, or some individualized variation-the important thing is that books can be found when wanted.

Know where to find help.

Resources are available for beleaguered librarians. Many surveys suggested visiting the libraries of churches nearby, or joining one of the church library associations. The two most frequently mentioned were:

Evangelical Church Library Association

P.O. Box 353

Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

Church and Synagogue Library Association

P.O. Box 1130

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

Several books were also recommended by those surveyed. Among the most helpful for struggling libraries:

Church Library Handbook, by LaVose Newton (Multnomah).

The Library and Resource Center in Christian Education, by Betty McMichael (Moody).

Successful Church Libraries, by Elmer Towns and Cyril Barber (Baker).

121 Ways toward a More Successful Church Library, by Arthur Saul (Victor).

Nobody knows for sure how many church libraries exist across the nation, but conservative estimates put the figure at 50,000.

If each church library can begin to get a few more people between the covers of good books, if each library could demonstrate what happens when pages are opened-and then multiply that ministry by 50,000-the effect would be staggering.

As Daniel Webster once wrote, “If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be.”

Some of the wisest men and women of the faith are available to teach and to be consulted. They have much to say, but they’ll remain silent until their books are opened and they’re asked to speak.

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastors

TO ILLUSTRATE…

Marshall Shelley

Ears to Hear

An American Indian was in downtown New York, walking with his friend, who lived in New York City. Suddenly he said, “I hear a cricket.”

“Oh, you’re crazy,” his friend replied.

“No, I hear a cricket. I do! I’m sure of it.”

“It’s the noon hour. There are people bustling around, cars honking, taxis squealing, noises from the city. I’m sure you can’t hear it.”

“I’m sure I do.” He listened attentively and then walked to the corner, across the street, and looked all around. Finally on the corner he found a shrub in a large cement planter. He dug beneath the leaves and found a cricket.

His friend was astounded. But the Cherokee said, “No. My ears are no different from yours. It simply depends on what you are listening to. Here, let me show you.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change-a few quarters, some dimes, nickels, and pennies. And he dropped it on the concrete.

Every head within a block turned.

“You see what I mean?” he said as he began picking up his coins. “It all depends on what you are listening for.”

Not only must Christians have “ears to hear” (Mt. 13:9), but they must learn what to listen for.

-Tim Hansel in

When I Relax I Feel Guilty

Serving Others

I was cleaning out a desk drawer when I found a flashlight I hadn’t used in over a year. I flipped the switch but wasn’t surprised when it gave no light. I unscrewed it and shook it to get the batteries out, but they wouldn’t budge.

Finally, after some effort, they came loose. What a mess! Battery acid had corroded the entire inside of the flashlight. The batteries were new when I’d put them in, and I’d stored them in a safe, warm place. But there was one problem. Those batteries weren’t made to be warm and comfortable. They were designed to be turned on-to be used.

It’s the same with us. We weren’t created to be warm, safe, and comfortable. You and I were made to be “turned on”-to put our love to work, to apply our patience in difficult, trying situations-to let our light shine.

-Ted Engstrom in

The Pursuit of Excellence

Love

Ever feel overwhelmed by the Bible’s command to love unconditionally?

When people ask me, “How can I ever start to love everyone like I should?” I give the same answer I give those who ask how they can start jogging: Start slow, and then get slower! For the first week, the goal is just to keep moving.

Too many people buy new shoes and a fancy running suit and sprint out the door, eagerly chugging as hard as they can for about three blocks. Then their stomachs begin to ache, their muscles cramp, and their lungs burn. They wind up hitchhiking home exhausted, and gasp, “I will never do that again.”

That’s called anaerobic (without oxygen) running. It’s caused by a body using up more oxygen than it takes in.

Many people try to run that way, and many people try to love that way. They love with great fervor and self-sacrifice, giving 100 percent but without the resources to continue for a lifetime. Down the road they find themselves in pain, gasping and cramped, saying, “I will never do that again.”

Love, like running, must be aerobic. Our output must be matched by our intake. Running requires oxygen. An enduring love requires God’s Word, his consolation, his presence. As we love aerobically, we’ll build up our capacity to do more and more. And pretty soon we won’t be huffing and puffing for half a mile; we’ll be running marathons.

-Roger Thompson

Things Unseen

A Coloradan moved to Texas and built a house with a large picture window from which he could view hundreds of miles of rangeland. “The only problem is,” he said, “there’s nothing to see.”

About the same time, a Texan moved to Colorado and built a house with a large picture window overlooking the Rockies. “The only problem is I can’t see anything,” he said. “The mountains are in the way.”

People have a way of missing what’s right before them. They go to a city and see lights and glitter, but miss the lonely people. They hear a person’s critical comments, but miss the cry for love and friendship.

-Haddon Robinson

Spiritual Ignorance

A Denver woman told her pastor of a recent experience that she felt was a sign of the times. She’d walked into a jewelry store looking for a necklace.

“I’d like a gold cross,” she said.

The man behind the counter looked over the stock in the display case and said, “Do you want a plain one, or one with a little man on it?”

-Bill Kilkenny

JUSTIFICATION-

Babe Ruth had hit 714 home runs during his baseball career and was playing one of his last major league games. The aging star was playing for the Boston Braves against the Cincinnati Reds. But he was no longer as agile as he had once been. He fumbled the ball and threw badly, and in one inning alone, his errors were responsible for five Cincinnati runs.

As the Babe walked off the field after the third out, booing and catcalls cascaded from the stands. Just then a young boy jumped over the railing onto the playing field. With tears streaking his cheeks, he threw his arms around the legs of his hero.

Ruth didn’t hesitate. He picked up the boy, hugged him, and set him down on his feet with a playful pat on the head. Suddenly the booing stopped. In fact, a hush fell over the entire park. In those brief moments, the crowd saw a different kind of hero: a man who in spite of a dismal day on the field could still care about a little boy.

He was no longer being judged by his accomplishments-neither the past successes nor the present failures-but by a completely different standard. Suddenly it was not his works that mattered, but a relationship.

