“Adele Ahlberg Calhoun (M.A., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) currently copastors Redeemer Community in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with her husband, Doug. She was formerly Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois.”

“A trained spiritual director, she has taught courses at Wheaton College and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. In the early 1970s she helped pioneer student work with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. She has also worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in New England and Canada and with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in the West Indies and South Africa.”

More details here.

“Discovering and exercising your God-given spiritual gifts allows you to experience maximum fulfillment with minimum frustration in your Christian life and ministry. For that reason, we are pleased to introduce you to the nation’s best-selling Spiritual Gifts Inventory!”

Did you take note of their reasons for supplying you with a best-selling Spiritual Gifts Inventory? It has nothing to do with building the kingdom of God, serving the people of God, or magnifying the glory of God. Quite to the contrary, it is all about you experiencing your life and ministry to their absolute fullest. They are promising nothing more than a variation of the “Best Life Now Christianity” that dominates the church in America. This, of course, is diametrically opposed to the teaching of Scripture. Paul says,

“There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” 1 Cor. 12:6-7

Why has the manifestation of the Spirit been given to us? It is given for the common good of the saints in the local church. It really isn’t about you and your desire for fulfillment. God has endowed us with gifts for his glory and the church’s good. We must keep this in focus as we seek to serve him in the local church. If we aren’t careful our deceitfully hearts will be quick to seize the search for spiritual gifts as an opportunity o turn our eyes inward instead of outward and upward.

How shall we then seek out our gifts? There are three areas where an adjustment of focus will provide us with a safe path to pursue using our gifts.

1) Focus on service more so than discovery

God calls the leadership of the church to equip the saints so that each and every last member of the church ministers. This is how the body of Christ grows to maturity (Eph 4:11-16). Furthermore, since the church is a living organism, each member is either contributing to the life or death of the entire body. How would your body be effected if, say, 20% of it failed to function properly? How many churches out there are functioning at a far lower level? That’s a sobering thought. The body dies when people aren’t ministering. God has granted each and every person a function (Rom 12:4). The New Testament imperative is not, “please perform a lengthy assessment of your abilities to determine which ones are/are not spiritual so that you can serve.” Rather, the repeated injunction is, “serve!” Moreover, God will bring you gifts to the forefront as you die to yourself in the service of others. Which leads us to…

2) Focus on needs more so than preferences

Part of dying to yourself is laying aside your preferences for the good of others. Paul reminds us, “not [to] merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4). This applies not just to individuals but also to the local church. You need to stop asking where is a place for you to use your gifts. Instead ask for a place where you can serve even if it is—gasp—the children’s church. When a soldier sees a gap in the skirmish line they run to fill it. Victory depends on it.

3) Focus on weaknesses as much as strengths

Serving in weakness is a rather conspicuous theme in the New Testament (cf. the book of 2 Corinthians). God calls us to do all sorts of things that we feel remarkably incapable of carrying out. Yet, we trust that if our Lord gives us a ministry, He will empower us by his Spirit to accomplish it. If we consistently play to our strengths in ministry, we severely curtail what God wants to do through us. What if Nehemiah had stayed in the King’s court? What if Esther had stayed quiet? God often raises people up to serve in ways that they had never expected. Don’t let your selfish desire for glory to get in the way of the church storming the gates of hell.

“Masculine piety is something we simply don’t understand anymore because all our assumptions today of how to be godly are feminine assumptions. Feminine piety is our baseline. It’s our operating system. I’ve heard it said that culture is all that stuff you suck in without noticing. Today, effeminacy is the air we breathe. So as soon as we become convinced that we need to have masculine worship, inevitably we try to get everybody sitting around fire pits, roasting wild boar, and acting like a bunch of un-bathed Viking Neanderthals. Now, I’m exaggerating, but my point is that when what we’re trying to recover is as far gone as masculine piety, it’s our tendency to overcorrect in the pursuit of it. And this is because we lack any godly frame of reference. Which is to say, we lack wisdom.”

You can read the rest of the post here.

He is a video of the joyous occasion:

Why do you not invite people to your church functions? Here are a few of the answers:

“Right now, it’s because I work mostly with Christians, that are members at Christian Churches.”

“Currently in my life, my circles are pretty much my small group, youth kids, friends from church, and people at work. However, most of the people that make up those circles claim to be Christians.”

“The only non-christians that I see these days are the ones at work and we don’t have much a chance to talk because we are a call center.”

“Other than work, pretty much all my circles are composed of people from church, especially with school on hiatus for the summer.”

So, here is our first reason: we only know Christians. Many believers have few, if any, relationships with non-Christians. Most of the people we know belong to our church or to another local church. This shouldn’t be a major surprise. Birds of a feather flock together. Moreover, it is actually a good sign that the majority of our friends are Christians and members of the same church. We are called to be deeply committed to members of our local church. This, in turn, results in most of our time being rightly spent with the Christians.

Now, taking that all into account, we still should have some relationships with those outside the church. Christ made us to be salt and light. Our very presence should effect those around us. Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” We should live openly Christian lives. That is what it means to let our light shine. Our “light” will effect our barbers, baristas, mechanics, co-workers, and neighbors. It will cause them to ask questions. This is why Peter writes, “..always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” A distinctly Christian life will naturally create opportunities to build relationships with non-believers or nominal believers. Most of these relationships will be ever-so-brief due to the offensive nature of the gospel. A few will develop into a channel that brings the individual into the church.

