Before you head off into this last weekend of October, here are three things that I read and have been thinking about this week. Hope they are as helpful and challenging to you as they have been for me.
Have a great weekend!
#1
It is time to inform our people that conversion to Christ involves both our justification and our familification, that we gain a new Father and a new set of brothers and sisters when we respond to the gospel. It is time to communicate the biblical reality that personal salvation is a community-creating event, and to trust God to change our lives and the lives of our churches accordingly.
When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision for Authentic Christian Community by Joseph H. Hellerman
I love this quote. But I don’t like this quote. I know it’s true but I also know how difficult it is especially in our western culture that prizes independence. Here is a hot take that may create heartburn…While I believe that it is possible to receive salvation without being part of a community of faith, it is highly unlikely we will keep it without one.
#2
Fluid intelligence is conceptualized as the decontextualized ability to solve abstract problems, while crystallized intelligence represents a person’s knowledge gained during life by acculturation and learning.”[6] Translation: When you are young, you have raw smarts; when you are old, you have wisdom. When you are young, you can generate lots of facts; when you are old, you know what they mean and how to use them.
From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur C. Brooks
Since intelligence goes from fluid to crystallized over the course of our lives, we need people of all ages on our leadership committees, teams, and staff. For those of us who are firmly in the crystallized season, the more quickly we embrace our personal limitations in one area and embrace our growing abilities in the other will determine how much we can contribute to any organization we are involved with. It also gives urgency to making sure our most senior members are not pushed out or away. They hold the keys to making sense of the multitude of data points inundating our lives.
#3
Although the world and our own vanity would have us think otherwise, the reputation of pastors is won by the fruitful lives of those they serve. So Ambrose admonishes all church leaders: “Show your virtue in your spiritual children.s22
Leading God’s People: Wisdom from the Early Church for Today by Christopher A Beeley
A mentor and dear friend of mine once said, “I’d tell you that was a good sermon, but I am afraid the devil has already beaten me to it.” Ouch. Pastors are not immune to the desire to be liked and respected. But if we are not extremely careful, the desire to be beloved can undermine job one which is making disciples. Beeley is right to say that the only reputation that our Lord cares about is how closely the pastor’s flock follows Jesus.
todd nelson 