-Adapted from Alfred Kolatch m Guideposts, August 1974

MATERIALISM/STEWARDSHIP

I don’t know what comes to your mind when you hear the word fat, but I have a good idea. In America fat is nearly always a dirty word. We spend billions of dollars on pills, diet books, and exercise machines to help us lose excess fat. I hadn’t heard a kind word about fat in years-that is, until I met Dr. Paul Brand.

“Fat is absolutely gorgeous,” says Brand, a medical doctor who has worked with lepers in India. “When I perform surgery, I marvel at the shimmering, lush layers of fat that spread apart as I open up the body. Those cells insulate against cold, provide protection for the valuable organs underneath, and give a firm, healthy appearance to the whole body.” I had never thought of fat quite like that!

“But those are just side benefits,” he continues. “The real value of fat is as a storehouse. Locked in those fat cells are the treasures of the human body. When I run or work or expend any energy, fat cells make that possible. They act as banker cells. It’s absolutely beautiful to observe the cooperation among those cells!”

Dr. Brand applies the analogy of fat to the body of Christ. Each individual Christian in a relatively wealthy country like America is called to be a fat cell. America has a treasure house of wealth and spiritual resources. The challenge to us, as Christians, is to wisely use those resources for the rest of the body.

Ever since talking to Dr. Brand, I have taken a sort of whimsical pleasure once each month in thinking of myself as a fat cell-on the day I write out checks for Christian organizations. It has helped my attitude. No longer do I concentrate on how I could have used that money I am giving away; rather, I contemplate my privilege to funnel those resources back into Christ’s body to help accomplish his work all around the world.

-Philip Yancey m

World Concern Update, January 1982

EVANGELISM

If you have 50 bottles to be filled with water, you don’t take a bucket and dump it out hoping to fill them all. No you grab the first bottle by the neck, and then you pour in water until it is filled. Then you go on to the next bottle. …

So many churches think of evangelism as a two- or three-week program, which requires bringing in someone with a big name who draws crowds.

I always ask, “Are you training each member of your church to be a witness whenever the opportunity arises?”

-Gonzalo Baez-Camargo, quoted in Christianity Today, March 5, 1982

FAILURE AND PERSEVERANCE

When he was seven years old, his family was forced out of their home on a legal technicality, and he had to work to help support them.

At age nine, his mother died.

At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk. He wanted to go to law school, but his education wasn’t good enough.

At 23, he went into debt to become a partner in a small store.

At 26, his business partner died, leaving him a huge debt that took years to repay.

At 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him. She said no.

At 37, on his third try, he was elected to Congress, but two years later, he failed to be reelected.

At 41, his four-year-old son died.

At 45, he ran for the Senate and lost.

At 47, he failed as the vice-presidential candidate.

At 49, he ran for the Senate again, and lost.

At 51, he was elected president of the United States. His name was Abraham Lincoln, a man many consider the greatest leader the country ever had.

Some people get all the breaks.

What are the most effective illustrations you’ve come across? We want to share them with other pastors and teachers who need material that communicates with clarity and imagination. For items used, LEADERSHIP will pay $15. If the material has been previously published, please include the source.

Stories, analogies, and word pictures should be sent to:

To Illustrate . . .

LEADERSHIP

465 Gundersen Drive

Carol Stream, n 60187

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastors

Letting Your Pastoral Light Shine

Lyle E. Schaller

“Pastor, as far as I know, you’ve made only five hospital calls during the three years we’ve been members of this congregation,” Dennis declared as he rode home from the hospital with the pastor of First Church, who had offered the ride upon discovering Dennis was about to be released.

“What do you mean?” protested the minister. “I make at least two hundred hospital calls every year!”

“Maybe so,” replied Dennis, “but as far as I know, the only hospital calls you’ve made during our time here have been the three on my wife a year ago and two during my stay. We appreciate your visits, but you never say anything about hospital calls to the congregation, and your annual reports never mention it either. All I’m suggesting is that you stop keeping it a secret.”

Yes, it’s true. Much of what a pastor does has low visibility. Preaching, teaching, and attending meetings have comparatively high visibility, but hospital visitation, calling in homes, counseling, and sermon preparation are at the other end of the visibility scale. Some ministers try to balance things by including a series of statistics in their annual reports: number of hospital calls and home visits, number of weddings and funerals, number of sermons, and so on.

But there are many ways a minister might organize that annual report to inform the members and reflect pastoral activities, and this is only one alternative. It may be useful to look at four different possibilities.

The Minister’s Perspective

Perhaps the most widely used organizing principle in preparing the minister’s report is to focus on the activities of the pastor during the past twelve months. In part this is a natural response to the fact this is “The Pastor’s Report.” In part it is a response to the question of “What do you do?” In part it’s an attempt to give equal visibility to all of the many functions of pastoral ministry.

Some ministers provide a statistical report, as mentioned earlier.

Others report the approximate number of hours spent in sermon preparation, in leading worship, in calling on members, in attending meetings, in counseling, in administration, in conducting special services such as funerals or weddings, and in the time spent as a community leader. Some ministers do this on the basis of a “typical week” while others report for the entire year.

Instead of activities, some ministers use the report to help explain their role more clearly. In one small congregation, for example, the minister built her entire annual report around the theme of her role as an enabler. One inner-city pastor used the report to lift up his role as a community leader. Another pastor used the annual report to focus on “My role as an initiating leader.” Another lifted up her role as a counselor. Another emphasized proclamation of the Word and administration of the sacraments as the outline for his annual report.

The Congregation’s Activities

A distinctly different approach is to build the report around congregational activities. Such a report often includes a statistical summary of worship services, Sunday school attendance, the number of special services and the increase, or decrease, in the membership. It also usually includes special programs such as a vacation Bible school, Lenten services, special classes and response to them, the introduction of a new curriculum series, the organization of a new adult class, the attendance at a revival or similar evangelistic crusade, and any inter-congregational cooperative ventures. It may also mention financial support given to missions, the program of the women’s organization, and youth fellowship, improvements to the building, and the financial status of the congregation.

This approach shifts attention from the minister to the congregation. While there are hundreds of exceptions to this generalization, the larger the congregation, the more likely the pastor’s report will focus on the congregation’s activities. In small-membership churches, the tendency is to focus on the activities of the pastor.

