One simple rule for the Church: Don’t criticize or complain about things you did not participate in.

For example, when someone comes out and says, “The worship music was lousy today,” they usually have no idea what truly happened. Someone had to pick out the songs, and another person found the music in the correct key for the singers. People had to practice, and who knows what their minds and heart are processing. Sound people are trying to get a good mix and relying on their ears and instincts. This is not to mention the pressure of a live performance in front of your peers. Quite literally, a thousand things could go wrong on any Sunday morning. It is much more complicated than it looks.

Your criticism might be valid, but there are numerous reasons for this result. Everyone did their best, and it didn’t go as planned.

Please don’t tell people how poorly they did their ministry when you do not even know what their job entails.

Prayer is talking to God and presenting him with our requests. One of the privileges of following Jesus is our open access to the throne of grace. It is easy for a Christian to stop anywhere and pray anytime.

The problem is that I do not think most believers take it seriously enough. We throw up prayers without thinking about how God might respond.

We might pray to spend more time with our family, never thinking that it might mean my job might change and force me to stay home.

We might pray for God to give us patience and not consider that he might force us to wait in some area of our life that we find unbearable.

We might pray for greater faith, and He might respond by testing the limits of our trust in him through an illness.

We might pray for more robust relationships, and the answer might be forcing ourselves to work through issues with some difficult people.

One prayer might very well set in motion a series of events you never expected.

Be very careful what you pray for … because you just might get it.

I love learning new things. I equally find joy in discovering a unique insight into an old truth.

This desire to grow in knowledge pushes me to read numerous books each year, listen to podcasts weekly, and read blogs daily. People are writing and recording innumerable things that I want to learn.

Jesus pushes us one step further. He says his followers will “hear these words of his and put them into practice” (Matthew 7:24).

The goal of learning is not information but transformation. We are to do more of the things of God and not simply learn about them. A full mind is noble, but a new life is Jesus’ goal.

Two words change the dynamics of any endeavor: “With You.”

Whenever I go fishing, and I say that I want to go “with someone,” then everything changes. I have to make sure they have the appropriate gear, needed supplies and work around their schedule. The experience changes whenever I add another person.

There are thousands of examples. I want to go for a walk versus I want to go for a walk with you. I want to play a game compared to I want to play a game with you. I want to read the Bible is a different job than I want to read the Bible with you. I want to serve the Lord is good, but I want to serve the Lord with you is an entirely different experience.

The Bible is full of passages that teach about our connection to “one another.” There are commands, instructions, encouragements, and challenges to live out our spiritual lives in community.

I am glad you are reading, learning, growing, serving, giving, and leading, but you need to add two words to each project for the whole experience God intended.

Do you believe people without Jesus are lost and bound for a Godless eternity? Do you believe Jesus is the only way to the Father, and people must place their faith in him? Do you think the Church should do everything in its power to share the gospel with people so they can enjoy heaven and all its blessings? 

Do you? Do you really believe these truths?

If you do, I can see it in all you do. 

I can see it by noticing where you park on Sunday morning. Do you take the closest spots or save them for guests who might be at Church for the first time?

I can see it by watching who you talk to on Sunday before and after worship. Do you engage new people who might be there and see what Christians are like? Or do you only talk to people you know and ignore everyone else?

I can see it by observing where you sit. Do you immediately take seats in the back right on the aisle? Do you force new people to climb over you or walk to the front? 

Caring about people who are lost means that you are telling your neighbors about Jesus. It also means you are doing the little things that help the mission of Jesus in the local Church. 

Reaching people far from God requires a different type of ministry than one that connects with mature Christians.

These groups do not start from the same convictions, morals, or goals.

I appreciate Churches that start each week with a “thus saith the Lord” approach to their program. They read the Bible a lot and assume everyone in the room knows what they are talking about. Often the preacher picks a book to preach through and spends week after week working through those texts.   

It is different when you are reaching non-Christians. You have to start where their life is at that moment. They may be struggling in their marriage, parenting, or work environment. They may be feeling the disillusionment that comes with success. They may feel the pain of losing someone they love or the joy of a newfound love. You must start there and tell them how God speaks into their life in that situation. 

When you do, you have to take the time to define what an Ephesian is and why they should care about them. You must explain the background of the people speaking and why their story is essential. There must be a contextualization that helps everyone understand why these ideas matter to them and the people they love.   

If you attend the Church I lead or one like it, you will hear some of the same things explained weekly. These explanations are repeated in the simplest way possible. I assume that people have no Church background or Bible knowledge. There will be illustrations from people trying to live out their faith today. My professor used to say, “Put the cookies on the low shelf so that everyone can enjoy them.” 

There are many different Churches and ways to do ministry, and most have different starting points. This is important to know when you choose a Church to attend and invite the non-believers in your life to join you. 

Tell me all the ways you have tried to grow spiritually that didn’t work.

Please tell me how you tried the one-year Bible and only made it two months. 

I would love to hear about that devotional you bought and gave up before Easter.

You may have tried and failed to become closer to Jesus in a dozen ways. But for every way you have attempted, you are one step close to finding the one that works for you. 

It took me years and years of failed attempts to find a system that worked for me, but I finally found one. And I know that if you keep trying, you will one day land on a habit that helps you mature in your knowledge and love of the Lord.

Do not spend more time reading books about the Bible than you do reading your Bible.

Books can significantly help your understanding but do not make them a substitute for the real thing. 

Recently I read an article in which the author talked about a concept he called “The Invisible Pastor.” I am not sure if this was his original idea or someone else, but I found several similar posts online. 

The basic concept is that the pastor should not be the name and face of a Church. Far too often, the preacher in a Church is more widely known than any other person. They have websites, book deals, speaking tours, and a personal brand.

The flip side of this behavior is that the Church people fade into the background and become invisible. The people who do much of the work of ministry. The sound people, greeters, childcare providers, teachers, elders, deacons, cooks, and children’s ministry leaders become invisible.

How about instead, the Church let the people who make up the body of Christ become more visible and the pastor invisible? How about those Christians who are always in the background share in the glory of the Lord?

Let the Church have the Children’s workers take center stage. Let them spotlight the greeters who are the first contact with the Church. Let them make the people doing the inglorious work of ministry each week more visible. And let the pastor become another worker whose face blends in with every else. 

This last week our Church hosted a Vacation Bible School with well over a hundred kids every night. There were dozens of outstanding workers in every area of the Church. They are the stars of this show.

Throughout the week, we made videos of all that we were doing. I do not appear in any of them. I want to be invisible and let the people who work hard for Jesus shine their light for all the world to see. They are the real heroes. 

I hate to disappoint people, but I am not a perfect pastor.

I continue to learn, but there are some holes in my Biblical knowledge.

My marriage has some great seasons and some rough ones, usually because of me.

I once thought I was a great Christian parent, and then my kids grew up.

I attempt to be a better people person and love the family of God, but some people bring out the worst in me.

My leadership in the Church often lacks the wisdom I should have at this age.

There are sins hidden in my heart that I wrestle with every single day.

My faith is growing, but my doubts and fears are sometimes more prominent.

I am a mess. But I am God’s mess.

As a pastor, I am not able to be a leader who is out in front with all the answers. I am not a picture of flawless faith for others to imitate.

My leadership in the Church is not an example of perfection but of grace. God loves me despite my sins. He is using me even with my weaknesses. And I hope to help build a community of faith-filled people who can be messy together.

I am not a perfect pastor, and I am not leading perfect Christians. I am a sinner saved by grace, trying to lead people in the Church who need that same grace. They will have to show me patience, mercy, and forgiveness, and I will do the same for them.