An Interim Strategy

While perusing the stream of tweets that accrued on my Twitter account ( @judestjohn ) a few weeks ago, a particular tweet, in fact a particular word in that tweet, caught my attention.

The word I saw: interim.

And of course it caught my eye because I have recently become one. An interim, that is, not a tweet to be sure. More precisely, I have become the interim lead pastor at West London Alliance Church.

The tweet in question provided a link to a blog post by Seth Godin. I had heard of Seth Godin, knew him to be an author, and found the following description of him on his website:

SETH GODIN is the author of 18 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything.

The title of the blog post by Godin further intrigued me: The Interim Strategy. Now I was hooked and so I proceeded to read the article. The article itself was neither a how-to manual for interims nor an Interiming-for-Dummies piece. Rather, it discussed the tendency of businesses to employ an interim strategy in spite of the conflicts that interim strategy might have with the company’s long-term goals and mission.

Despite the seemingly disparate topic of the article to my situation of being an interim pastor, it nevertheless had some ideas that are very transferable and surprisingly biblical.

Godin begins,

We say we want to treat people fairly, build an institution that will contribute to the culture and embrace diversity. We say we want to do things right the first time, treat people as we would like to be treated and build something that matters.

But first... first we say we have to make our company work.

We say we intend to hire and train great people, but in the interim, we'll have to settle for cheap and available. We say we'd like to give back, but of course, in the interim, first we have to get...

This interim strategy, the notion that ideals and principles are for later, but right now, all the focus and resources have to be put into the emergency of getting successful—it doesn't work.

This is helpful for me, for West London Alliance Church, and for churches around the globe. Churches in general, and pastors like myself, often feel an immense pressure to “be successful.” And that desire to be successful may tempt a church or a pastor or a parishioner to set aside a biblical mandate, even if only temporarily, for something more pragmatic that will bring success. That is a very dangerous thing.

 Godin writes, “It doesn't work because it's always the interim. It never seems like the right time to stop doing what worked and start doing what we said was important.” And we might apply it to our church and to our lives by saying, “A non-biblical strategy doesn’t work because it is always the interim; it is always already-not yet when it come to the church. And it will never seem like the right time to stop doing what seems to bring success and start doing what is biblical.”

Godin concludes his discussion of business strategies by exhorting: “perhaps it makes sense to act in the interim as we expect to act in the long haul.” And that is what I plan to do; that is my interim strategy.

I’m not going to import some idea that could make myself or the church “successful,” whatever that means. I’m much more concerned about being faithful. Faithful to the Bible. Faithful to my calling. Faithful to the principles that have been the foundation of West London Alliance Church, a faithful body of believers. I plan to continue to deliver “as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve (1 Corinthians 15:3-5 ESV).” I’ll endeavour to continue “Making known the greatness of God” just as this congregation has done over the years.

Nothing new here. No cutting-edge interim strategy. Just faithfulness to the Word, fealty to the gospel, and fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

Book Review – The Compelling Community

Some of the most edifying books I have read in the past decade have come with a 9Marks logo located somewhere on the cover. The Compelling Community, by Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop, is another excellent 9Marks book that I found very helpful. This book, primarily written by Dunlop, focuses on lessons learned and principles derived from Pastor Mark Dever and the church the two authors lead and attend.

Dunlop writes, “I want to raise the bar of what you envision church community to be,” and at the same time he claims, “I want to lower your ambition for what you can do to create community…Scripture teaches that the community that matters is community built by God.” In Dunlop estimation, this book is “an exploration of What God’s Word says about community–paired with practical advice for how you might work out these principles in your own church.”

