tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post116611522637261020..comments2023-07-15T02:18:38.947-07:00Comments on Contrarian Views: The Meaning of Important WordsDavid M. Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720778073616293157noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-1166808333480658972006-12-22T09:25:00.000-08:002006-12-22T09:25:00.000-08:00Hi Dave,Great comment. Thanks for contributing it...Hi Dave,<BR/><BR/>Great comment. Thanks for contributing it.<BR/><BR/>I pretty much agree with all of your comment.<BR/><BR/>When I first attended Willow Creek in the late 80’s, I was completely impressed. Everything there was done as well as it could be done. The sanctuary was a theatre with the best sound system I had ever heard. Every seat had a perfect view and perfect sound. Every performance was scripted, practiced, and perfected. The facilities were immaculate and the employees and volunteers were incredibly professional. I was so used to Churches being under funded that I thought I had finally found a real Church.<BR/><BR/>I felt the same way when we started driving to Saddleback for services. Rick Warren was just as affable as Bill Hybels and the facilities and services were almost as perfect. <BR/><BR/>However, over the last ten years, I’ve started to notice that a lot of Churches spend a lot of time trying to copy the seeker sensitive model of these two super Churches. The leaders of these other Churches seem to be more concerned with filling seats than serving God and serving the members of the Church. <BR/><BR/>I’ve also observed the people attending seeker sensitive churches are stuck in a culture no different from the culture of the surrounding community. Seeker sensitive churches are more like community centers than houses of worship. People attending seeker sensitive churches are attending for reasons other than the worship of God and service to God. Serving the Church has become the priority in the seeker sensitive model. <BR/><BR/>I’m not sure a bi-vocational pastor is the full answer to all of the problems, but I am certain most pastors need real world experience in order to Sheppard appropriately. I’m have no doubt you are a better Chaplain due to your prior military and real world experiences. <BR/><BR/>Hammer is going to make a great Chaplain as well for the very same reason.David M. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15720778073616293157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-1166800443362811912006-12-22T07:14:00.000-08:002006-12-22T07:14:00.000-08:00The truth is, David, I'm conflicted; you know me w...The truth is, David, I'm conflicted; you know me well enough to know that I've never come across a bandwagon I didn't have some strong inclinations about RPG-ing! Yeah, I'm in the military and often have to hold my nose and put up with some "group-think" that's simply stupid. <BR/><BR/>That said, I sense a great deal of what you're saying is correct. Here's some of my admittedly broad-brush thinking that relates to what you've written:<BR/><BR/>1) I tend to be anti mega-church. Yes, there are things they can do that we simply can't do in smaller churches, but I believe this has been the paradigm pastoral staffs have shot for to the exclusion of far more important things. I believe the smaller and - hopefully - leaner and meaner community church is the wave of the future. Led effectively, the community church is just that, part of the community in which it finds itself. If they can shy away from parochialism, they stand to have a much greater impact on the local area than the amorphous mega-church.<BR/><BR/>2) I wonder if the full-time clergy will be reduced in number, thus making bi-vocational pastors more the norm. I tend to think this would be a healthy thing. First, the pastor who has to earn a living at some trade is immersed in the real world. He's more likely to remain anchored in reality. <BR/><BR/>Second, it would hopefully go a long way toward eliminating the thinking that the real ministry is for the "full-time professionals". That's a paradigm that has long need to be taken out and summarily executed. You know as well as I do that if you're a Christian, you're in the ministry. If you're being a lousy steward of your gifts, it's on you!<BR/><BR/>3) The worship "hour" is not for the non-believer, un-churched, whatever; it's primarily for the believer to come before his/her Lord and offer up praise and glory, as well as to get his/her spiritual batteries re-charged in order to deploy back out into a dying world. Yeah, I want the pastors, worship team, etc. to do a quality job, mainly because it's our God who's the audience, not because we're being "seeker-sensitive"! Do it right and the non-believer will come, but get your priorities straight!<BR/><BR/>There's doubtless more I could rant on about, but I think that'll do for now. I thank God that Paige, Brendan and I are part of a church here in NC - it ain't perfect! - that understands a good deal of what I've just said.<BR/><BR/>Rant ended! ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-1166480721644159722006-12-18T14:25:00.000-08:002006-12-18T14:25:00.000-08:00Hi Buz,Perhaps if I preached to myself, I wouldn’t...Hi Buz,<BR/><BR/>Perhaps if I preached to myself, I wouldn’t be so disappointed in the sermon I was hearing. But if I was still disappointed after preaching a sermon to myself, my cognitive dissonance would be enough of a psychological problem that I would almost surely have to resign as pastor and then what would I do? <BR/><BR/>Seriously, I don’t see starting a Church as an option, but I do need to make a change somewhere, even if it is a small change. <BR/><BR/>Blogging was a way for me to make sure I could logically defend some of the contrarian views I held. Perhaps I do need to be more proactive in expressing my views. [I hope my wife doesn’t read this. : - ) ]David M. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15720778073616293157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-1166381497738723902006-12-17T10:51:00.000-08:002006-12-17T10:51:00.000-08:00Hi Buz,Jesus was the ultimate leader. He encourag...Hi Buz,<BR/><BR/>Jesus was the ultimate leader. He encouraged those who needed encouragement, he criticized those who needed criticism, he was concerned with truth, not perceptions, he placed others before himself, and he made an ultimate sacrifice for his followers.<BR/><BR/>Eleven of the twelve Apostles, as well as some of the early Disciples, were also leaders because they chose to step away from the crowd, take a big risk that could have and probably did cost them family and friends, in order to follow Christ. <BR/><BR/>I don’t know if I expect those who go to Church to be different from the crowd, but I think we should be different from the crowd, and not perpetuate the crowd.David M. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15720778073616293157noreply@blogger.com