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.

Free graduate level courses through Covenant Theologial Seminary

For many people in pastoral ministry, especially in charismatic or pentecostal contexts, and particularly overseas in developing nations, the cost and logistical implications of pursuing a high quality, formal, graduate-level theological education renders this utterly impossible. Although the wonderful congregation I now serve as Senior Pastor is very graciously making it possible for me to pursue my Master of Divinity at the the seminary Dr. Jack Hayford founded in Van Nuys, California (The King's Seminary), I could have never done this during the years that Teresa and I lived in France as career missionaries.

For people who are unable to finance a seminary degree, I have recently discovered one way on the internet to study the Scriptures on a true graduate level at no cost whatsoever. The Covenant Theological Seminary (If you are unfamiliar with the Presbyterian Church of America, think Francis Shaeffer) in Saint Louis, Missouri offers an amazing selection of actual course audio recordings, lecture transcripts, syllabi, and course study guides on the internet via their free, Covenant Worldwide program.

By listening to these lectures, reading the texts listed in the syllabi, following along in the study guides, etc., you potentially receive a significant portion of the same benefit as if you were actually enrolled in their program. (Note: You would NOT receive course credit this way, any formal degree, be actually enrolled in the classes, or have any interaction with the professor, other students, etc.! This would be strictly for personal and ministerial enrichment...!)

Since I am currently preaching my way through the life of Christ as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, I downloaded the first lecture this morning, The Historicity of the Gospels, from the Life and Teachings of Jesus taught by Dr. Daniel Doriani and found the quality of material covered and the presentation to be very, very good. (Click here to download/listen to the lecture audio file in mp3 format; click here to download/view the study guide in pdf format; click here to read the written transcript of the lecture online; click here to read/download the written transcript of the lecture in pdf format; you can also sign up to receive the entire course via podcast, for more information, click here.)

I do not know the people at Covenant, but, being a former missionary who still has much contact with indigenous church leaders in various countries around the world, many of whom read this blog, I am deeply moved by their generosity! I think it would be very difficult to find another fully accredited, reputable seminary that so freely shares the priceless gift of godly learning on a "Whosoever will, let him come..." basis. (If you know of other accredited seminaries that share their actual audio lectures, etc., online, please let me know and I will post that information, too.)

May God bless Covenant...!