The Congregation’s Goals

A third approach is to focus on the special goals of the congregation for the past twelve months. This can include both special corporate goals and the minister’s understanding of his responsibilities in helping to implement them.

An example might be to identify three or four major aims of the past year. Underneath each of these categories would be a statement describing what had been done to move toward those general objectives. For instance:

A. Enrich Spiritual Journeys

This could describe the programs and experiences designed to implement these goals. It might include references to regular weekly worship experiences, special services, the attendance of members at the denominational camp, a marriage enrichment retreat, creation of a Tuesday evening Bible study group, the new curriculum in the church school, an officers’ retreat, a work camp trip for high school youth, the weekday nursery school for three- and four-year-olds, the local response to the denominational challenge to study the Word and witness for Christ, and a new group for the recently divorced.

B. Expand Outreach

Under this could be reported the effort to relieve world hunger, the work of the evangelism committee, the direct mail effort to invite nonmembers to attend the Christmas Eve service, the assistance given to launch a new congregation in another country, the ministry of the women who call on lonely persons in the nearby nursing home, the October mission festival, the outreach of the youth choir in other churches, and various social welfare programs.

C. Enlarge the Leadership Circle

Comments could be offered here about the efforts of the stewardship committee in identifying potential leaders, the training experiences offered to help individuals improve their leadership skills, the changes made to encourage younger members to work with and learn from older leaders, the changes made in the nominating process to broaden the leadership base, the new emphasis on leadership development in the youth fellowship (this is especially important if the local high school enrolls more than 350 students), and the role of the women’s organization in leadership development.

Instead of the three categories used here, it might be preferable to use a four-part outline of (1) worship, (2) nurture, (3) outreach, and (4) fellowship or some other classification system.

Among the advantages to such an outline are:

¥ It shifts the focus from the pastor to ministry.

¥ It lifts up goals rather than events and activities.

o It reinforces a sense of direction and movement.

¥ It reduces the chances that institutional survival goals will dominate the thinking and the discussion.

¥ It reinforces the goal-orientation.

¥ It offers a chance to publicly affirm the efforts of many members.

A Systemic Approach

The fourth of these approaches is the most complicated and the most difficult-and it also may be the most rewarding.

The persons responsible for preparing reports to the annual meeting come together and develop an outline that can be used by all of them in organizing their reports. For example, they might agree on a three-point outline consisting of (a) care of the members, (b) outreach beyond the membership and (c) new ventures in ministry. The obvious bias in this particular outline is it lifts up and encourages creativity and innovation, and it also encourages a sense of internal coherence. (Every outline has a built-in bias. What is the bias in the outline you are using now? Is that bias consistent with your values and goals?)

This approach encourages the minister and every other leader to use the same perspective in reporting on the past year. This repetition reinforces a sense of cohesiveness, unity, and movement. It emphasizes ministry rather than institutional maintenance. It also provides a consistent perspective for reflection on new goals for a new year.

Which of these four approaches appears to be most appropriate for your congregation? What is the system you use for outlining and selecting the material to be included in annual reports? Can you develop a better one?

-Lyle E. Schaller

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastors

How to Keep a Youth Minister

Paul Borthwick

Pastors of high schoolers don’t need to graduate each June.

This issue’s article for pastor-board discussion deals with a universal concern in the church: youth ministry. Again we suggest that you photocopy this article and distribute it prior to a board meeting, so each of you can bring a contribution regarding its content.

Not every church, of course, has a paid youth pastor- but volunteer youth sponsors are just as subject to discouragement and burnout. With a small bit of adapting, Paul Borthwick’s advice will be useful to churches large and small, regardless of staff size.

The youth group at Edgewood Baptist is barely surviving. After the departure of Jim (the third leader in four years), most of the youth are pessimistic. Some, with their families, have started attending the United Methodist church because of its solid youth ministry. Other teenagers have abandoned any aspirations of Christian growth, and they show up at church infrequently.

Jim had come in the fall with high hopes and long-term commitment. Some of the students had been hopeful when he talked about “going with you through high school,” but others were hesitant to believe him. His two predecessors had said something similar.

Jim had intended to stay a long time, but discouragement, a few failures, and a better opportunity on the horizon caused him to give his departure notice in April. Adults were surprised and disappointed; the teenagers mostly shrugged their shoulders as if to say, “Who’s next?”

Jim is not a real person, but this experience could be reproduced across the country every year. Despite Gallup and Poling’s warning that “the future of the church will rise or fall on its success with young people” (Search for America’s Faith, p. 114) and their exhortation that “each congregation should endeavor to have a special ministry or ministries to teenagers” (p. 33), most churches have difficulty keeping any effective youth ministry intact.

Fortunately, there are those who call for (and exemplify) long-term commitment to youth ministry. Some of these veterans have spoken out in interviews in Youthletter:

Bill Stewart, youth minister at First Baptist Church, Modesto, California: “My burden is for men and women in youth ministry who are willing to stick to it for the long haul.”

Dean Borgman, professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary: “I am concerned that the church see youth work as a professional, ordainable ministry rather than just a steppingstone to the pastorate.”

Dawson McAllister, national youth speaker and writer: “We need youth workers who are committed to staying in one place for more than a year. This is the only way to communicate love effectively and build the trust that teens need.”

John Musselman, youth minister at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida: “We have got to be serious about sticking with the ministry for a long period if we are going to see our ministries be fruitful for Christ.”

The underlying philosophy here is that teenagers respond best to relationships that are stable and trustworthy. Anyone who has worked with youth realizes they take a long time to open up to older people. This requires that we build our youth ministries with leaders who are ready to be friends and pastors to their teenagers for several years.

Why the turnover?

One denomination admits its youth ministers change every seven months. Others’ reports are not so grim, but the general consensus is that the average tenure of a youth minister is not more than eighteen months.

On the other hand, veteran youth leaders claim it takes up to two years to crack through to teenagers in effective ministry. So what is happening? Most men and women are leaving youth ministries before effectiveness begins.

The most common reasons for quitting are:

1. “God directed me elsewhere.” Many youth workers are in their early twenties, so marriage, children, or schooling can draw them away from youth ministry. Others feel “led” elsewhere, but this often camouflages the fact that they viewed youth ministry as a steppingstone from the outset. When a pastorate or another church responsibility appears, the youth ministry is quickly abandoned for greener grass.

