Calling and the City

I've been thinking through calling, lately. Urban ministry has many challenges. There are a lot of ups and downs. The city is filled with many different types of people from many different socioeconomic, ethnic, religious, and educational backgrounds. As a pastor in an intense urban environment, I find myself wearing many different hats throughout any given day of the week. I love it, and at the same time it is so unpredictable and it requires a complete dependence on the Holy Spirit. It's tiring sometimes. 

It can be very tempting for a pastor to try to be all things to all people. I can easily develop a savior complex if I'm not careful. That's delusional thinking. Not only is it impossible for me to keep up with everything on my own, but I burn out very quickly thinking that so much influence depends on me and my behavior. Jesus is the only Savior, and God gives the Holy Spirit to empower his church to participate in his redemptive mission. My only role is simple... to point people toward Jesus Christ at all times. That happens in different ways, but it's really not that complicated. 

I am learning that God calls me to certain places at certain times for his certain purposes. For a while in my life I was called to people in California as a teacher, coach, and as an elder at a local church. It was difficult to leave that calling, but God was calling me to people in Pittsburgh in neighborhoods like Homewood and East Liberty. For now, God is asking me to serve as an urban pastor and mentor. That may change some day, and God may call me some place else. In the mean time, I need to keep my focus on the calling that God has given me today, right here, right now, in this place. 

It may seem difficult, but all callings from God are supposed to feel that way. It's not about me. It's about what God wants to accomplish through me. That's that focus I'm carrying with me today. I am thankful for this calling, and I'm committed to helping other people around me to discover the unique calling that God has for them. 

Encountering God in the City Highlights

Last night I wrapped up teaching another round of Encountering God in the City at the North Way East End ministry center in East Liberty. Last fall at E.G.I.T.C. we built a foundation of why it is so important for followers of Jesus to engage cities in our modern world. This time around we selected a different topic each week, I introduced some concepts on those topics, and then we had some great dialogue. The various topics were:

• History of Urban Ministry
• Calling and Theology of Work
• High Risk Youth and Orphan Care
• Asset-based Christian Community Development
• Reconciliation and Multi-ethnic Church

We learned about the rich history of 2,000 years of Christians mobilizing around the world with various urban ministry models that were uniquely contextualized to different eras and cultures. We learned that each of us has a unique calling to participate in God's redemptive mission, and that we can find joy at work by being stewards of our time and talent while advancing the kingdom of God. We learned about God's heart for children and young people living on the margins of our cities in the U.S. and around the world, and appropriate responses from Christians. We learned how to focus on the assets in urban communities instead of the needs, and how followers of Christ can impact the process of transformation in cities through engagement in real estate development. Finally, we had a meaningful discussion about how Christians should be leading the way in our culture when it comes to reconciliation instead of dragging our feet and lagging behind. 

Last night's class was one of the most open conversations about race and class that I've ever been a part of thanks to the transparency and heart of the group. That has been a theme throughout each of the E.G.I.T.C. sessions... everyone's openness and willingness to learn from one another. The goal isn't just to learn with our heads, though. The goal is to be transformed and mobilized to make a difference in our city. Will Pittsburgh be a better place because of E.G.I.T.C.? Only time will tell. I have high hopes for these passionate followers of Jesus Christ, though. They're a group of world changers. I'm blessed to be around such amazing people in a world class city like Pittsburgh. 

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.

Living in God's Grand Adventure

I recently spent some time looking through photos of my mentoring adventures, and I was kind of surprised about how many times my two daughters popped up in the photos. By choosing to live in the inner city neighborhood where I also work at leading a mentoring program, I have intentionally brought my family along as a meaningful part of the adventure of life. My calling is not a special solo mission for daddy. My daughters are learning how to live in God's mission to reach others on a daily basis. The gospel message of Jesus Christ is real to them on a daily basis because we all live it out together. I am excited to see what God does in their own lives as they grow into the callings that God has for them.

It's impossible to be effective at advancing the kingdom of God from a safe distance. The best ministry happens through hands on experiences and authentic relationship building. I'm happy that my daughters are learning these things from a young age. Our family loves living in God's mission together.