• Chapter one argues that gospel-plus community–derived from natural means–may “work” to create community, but churches aspire to gospel-revealing community–derived supernaturally–that displays the power of God.
• Chapter two considers the impact of naturally derived community: compromised evangelism and compromised discipleship.
• Chapter three contrasts community built on comfort versus community built on calling and the evident supernatural quality of the latter.
• Breadth of community, and the diversity inherent in it, is considered in chapter four along with the difference between this and similarity based community.
• Chapter five looks at the interplay between the right preaching of God’s word and how it works itself out in God’s community.
• The focus of chapter six is prayer and chapter seven’s is on discipleship.
• The eighth chapter assesses impediments to community which may include staff positions, events, music, and ministries.
• Chapter 9 deals with the inevitable discontent and disunity that come with community with a focus on how the apostles wrestled with these issues.
• Chapter 10 examines Jesus’ teaching on sin in the church.
• Chapter 11 deals with the witness of the church community and evaluates how we can best expose the world to it.
• Church planting and church revitalization are deliberated in the twelfth chapter.

My experience with 9Marks books and their teaching on the church has almost been entirely positive. Their books, and the ideas contained in them, are informative and inspiring. I find myself challenged, and motivated to rise to the challenge. This book, The Compelling Community, is no different in these regards. As a church leader, and one who desires to see the church be what the Bible calls her to, I recommend this book.

What's the Center?

 I remember a few years ago speaking with a friend about the cross of Christ. Our theology overall was similar but different enough to generate some good debates. I remember him saying to me that I was too focused on the cross. To him the cross was the tool that the Lord used to glorify Christ, thus securing salvation for us. He thought I should be more focused on that. To me the cross was and still is everything. As C.J. Mahaney addresses in Living the Cross Centered Life (read this book if you haven't!), we never move away from the cross, but instead only into a deeper understanding of it. Below is a quote from It is Well. In this passage Mark Dever addresses the Christian finding their identity in the cross and how it is the only focus of the Christian's life.

Occasionally some will accuse evangelicals of being too atonement-centered. But I don't know what it would mean to be too centered on the Suffering Servant suffering for us for our salvation. That's what makes us a people. That is our identity. Just a we saw in the last chapter, Jesus clearly understood Isaiah 53 to be talking about his life and his death. He knew that his sufferings were vicarious, that they were endured in sinners' stead. Thus, in just a few nights he would look into his disciples' eyes and say, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many" (Mark 14:24). As Paul would later put it, "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3). What would you suggest we put at the center of our focus instead of the cross?

What should I look for in a local church?

Mark Dever explains some of the most basic components of a healthy church.

 

Love Jesus? Love the church!

Mark Dever explains why those who love Jesus must also love the church.

 

Expectations

 More good stuff from 9Marks:

What should a church expect from its members?

A church should expect that its members will:

1. Attend services regularly. Hebrews 10:25 commands Christians not to forsake assembling together. Attending services regularly is one of the basic commitments of membership and one of the basic ways that a church member can grow in the faith, get to know other Christians, and allow the church leaders to shepherd and watch over his life.
2. Attend communion particularly. Members should strive to be present when Christ’s death is commemorated and the church’s unity is displayed in communion.
3. Attend members’ meetings consistently (if the church is congregational). This is when the church makes decisions as a church that affect the whole church.
4. Pray regularly. If your church has a membership directory, consider encouraging members to use it as a prayer list.
5. Give regularly. The apostle Paul writes, “One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches” (Gal. 6:6).
6. Build relationships with other members. Being a member in a local church is like being a hand or an eye (1 Cor. 12:21). You can’t function without all the other parts of the body. Just as a body functions when each part does its job and works together with all the other members, a local church is built up into maturity in Christ as the members minister in an intimately interrelated way  (Eph. 4:15-16, 1 Cor. 12:12-26). So a church should expect that its members will build relationships with other members.
7. Submit to the church’s leaders. The Scripture says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Heb. 13:17).
8. Serve as God gives opportunity. God has given spiritual gifts to every member of the body of Christ so that everyone would use his or her gifts to build up the entire body (1 Cor. 12:7). A church should expect that all of its members will serve the whole church as God enables.

(Some of this material has been adapted from Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever, pages 161-163)

Git er done!

