I hear a lot
about this pastor, or that pastor. I see a lot of people running around from church to church with preset expectations about what preaching should look like in a church based on the awesome pastor they’ve been listening to. It’s interesting. Before we go any further with this..
Let’s talk about basketball
Arguably the most prolific player in the sport, he took the NBA by storm. 30.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 5.3 apg, 50% shooting, 33% three-point shooting. All that, and the media ate it up when he changed teams.
LeBron? No.
Michael Jordan. The team he changed to was the Scottsdale Scorpions (Minor Leagues for the White Socks), and his stats are so close to Lebron’s it’s hard to tell the difference.
The major difference in their stats is something called time. Jordan has 6 championships to Lebron’s 1. Jordan has 5 MVP’s to Lebron’s 3 and Jordan has 10 scoring titles to Lebron’s 1. Time measures all the difference of a man. It’s called staying power. Now, I don’t want to argue for or against what time will tell on the LeBron/Jordan comparison. That’s not why we’re here.
The major thing is that Jordan is currently the greatest when you look at the numbers and some of that has to do with staying power. Apart from a 2 year period surrounding his Father’s death, he played with the bulls from 1984 – 1998. That’s a long time to play a sport for one team.
They’re probably right.
The thing about those platform “celeb” pastors. In a general sense they’re probably right. I hate the term celebrity pastor, and am fairly convinced that most of the guys coming to your mind are actually good guys who love Jesus a lot.
They’re probably right about whatever theological stance they’re taking. What they’re saying is probably biblical.
My problem is
when I see people listening to these guys and jumping ship to go elsewhere depending on the message, rather than choosing to stay in a body, serve, and help lead so that the kingdom is built. To put it plainly, why are you jumping ship at any little disagreement rather than staying and working through the conflict?
You listen to the superstars, not because they’re helpful but because you want to be like them and you end up having no staying power.
I’m not saying there aren’t appropriate times to move on. I am saying that our culture gives permission for that way too easily. It’s almost an exact reflection of Ephesians 4:1-16…..and it looks like drifting.
So do everyone a favor.
Find a place to settle down. If it feels like it’s not perfect, then that’s true. You’re there and so is everyone else. Work to help the church be made a better reflection, rather than moving on. Stop listening like a consumer, and build like it’s your house.