ken castor

Generational Transference in the Bible: Implications for Today's North American Church (Part 5)

(Continued from previous post...)

            Fourth, the central task of local church leadership is discipleship and equipping.  God raises leaders in order to equip others for the work of his ministry.  “While pastors do many things,” Snyder expresses, “the overriding task that gives pattern and focus to everything else is the equipping of the whole community for effective mission.”^[1]  Everything a leader does in the context of community should be filtered through the lens of the purpose of Ephesians 4:11-12.  Such a focus demolishes the model many churches have inherited which creates segmentation between clergy and laity. 1 Peter and Revelations endorse the priesthood of all believers as foundational to the interconnectedness of individuals towards the pursuit of mission. [2]  1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  The biblical concept is that everyone is called to minister and serve in the missional identity of the church according to the way God has gifted them.  The role of pastors, for instance, is to enable individuals within the context of community to accomplish the task God has specifically given them.  Embedded in the framework of every-member ministry is a functional-mindset of ministry leadership over that of a positional-mindset.  While terms like pastor, elder, prophet, bishop, etc, can be viewed as titles representing ecclesial offices, Ephesians 4 encourages the view that these are descriptive terms expressing how certain people are to function within the body of the Christ’s church.  The role of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in Ephesians 4:11-12, is “to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  As Frank Viola has suggested, the New Testament roles of the church give the notion of leadership as resting upon functionality more than positional understandings.^[3]

            R. Paul Stevens and Phil Collins have stated “that the stagnation of the laity is caused mainly be the frustrating power of church system that keeps the laity marginalized and prevents the pastor from doing the most important work” of equipping the laity for the work of ministry.^[4]  Equipping others becomes grounded in relationship, spiritual character and mission, just as Jesus modeled, rather than upon programmatic ministry traditions.^[5]

            Ephesians 4:11-12 establishes the functionality of church leaders in terms of “preparing” or “equipping” others for the sake of the missional identity of the church. 
“Equipping” as a word is derived from Paul’s use katartismon, which means to “make fully ready.”^[6]  So according to Paul, the role of church leadership is to make the people of the church fully ready for the praxis of serving God and others so that the church will fully function according to its identity and mission. 

            Wilkes describes the koine derivation of katartismon as being from two different contexts: 1) the medical practice and 2) the fishing industry.^[7]  In the medical field, the koine definition of katartismon implied the setting of a broken bone in order “to prepare it for healing.”  In the context of fishing, the koine definition referred to the process of fisherman who worked to “equip” their nets at the end of their casting sessions so that the nets would be prepared for service during the next phase of fishing.  Both of these contexts, according to Wilkes, “provide leaders with images of their job.  To equip the church is to prepare its members to perform their part of the mission.  If the church were a net, the leader’s job would be to prepare that net” in order to enable the church to “fish for men.”^[8]  And with the metaphor of the church as a body, the leader’s responsibility is to “set the fractured parts of the body so they can heal and eventually function” alongside the other parts of the body as a whole.^[9]

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^[1] Snyder, 91

[2] 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelations 1:6; 5:10; 20:6

^[3] Viola, Frank, Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook Publishers, 2008), 154

^[4] Stevens, xiii

^[5] Stevens, 37

^[6] Zodhiates, Spiros, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: 1992), 843

^[7] Wilkes, 186

^[8] Matthew 4:19

^[9] Wilkes, 186

Generational Transference in the Bible: Implications for Today's North American Church (Part 3)

(Continued from previous post...)

            Second, a local church should structure itself adaptively.  The church’s life, both in concept and in action, should be based on organic and missional metaphors.  Snyder notes that Scripture transforms even the static “building” and “temple” images of the church into organic ones: “living stones,” a growing building, and even a temple alive in the Spirit.^[1]  When the identity of the church is viewed as Christ’s body^[2] or as his bride,[3] then the life of the church naturally involves movement as well as issues of health and growth and reproduction.  According to Stevens and Collins, this biblical approach to structuring leadership and ministry means that the “most productive direction will be to work with the culture and systemic organization of the church” and reinforce the mutuality and interdependence of a congregation.^[4] 

            In an adaptive structure, an organization resists possessive leadership, resists institutionalization, and releases creativity to address paradigmatic challenges.  Stevens and Collins point out that a flexible network structure discourages goals that elevate leaders to the detriment of the rest of the body.^[5]  In other words, possessive leadership and rigid establishment cannot be bedfellows of the bride of Christ.