2. “The church drove me out.” This happens when a church demands too much. When a fellow youth pastor told me he was quitting because he had been working ninety hours per week with junior highs for ten months, I affirmed his decision.

A more subtle push comes when people treat the youth minister (consciously or subconsciously) as a junior minister or a big adolescent. When a well-meaning parent asks, “Do you need any adults to go on the retreat?” or a deacon says, “So when are you going to be a real minister?” youth pastors know they’re in the minor leagues. They may leave in an effort to appear more mature.

3. “I just couldn’t do it.” It is a fact that youth ministry is a tryout area, so failure is to be expected. Some should recognize inability to work with teenagers and get out of youth ministry. Unfortunately though, many quit because they place excessive demands on themselves. They expect too much, and when they fail, they assume it is God’s way of telling them to bail out.

No matter what reasons are given for a youth minister’s leaving, the results are the same. Students get frustrated and even hostile. They feel rejected; they are told in one more way that they are not important. The departure of one leader sometimes guarantees the failure of the next. Teens who have seen several turnovers often approach a new person with an attitude of “Let’s see how long it takes to get rid of him.”

Ten Suggestions

Although longevity itself is no guarantee of success, it will build the effectiveness of most youth ministries. How, then, can leaders in the church encourage the youth minister to stay?

I offer the following suggestions because they have worked with me and because I have heard them repeated by dozens of youth ministry veterans across the country.

1. Affirm the call to youth ministry. It is the responsibility of the lay leadership and the other pastor(s) at a church to remind everyone that youth ministry is a calling. The youth pastor should not be a voice crying in the wilderness.

In affirming the call, church leadership must balance the emphasis between the two terms-youth and ministry.

In Gwen’s church, people overemphasize her call to youth. She is affirmed and encouraged about her ability to work with youth, but she is not considered a full member of the pastoral staff, and she is given few opportunities for ministry to adults. “She’s so great with kids why take her away from them?”

In Kurt’s church, people overemphasize his call to “ministry,” giving him the impression that his work is just a quick course he must complete before he enters real ministry.

The proper emphasis occurs when the church affirms someone as being called to minister to a distinct age group-youth. The church that views the youth pastor as someone equipping youth for the work of ministry will have a happier leader and a healthier program.

2. Make the youth minister part of the team. Many churches have only a staff of two, but even there the youth minister can feel totally left out in terms of his or her role in the church at large.

In Craig’s church, he is viewed as a baby sitter whose expertise is directing teenagers through adolescence. He has few responsibilities outside the youth group, and he never participates in planning or priority setting for the church. No wonder he feels like he works on a lonely island; no wonder he wants to quit.

At Grace Chapel, I am allowed to participate in planning, in worship services, and brainstorming for the future. I am a full member of the church staff, and the youth ministry is constantly exhorted to be an integrated part of our church family. I love to work here.

In the former situation, Craig may become disillusioned or discouraged quickly. In the latter, I am free to realize my part in the church team, and I carry that positive attitude back to my youth and get them excited about being part of the church.

3. Encourage the youth minister to study. If they were asked, “What have you been reading lately?” many youth ministers would hem and haw. With the exception of “Twenty New Retreat Ideas,” many youth ministers never read.

The irony is that most youth ministers are college or seminary-educated. We know effective ministry requires effective study, but we sometimes affirm the opposite.

Some of the ways church leaders can encourage youth ministers to study are:

¥ Go over their schedule and help them see where they can block off study time.

¥ Ask (on a weekly basis), “What are you reading that’s not related to youth ministry?”

¥ Buy a challenging book and read it together.

¥ Ask them to do research projects (related to youth ministry) that will require reading.

Study builds awareness that youth ministry is a profession to be pursued rather than a trial to be endured until someone offers a new job. It also builds expertise on youth. Most important, it often helps to deepen the youth minister’s personal spirituality.

4. Stimulate the youth minister to set personal and ministry goals. Few youth ministers are asking the question “Where will I be in three or five years?” They are too busy developing a “bag of tricks” to increase attendance and stimulate involvement. But when the “bag of tricks” is exhausted, so is the youth minister.

Older pastors and lay leaders must urge the youth minister to think about his or her own future. Very few people committed to youth ministry as a career arrived there because of a haphazard decision. Most, upon personal reflection and self-examination before God, sensed a call to youth ministry over a long term. At that point, they made the decision to stay put until God moved them.

The youth minister must also be encouraged to think long-term regarding ministry goals. When our church administrator asks what my four-year plan is for discipling high schoolers, I am challenged to look at the ministry as a process, not just a yearly program.

5. Give the youth minister opportunity to grow beyond youth ministry. This can include the handling of pastoral responsibilities, the administration of Communion, or occasional preaching (on some theme other than youth!).

One church practices a “major-minor” concept. To prevent stagnation, the church encourages its ministers to have a “major” (principle field of ministry) and a “minor” (a small responsibility in an unrelated field). A musical youth minister could direct the choir one week while the music minister taught youth Sunday school.

This allows the youth minister to grow in new areas, providing stimulation and sending him back 0 to the youth group refreshed.

Not every such opportunity has to be unconnected to youth ministry, but it must serve to stretch the youth minister in new ways. Over the past five years, I have been stimulated by the opportunity to lead youth mission teams. These experiences have stretched me administratively, spiritually, and emotionally. In many respects they are a reward to me as well as a benefit to our church. The church, by allowing me to go on these projects, gets me back refreshed and invigorated for another year of ministry.

6. Give the youth minister opportunity to grow outside the church. My personal convictions regarding longevity in youth ministry have been formed in part by my exposure to many youth ministry veterans at conferences and workshops. These are a source of fresh insights and new resources.

More important than any of the materials offered, however, is the fellowship with others in youth ministry. This helps defuse the Elijah complex (“I, only I am left”). Giving the youth minister freedom and money to attend these workshops yields far more than just a new youth program.

