I've been wrestling with how I can be both in ministry and a psychologist. I don't have a problem seeing how the two fit together, but convincing most churches otherwise can be really difficult. So, I set up a meeting with our teaching pastor at church. He was a marriage and family therapist for ten years before becoming the teaching pastor at our church. We chatted on Friday, and I thought that I'd share some of what we talked about. I hope that you all have some thoughts to share on what I say, as well. Of course, lately not many people have been around, so I'm either really f'ing boring (a real possibility) or my novelty has worn off, or people and their lives are as busy as mine.
*Consumerism is one of the most dangerous threats to the Church.* It was great to hear this from the pastor's mouth. It's not our job to create a better product, a better service, or to even keep you happy. It's our job as a leadership team to preach Truth, and if that draws people great, and if it doesn't okay. But Truth ultimately draws people who are looking for it.
*Churches that are inwardly focused are disgusting.* By inwardly focused, I mean offer ministries that only serve members and do not minister to the community as a while. I wrote my ugrad thesis about this. Some churches are all about serving themselves and the needs of its priveleged members. Instead, churches should be outwardly focused, looking to meet the needs of the community around them, to minister to suffering and to help the underserved and "least of these" thrive. Pastor said,"If people think we end up looking like a social gospel church, who cares. God knows who we are, and we know who we are in Christ. People who know us will know we are more than that."
Also, on this point, it was said that mega churches are disgusting because they just showcase the inward focus of small churches on a large scale. The magnification of self service might make us sick, but its the same sin that is present in countless other bodies of believers on a smaller scale.
*After the Gospel, anything goes.* Okay, some of you just passed out. Once you come to, let's talk about what this really means. You would think a church (according to many of my Christian friends) that supports such a theology would be overrun with relativism, homosexuals ;), and sin, right? Well, uh, no. Just those other issues that we may disagree on aren't worth splitting over. If we're going to be the body, let's be the body of Christ. And part of the Gospel is seeking justice, having support and recovery ministries, on and on. The Gospel is so pervasive, that if you seek to follow it alone, (a high calling) it will infiltrate all you do as believers.
*Post-Evangelical* What does this word mean? I want to know, and I need to do some reading.
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I think ministry and psychology go together quite nicely, though I've no formal schooling in either. If you're doing ministry, you're dealing with relationships (admitting this might be another matter, but...); it's not far to psychology from there.
As far as the rubrics you mentioned, the one I especially like is "after the gospel, anything goes." Something I find myself saying a lot these days is, "agreement is overrated." There are more important things than agreement, espcially in the Church.
As for post-evengelical. I never really latched on to "postmodern," and post-evenagelical sounds even more goofy.
evangelical...the spelling demon got me.
I posted recently about the often self-serving demands of the church.
Good luck in your quest... sounds like you are in the right church to pursue your work.
It's not our job to create a better product, a better service, or to even keep you happy. It's our job as a leadership team to preach Truth, and if that draws people great, and if it doesn't okay. But Truth ultimately draws people who are looking for it.
Ah, I love this line of thought. One of the things that sickens me about the way *some* evangelicals (my old church included) try to "bring people to Christ" wis by trying to minister to their "felt needs"--awesome children's church, great coffee, spectacular worship settings/music/technology, and somehow, that was supposed to turn them on to a life of self-sacrifice in Christ? And the thing is, even tho' they talk a lot about serving their community, they limit that community to the immediate vicinity--which just happens to be so affluent, there's no need to minister to the poor or oppressed. The only needs the community has are "felt needs," not real needs.
Anyway, some great thoughts going on here, and I'm glad to see that there are some churches and church leaders out there that know what their mission is, and aren't afraid to pursue the truth, even when it's hard.
please pardon my spelling and grammar errors.
I agree with what he said about Truth. I like your post, sorry I have nothing profound except to say that my work in psychology with people has taught me more about grace and the love of Christ than I have otherwise known. I believe God has always wanted me to know these things, but has chosen to use this time and training to demonstrate himself in this way. I'm not sure I would have otherwise seen it.
"After the gospel, anything goes"...
Interesting thought...I guess if the church would stick to worrying about the major things and then agree to disagree on the little things, there'd be a whole lot more love, acceptance and thinking outside of the box!!
Very interesting post. I know I have struggled for years with several reasons that I can't find a church that I enjoy and grow within. My boyfriend and I have often talked about consumerism in church as a serious issue with us. I hate attending corporate-ized churches.
Another big beef that I have is the segregation of churches - I posted about that a couple of weeks ago because it really bothers me.
"After the Gospel, anything goes" is a great observation. A lot of people say certain groups of people cannot be saved, while ignoring their own sin.
Since no impurity will enter Heaven, and only the blood of Jesus Christ makes us pure, let us love each other rather than hating and judging others. The Gospel frees us to love anyone and everyone.
I didn't mean to be anonymous. Here's my name.
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