            In this way, generational transference principles will tend to reflect the adaptive practices of organic and missional communities within the contexts of life rather than static traditions, buildings or programs.^[6]  Transference principles will perpetuate beyond the construct of tools and resources, echoing the ongoing life breathed into the church by the Spirit.  Furthermore, because the church is alive acts as a living family, transference principles will tend to echo cooperative and partnership themes.

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^[1] Snyder, 90; See 1 Peter 2:4-6; Ephesians 2:19-22

^[2] E.g. Romans 12:5

[3] John 3:29; Revelation 19:7

^[4] Stevens, R. Paul and Phil Collins.  The Equipping Pastor: A Systems Approach to Congregational Leadership (Alban Institute, 1993), xviii-xix

^[5] Stevens, 7

^[6] “Mission is therefore not a program or project some people in the church do from time to time; the church’s very nature is to be God’s missionary people.” Roxburgh and Romanuk, The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006), xv

Generational Transference in the Bible: The Early Church (Part 3)

 

         In the Early Church, generational transference was not shaped by program or certain methodologies, but on a simple truth of discipleship to Christ.  To the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”^[1]  To the Philippians, Paul wrote, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice.”^[2]  There is inherent within Paul’s practice and training of leadership an understanding of modeling discipleship.  Paul expects a leader to serve as an example of appropriate pursuit of Jesus.  The expectation is a significant calling of leadership, a high standard of excellence in heart and behavior.  To the Ephesians Paul wrote, “Live a life worthy of your calling.”[3]  A lack of biblical leadership qualification creates an environment ripe for strife within a local church. “Too many churches suffer,” Wilkes suggests, because those recruited to lead “are not biblically qualified.”^[4]

         The biblical pattern involves the selection of mature people to the process of generational transference of ministry leadership who will then share the mission of the church with others.  The onus of leadership in the church is equipping the next generation for ministry who will in turn raise up others to continuously pass the message of Jesus from one person or community to another through all ages.  The strategy of generational transference is summarized by Paul as “what you have heard me say, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”^[5] 

         The early church instructed those selected as recognized leaders within a congregation to exhibit deep personal character founded in a heart for the Lord.  Both Paul and Peter instructed that the “elder” leaders or “overseeing” leaders, were expected to be “above reproach” in their lifestyle.  According to Paul, this recognition includes being a husband to one wife, temperate in attitude, self-controlled in behavior, respected by others, hospitable to others, able to teach, mature with alcohol and money, with a track-record of success in the home and an ability to promote faith in Jesus.  High-impact leadership responsibility is entrusted to those who have exhibited a deepening faithfulness to the Lord over time and have earned a good reputation in the context of the wider community outside the church. 

         Regarding “deacon” leaders or “serving” leaders, Paul suggests a similar high standard of qualifications.  They must be worthy of respect, sincere, responsible with alcohol, humbly honest, firm in spiritual faith, and unashamed in their lifestyle, and responsible with their family.  Paul encourages Timothy to “test” these individuals according to these character and behavioral measurements so they will have the opportunity to prove themselves worthy of the high level opportunities.^[6]  None of these qualifications involves talent or gifting except for the call for some capacity of teaching skills.   

         As the early church progressed, ministries all across the Roman Empire became shaped and steered by successive waves of reliable people who had been entrusted with the task of spreading the Gospel and creating community.  The simple environment of interdependence of leadership in the early church evidences the manner by which God intends to perpetuate leadership in the church.  For instance, Epaphroditus is raised up as a leader among the church in Philippi and then commissioned to serve alongside Paul. 