Another opportunity that revitalizes youth ministers is outside speaking engagements. The youth minister who visits other youth groups will usually realize two things: (a) “I’m not doing as poorly as I thought,” and (b) “I’m not as bad a communicator as I thought.”

When I visit another youth group, I often see the same flaws as in my own group. Furthermore, the new audience appreciates me ten times more than my own group, and it reassures me that God is using me.

Ridge Burns, youth pastor at Wheaton Bible Church in Illinois, adds another dimension:

I know that there are many experiencing youth worker burn-out. I think that youth workers would not burn out if they would plan their lives with some alternative interests. My wife and I take a three-month sabbatical in missions every four years. Whatever the endeavor, youth workers need to plan their lives so that they are growing. This is the only way that we can stay on the cutting edge of working with high schoolers for long periods, or even for our lives.

7. Guard the youth minister’s personal life. For single youth ministers, the older pastor(s) or lay leaders must help them grow outside of relationships with teenagers. Effective youth ministers can sometimes spend so much time with teenagers that they forget how twenty-two or twenty-six or thirty-year-olds act. Youth pastors need to be encouraged to get peer fellowship and grow as adults.

For the married youth minister, make sure the person is getting quality time with spouse and family. One girl told me that her youth minister at her former church had “open campus” at his house six nights a week. Teenagers could drop by at any time. When I first heard this, I was full of guilt for my selfishness (I protected three nights per week), but when I learned that this man’s marriage was in disrepair and that he had left the ministry, I reconfirmed my protective decision. Other members of the church must recognize the youth minister’s family as a God-given priority and help him or her to do the same.

Both single and married youth ministers must be aware of the “perpetuated adolescence” hazard in our profession. Long periods of time spent with teenagers can sometimes lead the youth minister back into immature or offensive behavior. While some adolescent overtones are inevitable, an excess will render the youth minister ineffective in relating to peers or parents. (I became acutely aware of this when my wife was embarrassed to be with me at a young-adults’ Christmas party!)

8. Encourage the youth minister to lead through a team. Nothing is quite so discouraging over a long period of time as leading the youth ministry alone. Many of us are not the handsome-musicalhumorous-athletic type. Those who are often get disheartened because they become entertainers rather than ministers.

Church leaders can help youth ministers build teamwork by:

a. Funneling volunteers their way. A team of lay volunteers takes pressure off the youth minister as a one-man show. It also puts the youth minister in a more proper perspective of “equipping the saints” to do the ministry. Finally, it enlarges the ministry potential of the youth group, because more people, with their own diversity of spiritual gifts, are added.

b. Pointing out students with leadership abilities. A tremendous amount of growth can occur when students begin to take the lead. Again, it puts the youth minister in a proper pastoral perspective. It also provides a greater degree of ownership for the students. If they have responsibilities, they will feel much more proud of the youth group.

c. Helping the youth minister delegate. The stories are numerous of youth workers who burned themselves out because they refused to delegate. The most successful youth leaders, however, are those who concentrate on their strengths and delegate the rest away. When they get a new idea, they initiate it and train someone else to execute it.

A friend and I both have long-standing youth ministries built on this team concept. For him, it has been hard, because he has multiple talents and could do everything better by leading it himself. He is musical, athletic, humorous, and an excellent teacher. Nevertheless he has built a team-led youth ministry because he knows it is the only way to keep from burnout and to reach a broad diversity of students.

I, on the other hand, had no choice. With no musical ability and no desire for fun-and-games leadership, I had to find people to make up for my weaknesses. I try to concentrate on what I do best, and the rest I give to people who are far more talented than I.

9. Support the youth minister before the parents. In many churches, the youth pastor is closer in age to the high schoolers than to the parents. Parents can intimidate most youth ministers. Older leaders in the church must take an active part in this relationship, teaching parents what can and cannot be expected. The youth pastor must be taken aside as well and trained on how to relate to parents.

The youthfulness of most youth pastors often contains a Catch-22: Because they are young, they make judgment errors at times, but because they are ministers, parents hold them accountable. The result? Increased distrust in parents and an increased fear of making decisions in the youth minister.

I am very grateful for Ben and Alyce, a high schooler’s parents who chose to take me under their wing and advise me as to how I was coming across. At times it was very uncomfortable, but it has greatly helped me mature in ministry.

One final way to support the youth pastor is to avoid the “our success/your failure” syndrome. Older ministers are the most guilty of this, but elders or deacons fall into the trap as well. When the youth outreach reports twenty conversions, leaders are heard to say, “Don’t we have a great youth ministry!” But when Joan gets mononucleosis from staying up all night at the lock-in, the question is “How could you be so irresponsible?”

10. Pay the youth minister relative to responsibilities, education, and experience. If a youth leader is belittled by an insufficient salary, he or she will be forced to consider the head pastorate or some other career simply to survive. The frustration of hours of apparently unrewarding work with teenagers followed by a reminder that there isn’t enough money to pay the bills is too great for most youth pastors to bear. They either leave the ministry or seek a better paying job at another church.

The question for churches to ask is “What is our youth ministry worth to us?” If it is a priority of the church, then budgeting should reflect it. The usual methodology of “How little salary can we get by with?” makes high turnover inevitable.

The Benefits of Longevity.

If church leaders and pastors work on these suggestions, the following benefits may be expected:

¥ Effectiveness with youth will increase because the students trust the youth pastor. Students who have come to me from other churches with instability in leadership say, “It’s just good to know you’ll be here.”

¥ Results (a hard-to-find commodity in youth work) will become more apparent as those who have graduated return to join the youth team. When students come back after two or three years of college and tell how essential the youth group was in their growth, it has motivated me to keep working with teenagers.

¥ Parents will grow in their trust, which builds more continuity between family and youth ministry.

¥ Lay leaders will be trained over a period of time with one consistent philosophy and strategy of ministry. This allows for greater unity and long-term growth.

¥ The youth minister will be a professional who is, in effect, the church’s expert on adolescents.

The need and the opportunity for work with youth has never been greater. Yet effectiveness demands that we build people who are committed to youth for the long haul. The age in which we live, with broken homes, declining quality of education, and increased confusion among teenagers, requires that we construct youth ministries of substance and quality.

