Dear Young Pastor

I hear you're having a tough time of it.

Good. Glad to hear it.

As I got it, a group in the church doesn't care for your leadership. They find fault with your sermons. They probably don't like the color of your tie (or worse, the fact that you don't wear one).

What makes their opposition dire is that they are the leaders of the church. Not a good thing.

Unity is always better than division.

You came close to resigning, I was told. You probably felt, "If I don't have the support of these elected leaders of the church, then I'll not be able to do anything here."

You actually wrote out a resignation, perhaps to see what it would feel like.

It felt wrong. You knew you were displeasing the wrong One, the Father who sent you there in the first place.

So, you chose to hang in there and try to give leadership to a church that is not sure it wants any.

Welcome to the ministry.

Scripture says, "It is good for a young man to bear the burden in his youth" (Lamentations 3:27). Whatever else that means, I suggest it is saying, "You might as well learn early on what you've gotten yourself into."

Who Gets the Oscar?

Sitting in front of the television the other evening as Hollywood was having its annual prom--it was Oscar night--I wondered something.

Who decides who steps to the microphone to receive an award?

When a movie's name is called as the winner of "best picture" or some other category in which a number of people have collaborated, who decides which member of that crowd stands, walks to the front, accepts the kiss from Penelope Cruz, and addresses the billion people who are tuned in?

Do they work this out in advance? Is it spontaneous? Do people get their feelings hurt when the wrong person steps up and takes credit?

Michael Curtiz directed "Casablanca," the incredible movie (my favorite) which took home several Oscars from the 1944 prom. He was named best director and the movie best picture of the year.

The other night, a Turner Classic Movie program on the three Warner Brothers was played. It's a new bio done by the granddaughter of one of the three--Albert, Harry, and Jack. Cass Warner makes no bones about it, that Jack was the rascal in the bunch. He talked the other two into selling the studio to a Boston firm, then the next day repurchased it so it would belong exclusively to himself. The rest of the family never forgave and never forgot.

An executive who worked on "Casablanca"--I failed to notice his name--told what happened when they announced the best picture award. "I was rising to my feet when I noticed Jack Warner already on his way to the front. He accepted the Oscar like he had had anything to do with this movie. It was my movie. I'm the one who made 'Casablanca' happen!"

A generation later, he still had not forgotten the offense or forgiven Jack Warner.

The line often attributed to Ronald Reagan goes like this: "There is no limit to what can be accomplished if you don't care who gets the credit." (It is also attributed to Walt Disney and others.)

That sounds great. And it's almost true. But not entirely. It matters a great deal who gets the credit.

The Pastor Is Preaching on an Event that has Stunned the Community

It happens to every pastor a few times in his lifetime.

An event occurs in the community that attracts the attention of the world and shocks the members of his church. His people experience a mixture of grief, sadness, amazement, and anger. The event is front-page news for a week.

The thoughtful pastor decides there are moral dimensions in play here and spiritual lessons that need to be addressed.

The pastor decides to preach on that subject next Sunday.

Start praying for him. This is the toughest kind of sermon he will ever preach.

David Crosby did just this last weekend. He went about it so responsibly, approached it so carefully, and pulled it off so successfully, I felt other pastors would be interested in what he did.

Since June 1, 1996, David Crosby has led the historic First Baptist Church of New Orleans. Some eight years ago, he led them in a total relocation from the St. Charles Avenue site to an all new facility located at 5290 Canal Boulevard. Since Katrina (date: August 29, 2005), this church has been on the front lines of the rebuilding and renewal of New Orleans. My judgement is there is no pastor in the city more involved, more knowledgeable, and more caring than David Crosby.

Last Sunday, he titled the message: "The Danziger Bridge Conspiracy: A Confusion of Loyalties." The text was II Samuel 11:14-21,27, the account of David's adultery with Bathsheba and the participation of Joab, his general, in covering it up.

It's important for a pastor to know that David Crosby did not surprise his congregation with this sermon. He told them in advance, asked for their prayers, and involved several in internet (e-mail) discussions on how to approach the subject.

Telling the congregation in advance could also have served as a notice to anyone who chose to be absent that day for whatever reasons. Perhaps the event involved some family member or close friend and the pain was still fresh.

