Tim Clark’s Blog

I was just asked an important question from a bright young pastor: “Why is Easter a week when we would expect that un-churched people would want to come to church?”

It is, in fact, a very good question with an answer that is not as easy as you might think. Let me rephrase it: “In a post-modern, increasingly post-Christian America, why would anyone think that Easter is a more important day to go to church than any other Sunday in the year?”

For Christians, of course, Easter is our Super-Bowl Sunday. Jesus died for our sins, and was resurrected for our salvation! And because HE experienced resurrection, we are going to, also.

For those who come from a Christian background or culture, this is the day they might be open to going to church with you. If a person who had dropped out of Church, but who still had a soft spot in their heart for Christianity, was invited to an Easter service, there might be something inside of them that said “I probably could go to Church on Easter”.

But even if a person has no cultural background or connection to Christianity, it makes sense to invite them for Easter. Though my church is continually pointing to the death and resurrection of Jesus as the central fact of our faith, Easter is our “High Holy Day” when everything we do focuses on this amazing reality—and we are very intentional to make sure that every person will be able to understand the clear and uncompromising message of the salvation and eternal life that Jesus secured for us through His death and resurrection.

Furthermore, this is not just a message that can be read in a book, but it comes alive when the presence of the Holy Spirit is evident within a worshipping family of believers. Christians have been transformed by Jesus’ death and resurrection, so when we get together to specifically celebrate that, it is something worth checking out.

In short, if someone is at all interested in experiencing what is most important about the Christian faith, Easter is the time when it is most clear.

So, on Easter we invite people because they may be culturally open to coming—and the Holy Spirit will regularly use open doors like that to engage people. More than that, we invite others because on Easter we have a great opportunity to say, “This message, presented in this community in the presence of this God, is what my faith is really about”.

And if we don’t ask people to join us because we think Easter is for Christians, then we’ve missed the point: Here we have the chance to welcome others into our unique celebration of the most important thing that has ever happened in human history in hopes that they, too, will welcome the risen Lord into their lives.

This week I was reading my Bible alone in a Starbucks and I kept being distracted by an exchange that was taking place at the next table.

There was a new Starbucks partner (employee) being trained by a more seasoned worker. Binders were out and conversation was flowing. They were talking about the cash register, morning and afternoon pastries—yes there is a difference—and scheduling, among other things. There was more than information being transferred here; culture was being developed.

It reminded me of my days training for Starbucks almost 12 years ago. There were classes and there were workbooks, but what I remember best are the one-on-one conversations. These connections were the backbone of the training program then, and they still are today. Every new partner had (has) various veterans who ensured that positive development was being made.

And it made me think of how we might help new believers get acclimated to the faith.

Many of our churches have regular classes for new Christians. These training opportunities are important and can provide an overview or primmer on what is necessary to understand as a person follows Jesus.

It is probably a good idea, too, to give people some material to read and work through. Lectures in classrooms can sometimes be static; most of us need to engage with and tangibly work through information on our own to make sure it ‘sticks’.

However, I wonder if we tend to miss the most vital element of passing important understanding from one ‘generation’ to the next? Relational connections can’t be beat in discipleship, because ultimately our faith is not simply about information, it is about transformation, and a relational, discipleship-based connection promotes a transference of life and not just of knowledge.

Just a thought: What if every person at your church who indicated they were interested in following Jesus was partnered with a more seasoned believer for a series of conversations that flowed around some important aspects of the faith? Maybe a workbook could serve as a practical tool for those conversations, but the outcome would be more impacting than a workbook alone could give.

Propagating relational connections might be a little more work than simply providing a class and it would certainly take more investment than handing a new believer a book, but in the long run, I think it would be much more effective.

Seeing the commercials for the ‘return of Jay Leno’ over the last couple of weeks has made me think…

Five years ago, NBC announced that half a decade later Conan would sit in Jay’s chair hosting the legacy Tonight Show. At the time I was impressed. Here was a network full of Baby Boomer executives that was actually doing some forward thinking regarding the upcoming generation. They were rightly concerned that a demographic sea change was on the horizon, and they were doing their best to get in front of it to ensure the continuance of current younger fan-base as well as to reach out to ones that didn’t yet exist.