            The last chapter of the book of Romans stands for all time as a testament to the interdependent ministry network that became integral to the transference of faith in the first century.  The list of names reads like a who’s who of the early church: Phoebe, a “serving leader” or “deacon” in Crenchea was a great help to many people, including Paul.^[7]  Priscilla and Aquila dramatically impacted numerous churches by preparing and releasing leaders like Apollos.^[8]  Young and old, Greek and Jew, male and female; the church has always exhibited the facet of integration in the make up of its leadership.  And others like Andronicus and Junias, Urbanus, Apelles, Tryphena and Tryphosa, Erastus, Gaius, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, and Tertius, just to name a few, were considered by Paul as proven and emerging leaders in the early church.^[9]

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^[1] 1 Corinthians 11:1

^[2] Philippians 4:9

[3] Ephesians 4:1-2

^[4] Wilkes, 192

^[5] 2 Timothy 2:2

^[6] 1 Timothy 3:1-13.Titus 1:6-9; 1 Peter 5:1-11

^[7] Romans 16:1-2

^[8] Romans 16:3-5; Acts 18:2-3; 18-28

^[9] Romans 16:1-27

Generational Transference in the Bible: The Early Church (part 2)

              Pastoral leaders “focus flexibly on the future.”^[1]  Consider the adaptive leadership transference practices of Barnabas who, as an encourager of next generation leaders, came alongside a converted Saul of Tarsus^[2] and alongside a disillusioned John Mark.^[3]  Barnabas, the son of encouragement, built them up when others would not.  He entrusted them with vision for their role in the mission of the church, mentored them in ministry, and also promoted leadership opportunities for them among the established leaders of the church.  And his encouragement was contagious.  The early church was full of flexible leadership opportunity for people full of God’s Spirit.[4]  Paul, Silas and others transferred leadership to Lydia in Philippi. 

            In writing to Titus, for example, Paul reveals a pattern in which a younger leader is encouraged to serve and raise up another generation of leaders within their congregations.  Paul intentionally left Titus in Crete in order for Titus to equip other leaders for local churches in every town.^[5]  Primarily, Titus was to live with a heart and life reflective of deep spiritual discipleship.^[6]  Secondly, Titus was to teach and train the churches inter-generationally to live in community and ministry-mindedness according to their diverse circumstances.^[7]  Thirdly, Titus was given ministry leadership in order that a new generation of godly leaders would be raised up to encourage future generations.^[8]  Such a “future-orientation” pattern is a common impetus for generational transference in the early church.

            Further principles of generational transference of ministry leadership can be derived from the richness of relationship and practice between Paul and Timothy.  In relational and actualized circumstances, Paul considered Timothy to be the successor of his leadership.  He describes Timothy as a “son” who has “proved himself” because “he has served with me in the work of the gospel.”^[9]  Paul was Timothy’s mentor, but in many respects they were also complete peers, sharing the accountability of character, the responsibility of ministry leadership, and the task of generational transference.  They fruitfully ministered alongside one another first in Lystra and then from “town to town”.  Eventually, Paul intentionally gave Timothy the high-level responsibility of pastoring in Ephesus.^[10]  As with Titus, Timothy’s primary purpose was to live according to the formation of his heart after God.^[11]  Upon the foundation of strong spiritual character, Paul could then commission Timothy to train up the next team of leaders who would accept the ownership of ministry leadership in the years to come.  He was to equip “older” men and women as well as “younger” men and women.^[12]  Paul imparts to Timothy the goal of creating an environment among the Ephesian believers whereby the church as an intergenerational community, functions interdependently, and exists to be equipped to serve God’s mission.

            Paul valued the interconnected responsibility of each person in a church as a member of Christ’s body.   The church “grows up” together.  Each person is “joined and held together by every supporting ligament.”[13]  The church “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”   Older and younger alike have an onus to serve Christ in the context of Christian community.[14] 

            To the young Timothy, Paul instructed, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”[15]  He also instructed Timothy to show respect and exhortation to an older man as if he were his father, to treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.[16]  He urged Timothy to care for widows and orphans.[17]  And he encouraged Timothy to exercise leadership always. As J. Oswald Sanders noted:

            “In an era when a man of under thirty years of age was not normally considered worthy of much recognition, Timothy’s youthfulness was a distinct handicap.  But that did not prevent Paul from giving him responsibility and encouraging him not to be dismayed by his age.”[18]

           Just as he had been selected by Christ and encouraged by Barnabas, Paul then selected individuals like Timothy and Titus who were then to impart leadership to godly leaders within the congregations who were, in turn, commissioned to raise up emerging leaders themselves.  The process became continual and perpetual. In this way, Paul effectively patterned generational transference of ministry leadership.   

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^[1] Dale, Robert.  Leading Edge: Leadership Strategies from the New Testament (Wipf & Stock), 83

^[2] Acts 9:27

^[3] Acts 15:39

[4] E.g. Paul, Silas and others transferred leadership to Lydia in Philippi.  Priscilla and Aquilla transferred leadership to Apollos, etc.

