The Invisible Church Split - Part I

There is crack, a crevice almost, through many local church bodies. It splits a single congregation into two, without even the cost of a new building. While not terribly financially wasteful in most cases, it is a fissure that is always very costly.

 imagecred: richardwintle via AventuresInWonderland

The division of which I speak of is in age: the old from the young/the young from the old. We're going to take this slow and really unpack the issue. My goal is to deal with how I personally see it manifested globally and locally. (I would love to hear your personal observations as well!) I'd then like to look at the consequences on the mission of the gospel both worldwide and regionally. And thirdly, we'll go over some things each of us can do to make a difference where we are. (Hopefully I can keep myself from proposing giant generalizations that are unrealistic such as "if we'd all just...work at it!") 

What Division

I recently discussed this issue with a Spiritual leader of mine. When I hinted at the line down the middle of the room in one particular situation she looked at me with such a cluelessness that I laughed! She hadn't noticed it until I pointed it out, partly because she isn't part of the problem so she couldn't imagine young and old Christians treating each other as if they're aliens to be held at a safe distance!

In The Local Church

I'm sure there are many ways in which it appears in individual bodies, but here are things that I've observed in my own and other congregations. This is one issue on which I'd LOVE to receive e-mails/comments from you describing what you see.

• Lack of discipleship among believers of different generations: I know you've heard from me before on this issue, but it's the first one that comes to mind. If we weren't so afraid of each other (of judgement and approval, of vulnerability, of what we might have to say to each other...) or making our minds up without giving the other a chance, we could all learn a ton!(Titus 2:1-8)
• Lack of fellowship (inter-generational relationships): Plain and simple: we're not friends. This is not a rule, but for the most part I don't see a lot of 40+ or 50+ couples chillin' with the newlyweds, college age and high school students. Within the church, we are all equal in this: we we're outside, condemned to eternal seperation from our Creator and we have all been brought near through the Redeeming blood of Christ. Something about "those young'ns" and "those old fogies" makes us act as if we are different kinds of Christians. (Prov 27:9, Rom 3:21-25)
• Literal church splits and/or migrations: This is not an ingenious epiphany. Many have noted the increase in young people planting their own churches and leaving the grey-haired behind in a congregation with no long-term future. Young people reject the wisdom of those who've been around the block and so many experienced believers stand on non-Biblical convictions and "the way things are". Eventually someone says, "Fine, we'll just go do it our way."(Prov 16:31; 20:29)
• The physical line: Show up to your local worship service, maybe even Bible study or small group and the chances are you find this. It may appear as a line down the middle of the room, certain areas or rows that have an unspoken weekly reservation or maybe just large generationally discriminant pockets/groups. I have to be very open and honest with this one. This doesn't happen quite so much in our worship services, although everyone has "their spot" and in a rural community I think they pretty much get passed down in the will! However, I do attend a multi-generational Bible study where there has been some finger-pointing at "you young people" based on purely extra-Biblical convictions. One time I happened to sit next to another young mother who sensed my frustration simply because my body stiffened at the conversation going on around us. I (working on being slow to speak) knew I couldn't address the issue right then without overreacting in passion. She jumped in and said exactly what I wished I could have without blowing a fuse. I really appreciated her support and so I naturally migrated to the seat next to her around the table weekly. Slowly, everyone under 40 migrated to that side of the circle leaving everyone else to their own side. It was never intentional but I knew exactly what had happened.
• Failing programs: Without the wisdom of plenty of mature Christians of all ages AND the attendance of Christians (and unsaved in some cases) who have plenty to learn, also of all ages: well intended programs, classes and services die. You probably already know how I feel about cookie-cutter programs, but when people serve in the manner their community needs, people come to know the Lord and grow to be more like Him. This requires breaking generational gaps to be completely effective. Otherwise, we are severely limiting the amount of discipleship that could be happening.

These are just a few of the things that came to my mind as I write. Like I said, I'm sure there are more (maybe even obvious ones that I'm missing like my dear friends missed our physical line in Bible study).

Very soon we'll discuss the effects and some possible solutions. In the mean time, I look forward to hearing from you on what you see!

Do you notice any age separation in the church? If so, please share!

What are pastors for? I'm a little worked up and a lot tired.

Generally speaking, what is the purpose of a pastor? Is it just to deliver sermons? We get the English word pastor from the same root as the word pastoral, relating to the care of sheep and goats. In fact, the first definition of shepherd in my dictionary is not someone who cares for sheep, it's "a clergyman who watches over a group of people." I think it's beautiful and accurate, as the Word uses the same analogy!

So I guess my questions are really more like this: how many Pastors look after a group of people? I mean really look after, including going after lost ones and protecting the babies. Also, how much time do pastors spend truly caring for people? And how much time do they spend simply preparing messages? If you think about it, how much does a sermon or two a week really do in the grand scheme of "looking after" sheep? Does that hour ensure that they are truly fed, a healthy part of the flock and producing baby sheep? And how much are we paying these guys (or gals in some situations)? I truly believe that many pastors are highly educated and very gifted, but are they doing their jobs? I mean really, does the pastoral job description consist of merely preaching and one or two other menial tasks to assure the attendance stays up? Biblical stewardship would require us (with grace) to make sure they're earning their income.

While working through this issue in my own brain, I looked at many New Testament verses. I started by looking at the ministries of Paul and others mentioned in the New Testament; how they exhorted, discipled, taught and seemed to just be among the people while offering practical advice. Then I felt like God was leading me to places I hadn't thought to look.

First of all, what about the ministry of Jesus? Hello! Why didn't I go there to begin with?! Jesus did preach to the masses, but He spent much of His time developing several strong believers, concentrating on a few. When He did preach to large groups, He didn't exactly coddle the audience to protect His attendance numbers. He spoke the Truth, He didn't sugar coat the tough stuff and He definitely wasn't "seeker-friendly". In fact, He said some offensive, culturally challenging and sometimes crazy sounding stuff! But through those eleven men and others who heard and were "looked after", millions have come to know the truth! Why would we attempt to make any other strategy work, namely replacing true discipleship with three points and an alter call?

The second set of scriptures started in Romans 12. Paul is telling the believers in Rome to each glorify and further the Kingdom to the best of their abilities with the specific gifts that God gave them. (v 6,7) Also, 1 Corinthians 12 talks about how the unity of the body requires the uniqueness of each believer. I have concluded this: I don't believe every pastor is necessarily cut out for that position. While they each have specific gifts to offer the body, unless they are comfortable with literal "looking after" as written about in the New Testament, then their gifts might be better used from another area of leadership. Paul was a wonderful teacher and seemed especially gifted in exhortation as well. Not only did he preach when among the churches, but he developed leaders and structure. He also followed up with those churches, as seen in the New Testament letters, to assure that everything was still going well. What's important is that he was using his spiritual gifts with zeal. Even in Acts when a complaint arose on behalf of widows, the disciples recognized that it wouldn't be wise for the best preachers to stop teaching to take care of the distribution, instead it would be much smarter for responsible leaders with a gift of serving to do that. Lastly, just above that I stumbled on Acts 5:45 which says, "And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ."

In summary, my prayer is that those who truly do have a teaching gift, would do it unceasingly! I hope that the role of pastor and shepherd would be taken more seriously. I earnestly desire that each believer would feel the urgency to use their skills for God's glory. I hope people recognize that Pastors get paid because they should be so busy "looking after" people that they don't have time to make any other living, not so that other believers are deemed unnecessary. Lastly, Lord please raise up a generation of pastors and mature believers who will make disciples that are comfortable continuing this process with their own unique gifts.