God is at work. Statistics about church decline may tempt us to think otherwise. Reports of denominational wrangles may bring us a measure of disillusionment. (I remember hearing Gordon Cosby say, “Disillusionment is good; it gets rid of our illusions!") Seeing religious interest and participation on the wane in our neighborhoods may cause us concern. Despite these realities in the present day we can be hopeful because we are confident that God is at work. In John 15 Jesus used the image of a vine. He said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” Let us hope that in America we are being “pruned.” Pastors and churches are being cut back so that we may bear more fruit.
The day of the professional pastor has passed. The day of the missionary pastor has come. We are not going back any time soon to the day of the professional minister. This change affects all believers; it brings both a challenge and an opportunity.
These days I am serving churches in transition. I supply preach, and I serve as an interim pastor while churches look for a settled, permanent pastor. My advice to churches: learn the difference between a professional pastor and a missionary pastor. The professional pastor was good for an earlier time, but that time has passed; the missionary pastor will lead the church into the future.
In my understanding a professional is one who works from a profession of faith or a commitment to a higher standard than one’s own benefit. So, a pastor professes faith in Christ and lives life in service to the lordship of Christ. A teacher professes the importance of learning and devotes his or her life to education. A doctor professes the importance of health and works for the well being of the community without making remuneration or recognition the most important part of one’s service. Likewise, a lawyer professes a commitment to justice and works for justice as a calling that transcends his or her personal benefit. For pastors, teachers, doctors and lawyers there have been standards of conduct adopted by the church or the university or the medical association or the legal society which call professionals to account for their training, their service and their behavior.
Over time the word professional has been stretched. For example, a professional athlete is someone who plays the sport well enough to make it a high paying career. No particular training or certification is required. The word professional just means that the athlete plays the game better than an amateur. In this stretched definition a person is a “real professional” if that person is good at what they do. One could imagine a person saying, “He’s a professional bank robber or professional con man,” and when a criminal can be called a professional the word has been stretched beyond meaning.
For pastors the day of the professional meant that clergy would train for their profession through university and seminary. These trained clergy would be ordained by a church. They would adhere to a code of ethics and etiquette. The etiquette included such matters as the way one dressed, talked and interacted with other clergy members, e.g. no proselytizing or what is popularly called, “sheep stealing.” (Sheep being used as a term for members of another flock, another church.)
Just as teachers went to the school, and doctors went to the hospital, and lawyers to the court house, so pastors went to the church. The church was a building that was constructed for beauty and permanence. In the days when the word professional had more meaning, a pastor, as a professional, would be asked to serve the community by participation in a civic club or membership on a hospital board or be invited to host and speak at a high school baccalaureate service. The pastor was understood to be a contributor to the welfare of the larger community.
In the mass media pastors in previous years were most often depicted in positive ways. In 1944 the movie, “Going My Way,” starred Bing Crosby as a priest, and it won seven oscars, including best actor in a leading role, best actor in a supporting role, best director, best writing, and best music. In stark contrast the 2015 movie “Spotlight” won the Academy Award for best picture and best original screen play for its biographical drama telling the story of a newspaper investigation into child sex abuse by priests in the Boston area. The 1944 movie gave an idealistic picture of priests, and the 2015 movie gave a picture of the Catholic Church that reflects a serious failure but also does not leave the viewer with an accurate picture of the church overall. In the media today clergy are more often depicted in demeaning ways and very seldom is religion included in TV shows or movies as a normal part of life.
In the days of the professional pastor weddings and funerals were exclusively in the pastor’s purview. Today, of course, weddings are often done at vineyards and gardens and other beautiful places as well as buildings that are designed for that purpose and are never used for worship. Almost anyone can get a license to perform a wedding. Pastors are not required. Today some people choose not to use pastors for funerals or even to have funeral services.