In the dedication to his book The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter confesses that he procrastinated in starting the work of meeting with his congregants. He felt overwhelmed by the task at hand and figured the obstacles would too daunting to overcome. He writes,

I wonder at myself, how I was so long kept off from so clear and excellent a duty. But the case was with me, as I suppose it is with others. I was long convinced of it, but my apprehensions of the difficulties were too great, and my apprehensions of the duty too small, and so I was long hindered from the performance of it. I imagined the people would scorn it, and none but a few, who had least need, would submit to it, and I thought my strength would never go through with it, having so great burdens on me before; and thus I long delayed it, which I beseech the Lord of mercy to forgive.

It seems, not only did he find the difficulties loomed overly large, but the importance of the undertaking was undervalued. Fear of man also worked into the mix of the muddled musings of his mind. However, he went through with his plans and adds, "Whereas, upon trial, I find the difficulties almost nothing (save only through my extraordinary bodily weakness) to that which I imagined; and I find the benefits and comforts of the work to be such, that I would not wish I had forborne it, for all the riches in the world."

Once endeavored, the difficulties seemed small and the performance of the duty were beneficial and comforting. We need, I need, some gospel-initiative and gospel-ambition in my life to begin tasks I'm called to and to persevere in employments I have already begun.

In reading this passage, I was reminded of something Mark Dever said. I do not remember the exact quote, and cannot cite the source, but it was something to the effect of, "Young men over-estimate what they can accomplish in the short-term and under-estimate what they can accomplish in the long-term." That is another sound piece of advice.

To 'git er done', remember that if you have been called to something, the difficulties are never so great and the reward will exceed expectations. And hard work over a long period of time will pay off.

Next conference messages

I spoke at a Father's Day event located 2.5 hours from home so, as is my habit, I downloaded a few messages to listen to as I drove. I decided to listen to a few messages from the NEXT conference from a few weeks ago. The messages I heard from Dever, Carson, and DeYoung were outstanding.

Here is a link to the page at Monergism where you can listen to or download all of the messages: NEXT messages. Though I have not listened to them all, I feel that I can recommend them based on the speakers and the sermons I have heard.

Wesley on riches!

I came across a post at Already Not Yet that contained this intro :

Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C., did a recent workshop at the Sovereign Grace Pastor’s conference on “The Pastor and the Community: 35 somewhat overlapping statements as a pastor to pastors concerning the topic of the congregation’s responsibility for its wider community.”

I visited the link and began reading the 35 statements. I stopped at #7. I found it quite interesting. It reads as follows:

Individual conversions can have profound effects for good on people, not only in
eternity, but in this life, too. John Wesley observed in 1787 that “I fear, wherever
riches have increased . . . the essence of religion, the mind that was in Christ, has
decreased in the same proportion. Therefore, I do not see how it is possible, in
the nature of things, for any revival of true religion to continue long. For religion
must necessarily produce both industry and frugality; and these cannot but
produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world
in all its branches. How then is it possible that Methodism, that is, the religion of
the heart, though it flourishes now as a green bay tree, should continue in this
state? For the Methodists in every place grow diligent and frugal; consequently
they increase in goods. Hence, they proportionably increase in pride, in the desire
of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life. So, although the form of
religion remains, the spirit is swiftly vanishing away. Is there no way to prevent
this? this continual declension of pure religion? We ought not to forbid people to
be diligent and frugal; we must exhort all Christians, to gain all they can, and to
save all they can: this is, in effect, to grow rich! What way then, I ask again, can
we take that our money may not sink us to the nethermost hell? There is one way,
and there is no other under heaven. If those who gain all they can, and save all
they can, will likewise give all they can, then the more they gain, the more they
will grow in grace, and the more treasure they will lay up in heaven,” (Tyerman,
vol. III, p. 520). True or False? While conservative Christians are often said to be
more concerned about “saving souls,” religious liberals give a significantly larger
proportion of their income to alleviating poverty and meeting the needs of the
downtrodden and underprivileged. False. Conservative evangelicals tend to give
more to the poor than religious liberals. (See Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion Sept. 1998; also Robert Wuthnow’s Acts of Compassion [1993].) Many individual conversions have resulted in personal reformations and particular
social improvements. And we hope will result in good effects in this world.