^[5] Titus 1:5

^[6] Titus 2:1,7-8

^[7] Titus 2:2,3,6,-10,15

^[8] Titus 1:5-9

^[9] Philippians 2:22

^[10] 1 Timothy 1:3

^[11] 1 Timothy 4:7,12; 5:11-14

^[12] 1 Timothy 4:12-13; 5:1-16

[13] Ephesians 4:15-16

[14] Titus 2:1-8

[15] 1 Timothy 4:12

[16] 1 Timothy 5:1-2

[17] 1 Timothy 5:3-16

[18] Sanders, J. Oswald.  Paul the Leader (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1984), 181

Rooted Faith: Go Out (part 4)

(...continued from yesterday...)

4. ROOTED FAITHFULNESS PRODUCES AN OVERFLOWING LIFE.
The Great, encouraging News, however, is that we don’t have to be fruitless.  We don’t have to be stuck in our fruitlessness.  A person who is rooted in faithfulness in God will produce an overflowing life.  Rooted faithfulness produces an overflowing life.  (Notice I didn’t say a comfortable life, or a no-problemed life; I said an overflowing life.)  Those who dig themselves down deep into the Lord and establish themselves in him will stand tall in his strength and will flourish and be fruitful in the freedom and the fullness of God.

 That’s why Colossians 2:6-7 says what it does.  “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him.  Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.  Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.”   We start with our lives based on CHRIST.  We GROW DOWN into him, and we DRAW UP nourishment from him.  We root our lives completely in Christ and tap into all he has at his infinite disposal and draw up that fullness from him until we can’t contain what begins to happen in our lives and we overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.  We GO OUT from ourselves and proclaim the goodness of God.  We can’t help but to talk about what we have seen and heard.  Everything that we are drawing up is too much for us to contain!  The fruitful life just happens then.  It isn’t nearly as concerned with the exterior appearance as it is with the filling and overflowing that comes from a life lived in him.  It’s can be a little out of control; it leaves fruit all over the place.

But that’s good!  It is about Jesus producing good works within you.  It is about Jesus shaping you from the inside out.  It is about accepting Jesus as your Lord and living like it.  It is about living in him and for him and through him.  It is about obeying him.  It is about letting Jesus fill you up and plan your life and make you wise.  It is about doing what he wants you to do and going where he wants you to go.  It is about admitting that you need Jesus desperately and that he has saved you.  And as you add a another ring of life every year and as your bark ages and you show the wrinkles and scars of life, it is about letting Jesus grow you to be more and more strong and vigorous in the truth that you’ve been taught.  And it is about recognizing that you are not worthy enough nor are you able enough to contain the fullness of God within yourself.  It is about daily digging deep into him and drawing up from him more than you need so that you stand tall in his truth and go out into the world around you spilling him on everybody and everything you contact.  Rooted Faith places priority in a nourishing relationship with Jesus that just naturally ends up leading to a fruitful life.

Don’t get caught fruitless!  Paul says to another vibrant group of new followers of Christ, in the city of Philippi, in Philippians 1:9-11- “I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding.  For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns.  May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – those good things that are produced in your life by Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God.”

Romans 11:17 says that “if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be too.”  Galatians 5:22 says that when God’s Spirit directs our lives, he will produce an abundance of fruit- the product of our rooted-ness in God.  The fruit of God’s Spirit are life-and-world-changing seeds like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23) – all those things that our world needs but seems to have a shortage of is produced within you when you live with a rooted faith.  The Bible goes on to say that “those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit” (Gal 6:8).  And it also says, “What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people” (Gal 6:15).  Colossians chapter 3 says that we should be clothed with all those things that God produces from within us; mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and especially love and peace in your heart, and always be thankful.  Brentview, are you changed?  Are you different?  Are you fruitful?  Grow Down.  Draw up.  Go out.  Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.  And he has done a lot!  In this generation, let there be fruit.  Amen. 

BENEDICTION - Ephesians 3:17 says, “May your roots grow down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love… Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

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Full audio version of this sermon.  Download June 21 09 Ken Castor 

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rooted faith - grow down (part 4)

Part 4 of the manuscript for "Rooted Faith - Grow Down" (continued from yesterday...):

 As we become rooted more and more in Christ… then we are able to DRAW UP everything we need to truly live. 