The front of the church bulletin Sunday introduced the sermon with background information:

"The Danziger Bridge is a vertical lift bridge which carries seven vehicular lanes of U.S.Route 90 (Chef Menteur Highway) across the Industrial Canal in New Orleans not far from the Baptist Seminary. When this bridge was completed in 1988, it was the widest lift bridge in the world. The structure itself is intriguing and unique, standing with its four great pillars towering above the highway and canal.

"Police responded to reports of gunshots on the bridge on September 4, 2005, in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Officers shot six civilians. Two of them died.

"Last week the lieutenant in charge of the police officers, Michael Lohman, pled guilty to the charge of conspiring to cover up the true nature of the shootings. Mr. Lohman worked the security detail for First Baptist Church for a number of years and is known to many of our members. The pastor's sermon this morning will be a response to these tragic developments in our city."

The Other Six (News Items)

Good news is where you find it, and these days, living in New Orleans, we'll take all we can get. The New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl exactly one month ago today. Regardless what people down here say ("I predicted this." Yeah, right. Sure you did.), we were as surprised as anyone else.

The downside of that great news is that a new season gets underway this summer and the Saints win will be ancient history. No sooner had Coach Sean Payton got back into the office on Airline Drive when sports reporters started badgering him, wanting to know, "Can you repeat?"

So much for the kind of good news we get in this life. Almost all of it has a dark side, something that takes the shine off it, that would rob it of a lasting joy. And yet, there are bits and pieces of news here and there that are light years beyond the other kind. They are pure joy and have no negatives whatever.

A few days ago, we gave the first 6 of our even dozen items of good news, the kind that never loses its luster and carries no negatives.

I promised to come back and give the last six. These are mine and the result of a lifetime of trying to live the Christian life. You'll think of more to add to it.

7. When the Lord Jesus comes into your life, you become a child of God.

Not just his servant or friend, but his child. Not his admirer or supporter or member. His child. Not just a convert, a number, a scalp to be counted, but the very own born-again child of the living God.

"As many as received him (Jesus), he gave the power (or right or authority) to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name" (John 1:12).

Now, I suspect you are aware that scripture uses many metaphors and similes to tell us all we are in Christ. There are places in the New Testament, for instance, that tell us we are adopted into God's family. And others tell us we are born again. Isn't this contradictory? Not at all. Each brings something special to the picture.

In the new birth (John 3:3), we leave behind our previous existence and begin our spiritual lives as newborn infants. In adoption (Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:5), we enter at whatever real age we happen to be. The Roman custom of adoption sheds light on this. Instead of the way we do (adopting infants), the Romans adopted fully grown adults in order to have an heir.

So, we are children of God. The Apostle John said, "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God!" (I John 3:1) Indeed.

12 Bits of Good News

After a cold winter, everyone looks forward to the Spring. Well, today is March 5, and where I live--New Orleans, Louisiana--regardless of the calendar, it's Springtime. Later this week the temperature will reach the 70s and after that, we'll never look back.

The TV news people said today a number of economic indicators are really looking good in this country. We're ready for this kind of "springtime" also; the winter of our economic discontent has been devastating to so many.

But, there's a problem with this kind of good news. Know what it is?

After the Spring will come a blisteringly hot summer. And a few months later, winter again.

After a time of economic prosperity, sooner or later, there will come a downturn, a correction of the stock market, or whatever we choose to call it.

It's life.

So, is there good news anywhere with no shadow to it, no dark side, no "other side of the coin"?

You bet there is.

Here are an even dozen pieces of really, really great news, none of which carry harmful side effects. (Note: A second article will give the last half of this; below are the first six news items.)

Precious Blood (I Peter 1:18-19)

"...knowing you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ."

Unless you belong to a conservative or even fundamental Christian church, you've probably not heard much about the blood of Christ lately. I'm not sure why. I do know that a quick scan of my bookshelves turned up not a single sermon on "the blood."

I heard of one Baptist church where it's actual church policy that no hymn celebrating the blood of Jesus will be used in a service. What they do with all the Scriptural texts on that subject beats me. I'm guessing that some leader has let the mania for political correctness drive his common sense from the room.

Jesus said the new covenant was "in my blood" (I Corinthians 11:25).

The writer of Hebrews said, "Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22).

The Apostle John wrote, "The blood of Jesus Christ...cleanses us from all sin" (I John 1:7).

