Reflecting on Two Years of Serving as a Pastor

It's been almost two years since I officially became a pastor. The past couple of years have been an incredible learning curve for me. I love many parts of being a pastor, and I struggle with the many nuances of becoming an effective pastor. It is definitely challenging to be a pastor in our society. I have good days and I have bad days. On the good days, I'm leading people closer to God and to one another. On the bad days, I try to control my circumstances and my pride gets in the way of me serving as an effective leader. Some days I feel full of energy and optimism, while other days I feel tired and I'm pessimistic about things. I love serving as a pastor. I love the people in my part of the city and I love the church. If I'm honest with myself and with others, though, I still have a long way to go when it comes to adjusting my life to the role of "pastor."

To that end, I've been reading Eugene Peterson's book "The Pastor." The book serves as his memoir from his 50+ years of serving as a pastor. His perspectives on being a pastor are at times refreshing and at times extremely challenging. Peterson is a good writer, and I am thankful that he chose to share his wisdom in this book so that young pastors like me can glean from his insight. I'm still working my way through the book, but here are a few quotes from the introduction section that I'm wrestling with at the moment:

Peterson suggests that it is extremely challenging to serve as a pastor in North America: "Men and women who are pastors in America today find that they have entered into a way of life that is in ruins. The vocation of pastor has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans."

With regard to the high rate of pastors in America leaving the profession or burning out, Peterson writes: I wonder if at the root of the defection is a cultural assumption that all leaders are people who "get things done," and "make things happen." That is certainly true of the primary leadership models that seep into our awareness from the culture - politicians, businessmen, advertisers, publicists, celebrities, and athletes. But while being a pastor certainly has some of these components, the pervasive element in our two-thousand-year pastoral tradition is not someone who "gets things done" but rather the person is placed in the community to pay attention and call attention to "what is going on right now" between men and women, with one another and with God - this kingdom of God that is primarily local, relentlessly personal, and prayerful "without ceasing."

Describing what it's like to become a pastor, Peterson writes: "There is no blueprint on file for becoming a pastor. In becoming one, I have found that it is a most context-specific way of life: the pastor's emotional life, family life, experience in the faith, and aptitudes out in an actual congregation in the neighborhood in which she or he lives - these people just as they are, in this place. No copying. No trying to be successful. The ways in which the vocation of pastor is conceived, develops, and comes to birth is unique to each pastor."

That last quote describes what it has been like for me in becoming a pastor to a local congregation in the East End of the city of Pittsburgh. I love our people. I have had the privilege of serving as a pastor with an extremely diverse group of people in a complex urban environment. In becoming a pastor, God has asked me to serve homeless people, entrepreneurs, college students, doctors, drug dealers, lawyers, drug addicts, stay-at-home moms, bankers, prostitutes, business executives, contractors, big families, single parents, at-risk children, nonprofit leaders, musicians, teachers, young adults, half timers, retirees, and people from many different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.

Such a diverse group of people requires a diverse pastoral skill set in my unique urban environment. I do appreciate the opportunity to serve as a pastor, and I am learning that it is impossible to take on challenges by myself. God has given me everything I need to thrive in my calling because I am not the focus of my work as a pastor. God is. I am just a witness to the work of the Holy Spirit in my context. As Eugene Peterson puts it: "A witness is never the center but only the person who points to or names what is going on at the center - in this case, the action and revelation of God in all the operations of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

My prayer is that as I continue to learn to be a pastor, God will continue to stay at the center of my calling. I want to be a pastor who follows Jesus passionately, and leads others to follow Jesus passionately. I am thankful for the grace that so many people have given to me over the past couple of years as I find my way. I'm looking forward to what God has in store for me as a pastor in the future.

Chasing Mavericks: A Mentoring Story

Tonight I sat down with my family to watch a movie called Chasing Mavericks. It is a great mentoring story as an older, more experienced surfer takes a younger, fatherless surfer under his wing. Based on a true story, the movie does a good job of showing the challenges and rewards of mentoring. A process of transformation takes place through long term, meaningful mentoring relationships. Lives are impacted in such a good way when mentoring is done well.