 Paul says, let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him so that you will be built up in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth.  The idea is that as we establish ourselves deeper into Christ, we will grow more mature and confident and assured together as people to face anything that comes our way because our roots, which will have sunk deeper and deeper into Christ, will enable us to draw up everything we need to be built up in stature and wisdom in this life.  Christ will supply all our needs!   As we root our lives purely and wholly and completely and devotedly into Christ, as we continue to live in obedience to him, he will give us the wisdom and the strength and the depth of love that we will need to stand firm and tall in this world no matter what kind of Chinook wind blows against us.

So, let your roots GROW DOWN into him and DRAW UP nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong in the truth your were taught.  As this happens, then, as we grow down and as we see God nourishing us and constantly replenishing our strength, we will begin more and more to overflow in thanksgiving for all he has done.  As our roots grow down, we will draw up from him and then we just seem to naturally  GO OUT from our relationship with Jesus with a life of fruitfulness.  We oxygenate the world.  We pollinate it.  We become fruitful.  And from us goes the seed of the Gospel all over the world.

This is why I want to get in the way of my son growing UP.  Today on his birthday, my prayer is that my son will grow down into Jesus and become the man of God that he was created to be.  As he grows down in Christ, he will draw up nourishment from the Lord of the Universe, and he will be built up and become strong and vigorous in the truth… the Good News about Jesus… and in that strength he will overflow with thanksgiving and everyone around him will be blessed.

There is a prayer in Ephesians 3 that I would like us to make our prayer for each other. Paul prayed this:

“When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  Now, glory to be to God!  By his mighty power at work within you, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than you would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever, through endless ages.  Amen.

As we move into communion today, we are challenged that now, just as we accepted Christ, we must continue to live in faithfulness to him.  So lets start today by rooting ourselves into him.  So as we take this time together to accept anew, with pure faith, we remember that he has taken the brunt of our sin upon himself and has forgiven us.  And because of that, he reconciles us to God through his death on the cross.  Christ Jesus invites today, to receive him anew and to live faithfully in him in a rooted faith.

 

For the full audio version: 2009-06-07 Rooted Faith - Grow Down - Ken Castor 

rooted faith - grow down (part 3)

Part 3 of the manuscript for "Rooted Faith - Grow Down" (continued from yesterday...):

  The Biblical idea of life is not that we grow up… but that we grow down into Jesus to be in Him.  We are to establish our roots deeply and more deeply into him.  And as we remain in Him, he remains in us and nourishes us with his life.

Colossians 2:6-7 says this:
“Now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him.  Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.  Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.”

These verses fit into the book of Colossians, a letter that is concerned about who CHRIST is and what difference He makes for us.  And immediately in the letter, and then all throughout the letter, we are struck with this simple truth:  Jesus Christ is who matters.  Christ is the pure focus of life of this letter.  Paul, who wrote this, sums it all up in chapter 3 verse 11: “Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.”

The people in the town of Colosse, that Paul wrote this letter too, had embraced Jesus.  We read in 1:7 about a guy named Epaphras, who is from Colosse and who had become a Christian.  Epaphras went back to his home town and had told people and taught them about Jesus.  Many many people believed and received Jesus into their lives.  So when Paul says in verse 6, “Just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord” he is reminding them of their commitment and of their union with Christ.  The word for “accepted” is one of my favorite words in the Bible.  It’s this idea that you are offered a gift and you reach out your arms and draw this gift into yourself; you embrace the gifts as yours.  You life holds this gift.  You have received and accepted it as yours.  So, just as you have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, so now you must continue to live in obedience to him.”  In other words, be faithful to what you have made yours.   In the verses before and after 2:6-7, Paul encourages the Colossians to not get diverted and blown over by other things.  Keep Jesus in your heart and your heart in Jesus.

That’s why Paul says:  “Let your roots GROW DOWN into him.”
  
There is so much hope for us.  I believe that we as adults actually have what it takes to live out a life of genuine faith because I believe we can establish our lives in such a way that when the complicated and distracting pressures, when those adulterating winds blow and threaten to toss us about, no matter how hard or how often, when we are rooted in Jesus Christ we can stand firmly.  Even if all else around us falls, we will survive any storm and stand as a symbol of strength and love for the generations that follow us as we grow down into Jesus. 