"Who are these clothed in white robes, praising the Lamb of Heaven? And where did they come from?" an elder asked. The Apostle John, in the midst of his vision, uttered, "You know who they are." The elder said, "These...have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation 7:13-14)

Paul told the elders of Ephesus, "Shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28).

You can preach a lot of sermons and ignore the subject of the blood of Jesus, but you'll have to pull a Thomas Jefferson to do it. (You will recall he took scissors and cut everything out of the New Testament which did not conform to his concept of God. He was more honest than many today who do the same thing, although without the shears.)

To the best of my knowledge no one has done with the doctrine of redemption through the blood of the Lamb what J. Sidlow Baxter did in "The Master Theme of the Bible." The first chapter of that book presents a broad summary of the entire message of Scripture on this subject.

I'm going to lay out the outline he uses, then add a word or two at the end which I hope readers will not skip.

Ah, Sweet Mysteries

Once you hear Calvin Miller, you never forget him. As creative a mind and as uncontainable an energy force as you will ever run up against. A preacher, pastor, professor, best-selling author, and accomplished author. And, I'm happy to say, a friend.

I heard him tell this story 15 years ago and have repeated my version of it ever since. Last night I found the notes taken from that message and felt that readers would enjoy it.

A traveler was making his way by foot through a strange and foreboding countryside. When a violent storm arose, he was forced to seek shelter. Coming upon a monastery, he was pleased to see a light shining through a window. He knocked. A monk came to the door.

"Come in, come in, stranger," said the monk.

The brothers fed him and let him warm by their hearth.

"Would thou care to spend the night under our roof rather than return to the storm?" said the abbott, the head monk.

"I would indeed and I'm grateful," said the traveler. "But in order to do so, I will need a few items. Could you please provide for me a rubber suit, a pound of butter, and a bass saxophone? Also, if you have it, two duck eggs and three turnips fresh from the garden."

That night, all kinds of noises came from the visitor's room. No one slept in the monastery that night.

The bad weather continued. The next night, the abbott invited the stranger to remain another night. "I thank you," he said, "And, if you would be so kind, I will once again require the use of the rubber suit and bass saxophone, and another pound of butter, two more duck eggs and three turnips."

That night was a repetition of the first, the strange noises filling the air, driving sleep from everyone. In all, as the storm lingered, the stranger stayed three nights. By now, the monks were beside themselves with fatigue.

On the morning of the fourth day, the sun came out.

As the visitor was leaving, the abbott walked out with him. "May I ask you what that was all about, this business of the rubber suit and the bass saxophone, the butter and eggs and turnips? All that noise coming from your room? We are beside ourselves with curiosity."

The stranger said, "It's an old family secret. I can tell you if you agree never to tell another living soul."

The abbott agreed never to breathe a word of it to anyone. So he told him.

Interview on Church Conflict

My Interview with Pilgrim Radio Network (Western USA) March 3, 2010 - Subject: Church Conflict

26:41 minutes -- 11 Megabytes -- MP3
Click here to download and listen

The Unspoken Heartache: Adultery's Lies

Two things have laid the burden of adultery on my mind this morning.

This week, a friend in another state emailed that the membership of her church is being plundered and savaged by adulterous affairs. She is asking for prayer.

Yesterday, healthy "ministry marriages" was the subject of our "Interpersonal Relationship Skills" class at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Toward the end of the session, we talked about how the enemy sabotages the Lord's people through the lies of adultery.

I recommend J. Allan Petersen's 1984 book "The Myth of the Greener Grass." It should be bought and devoured and kept by every married person, particularly those in the Lord's work.

Here is my own personal list of the devil's lies concerning adultery. See if any have been dangled before your eyes.

Obstacles to the Ocean

Often, I like to use the Mississippi River as an analogy for the great torrent of offerings that flow from individuals into the church offering plates and eventually into the world.

I point out that this great body of water, which flows a couple of hundred yards below my house, is actually composed of individual drops that fell from the sky in a vast basin extending from Western New York State all the way to Eastern Montana.

In the same way, the hundreds of millions of dollars the churches of our denomination send to the fields of the world each year get their start from a child's piggy bank, a widow's pension and a young couple's tithe.

Yesterday, I had an epiphany, one of those moments when you realize there's far more to this than seemed obvious at first.

I was visiting a church not far from where I live. Although retired from being director of missions for the Baptist churches of metro New Orleans, they're still on my heart and anything I can do to encourage one, I want to do it. Mark Tolbert, seminary professor and recent interim pastor of our church, is completing one year as the interim shepherd of that congregation and I do treasure this man. I wanted to hear him preach.