Calling and Leadership

Today I had the opportunity to attend the videocast in Pittsburgh of The Global Leadership Summit, an international leadership training event sponsored by Willow Creek Church. Leaders from a variety of different fields shared their vision with over 150,000 Christian ministry and business leaders from around the world. The speakers were amazing, including such people as Mama Maggie Cobran (a leader working among the poorest of the poor in the garbage dumps of Cairo, Egypt), Michelle Rhee (a public education reformer and the former superintendent of the Washington DC school district), Dr. Henry Cloud, Bill Hybels, John Dickson, and Erwin McManus. Every one of the speakers was inspirational, and their content was excellent.

It takes a lot of guts to get up in front of a huge worldwide audience and share from the heart about the difficulties of leadership in a complex world. The issue of calling was a theme that ran throughout the course of the day. Some of the speakers had been called by God to work among the poorest of the poor, while others had been called to work with business leaders and CEOs of some of the largest companies in the world. An important distinction to make is that none of the speakers' callings were more important or needed in the world than any of the other speakers. God works through all kinds of people in all kinds of different contexts, from the dirt streets of the poorest communities in the world to the board rooms where millions and sometimes billions of dollars are stewarded.

It was fun to debrief that paradox of calling with a group of leaders from North Way during our lunch break. Sometimes it is great to attend leadership conferences like this because people open up about their unique callings and call all of us to join into something much greater than ourselves and what we personally think we are capable of. It's also difficult to attend leadership conferences like this because we must take a long look at what other leaders are doing around the world and question whether or not we are living up to the callings that God has given us (or sometimes if we have even heard a calling from the Lord at all in the midst of our faith journeys).

A calling is a powerful thing, and someone else communicating the details of their unique calling (whether to the poor, the rich, or anyone in between) is one of the most powerful things that we can experience as adults. We either become disoriented in our lives or inspired to continue on in the work that we are a part of. That is the tension that all Christian leaders live in every single day that we wake up and face the day. If we are real with ourselves, we wonder if we are doing enough to live deeply in the calling that God has given us. If we are living deeply in that calling, we wonder just how it is that we are supposed to sustain ourselves in the midst of the strain, suffering, and difficulties that come with tough callings (God is in the habit of giving us those tough callings if we are really listening to him). At the end of the day, it is important that we take all of our issues to our Heavenly Father. We stand before him, and him alone. We should not gauge success by worldly standards, and as I learned again today, the best leaders are those who are able to live out the calling that God has given them regardless of the costs during this short life on earth. We only have one shot at this life, and we need to live life to the fullest according to God's purposes no matter where he has called us.

Calling

Earlier this week I had an interesting conversation with a young man from North Way about the topic of calling. He is trying to figure out what God is calling him to do with his life, and he wanted to gain my perspective because, he said, "lots of people talk about learning what God asks them to do but they don't actually do it. You seem to be able to hear from God and then you are actually crazy enough to do what God seems to be asking you to do, even if it goes against mainstream culture or what seems rational." I was kind of surprised when he said that, because even though I try very hard to be an authentic follower of Jesus Christ I still still struggle daily to hear God's voice and actually do what he is asking me to do. I drop the ball all of the time, and I miss out on God's purposes. However, I do try to be obedient when I hear from the Lord and as a result I would say that my sense of joy in calling is very strong. When God calls me to act on his behalf, even when it doesn't seem to make any rational sense, the feeling that I get is so strong and overwhelming that if I don't follow through with it I almost can't function in life.

I think all people want to be "real," but this world is often cruel to people who try to authentically follow Jesus so we settle for disobedience and creating elaborate fronts for ourselves that we portray to the world so that we can send the message that we've got this whole life thing under control. The scary truth is, though, none of us are in control of our lives. We're crazy for thinking that we can control things. So why do we even try? Why do we end up being fake people or fake Christians? Why do we miss out on the callings that God wants to willingly give us as we join him on his mission to redeem the world? Because there is an intense spiritual battle going on that we do not see, but it is a battle that keeps us living under control, or in disobedience, or in fear as we go through our lives. The enemy does not want us to discover our callings because we are dangerous when we do! The enemy does not want us to be real, authentic, sold out followers of Jesus because when we live like that we make a huge difference in advancing the kingdom of God. With God, all things are possible! We should not settle for being fake or being disobedient. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God, and every single one of us has the capability of discovering and living out the callings that our Creator gives us out of his amazing love for us. Calling in its most simple form means that we should not just be hearers of the Word, but also doers.