Preparing for the Future

Question: What would like to see us doing to be better prepared for your arrival as our new pastor? (Submitted by Interim Senior Pastor Chuck Pitts, name used with his permission.)

Response: When I received this question from Chuck I felt so blessed that the question was asked, but I didn’t really have an answer. The first thing that came to my mind was to humorously respond with only two words. “Pray hard!” However, as I thought about it, there was nothing humorous at all. I think that’s what we all need to be doing, but what precisely should we be praying about?

One of the things I’ve learned along the way is that our anticipation of something is never equal to the actual experience of that something. In the video that was shared with the congregation on May 4, I told you that I climbed Mt. Blanca a couple of years ago. Before I climbed Mt. Blanca I knew it would be both hard and rewarding. While I was climbing it the actual experience gave new depths to my understanding of “hard and rewarding.” The experience was not exactly what I anticipated, both in terms of the difficulty of the nearly two day trek as well as the rewards I experienced, including the satisfaction of actually achieving the task and of seeing the beauty and creativity of God in his creation. I don’t look at Mt. Blanca the same way today as I did before I climbed it.

As we come to this new chapter in the life of RCF and therefore a new chapter in all of our lives, we do so with anticipation. Each of us have some picture, consciously or subconsciously, painted in our minds of what the future looks like. Attached to those images each of us have assigned certain expectations. Without even realizing it we begin to act according to those expectations. There is nothing at all wrong with that. However, what can derail us from being the church God wants us to be is when our individual perceptions of that future begin to collide with each other. Someone thinks the chairs ought to face North instead of South when we worship. Someone else thinks the donuts should be bought at Crispy Crème instead of HEB. Of course those are ridiculous examples, but when it comes to issues like style of music, length of service, number of ministries, what the pastor should or shouldn’t do, what a member should or shouldn’t do, it can become very serious. These kinds of things tend to surface when a new pastor comes to a church, so here is what I want all of us to be praying about.

First, we need to have a unified vision of what God wants to do for and through our church. We’ve already come into agreement that God wants us to build a highway to fulfillment and maturity in Christ. This is the vision I laid out for you when I was under consideration to become your next Senior Pastor, and so your affirmation of me to be your pastor is an affirmation of that vision. Still, there is a lot we don’t know about what that looks like. Are we talking farm to market highway or are we talking Autobahn? Will there be defined points of entry and exit or can people get on and off anywhere? What kind of vehicles will we build for people to use as they travel this highway? Will there be a limit to the types of vehicles? All of these questions still need to be answered. So I would like all of us to begin taking ten, fifteen or more minutes to simply ask God what he wants our church to look like? What part in the winning and discipling of the world does he want us to participate in? We need to be careful not to assume we already know as we ask to leave the door open for God to show us what he is doing.

A second question we all need to ask is to seek God for what role he wants us to play in bringing that to pass. Is God calling you to be part of the setup team or perhaps the worship team? In nearly every church I know there is always a need for more people to minister to children. A ministry to children carries double benefit as that ministry not only reaches children, but enables us to reach adults as well. Maybe he wants you to lead a small group. Perhaps he wants you to show up early every Sunday to lay your hands on each chair and pray for the person who will occupy it during worship. I don’t know what it is, but I do know one thing for sure. God did not bring you to this church just be a consumer of its ministries. He brought you here to be blessed and to participate in the ministries of this church in order to bless others. You need to ask God how he wants to use you to do that.

You can be sure I will be seeking God to understand how he wants me to lead as your pastor. Where does he want me to get involved? What does he want me to do and what does he want me to delegate or leave undone? These may seem like strange questions if you’ve never thought about it before, but ask any pastor. There is always more to be done than can possible be done, so the question every pastor must face is where does God want me to apply the gifts and graces he has given me for ministry in order that the church moves effectively and efficiently in the direction he wants us to grow.

There’s an old line from a song that I love. “The future’s so bright I have to wear shades.” I believe our future holds great promise for the kingdom. As we continue to seek God and his desire for our future, he will draw us even more tightly into one accord with each other and down the path toward our God-given destiny. Together we will avoid the things that could derail us by focusing on the one sure thing that will securely keep us on track – the love of God for us and for all!