So, yesterday, I worshiped at Williams Boulevard Baptist Church in Kenner, Louisiana.

They received two offerings. The first, in the middle of the service, went for the budget, that is, the full ministries of their church. The second, at the end, was being sent to our International Mission Board for recovery work in Haiti and Chile, following their devastating earthquakes.

I dropped a few dollars into the second offering and something hit me.

Just as there are numerous locks and dams along the great Mississippi River, obstacles we might say, which the waters have to negotiate before they arrive at the sea, the offerings we place in the plate have a number of hurdles to overcome before they reach their destination.

A Spurgeon Story You May Not Have Heard

I once shared this story with Dr. Warren Wiersbe, who is a great admirer of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, considered by many to be the 19th century's greatest preacher. Even though Wiersbe had written of Spurgeon and probably knew as much about the man as anyone, he said he was unfamiliar with the story.

The source is an 1898 book, "The Unexpected Christ," by Louis Albert Banks. (My online used book source--www.alibris.com--had five copies; the cost ranged from $20 to nearly $100.)

The chapter in which the story is located is headed, "Christ Cleansing the Temple of the Soul," based from Luke 19:45-46.

"Mr. Spurgeon said that in his young ministry he received a tremendous spiritual uplift which was felt through all his later life by a strange revelation which came to him in a dream.

"He was sitting in an armchair, wearied with his work. He had fallen asleep in a very self-complacent sort of mood, as his work at the time was unusually successful. As he slept he thought a stranger entered the room, and though his face was benign, he carried suspended about his person measures and chemical agents and implements, which gave him a very strange appearance.

"The stranger came toward him, and extending his hand, said, 'How is your zeal?'

Do Not Assume Anything

The book centered around the year 1940 and all the war-related events of that year: Hitler's invasion of the Low Countries, Churchill's coming to power, Dunkirk, the Blitz, FDR's election to the third term, and the isolationism in the USA.

I told the author (via email) of my appreciation for the book and added, "That year is also special because I made my appearance on March 28, 1940."

After thinking about that a moment, I added, "But don't think me old just because I was born in 1940."

Later, reflecting on that, I wondered why I'd gone to the trouble to say that, seeing as how I do not know that author and don't expect to meet him. Why was that important to me?

I decided it's a personal thing.

None of us want to be pigeon-holed because of demographics or statistics, nor for preconceptions or ignorance. Just because you are a Southerner does not make you a redneck. Living in Mississippi does not mean you are barefooted. All Louisianians do not speak Cajun. All Yankees are not rude.

Here's a short list of assumptions I do not want people making about me. Again, it's just a personal thing. Readers will have your own list.

Do not assume...

1) that I'm humorless just because I'm a preacher.

2) that I'm idle just because I'm retired.

3) that I'm unquestioning just because I'm a Christian.

4) that I'm saintly just because I've been saved since 1951.

5) that I'm intolerant just because I'm evangelistic.

6) that I'm homophobic just because I'm a conservative Christian.

What Billy Graham Learned About Leadership

I have no idea where this page in my handwriting originated, but at some point I either heard Billy Graham talking about this or read it.

"What Billy Graham learned from his contacts with world leaders in all fields...." is the heading.

There are five points:

1) Leadership has its own set of special burdens and pressures.

2) Leadership can be lonely.

3) People in positions of influence are often used by others for their own selfish ends.

4) People in the public eye are often looked upon as role models even though they may not choose it.

5) Many men and women who are leaders in secular fields have given relatively little thought to God.

Who We Are in Christ (I Peter 2:1-10)

Everyone knows how the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, beggar human language telling us who God is. Synonyms pile up until we walk away with a list of "names of God" numbering in the hundreds.

"I love you, O Lord my strength. The Lord is rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." (Psalm 18:1-2)

Scripture is filled with similar texts.

But, what is not as commonly known or considered, is that the Bible does the same thing in announcing who the people of the Lord are. We come away awed at the realization that in Christ, we are far more than anyone ever expected.

Take the first 10 verses of I Peter chapter 2, for instance.

vs. 2 -- newborn babes

vs. 5 -- living stones, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood

vs. 9 -- a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God

vs. 10 -- the people of God

Let's do two things here. Let's comment on what each of these mean, then walk through the entire epistle of I Peter and identify every similar expression of who we are in Christ.