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastors

THE MIRACLE OF CREATIVITY

Norman Cousins

I met Pablo Casals for the first time at his home in Puerto Rico just a few weeks before his ninetieth birthday. I was fascinated by his daily routine. About 8 A.M. his lovely young wife Marta would help him to start the day. His various infirmities made it difficult for him to dress himself. Judging from his difficulty in walking and from the way he held his arms, I guessed he was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. His emphysema was evident in his labored breathing. He came into the living room on Marta’s arm He was badly stooped. His head was pitched forward and he walked with a shuffle. His hands were swollen and his fingers were clenched.

Even before going to the breakfast table, Don Pablo went to the piano-which, I learned, was a daily ritual. He arranged himself with some difficulty on the piano bench, then with discernible effort raised his swollen and clenched fingers above the keyboard.

I was not prepared for the miracle that was about to happen. The fingers slowly unlocked and reached toward the keys like the buds of a plant toward the sunlight. His back straightened. He seemed to breathe more freely. Now his fingers settled on the keys. Then came the opening bars of Bach’s Wohltemperierte Klavier, played with great sensitivity and control. I had forgotten that Don Pablo had achieved proficiency on several musical instruments before he took up the cello. He hummed as he played, then said that Bach spoke to him here-and he placed his hand over his heart.

Then he plunged into a Brahms concerto and his fingers, now agile and powerful, raced across the keyboard with dazzling speed. His entire body seemed fused with the music; it was no longer stiff and shrunken but supple and graceful and completely freed of its arthritic coils.

Having finished the piece, he stood up by himself, far straighter and taller than when he had come into the room. He walked to the breakfast table with no trace of a shuffle, ate heartily, talked animatedly, finished the meal, then went for a walk on the beach.

After an hour or so, he came back to the house and worked on his correspondence until lunch. Then he napped. When he rose, the stoop and the shuffle and the clenched hands were back again. On this particular day, a camera and recording crew from afternoon. Anticipating the visit, Don Pablo said he wished some way could be found to call it off; he didn’t feel up to the exertion of the filming, with its innumerable and inexplicable retakes and the extreme heat of the bright lights.

Marta, having been through these reluctances before, reassured Don Pablo, saying she was certain he would be stimulated by the meeting. She reminded him that he liked the young people who did the last filming and that they would probably be back again. In particular, she called his attention to the lovely young lady who directed the recording.

Don Pablo brightened. “Yes, of course,” he said, “it will be good to see them again.”

As before, he stretched his arms in front of him and extended his fingers. Then the spine straightened and he stood up and went to his cello. He began to play. His fingers, hands, and arms were in sublime coordination as they responded to the demands of his brain for the controlled beauty of movement and tone. Any cellist thirty years his junior would have been proud to have such extraordinary physical command.

Twice in one day I had seen the miracle. A man almost ninety, beset with the infirmities of old age, was able to cast off his afflictions, at least temporarily, because he knew he had something of overriding importance to do. There was no mystery about the way it worked, for it happened every day. Creativity for Pablo Casals was the source of his own cortisone. It is doubtful whether any antiinflammatory medication he would have taken would have been as powerful or as safe as the substances produced by the interaction of his mind and body.

The process is not strange. If he had been caught up in an emotional storm, the effects would have been manifested in an increased flow of hydrochloric acid to the stomach, in an upsurge of adrenal activity, in the production of corticoids, in the increase of blood pressure, and a faster heart beat.

But he was caught up in something else. He was caught up in his own creativity, in his own desire to accomplish a specific purpose, and the effect was both genuine and observable. And the effects on his body chemistry were no less pronounced-albeit in a positive way-than they would have been if he had been through an emotional wringer.

-Norman Cousins

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastors

Does Anyone Know What Creative Means?

Fred Smith

The word creative has become a cliche. Everybody uses it whether they can define it or not. Creativity is expected of ministers no less than of advertising copywriters and fashion designers. If you’re not certified “creative,” your future is in big trouble.

The blunt fact, of course, is that no one is creative. We live in a closed universe; there is nothing new under the sun. What we are instead is inventive; we rearrange and reposition things that have already been created.

Throughout this article I will use the words creative and creativity even though what I am talking about is inventiveness. This will seem more natural to our speech patterns. And I hope the Creator will not be offended.

Creativity has to do with more than just the arts-painting, sculpture, music, architecture. In my view, creativity is survival. When an institution loses its transitional quality in a moving market, a moving culture, a moving world, it doesn’t survive. The railroad industry wanted to stay as railroad companies rather than transportation companies. The transition was toward airplanes and private automobiles, but they liked railroading. Many went out of business.

In the parachurch we have some excellent examples of using creative solutions to satisfy spiritual needs: Torrey Johnson saw wandering crowds of World War II soldiers looking for something to do on the streets of Chicago, so he created Youth for Christ. When secularism swept the West Coast campuses in the sixties, Campus Crusade was the creative answer. Bill Glass, All-Pro footballer, found prisoners wouldn’t come to hear preaching so he started sports clinics for them.

I’ve been depressed recently by a statistic from a major denomination: the average tenure of its pastors is now eighteen months. When I asked why, the answer was “Because that’s about how many sermons they have.” By the end of eighteen months, they’ve preached to the bottom of the barrel, and the only choice is to move.

Apparently no springs of creativity have been nurtured so that new (or at least repositioned) things are bubbling up from inside. That’s why I say that for people in leadership, creativity is not a luxury, it’s survival.

Eight Essential Qualities

Those who may rightly be called creative show the following characteristics:

1. Wide association. While most new ideas are conceived by a single person sitting alone, such a moment does not tell the whole story. The truly creative people I know stay in touch with other creative people. Bright ideas may hit them at three in the morning, but they come out of an environment of creativity.

You have to set up an almost constant discipline to maintain your vitality through association. Creative people ask you the right kind of questions. They probe you. So you stay in touch with them.

2. Special areas. Ralph Carmichael, the trend-setting Christian musician, and I were talking about marketing one day, and he said, “Fred, if you want to talk fast to me, talk music. I can talk music fast, but I have to talk business slow.” I know exactly what he meant, because it’s the opposite with me! In the area of a person’s gift, he can race along. His pores are open, he knows all the nuances and ramifications; problems in this area excite him.