As we grow down deeper in Christ, our faith becomes rooted… and this causes us to stand firm with truth and not be moved; we will not be shaken. Growing down means that we learn to soak in all that he has.  And his resources are limitless.  His power, his truth, his humility, his love, his wisdom, his creativity, his passion; all of it endless.  Growing down will change our lives.  It’s no wonder that Paul thinks that people should be rooted in Christ.  There is no better way to grow than down in him.  Jesus is incredible.  (Just consider JESUS for a moment… Colossians 1:14ff.)

For the full audio version: 2009-06-07 Rooted Faith - Grow Down - Ken Castor 

rooted faith - grow down (part 2)

Part 2 of the manuscript for "Rooted Faith - Grow Down" (continued from yesterday...):

I remember one day, when I was particularly exhausted from all of my “grownup” responsibilities like bills and expenses and deadlines and some important “grownup” decisions, I snapped at my son because he was (if you can believe this) singing and jumping in the living room.  I barked at him, “Sometimes I wish you would just grow up!”  My son put his head down and with his bottom lip out and he glanced at me with the most hurt eyes.  If he could have articulated himself I imagined him saying, “Do you want me to grow up so I can be like you, Dad?”  I could tell he was devastated by my grownup tantrum.  And I asked myself, who was the real man here?  Me with my childish response… or my son who took the brunt of my sin upon himself, and yet he didn’t say anything.

Look, we live in an environment that entices us to adulterate our lives.  In the peer-pressure of the grown-up world we are drawn away from a pure connection with the Source of our life.  God.  We are pulled away from our zeal for goodness; from our grasp of genuine joy.  Our eyes move from a faithful confidence in God to a worried impatience and to relentless tasks.  And we sacrifice a faithful relationship with God for a fractured one while we pursue other desires and diversions.  AADHD: Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder!  How childish are we?  If adultery means unfaithfulness to your first love, then grownups are guilty of living adulterous lives in terms of our faithfulness to God.  We are much too distracted, much too enticed, much too selfish, and much too impure.  And this is why I am concerned about my son growing up.

This week I asked Ben what he wants to be when he is grown up and he said “a firefighter”.  I asked why… and he said because it would be fun.  There is a reason why Jesus said we should have faith like a child.  Matthew 18:2 –
“Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them.  Then he said, “I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.  And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck.”  (NLT)

Thrown into the sea with a millstone around the neck!  Jesus says that if you cause a kid to grow up and become adulterated in their relationship with God, then it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around your neck.  If you mess with a kid, you are messing with the original God-Father!  

A mature faith should be child-like… it should be innocent… it should be joyous… it should be simple… it should be zealous for God and life… it should be dependent upon and focused upon Jesus… it should enjoy God’s word and God’s presence all the time… it should seek after him and obey him.  A mature faith should be unadulterated.

So my prayer for my son today isn’t that he grow up.  My primary desire for my son as he grows older is that he will be a man of God who will grow down.  

For the full audio version: 2009-06-07 Rooted Faith - Grow Down - Ken Castor 

rooted faith - grow down

Here is the full audio version of me sermon from yesterday - 2009-06-07 Rooted Faith - Grow Down - Ken Castor 

And here is part 1 of the manuscript for that sermon: 

Today, June 7 is the 7th birthday of my son, Benjamin.  As a parent, I think my boy is growing up much too fast.  It seems like only yesterday that he was a pudgy little guy twirling around in circles in his exer-saucer, laughing every time his bright eyes caught our delighted faces. If you know Ben, you know he is full of energy and full of life.  The kid can bench-press a bus and his smile and giggles can remind you that pure wonderful joy actually exists in this world.  Ben loves adventure, loves biking, skateboarding, running, throwing, kicking.  And with the struggles that Ben has been through, being born into a difficult situation in South Africa and brought into our family, and with all that he has yet to experience, Ben is a kid who needs to be rooted in love.  Part of me wants to hold him in that love and not let him grow up.

Is it okay for a parent to try to stop their child from growing up?  There was once a kid was asked once by his mom, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  He said, “When I grow up I want to be a bus driver.”  His mom replied, “Well, I won’t stand in your way.”