Alas, it was all talk. Sure there was the actual switch, but you could tell that they were nervous from before it happened. Because they could not bring themselves to sell out to this generational transition, they hedged their bets and kept Jay on at 10— where nobody thought he would thrive, but where he was guaranteed to upstage the younger host. And they told Conan to change his presentation and personality so he could more respectfully reach the aging population who may not “get” him so much; in the process he lost the very thing that made him appeal to millions of younger viewers. Predictably NBC tanked in the ratings for both shows.

Now I don’t watch much late night TV anymore and I really don’t have anything invested in the goings-on at NBC. But, all week I have been wondering about the church leadership implications. In a time when denominational overseers talk a lot about restocking the shelves of pastoral leadership and reaching an emerging generation, I wonder if they are really committed to the follow-through without hedging their bets. I wonder if they are taking the long view and planning to place competent but younger pastors who can reenergize legacy churches to connect with an emerging generation. I wonder if they are willing to do this with the knowledge that if these new pastors are free to maintain their own personality and style, that they just might loose some of the older folks. And, I’ve wondered if successful pastors who have brought on younger leaders to wait in the wings for their retirement will ever truly be able to let go.

I’m not suggesting that the current aging generations (The Silent & Baby Boom Generations) are irrelevant and shouldn’t continue in leadership. Neither am I contending for younger pastors to irresponsibly alienate our valued elders. I am questioning whether, as humans get older, we have an inordinate need to go back to the way it was, while not investing everything in the way it will need to be—more than anything I question if we unconsciously but instinctively neglect the next generation of lost people in our most important leadership decisions.

I hope that I remember these lessons in 25 years when I am at retirement age. And I pray that I take a note from the life of Moses who was told to “commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see” (Deuteronomy 3:28).

You are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol… (Deuteronomy 4:22-23)

In much of Deuteronomy, Moses is telling the Israelites about their impending journey into the Promised Land. He’s reminding them of their deliverance from bondage, of God’s Covenant with them, and of the civil laws they must agree to live by. He won’t go with them, but he wants to set them up for success.

And in the middle of it all, Moses warns them about idols. These people who have seen the undeniable supernatural hand of God would be tempted to make and worship idols. This seems strange to us, but we quickly rationalize that it was a different culture, a long time ago, in a land far, far away.

But let’s not be quick to limit idolatry to little faux-avatars made of gold, wood or clay. We have idols, too; and not just cover girls, leading men, and fast cars. In ministry, our idols are much more subtle than those easily recognizable things.

I think we idolize methods of church growth. I’ve seen other churches and pastors made into idols. We idolize buildings, books, and broadcasts. Programs become idols, too.

It generally isn’t the fault of these things that they get made into idols. A few verses earlier, Moses was warning Israel not to make bird idols, sun and moon idols, men and women idols, even fish idols! Verse 19 says the Lord provided these things.

Big churches and impacting programs aren’t inherently bad, but when I secretly worship them I’ve allowed something else to take God’s place, and that isn’t good.

How do we worship those things? We put our hope of future effective ministry in them. We also give those tools the credit when ministry growth or fruit happens.

When God brings me into a place of promise and fruit, I am to give nobody else the credit. When you read Genesis through Joshua that is one of the great subtexts: These Hebrew people had nothing to do with God choosing them or God delivering them or God giving them the Promised Land. Every time they tried to take things into their own hands, they failed miserably. Their success wasn’t because they were good warriors or because they had the right strategy or because the Sun was on their side. They were wholly dependant on Yahweh for any success, and their part was always and only total obedience.

That’s our part, too. God speaks; we respond. Period. In ministry and in life there are many methods, tools, and strategies that can be good and God-given. I think we’re free to appreciate and use these gifts. But the minute we start giving them credit for what God is doing, we have crossed into idolatry—and God won’t share His glory with anyone, or anything, else!