When I find individuals trying to function in an area that threatens them, I usually say, “This must not be your area.” People who battle stage fright shouldn’t be public speakers. All good speakers have nervousness, yes, but they are able to use it. It creates energy, it revs up the mind. Christian leaders who are immobilized by the big problems of their lives should question whether they’re working in their area of strength.

John R. W. Stott says expository preaching is chewing on a verse like a dog on a bone. I’d advise most ministers not to spend their time in that way because they’re not John Stott or G. Campbell Morgan. If you’re not creative in finding new meanings in the nooks and corners of Scripture, then put your energy into another area. I’d hate to see a tremendous communicator like Chuck Swindoll spend time gnawing on individual verses. He’s far more creative at mixing words and pictures to convey old truth in a new and vital way.

3. Dissatisfaction. Some people call it noble discontent. Whatever its name, creative people are infested with the idea that the way things are being done today is not the way they can be done best.

Roger Bannister didn’t believe a mile run had to take four minutes. Something inside told him that if he’d break down the mile into four separate parts and go to work on each quarter of the mile, he could cut off seconds. Now, of course, four minutes is old and slow.

That spirit of discontent is crucial to creativity. I’m trying to instill it in my grandson, who plays golf with me occasionally. He loves the game, and when he gets off a good drive down the fairway, he’ll say, “Perfect.”

“No, Greg,” I’ll say. “It’s good, but it’s not perfect.”

“Well, it went where I wanted it to go.”

“Yes, but it didn’t go where it could have gone.”

We don’t have to be negative or critical to be dissatisfied. Van Gogh was both creative and miserable-that’s not what I mean. We can believe in a positive way that everything can be better. Every organization can be improved, every formula perfected.

Once I asked George Schweitzer, “Why do scientists revere Einstein?”

“Because he put more formula into one formula than any other scientist.”

“Well, what’s the aim of all science?” I asked.

“To put everything into one formula.”

What a challenge! No wonder great scientists are dissatisfied.

Great preachers and theologians are dissatisfied, too, not because they want to be authors of truth, but because they want to expand it, to understand it more fully, to rearrange it so people can utilize it better.

One minister asked me, “How do I develop creativity?”

I replied, “Pick out a few of your common problems and think of all the various ways to solve them. You’ll have to think very hard, but do it anyway.” When Robert McNamara was president of Ford, he would assign his associates problems to work out, and when they would come in to report, McNamara would say, “Now I’m sure this isn’t the first solution you thought of. What was another one?” It was his way of forcing everyone to think of at least two ways to solve every problem.

Creative people love to have options. They love to drive home a different route each day. They refuse to drop down on the floor like a toddler and start crying, “I can’t.” They know there are multiple ways to do almost everything.

If you don’t give yourself a lot of options to consider, how do you know which one’s best? One of the reasons I’m convinced of original sin is that I rarely see anyone accomplish the best the first time. If there weren’t some basic problem with humanity, writers wouldn’t have to rewrite their material five times, engineers wouldn’t have to return to the drawing board, and preachers wouldn’t have to rebuild sermon outlines from scratch. It takes awhile, but eventually quality floats to the top if we are dissatisfied long enough.

4. Awe. An expanding concept of God and his world is another part of creativity. While dissatisfaction moves us toward change, awe moves us toward exploration. The great astronomers can hardly change what they see in space, but they are moved by awe to explore it, nevertheless.

I’ll never forget traveling as a young man from my native Tennessee up to New York City. Standing on the corner of Fifty-seventh Street and Sixth Avenue one day, I suddenly realized the situation was beyond me. There was simply no way to know all those people, as I did back home. I was overwhelmed. The God I had brought along was too small. He had to be bigger than I thought to take in a place like New York.

From that time, I have had an expanding concept of God. This has not intimidated me; rather, it has pulled me along to grow creatively as I see more and more of him.

5. High physical and mental energy. A lot of people have wonderful ideas but lack the energy to explore them. Einstein once said nature holds almost no secrets that cannot be found out by prolonged concentration and intense study. We only have to bear down.

Some creative people bear down so hard that they burn out early in life. Some of the great musicians died very young, for example, as did some inventors. Others have lived longer but found they couldn’t burn the midnight oil like they used to. All of them were-to be honest- unbalanced. They couldn’t help it when they became fascinated with an idea.

One of the most fortunate things in life is when a highly creative spirit comes in a highly energetic body. Let others criticize if they will; great things will result.

And when they do, the creative person will supply his or her own strokes. Some of the most creative solutions I have ever found in my business were things only I knew about. The acclaim of others was not necessary; I knew I had solved a problem.

6. The ability to think in principles. Less than 10 percent of the population can do this, I’m told; most think only in techniques. And I don’t really know how to develop this ability. I only know I can recognize it by listening to a person.

If a speaker thinks in principles, he shows it by his breadth of illustration. He draws from many different fields, not just his particular specialty, because he sees the principles that weave throughout. If a speaker always tells stories from one field, or if his illustrations do not extrapolate accurately, then we know he does not understand the principle.

Mathematicians talk about the elegant answer and the grotesque answer. I mentioned to one mathematician that I had never liked math in school. “I can understand that,” he said, “because they taught you the grotesqueness of arithmetic instead of the elegance of mathematics.” Great mathematicians work through the welter of technique until they come to a marvelous principle; pi, for example, or the discovery of the zero, which happened in India and revolutionized our ability to work with numbers.

This, incidentally, is why many great mathematicians are musicians. They have moved past drudgery and grotesqueness to elegance.

At a university conference on business, I was scheduled to speak after the dean of engineering. He opened his speech by saying, “I am a scientist. I deal only with hard facts-things you can see and feel.”

When it was my turn, I said, “I don’t mean to be discourteous, but most of life is made up of soft facts. I respect hard facts, but when I take the long view, I notice that the rocks and the riverbank do not control the water that flows in the stream; the water forms the rocks and the bank.

“All matters of the spirit are soft, but they ultimately control. Armies, formulas, and scientific technology do not guarantee that a civilization will survive. That is up to other factors. The soft is just as factual as the hard, but more difficult to deal with.”