Ironically, about half way through watching the movie our doorbell rang as it so often does. Several young men that I have been mentoring were standing at our door. We invited them in for a snack. We caught up on how everyone was doing. We jumped on the trampoline. It was a fun time. I am thankful for the opportunity I've had to share my life with them over the years. I've been stretched and challenged. My friends have been stretched and challenged. We all benefit from the mentoring experience.

After my friends left, I watched the rest of the movie with my family. The movie was based in California, so it made me miss living in California. I love it out west. I think more than the geographic location, I miss the relationships that I was able to build with people in my six years in California. I was able to mentor I lot of people in those six years as a teacher, coach, and volunteer youth leader. Those past experiences combined with my current mentoring experiences in Pittsburgh have led to a fruitful life for me. I have been blessed by every mentoring relationship that God has given me, and I am excited to see what the future holds.

The Inspiration of Mentoring

This week I had the opportunity to gather with a large group of LAMP mentors at North Way Christian Community. We gather together periodically to support one another, provide resources, and empower mentors to continue on in the mentoring journey. Mentoring seems like a glamorous thing at first, with all of the thoughts of making a difference in the life of a vulnerable young person. Once mentors settle in, they often realize how the process of mentoring can seem like it yields little progress. In fact, at first the kids being mentored can actually get worse or they might try to sabotage the relationship. There are instances when everything comes together right away and stays that way for a long time. In general, though, mentoring can be very challenging. That's why it is so crucial to have consistent, ongoing support systems in place for mentors.

When I gather with mentors, I am always inspired by how they give themselves away to others. Mentors persevere in the midst of intense circumstances. They are stretched, but they are not broken. Good mentors understand that God works through their mentoring when they allow themselves to be stretched. At North Way, we have mentors who have consistently stayed with their matches for seven years. We have some mentors who have just recently been matched. We have mentors who are mentoring multiple kids. I am so encouraged by the growth that I am seeing in the mentors, and we are seeing incredible results in the young people who are being mentored. Mentoring is challenging, but the process of transformation is an incredible thing to experience.

Signs of Need and Signs of Hope

We have had a streak of warm weather this week in Pittsburgh. Often, as the weather starts to become warm, incidents of violence go up in my neighborhood of Homewood. True, this has been a violent week in Homewood, and the media has been quick to point these incidents out to our region. I am deeply concerned by the violence in my neighborhood, not just as a pastor but as a neighbor. I am doing everything I can to work toward solutions. Still, the violent narrative does not define my neighborhood.

When the weather turned warmer this week, it seemed like everyone on my block wanted to be outside after a long, cold winter. Kids rode their bikes and scooters up and down the street. Our neighbors came over to sit on our front porch and chat. We had a stream of kids who wanted to jump on our trampoline, so our house has had a lot of traffic. Out in the community, organizations are out and about fulfilling their missions to reach out to people. Playgrounds are being built. Kids are learning. Sports teams are practicing. Residents are looking out for one another. New construction is under way. Gardens are being groomed for the growing season. Trees are being planted. Trash is being picked up. Art is being created. Relationships are being built. There is a great deal of healthy community going on in Homewood. This is a narrative that is generally not covered by the media, or by outsiders whose only perception of Homewood is that it is a bad place. Homewood actually has many wonderful people and many assets.

A process of transformation has been going on in Homewood for a long time, and it continues to go on every day. Even though I am aware of all of the signs of need in my neighborhood, I am also encouraged by the many signs of hope that I see all around me. I am pained by the people who are suffering because of the shootings that happened this week, and I am praying for God to continue to intercede in Homewood so that we might all be able to experience peace. If you are reading this, please join with me in praying for violence in Homewood and also in elevating the good work that is going on in the community.

The Process of Reconciliation

A big part of my role as a pastor in the city is to serve as a reconciler and bridge builder. I help to facilitate the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in reconciling people with God and with one another. These reconciling relationships between one another often transcend man-made boundaries in society: black and white, suburban and urban, rich and poor, Christian and non-Christian, and many other circumstances that divide human beings. 