But, as a Dad, I think I do want to try to stand in the way of my son growing up.  I’m just not convinced that growing up is that great of a thing.  And that’s not just because I still like playing with Lego.  The truth is that growing up doesn’t always equal a positive result… Growing up does not assure progress… it doesn’t always mean joy… and it doesn’t even guarantee maturity.  Grownups are challenged with issues and experiences that right now my son can’t yet imagine that will attack his innocence and his trust and try to lead him away from a pure awesome life. 

All around my son is the pressure and temptation to grow UP.  It’s like our whole society tries to push children this way.  But in the process, my son will learn that as a grownup he will be allowed to fill his life with toys, with gratification, with selfish pursuits, with broken relationships, with massive debt.  As a grownup, my son will discover that he can watch adult movies.  As a grownup, my son will learn, he is supposed to try to navigate a complex world of sexual options, pornography, divorces, abuse, lies, violence, cheating, scandals, betrayals, disappointments, temptations, and a myriad of other things that batter against personal character, thrash against marriages, against genuine love, and against the ability to stand strong in a stormy world.  I’m not being pessimistic… I believe in - you know - the pursuit of happiness.  But that pursuit can get grownups in a convoluted mess.  And so it is that a grownup can demand attention, demand their own way, demand their own things, and cry out for special treatment.  And if they don’t get those things, grownups can complain and throw a hissy fit and disrupt and deeply exhaust the lives of others around them.  Grownups can actually be very childish...  (part 2 tomorrow)

The Naked and Broken Leader 5.1

Leading by Being Led 5.1

Follow God’s example in everything you do,
because you are his dear children. 
Live a life filled with love for others,
following the example of Christ,
who loved you
and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins.
- Paul, Ephesians 5:1-2

         Henri Nouwen suggested that true leadership would by necessity demand agape love for Christ.  “If there is any focus that the Christian leader of the future will need,” Nouwen wrote, “it is the discipline of dwelling in the presence of the One who keeps asking us, ‘Do you love me?  Do you love me?  Do you love me?’.” {1}   Such a demanding and revealing question from the Leader of leaders forces disclosure and authenticity before God. 
          Certainly, this threefold questioning from Jesus brought Peter to an honest and submissive posture.  His third reply to Jesus, in fact, was much more honest: “Lord, you know everything.  You know that I love (phileo) you.” {2} From Peter’s grieved heart comes the admission that Jesus is the one who knows where his heart is.   It’s as if Peter came out of hiding and confessed to Jesus the truth (that Jesus already knew): That Peter was a naked man before the King of kings, that Peter loved Jesus- but not enough, and that Peter’s heart was grieved because it was so broken.
          Such an admission before God is the inauguration of agape-love in a leader’s life.  God is seeking a “broken vessel” so that he can bring restoration and instill true love patterned after his own.  As Gene Edwards suggested, God wants very much to have “men and women who would live in pain.” {3}   God wants to reshape men and women into the leaders he desires for his glory and for the sake of others.  In Peter’s case, God wanted to restore him and give him the onerous task of shepherding his church.
          Spiritual leadership involves the painful process of authenticity with Jesus.  As Peter let himself be laid bare before the Lord, as the stitches were being sown into Peter’s faith and heart, deep breaths were most likely taken between the sobbing tears.  But the examination and the extra hurt brings healing.  It is in the willingness to be exposed and in the honesty of brokenness that healing may occur. 
          Kevin Mannoia suggests that true leadership involves the humbling of our will into an obedient posture before God.  Humbling, after all, “requires a bowing or breaking of the will.”  In the humbling process, “we submit our will to the Father’s will for us.  Anything less than a full, uncompromising submission to God preempts the possibility of His will being accomplished in and through us.” {4}   And so it is of necessity that a true leader will have a “broken heart” that is through the restorative love of Christ “wrapped in victorious joy” and a “peace that passes human understanding.” {5}   But such a peace is obtained only after one is willing to follow the example of Christ’s love “to the testing place of Calvary” - a lesson Peter had to learn after the fact.
          Allowing Jesus to lead the way in our lives paves the path for the exercise of spiritual leadership.  But the same formational process that exposes the foundational principles of nakedness and brokenness, suggest that following the way of Jesus is a difficult path.  At the moment Peter begins to bow to Jesus’ questions of devotion, Peter is challenged to follow Jesus to the most naked, broken life possible.