I write this post to pastors, but I welcome feedback from everyone. Without any agenda other than my own questioning, below are some of my wonderings as I think about ministry today. Pick a question or two (or all of them), and let us know your thoughts. Direct others to this post so they can give input as well.
- What positives and negatives do you see in electronic Bibles?
- Do you preach longer or shorter sermons than when you first started preaching? How long do you preach?
- Does your church carry out church discipline? If not, why not?
- Does your church make it financially possible for you to take at least one international mission trip each year? Is it important to you that they do?
- Are you bivocational? If so, do you see that role as your calling?
- Is it the case for you that you have few genuine friends, as some folks say about pastors?
- What one thing do you wish you had learned in college or seminary?
- Does evangelism come easy to you, or do you have to work at it?
- How would you rate the biblical literacy in your church?
- If you could do it all over again, would you still do ministry?
Let us hear from you.
Speaking to question #9, How would you rate the biblical literacy in your church?
I have a mixed bag of literacy. Some have been in church all their lives and have been well-schooled. They can answer questions, have intelligent discussions and give good wisdom from the Word. Others think they know it; but are unable the put thoughts together and are surprised by what the first group would think are basic facts. Still others want to be thought of as knowledgeable; but are not. Of course there are also the ones who sit and daydream the entire teaching time.
The most frustrating are those who refuse multiple opportunities to attend teaching when the opportunities are there.
Thanks, Bill, for the insightful thoughts.
#8. Evangelism does not come easy to me at all. I naturally am a people pleaser, so the thought of being rejected pains me. I am currently doing a little better, but it’s a daily struggle!
Thanks for the honesty, Randy.
What positives and negatives do you see in electronic Bibles? Accessibility, cost, and search features are all positives. Negatives include seeing the Bible as another “app” and being distracted by notifications.
Do you preach longer or shorter sermons than when you first started preaching? How long do you preach? Longer. 30 minutes when I started. 35-40 now.
Does your church carry out church discipline? If not, why not? Formative discipline, yes. Excommunication, no. I’d say we’re working toward that goal.
Does your church make it financially possible for you to take at least one international mission trip each year? Is it important to you that they do? Yes they do, and yes it is.
Are you bivocational? If so, do you see that role as your calling? No.
Is it the case for you that you have few genuine friends, as some folks say about pastors? No.
What one thing do you wish you had learned in college or seminary? How to lead an elders / deacons meeting.
Does evangelism come easy to you, or do you have to work at it? I have to work at being intentional.
How would you rate the biblical literacy in your church? On a scale of 1-10, I’d guess about a 7.
If you could do it all over again, would you still do ministry? Absolutely!
Thanks, Landon!
#1. Having a physical Bible is important to me because an electronic Bible might get interrupted by a phone call, email, or other distraction. Using a physical Bible also take me back to my youth, when I first began reading my Bible and learned to walk with God.
#5. I am recently bi-vocational, but only out of necessity. Too long a story for here, but I’m currently looking for a full-time church to serve in Texas or Oklahoma.
#7. I have a B.A. in Biblical Studies, an M.Div, and a D.Min, and I wish I had learned more about the systems/processes that need to be addressed in a church. By systems, I mean things like blueprints (how-to-steps) for developing leaders, receiving and budgeting funds, implementing different small group models, planning for big days in worship, carrying out one-time events, etc.
Thanks, David.
What positives and negatives do you see in electronic Bibles?
They are convenient. I don’t use them but I have no problem with those that do.
Do you preach longer or shorter sermons than when you first started preaching? How long do you preach?
I preach shorter. This is because of a move from Pentecostal to Baptist. It was expected in the Pentecostal church to be at least 45 minutes, which I never quite got to. I now preach 20-25 minutes.
Does your church carry out church discipline? If not, why not?
We have guidelines about it in our constitution but it has not been put in practice the 1.5 years I have been here.
Does your church make it financially possible for you to take at least one international mission trip each year? Is it important to you that they do?
They haven’t so far but I’m sure they would consider it.
Are you bivocational? If so, do you see that role as your calling?
No. I have done that and found it hard to focus.
Is it the case for you that you have few genuine friends, as some folks say about pastors?
Yes, but that is more because of my personality than my vocation.
What one thing do you wish you had learned in college or seminary?
How to deal with mental health issues in the church.
Does evangelism come easy to you, or do you have to work at it?
It does not come easy. I’m an introvert.
How would you rate the biblical literacy in your church?
It is better than many churches I have been at but there is room to grow.
If you could do it all over again, would you still do ministry?
Absolutely. I just started again after a three year break.
Blessings, Stephen!
to Chuck
Very good questions and I’ll try to answer them even though I am supposedly retired, but hope that God is not ready to let me “Ride the Pine” too long.
1. I like my electronic Bible on my phone, especially with the different translations. Negatively I have to watch that I am not looking at Facebook, Twitter, or emails
2. I normally preach longer than when I first started. Normally I try to stay between 25 – 35 minutes
3. The churches that I have served NEVER practiced Church Disciplline
4. No
5. I was bivo and I viewed that as my calling especially coming from a full time position to a bivo
6. No, not so. I have a lot of close friends from my secular job as well as my ministry
7. In my first church especially I wish that I had had some training in Youth work being a dual ministry of Music and Youth–not only in my first church but also in my 2nd and 3rd.
