Here is his latest post.
Magic and Candy
Posted in thought by nakedpastor on the November 12th, 2008
So the other night I met with a friend. He was going on about how great our church is, that it is a place where he can be real, authentic, and heard. Good solid teaching. Good music. Etc., etc.. So finally I asked him: “If it’s such a great church then why can we not only attract people, but we are losing people too? If it’s such a great place, why don’t people come? And why won’t people stay?” Immediately he said, “Well David, you don’t offer any magic! You don’t serve any candy! If you offered some of that the leak would stop and you would grow! But you won’t, will you!?”
No! I guess not. I won’t because I can’t. Been there done that! I’ve seen behind the curtain and I’ve read the ingredients. The girl’s sawn in two and we have cavities! Magic and candy work, and I know they work. But it’s not worth it. I’m not going to do it. I will not do magic. I won’t serve candy. If that means what it might mean, so be it. Some feel I just have a bad attitude. Sometimes I wonder that myself. I could compromise a little, couldn’t I?, and enjoy a measure of success. The way some deal with the dilemma is they go to another church at another time which they say has the magic and serves the candy, then they come to our church at the regular time for what they think they actually need. Whatever. We’ll see what happens.
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This brings to mind, "narrow is the path and few there be that find it". What do you think?
ReplyDeleteLois, it's tough being a pastor! We live in an age which has turned "success" into an idol and productivity into a god. So what do you do when you have a "job"- which should actually be a driving, unstoppable force within you- which by its very nature cannot be measured? Add to that the fact that most pastors are underpaid and poorly thought of by other professionals, often face interminable fighting within their congregation and/or denomination, work long hours and are targets of public criticism.I wouldn't be one if you paid me! Oh wait... I am one.The only outward measure of pastoral success in bottoms on pews. But the danger with that is that you can attract people for all sorts of reasons, none of which has to relate to building a community of mature believers being equipped to be Jesus in the world.There is an awful lot of pressure to produce the "magic and candy" but at the end of the day I'd much rather receive the Father's accolades than the world's or even the church's.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine why people think that a pastor with a huge congregation is more successful than one with a small group. God looks on the inner man and not the outside appearance, but human people often can get sidetracked and put emphasis where it shouldn't be. It's kind of like saying that someone with 17 children is a better parent than one who has 2 children.God has a plan for you as He does for all of us and if that is a congregation of 20 or 20,000, then if we work that plan, we are successful in God's eyes and that's the most important thing.
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