In days past when the community suffered a crisis such as a natural disaster the clergy were called upon to help the stricken with prayer and assurances of God’s care. Today, “professional” counselors are called. The clergy may minister to their church members, but they are not understood to be contributors to the community in the way they were in the day of the professional pastor.
The Pew Research Center has published studies that show religion is waning in its influence in America.http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ Although there are still many people—a majority—who claim belief in God, the number is in decline. The neighborhood church led by a pastor who has been trained in ministry and is held accountable by peers to the faith professed, is fading. Church buildings still exist in great numbers, but many of them are near empty.
Of course, there are examples of mega churches in every state, and pastors for many years have been encouraged to learn from these mega churches how to reach the community. Some of the mega church models are inspiring because they show the power of the gospel to draw people to faith; some are disturbing because a big crowd does not guarantee a commitment to truth, and some mega congregations amend the gospel to make their message more popular. With Paul (Philippians 1:18) we can rejoice that the gospel is being preached. Still, even with the mega church phenomena the decline in Christianity has continued in the United States. The mega church model has not stopped the move in the direction of waning belief. It appears that mega churches have mostly drawn people out of neighborhood churches and not made an impact on the nation as a whole.
The change in the standing of pastors in the community at large and the shrinking attendance at the neighborhood church reflect a decline across the nation in religious belief. Without a community to give its support and to express its need, the role of professional pastor is less and less viable. The day of the professional pastor has passed. (One could raise the possibility that the idea of professional is changing for teachers, doctors and lawyers, too, but that is another subject.)
The picture of Christianity world wide is much different. The largest religion in the world is Christianity, and Christianity is adding more adherents every year than any other religion. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/20/think-christianity-is-dying-no-christianity-is-shifting-dramatically/What’s more, this phenomenal growth is occurring in the face of persecution in many places. The center of Christianity has shifted from Europe and the West to the Global South, Latin America and Africa, where there are more than one billion Christians.
The words of Jesus in John 15 make us hopeful about North America, too. The Lord has not given up on the church in the West. Let us hope that we are being “pruned.” Pastors and churches are being cut back so that we may bear more fruit.
In order to be more fruitful we come to this change from professional pastor to missionary pastor. The role of pastor will no longer be defined in the larger community alongside other professionals. The role of pastor finds its definition in the local church. Whether the larger community looks to the pastor as a professional leader is not so important. What matters now is the church’s view. The church relies on the Spirit to guide the faithful in a search of Scripture for the model of pastor that best serves God’s kingdom in this place and time. The word missionary is not appreciated by the larger community, but the church loves the word because it comes right out of the heart of God. To be on mission is to be sent. God sent his Son for the salvation of the world. We embrace the message and the lordship of Christ. We embrace our missionary role. We embrace the gospel.
Missionaries are defined by their message. Whether we wear suits with ties or t-shirts with jeans we do not, by that clothing, define missionary. Singing hymns or singing choruses does not define a missionary. A building does not define a missionary. The number of people gathered for a meeting does not define what God’s mission means. What counts is the message.
God was in Christ reconciling himself to the world. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus is coming again to make all things right. We live in and through and by the life of Christ. He is our Lord. He is our message.
Again, my advice to churches in transition: search for a pastor who knows the message; search for a pastor who lives that message as the organizing principle of life. Search for a missionary pastor who will lead the church to embrace its call to the mission field, who understands that our mission field is right here in America.
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Grandchildren. One day this week Judy and I took Mr. Happy, our four year old grandson, to our house for the afternoon. On the way we stopped at the drive-through counter of a fast food restaurant to get ice cream. As we were ordering Mr. Happy heard me say that I wanted a cone for him. He shouted from the back seat, “No, Pal!” I was puzzled and turned to look at him. He went on to say, “I want ice cream in a cone.” I clarified that point with the counter person and learned a lesson about pre-schoolers. They are literally minded, and when something is important—like ice cream—they are good listeners and they can be assertive. Maybe he has a legal career in his future.