In the ministry, we are constantly dealing with the power of soft facts. When we see that as a principle, then we can start to think creatively about it.

7. A style that is uninhibited (but not undisciplined). Creative people cannot let themselves be hemmed in by tradition.

A member of the Tarrytown Group said recently, “The world is between trapezes. We’re leaving the one we have known and trying to catch one we do not know.” I like that metaphor. We often feel that way about our own lives. Maybe life is a series of trapeze jumps; maybe each day is a new trapeze. Certainly the creative person is always leaving one trapeze and hurtling toward the next.

We Christians limit ourselves too much. To me, the Bible has always been a compass. I am not afraid to wander in anybody’s woods so long as I have a compass.

I have friends who are nonbelievers, and some of them never do get out of the woods. Others get out only by chance. But with a compass, you can relax; you can wander far off the paths, because any time you need to get out, you can. You can feel competent to wander in almost any company, any group, any set of ideas, because you have Scripture to guide you out at the necessary moment.

Too many Christians are worried about the wagon instead of the load. If an idea comes in a wagon they don’t like, they reject the load without even looking it over. I don’t care whether creativity comes from an atheist, an agnostic, a liberal, or whomever-if the idea is good, I want it, and I’m not going to fuss about the mode of transportation.

Being uninhibited, however, does not mean being out of control. A vice president of General Motors once told me, “We want people with disciplined imaginations.” A leader, though tremendously creative, cannot be loose in his behavior.

Pastors are sometimes caught in a unique squeeze when their attempts to be free in ministry are read by the congregation in behavioral terms only. Take Sunday morning, for example. Many Christians have gotten to the place that the eleven o’clock service is nothing more than a ritual. There’s no spiritual vitality; there is only habit. This problem has to be solved very, very slowly.

A dear friend of mine, pastor of a large church, a man of great integrity, came to the pulpit one Sunday morning and said, “You look to me for God’s message. I have struggled all week, and God has given me no message. Therefore, let us stand and be dismissed.”

If I had been there, I would have stood and applauded.

But he almost got thrown out of his church. Although he had done the honest thing, people were outraged. Some had brought friends that day- not to hear a message from God, but to hear their preacher. And he didn’t perform.

He did invite them all back to the evening service, for which he felt he had a message. He delivered it that night as expected.

While such a shock may be dangerous, it is imperative that we work gradually but steadily toward making Sunday morning more than ritual. As a guest speaker, I can tell a dramatic difference in audiences. Some have been trained to listen-really listen-and others have not.

The other day I was invited to do a laymen’s service in a church that usually has mediocre preaching. (The reason I know is that the pastor told me he dreads no day like Sunday.) As I spoke that day, I was half through before they started listening. What a contrast with a church like Key Biscayne Presbyterian in Florida, where they hang on every cough. The people are so used to listening intently that a guest is fascinated by the immediate attention his words receive. This kind of discipline takes time.

But it can be built. Most big problems are not solved fast.

A young pastor here in Dallas has decided to open the floor for ten minutes of questions following his sermon each week. It’s most stimulating; he gets some hard queries now, because people have come to believe he wants them. He isn’t opening up the service to be complimented, but to clarify. The problem he is attacking is people going home misunderstanding what the preacher said.

That’s creative.

Sunday morning problems must be attacked creatively and diplomatically, but always with an eye toward the ultimate goal of vitality. Our thinking must be uninhibited, even when our behavior is not.

8. Evaluation. I know brainstorming is supposed to be a marvelous technique for creativity, but I think it is a silly fad. To sit around spouting ideas with no evaluation makes fools of everyone. Disciplined creativity must ask the following questions:

¥ “Is this practical?” Does this solution make enough difference to be worth the time and energy it will cost?

Will Rogers once listened to an admiral describe the menace of German U-boats during the First World War. Eventually, Rogers raised his hand and asked, “Tell me, can those things operate in boiling water?”

“No,” the admiral replied, “I’m sure they can’t.”

“Well, then,” said Rogers, “you’ve got your solution. Just boil the ocean.”

The admiral gave him a blank stare and then muttered, “How?”

Rogers smiled. “I gave you the idea-you work out the details.”

¥ The second question is “Does this violate scriptural principles?” I make a subtle difference between fulfilling the Bible’s principles and not violating them. I probably will never understand the Scripture fully enough to meet all that it teaches, but in my motives I can at least keep from being dishonest.

¥ “Is this factual?” Does it coincide with truth, the way the world really is? Christians can live in fantasyland as easily as non-Christians. The love of truth is more of a scholarly trait than a religious trait, and we must all cultivate an absolute dedication to facts.

These are just three of the checkpoints creative people must employ. Most of us are fortunate to have one good idea out of ten, and so we must screen out the nine. We must be willing to submit them to the judgment of other people, who will help us.

I was bouncing a new thought off a lawyer friend one day, and I’ll always remember the way he smiled and said, “Fred . . . that’s not one of your better ideas.” He did me a great service. I’ve used his line ever since with others who have brought their creative ideas to me for assessment.

Pastors and boards must do this work together. When a pastor or a deacon says, “I know I’m right. Sometimes you have to stand with God though everyone else stands against you,” he is flirting with arrogance. Theoretically he’s correct, but in most cases he needs to listen to the evaluation of colleagues.

Does God Inhibit Creativity?

If you were to conduct a street interview on whether Christians or non-Christians are more creative, I have a hunch the majority would vote for the non-Christian. That is partly because they think uninhibited behavior is a sign of creativity, when actually it is a sign of rebellion.

Christians are constrained in their behavior, it that does not need to transfer to their thinking. If anything, the Scripture equips us to think as widely as possible and still be secure.

I’m always amused after I make a bold statement, that people will comment, “Well, I wouldn’t say what you just said.”

I smile and say, “God doesn’t know your thoughts, does he?”

They’re acting as if God knows only what he hears-in English. They’re afraid to verbalize their thoughts for fear God won’t like it.

God knows our thoughts, good and bad, creative and trite, spoken and silent. He is entirely in favor of our thinking freely about his world and our particular place in it. These flights of imagination are not frivolous. They are essential to survive.

Copyright © 1983 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

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