8. Evangelism comes fairly easy for me. My background in door to door sales prepared me to be more zealous in my evangelism
9. Bible literacy in my church is fairly good. As we grow I am seeing more and more the need for more literacy among our newer members. Our new members class which is required before a person can become a member helps some, but other classes are needed
10. I would give a resounding YES! I wish that earlier in my ministry I had learned how to say NO to so many extraneous things.
Thanks, John!
1. Positives: easier to tote, access, and search, and it appeals to our techy people. Negatives: the loss of that “something” that comes from reading a real book. (I still use the one I bought in 1999).
2. Somewhat shorter. My “interview” sermon was 42 min. My average now is c.35, and it’s been a struggle to get them down to that.
3. We have procedures, but I’m not sure if they’ve ever been enacted. (I’m still fairly new [i.e., less than a year], so I’m still learning).
4. I’m sure they would be okay with it, just not every year. (We’re a very small congregation). I do have an allowance for conferences and such, and I’m sure I could use/substitute those funds for missions trips.
5. Sort of bi-vocational–i.e., I was (and still am) an editor for a small publishing company before I took on the role of Pastor. But the editing work is not the primary vocation (or “calling”). It’s more of something I like to do on the side.
6. I have a handful of genuine friends, but they are either pastors too or they live far away from where we do, which means I don’t get to see them and spend as much time with them as I would prefer.
7. Hebrew.
8. I have to work it, primarily because I’m rather introverted.
9. I’d say about average.
10. Without a doubt.
Thank you, Carl.
1. I think electronic Bibles are great as you can pull up and read books of the Bible without knowing where that book is in the Bible.
As a new Christian, I was always embarrassed to look at the table of Contents in my Bible because I didn’t know where the book
was when the preacher said to turn to that book. The negative aspect is that many folks have a short attention span, so they may
start checking out social media sites and email, instead of staying on the text.
2. I type all of my sermons out and they could be read as an essay. Typewritten sermons between 9-10 pages will normally take me 25-30
minutes to preach. This is a bit longer than when I first started preaching, as those sermons were 15-20 minutes. I was told by one of my seminary professors “There’s no such thing as a bad short sermon!” in his quest for us to make our points and not ‘chase rabbits’ or repeat ourselves.
3. Yes, if we are aware of an issue. Sometimes we aren’t aware of an issue until it’s resolved itself.
4. Yes. I go to Honduras every year with BMDMI on a Medical / Dental Mission trip.
5. No, I’m not bi-vocational. However, I did leave the ministry for 14 years and was a full commission plumbing repair part salesman
to hotels, hospitals, apartment complexes. This has given me a unique perspective towards church members and those in the world.
6. I have several close friends in the ministry and with laypeople. I live in an area where I still see folks from high school and from college
and maintain a few close relationships via social media.
7. I was at SWBTS from 1985-1989. I didn’t learn any practical skills that I use every day, including hospital visits, conducting a funeral,
budget administration, staff administration, etc.
8. Evangelism does come fairly easy for me, but I have to be intentional.
9. There is a solid core group in our church where Biblical literacy is very good. There are others who are mediocre in their literacy and still
others who have little to no literacy.
10. Yes, because I know that God’s kingdom purposes are more important, by far, than my kingdom purposes.
Thanks, Rob!
What positives and negatives do you see in electronic Bibles? Positive – ESV Audio allows me to listen while I drive. Negative. The rest of the phone can become a distraction
Do you preach longer or shorter sermons than when you first started preaching? How long do you preach? Longer – 30 minutes when I started – 40ish now
Does your church carry out church discipline? If not, why not? Formative No.. Role adjustment yes. As to why not. I have only been there just over a year and not sure why not. Although I would like to move that way. Just seems to be no recent history of it.
Does your church make it financially possible for you to take at least one international mission trip each year? Is it important to you that they do? No they do not. and Yes it is. The Church has never been on an international trip in its 195 years. Individuals here and there have gone with other churches but not a church sponsored event. However, I am changing that. Honduras April 2018! We are currently looking to raise funds.
Are you bivocational? If so, do you see that role as your calling? Yes I am but No I do not.
Is it the case for you that you have few genuine friends, as some folks say about pastors? Yes
What one thing do you wish you had learned in college or seminary? What a great deacons meeting looks like. I had only been apart of Bad ones when I was a deacon so I wasn’t sure what a good one actually looks like.
Does evangelism come easy to you, or do you have to work at it? Yes but only when I work at it.
How would you rate the biblical literacy in your church? On a scale of 1-10, 1 being illiterate, 4 maybe 5
If you could do it all over again, would you still do ministry? Absolutely
Thanks, David. I’m excited about your trip to Honduras!