NEWBORN BABES. We've been born again, we have become as little children, and we are to have the kind of ravenous appetite for "the pure milk of the Word" as a baby has for its mother's milk.

LIVING STONES. Each of us is a brick in the building of this house. Remove any one stone and it affects everything around it. Each is essential. In this case, Peter stresses that we are not inanimate objects without life or feeling. We are "living stones." .

The Pastor's Second Biggest Job

Like a coach, the pastor's biggest job is turning his team into winners. The second is keeping them winners.

I've sometimes thought the reason professional football is more satisfying to follow than college ball--and I confess to loving both--is that the makeup of the college teams keeps changing as players graduate. In the NFL, they can stay around as long as they're able to play at a high level.

But it doesn't happen quite that way.

Take the two teams everyone around here roots for, the LSU Tigers and the New Orleans Saints.

LSU will have to replace 13 starters who graduated after the 2009 season. That's 13 out of 22 key players. It's a huge task. Doubters should ask any college coach.

The Saints, who less than three weeks ago won their first-ever Super Bowl, making them champs of the NFL, should be in a better position, right? Maybe. Maybe not.

However--and this is the parallel I'm making with pastors and churches--no team stays static. People change. They age, they grow satisfied, they slack off on workouts, they want to enjoy the big money they've been making, they lose their hunger for great achievements. Their family demands grow stronger, they fall into bad habits. And, they become free agents.

A free agent in football is just what it sounds like: the player has completed his contract with his present team and is at liberty to sign on with a new team, hopefully for a lot more money.

Take Darren Sharper, for instance. He plays a defensive position for the Saints known as "safety." His main assignment is to cover the opponents' receivers, either breaking up passes thrown to them or intercepting the ball himself. Nine times this season he intercepted passes. Three of them he returned for touchdowns.

In football, an interception is a game-changer. The other team was moving the ball, gaining yards, heading toward your end zone. Suddenly, you step up and catch a pass meant for the other guy. Now, the other team leaves the field and your offense comes on, ready to move the ball toward the opponents' end zone. Anyone who can deliver nine interceptions in a season of 16 games you want on your team.

Darren Sharper is a favorite among Saints fans. Now, after earning around $2 mil last year, he's a free agent. The Saints will try to keep him. Some other teams will probably offer him big bucks. What will he do? No one knows right now, not even the man himself.

Cleaning Up the Police Department

This is not the usual kind of article with a spiritual message.

This is a report on New Orleans. Specifically, it's about the corruption in the police department and an FBI investigation that is busting this city wide open. Thank the Lord. It's been a long time coming.

Today, retired NOPD Lt. Michael Lohman pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He faces up to 5 years in prison and a fine of a quarter of a mil.

This is the Danziger Bridge shooting that took place on September 4, 2005, less than one week after Hurricane Katrina. The city was still in lockdown and a report came in to the police that there was a shooting on this bridge.

If you are familiar with the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on Gentilly Boulevard, then you know the Danziger Bridge. You may not know it by that name--I'd never heard it called that until this shooting happened--but it's a few blocks east of the seminary on Gentilly. It spans the Industrial Canal, and is parallel to the High-Rise Bridge on I-10.

No one is questioning that when the police arrived--driving a rental truck of all things--they shot and killed two men and wounded 6 others. Witnesses say the men were unarmed and the police shot without any provocation.

Every investigation until now--and this has been in and out of the news for nearly 5 years--has exonerated the cops. Now we know why.

What to Do When the Accelerator is Stuck

The Lion's Club calls him the tail-twister. In the locker room, he's referred to as a sparkplug.

In the church, he's the accelerator.

He's the guy--or she's the one--who wants to "get this show on the road," who builds a fire under everyone else, who pushes the leaders.

Every organization needs a few of those.

Nothing of what follows is meant to diminish the importance of those church members who are never satisfied with the status quo but want to make a lasting difference for Jesus' sake. Every church should be blessed with a few.

However, as the Toyota Motor Company (or whatever it's official name happens to be) has learned the hard way, an accelerator needs to be under strong controls.

An accelerator that "sticks" causes crashes. Crashes cause deaths.

