By Rick Blumenberg / @rickblumenberg
Recently I preached to the
congregation I serve as Interim Pastor about how things will go if I become
their permanent pastor. That was only a possibility, but if they considered
this I wanted them to know what they are getting into. I thought perhaps what I
have to say would be helpful to my blog readers, so my theme for today is “If I
become your pastor….we will follow Jesus.
My point is that a pastor is always an
“under-shepherd” rather than the primary shepherd. Jesus is the head of the
church. Any organization that does not have Jesus as the primary leader may be
a good and beneficial organization, but it is not the church. My task, and I
believe the task of every pastor, is to help our congregations learn better how
to follow Jesus.
It is really a simple and clear
guideline, but the implications are earth-shaking. Living out that goal is the
most difficult and most satisfying task of our lives. As long as we try to do
it pastor and church will be in a learning mode. We’ll never learn it all. God
always has new and beautiful things to teach us and sometimes painful lessons to
learn and difficult applications we must carry out. I could write a book on the
subject if I was smart enough, but for today, it will be a simple blog post.
Here are my basic points as I
completed the thought.
We,
as a church, will do everything God tells us to do (John 3:33-35)
We
never ask can we do/afford this. We only ask…“What is God’s will in this
situation?” After we ask, we pray. Individually, corporately, we pray, and continue
to ask, “God, what is your will in this situation? After we pray, we vote and
the majority rules. It’s not a perfect system. In almost every church some who
vote never pray or seek God’s direction and because we’re human sometimes even
when we seek God’s will we fail to understand or follow. Not perfect, but the
best way I know.
We lead our personal lives with Jesus
Christ as Lord
No
saint on Sunday, Sinner on Monday-Saturday business—every day is God’s day. All
of life belongs to him and everything we own belongs to God. We are mere
stewards. What is most important to God must become most important to us. Our
goal is that “God’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Just as fully,
unhesitatingly, joyfully, as it’s done in heaven. Not just in the church, but
also in our personal lives! Now we are
human and sometimes we will fail. When we do, thankfully, God forgives.
We tithe our income to God (See Malachi
3:6-12)
We
stop robbing God and begin to really trust. If we don’t love and trust God with
our finances, we don’t really love and/or trust him. Our church doesn’t have
enough income to survive. We’re dying
financially! One reason we’re dying is because we’re robbing God. If I
become your pastor, we must begin to tithe our income. It’s important to note,
this scripture is for all; individuals, families, churches.
You’re
not going to believe this, but after I preached this sermon the church voted
unanimously for me to become their pastor instead of merely an interim. This
may be the only place in scripture where God says “test me in this”. He goes on
to say, thru the prophet Malachi, “see if I will not throw open the floodgates
of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for
it.” (v. 10)
This
tiny congregation doesn’t have enough income for the minimum bills necessary to
keep the doors open. It doesn’t make sense to give away ten percent when we are
in such bad shape…unless God is real and alive and at work in our world today.
If that is true (and I know it is) we can trust him.
I’m Rick Blumenberg and that’s My
View from Tanner Creek.