#1 The positives: access all the time anywhere. Most do not carry a physical Bible. Audio formats as well as reading plans and access to study notes in an uncluttered way. Plus search(fuzzy search on Lumina app for NET Bible is amazing). Plus there are choices of font and light or dark background along with color coding highlights and quick comparisons to other translations. Plus it’s FREE. There are no negatives in using a digital medium instead of a book or parchment or manuscript form. Anytime someone reads the Bible it is a positive.
#4. I do not have the desire to go international because I do not believe the resources required for short term missions has enough ROI. Most fail to realize the time and resources utilized by the missionaries or national churches in foreign lands. Their time would be better spent doing mission than trying to please an American’s needs. I’ve heard too many horror stories of the negative impact of short term missions.
#6. Genuine friends, yes, but mostly out of town. Some in town. A plurality of elder model would also stop this isolation factor some experience.
#2. Shorter sermons now. Was 45-50 now 35 min.
Thanks for all your contributions, Smith.
Endeavoring to answer each of those questions with reasonable fullness could easily evolve into a small book for me. So, I will aim at just 2 or 3.
!st, our church does practice church discipline. We take no joy in doing so. It is always gut wrenching, especially for the pastors, in seeking first to avoid having to exercise discipline and then when necessary to lead the church in disciplinary action. However we do it for 3 reasons: Christ requires it in the Scriptures; it is necessary for the spiritual health and purity of the church; it is the last means of grace and expression of love left to us with an impenitent church member. Church discipline properly administered is an act of love for the person who is in serious spiritual jeopardy due to his or her continuance in sin.
2nd concerning the length of sermons, my sermons are longer than when I first began preaching and often longer than I wish them to be. The difficulty is the responsibility to expound a text in its context, to exegete the passage accurately and to make an appropriate application of it to the real needs of God’s people. In one or two sermons per week we are attempting to counteract 24/7 input from non-Biblical sources on all of life’s most important subjects: morality; marriage; parenting; meaning; money; relationships; God and eternity. None of these things can be accomplished easily or quickly. People need more Bible carefully explained and applied than ever in my life-time, at least. So the burden is on the pastor: feed Christ’s sheep according to their present needs and do so in way that they somewhat enjoy it.
I should leave it there, except to say that pastoral work is more difficult than when I first began. But it is still the most noble work in the world.
Thanks, Gary, for your thoughts.
#5 – I often wonder what it would be like to be full-time. Yet, I have way too many conversations at work about Jesus to deny that God has called me to be bi-vocational. Even after getting called into work late last night and again this morning, and being behind on finishing up preparation for Sunday morning…I recognize that the conversation I had in the factory floor last night about Jesus would not have happened otherwise.
It is a glorious calling… God is good.
He is indeed good. Thanks, John.
Q. 5 – I have been bi-vocational for 8 years, but I have always desired to be full time. At the same time there is a great need for pastors to try and reclaim or revitalize urban churches and so what I envisioned as a short stay the Lord has extended.
So while I didn’t see this as my calling it seems to be. It is both humbling and taxing. I do believe this question goes with your last bc the if I could do it over again aspect is already there. I have another full time job amd I could simply quit ministry. Yet I haven’t and I prayerfully won’t.
It’s Monday afternoon and Monday afternoons are difficult mentally. Sorry to drone on.
You’re not droning on. Thanks for your thoughts, Nate.
#3, yes we do/have done church discipline. Sometimes you are left with no other alternatives.
#9, high level of Biblical knowledge at the current church, and have at least 3 “master teachers” who share the teaching responsibilities on Wednesday nights
Blessings, Shae.
What positives and negatives do you see in electronic Bibles? The positives are numerous (access, formatting, translations etc.) but I think the main negative is the tendency to be distracted; which is something I think most people would say they already are when it comes to the need to disconnect and shut down.
Do you preach longer or shorter sermons than when you first started preaching? How long do you preach? I preach shorter sermons than I used to and typically preach for about 35 minutes. I’ve found the reasons to be primarily be two fold: My niche is shorter passages of scripture; so even when I’m preaching through a book I will focus in on 3-4 verses as opposed to 10-12 so I naturally will preach less. Additionally, I preach two full sermons a week during services and also a Wednesday night devotional. If I add on the nursing homes, rehabs, and family devotions throughout the week – I just can’t deal with that much info and pass it on to others if I’m preaching long sermons.
Does your church carry out church discipline? If not, why not? I have not been here long enough to know for sure if we have or how well it was done.
Does your church make it financially possible for you to take at least one international mission trip each year? Is it important to you that they do? Yes and it is important to me.
Are you bivocational? If so, do you see that role as your calling? No
Is it the case for you that you have few genuine friends, as some folks say about pastors? I have a few great friends I can share anything with – but we are states away geographically. Praise the Lord for modern communication because otherwise I would feel totally isolated.
What one thing do you wish you had learned in college or seminary? I’m still learning!
Does evangelism come easy to you, or do you have to work at it? Yes and I always want to improve.
How would you rate the biblical literacy in your church? Very low.
If you could do it all over again, would you still do ministry? Absolutely. What else could I do!?
Thanks, Adam. Good to hear from you.
Wonderful, thought provoking questions. I’m going to use these in our staff meetings over the next several weeks. Thank you for sharing them.
Thanks, Brian. Blessings!