I sat in the waiting room of my Toyota dealer for an hour last week while the service man made some small adjustment to the accelerator of my Camry. It was part of a several-million-car recall that is turning the automobile business upside down these days. Nearly 40 deaths have been attributed to gas pedals sticking, causing the car to speed ahead uncontrollably.

My wife and I had a disagreement that morning. She vows that she was riding with me once when the pedal stuck on this car. I reply that I would have remembered that, but I don't. She refused to budge. So, I called the car dealer and they told me to bring it in. No waiting, no cost, a simple thing. My wife has peace of mind, and frankly, so do I. Sometimes a wife has to insist on something to get her husband to act.

My wife was my accelerator, you might say.

From time to time, I have seen the work of accelerators in churches. Sometimes, they do a great job. And sometimes, they are missing the controls that will safeguard the congregation and staff from their get-out-of-my-way attitude.

Not long ago, for instance....

How to Lead A Parade

What I call my "New Orleans Sermon" goes like this: In order to start a parade (a movement of some kind that catches on and makes a lasting difference), four things should be kept in mind:

--someone has to be first. This is the person of vision.

--someone has to follow. Getting people to buy into your vision is not a simple thing.

--parades tend to fizzle. So they must be constantly renewed.

--the object is to finish strong. The leader must keep his eye on the prize, and not be sidetracked, deterred or detoured.

Let's focus on the first of these: "In starting a parade, someone has to be first."

I'm thinking of a number of movements (that is, parades) that make our point.

Global Maritime Ministries, a work with seafarers and port workers for the New Orleans riverfront, grew out of the vision of John Vandercook nearly 50 years ago.

Baptist Crossroads Ministries, building homes for the poor of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, grew out of a vision of David Crosby, pastor of the FBC of N.O. I was sitting beside him the very moment that happened.

The Southern Baptist Convention's "Disaster Relief Ministry," which is led and administered through our North American Mission Board, got its start through Bob somebody-or-other who directed the Baptist Men's work for the BGCT (Baptist General Convention of Texas) in the 1960s. Today, the SBC DR work has 1,000 units all across the country, ready to respond to emergencies in a moment.

And another, which is not a religious work but which we all treasure and which makes the point very well, is the Adopt-a-Highway program. It got its start in Tyler, Texas, one day in 1984 when a DOT engineer named James Evans grew concerned over trash blowing out of the pickup in front of him. Today, that program is in 49 states and a number of foreign countries.

You want to start a parade? You have an idea for a movement that could make a real difference in people's lives? Excellent. Good for you. Let's talk about that.

But first, let me tell you about Harlan Proctor.

In Praise of Small Churches

With a few exceptions, all churches were small at one time. They began with a handful of people and went forward from there. Some grew a great deal and are still expanding, some grew a little and leveled off, while some failed to grow at all.

If most of the churches in America of all denominations are small--and in my mind, that means 100 or less in attendance--then several things are true.

--In the words of Lincoln about common folk, "God must have loved them; He made so many of them."

--Small churches must be doing something right or people would not keep attending them.

--The "bigness culture" that is so dominant in American life has dumped a burdensome load of guilt on these small congregations. "If you're so good, why aren't you big?" seems to be the mantra.

--For every book celebrating the small church, there are a hundred telling them how to leave smallness behind and become "great."

Someone should put in a good word for small churches. Think I'll give it a try.

How to Spot a Sick Church

The late great evangelist Vance Havner, who never weighed more than 120 pounds in his life would be my guess, used to quip, "I'm the healthiest sick-looking person you've ever seen in your life!"

It's not easy to tell the state of a person's health by looking. That's why doctors put us through a whole battery of tests. Some abnormal conditions are harder to diagnose than others.

Some churches are so clearly sick that a visitor does not even have to get out of his car to tell. The run-down condition of the facilities, the two-month-old message on the outside sign, and the sparcity of vehicles in the parking lot tell you all you want to know about that church. Unless you are the invited speaker for the day, you drive on down the highway to another more inviting looking church.

Other churches give signs of being healthy but have fault lines running through the interior of their relationships and operations.

A friend who read our earlier posting on "building a healthy church," and who himself has been wounded by an unhealthy congregation or two in his 20 years in the ministry, suggested we try our hand at identifying characteristics of unhealthy churches.

Nothing that follows is the result of any scientific polling or in-depth studies. As with almost everything on this blog, this is my observation from nearly a half century in the ministry.

What does a sick church look like? How can we recognize one when we spot one?