Admittedly, this work of reconciling and bridge building between people and cultures can be very overwhelming. It can be very intense. When I take things upon myself too much, I become overwhelmed by the demands. When I keep my focus on the Holy Spirit, I am able to be sustained through God's life-giving empowerment. The temptation is to become bitter toward the process of transformation and the people who are being transformed. The process of reconciliation requires dependence and trust in the Lord to heal hearts and draw people closer together.

Sometimes I get the great privilege of catching glimpses of what heaven will be like. The kingdom of God will include "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. (Revelation 7:9 ESV)." All followers of Jesus should take hold of this vision that God gives us and let it define our existence in how we interact with one another. This sounds good in theory, but reconciling work comes with a cost. We have an enemy that wants to destroy us and cause division, strife, and war between us. That is why it is so important that we view the work of reconciliation from a spiritual perspective, trusting the Lord to guide us along the way. 

The Cost of Following Jesus

This weekend I'll have the opportunity to preach live at North Way East End. I'll be teaching about Peter's restoration and the cost of following Jesus based out of the passage of Scripture from John 21:15-19. In this interesting section of the Bible, Jesus gives Peter his difficult calling, he tells him how he is going to die (crucified), and then he tells Peter to "follow me."

I think it's amazing that Jesus tells Peter how he will die. Peter knew he would die a violent death as a martyr in order to glorify God. The remaining years of Peter's life ended up being filled with suffering, persecution, imprisonment, and ultimately martyrdom. And, yet, the gospel of Jesus Christ spread at a tremendous rate through the ministry of people like Peter. God used people like Peter who were willing to be downwardly mobile, to risk all, for the sake of advancing God's mission.

At the end of his life, Peter found himself in Rome. He experienced persecution and imprisonment there under the Roman emperor Nero. Nero ordered mass killings of Christians, and it's likely that Peter and Paul were both killed in Rome as a result of these actions. What kind of way was this to advance a movement... to have the most passionate followers persecuted and martyred in the middle of a chaotic city?

Throughout the course of human history, we have seen that Christianity grows exponentially when it is subversive to mainstream society. Even today, we see that Christianity is growing among marginalized people groups who often experience persecution. Many Christians around the world in places like Latin America, Africa, and Asia are experiencing suffering and being martyred. Christianity continues to expand rapidly in those areas of the world while it continues to decline in places like Europe and America where we do not experience much persecution.

I find it interesting that Jesus plans to build his church through Peter, and that he tells Peter that he is going to die violently for his sake. In Jesus' last words to Peter, he chose not to tell him to save up a bunch of money so that he could retire comfortably. Jesus didn't tell Peter to responsibly build equity throughout his lifetime by building bigger and bigger homes. Jesus asked Peter to embrace downward mobility by saying two simple words: "Follow me." This brief interaction between Jesus and Peter presents quite a challenge for all followers of Jesus. What does it truly mean for each of us to follow Jesus? Are we willing to walk away from the comforts of this world in order to follow Jesus into dangerous places in order to advance the kingdom of God?

A Small Glimpse of Redemption

On a recent walk in Homewood, my wife noticed a large broken mirror laying on the ground in a vacant lot. It was surrounded by a bunch of scattered trash right in the middle of the Homewood central business district. She's been asking me for a while if we could go and pick it up so that she could use it for a mosaic project that she's been working on with my daughters. I have a day off today, so it seemed as good a time as any to go to the middle of Homewood to pick a large piece of broken trash. The broken glass now resides in my home awaiting its transformation. 

This is a small example of redemption in my urban neighborhood. A piece of broken trash that somebody threw away in my neighborhood will be redeemed into a beautiful piece of artwork. Something broken will become something with a purpose once again. In many ways, my neighborhood has been neglected and cast away by the powers that be in my city for a long time. Still, a redemptive work is taking place. Passionate followers of Jesus are working together to bring about a redemptive work. We are fulfilling our roles in God's mission to redeem every person and place. The process of transformation takes time, but it is a beautiful thing to be a part of.