Death by Ministry

Last May, Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church had a provocative post on the Resurgence blog dealing with pastoral burnout entitled, "Death by Ministry." After listing some sobering statistics on burnout in the ministry and symptoms to look for (some of which I had never considered before), he provides a list of preventions and solutions:

1. Fill your plate.
2. Exercise.
3. Do not allow technology to be your Lord.
4. Sabbath.
5. Pick a release valve.
6. Work on your life, not just in it.
7. Leave margin.
8. Spend most of your time training leaders.
9. Work from conviction, not guilt.

His most recent post (Of Brokennes and Buddies) shares some of his own battle with burnout in the face of church growth at the rate of 1,000 plus per month. (Can you imagine that kind of stress?!?!!!!) Whatever your opinions may be of Mark's theology or even his personality, our brother is obviously impacting a great many people in one of America's least churched cities. Why not take a moment to breathe a prayer for him and his family during this time? Whether our church is larger or small, any one of us could be where he is right now, and probably will be at some point in our lives and ministries.

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2 NIV)

If you have never heard of Mark Driscoll, there are many articles about him on the web, including one from Christianity Today magazine entitled, "Men Are From Mars Hill." You may find his opinions enlightening, you may find them strange, you may even find them offensive, but if you are like me, you will usually find them thought-provoking! Here are a couple of quotes from the CT article to show you what I mean...

You say there are particular theologies attached to traditional, contemporary, and emerging churches? What are they, and what are Mars Hill's distinctives?

Traditional churches have either leaned toward being fundamentalist and separated from culture, which has led to legalism and irrelevance; or they have leaned toward being liberally synchronized with culture, which leads to compromise and irrelevance. Either way, many traditional churches are irrelevant, whether they lean to the Left or the Right theologically and politically. Most contemporary churches are not very theological beyond a few evangelical basics, because they are guided more by pragmatism and programming than theology. At Mars Hill Church, we are driven by Reformed theological convictions and emerging missional methods. I like to say we are theologically conservative and culturally liberal.

What are some of the major blind spots of megachurches?

The major blind spot of megachurches is that they tend to be very effeminate with aesthetics, music, and preaching perfectly tailored for moms. Manly men are repelled by this, and many of the men who find it appealing are the types to sing prom songs to Jesus and learn about their feelings while sitting in a seafoam green chair drinking herbal tea—the spiritual equivalent of Richard Simmons. A friend of mine calls them "evangellyfish" with no spiritual vertebrae. Statistically, traditional churches are in steep decline, contemporary churches will dominate in the foreseeable future, and emerging churches are just beginning to sort out what the future holds for them.

Are young people becoming more sympathetic to Reformed theology?

The two hot theologies today are Reformed and emerging. Reformed theology offers certainty, with a masculine God who names our sin, crushes Jesus on the Cross for it, and sends us to hell if we fail to repent. Emerging theology offers obscurity, with a neutered God who would not say an unkind word to us, did not crush Jesus for our sins, and would not send anyone to hell. I came to Reformed theology by preaching through books of the Bible such as Exodus, Romans, John, and Revelation, along with continually repenting of my sin. I am,however, a boxers, not briefs, Reformed guy. I am pretty laid back about it and not uptight and tidy like many Reformed guys.

What do you think needs to be the relationship between church and culture?

The difficulty is that there are actually three ways that faithful Christians and churches must respond to culture:

Reject—Some aspects of a culture are simply sinful and should be rejected by God's people. In our day this would include sexual sins (fornication, pornography, homosexuality, adultery), illegal drug use, and the pluralistic notion that every religion is an equally valid path to salvation.

Receive—Some aspects of a culture are the result of common grace and should be received by God's people. Examples in our day would include stewarding and enjoying creation, building community, and acts of mercy for the poor, widows, orphans, sick, and elderly.

Redeem—Some aspects of a culture are, in and of themselves, morally neutral but are used for evil, and can be redeemed for good. Examples in our day include using media portals (e.g., internet, podcast, vodcast) for the gospel, celebrating sex within heterosexual marriage, and spending money and using power in such a way that honors Jesus and demonstrates his love for people.