This brings me to my proposed solution.

First, ask God to open your eyes to the opportunities already present in your life. To avoid non-Christians, Paul says, “you would need to go out of the world.” You might not have any non-believing friends but you most certainly have interactions with non-believers. Paul says so. Therefore, we cannot use the excuse that we never have any interactions with non-believers. That isn’t true. The truth is that they don’t register as an opportunity. We don’t see interactions at the local playground as a chance to “let your light shine.” A trip to the barber is merely for a hair cut as opposed to a “short term mission trip.” The reason for them not registering could range from being lazy to just being caught up with the business of life. Either way, the solution to this problem will always start with prayer.

Second, use these everyday interactions to make little “gospel jabs.” The jab is everything in boxing. Its the punch that sets up all other bigger punches. A skilled boxer uses it to find his opponent’s openings. In this sense, evangelism is a lot like boxing. More often than not, you’ll end up on the canvass if you go for the knockout too early. It is the accumulation of “gospel jabs” to your “opponent” that create opportunities for the K.O. shot. Most Christians have an “all or nothing” mentality towards evangelism. They come out swinging wildly looking for a knockout. This is usually a mistake. You don’t have to lay out an entire Christian theology during your haircut. Just a little gospel jab here and there will have a powerful effect over time. Let me give a few real life examples of what I mean by “gospel jabs.”

Starbucks

Barista: What you’ve been up to?
Me: I just got out of a church gathering.
Barista: Oh, where do you go?

Great Clips

Stylist: What does your wife do?
Me: She is a household executive.
Stylist: Ok…what does that mean?

YMCA Hot-tub (I read in the hot-tub)

Random member: What are you reading?
Me: Its a book on preaching by a famous Welsh preacher.
Random member: Cool. Are you a seminary student?

Each of these examples happened last month. The first two didn’t go much further than recorded here. The last one turned into a fairly lengthy conversation. The man ended up being an agnostic who was studying law here in Bloomington. He was visibly shaken by my explanation of the gospel and the judgment to come. The last time we crossed paths he purposely ignored me. So, please, don’t think I’m suggesting this is some magical evangelism formula. I strike out most of the time. Most people just brush me off or go no further than the socially-mandated niceties. Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Everyone has opportunities to influence non-Christians with the gospel. The opportunities don’t require street preaching or going door to door. They only require seizing everyday interactions as a fertile ground for proclaiming the truth of Christ.

Shut up as we are in the prison house of our flesh, we have not yet attained angelic rank. God, therefore, in his wonderful providence accommodating himself to our capacity, has prescribed a way for us, though still far off, to draw near to him. (And that way is the) church, into whose bosom God is pleased to gather his sons, not only that they may be nourished by her help and ministry as long as they are infants and children, but also that they may be guided by her motherly care until they mature and at last reach the goal of faith. “For what God has joined together, it is not lawful to put asunder,”  so that, for those to whom He is Father the church may also be Mother. (Institutes, IV.1.1, “The Necessity of the Church.”)

You cannot draw near to God outside of the church. She is our mother and through her ministry we are brought near to the Father.

Here is example of why it has held it own through this many years:

“(People) will give you leave to preach against their sins, and to talk as much as you will for godliness in the pulpit, if you will but let them alone afterwards, and be friendly and merry with them when you have done, and talk as they do, and live as they, and be indifferent with them in your conversation. For they take the pulpit to be but a stage; a place where preachers must show themselves, and play their parts; where you have liberty for an hour to say what you (desire); and what you say they regard not, if you show them not, by saying it personally to their faces, that you were in good earnest, and did indeed mean them…”

Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, (Banner of Truth, Carlisle PA: 1974) p. 85.

Let me explain at least one of my problems with video venues. Neil Postman is very helpful on this subject. He writes:

Well, he is about to break Ashley’s heart. He had caught her on the rebound a couple of months ago. He knew she had a crush on him and he hated being single. One plus one equals a dating relationship that was doomed from the get-go.

Doomsday has come. Jimmy’s friends made him admit that he was just using Ashley. The pressure has lead him to end the relationship.

Feelings of dread possess Jimmy. She will cry. Maybe call him some nasty names. Hell, she might even throw a lamp or a book at him. It is going to be a terrible emotional mess.

That is when he comes up with a plan to sidestep it all. He will simply deliver the bad news through a text message. The dread evaporates until he floats the idea to his friends.

They tell him it is the wrong. He argues that he is going to say the exact same thing he would say in person. How is it any different?

Dude, are you kidding me? It is totally different.

A face to face breakup requires a degree of bravery. He has to say those words to wet eyes and quivering lips. He has to be aware of his tone and non-verbal communication (e.g. body language). A text message breakup is cowardly and insensitive. It communicates detachment, coldness, and disregard. The words are almost pointless. The medium overpowers them.

Everyone should know that a message is deeply tied to its medium. If you change the medium, you change the message.

Delivering a message in person is entirely different than delivering the exact “same” message by text.

Now, Jimmy isn’t wrong because he contradicts the consensus of his friends. He is wrong because he contradicts the bible. Yes, there isn’t a verse that says, “Thou shall not breakup with your girlfriend via text message.” But do we really need a verse that says that? No. The medium prevents him for delivering his message in a way that lines up with the general teaching of Scripture. The bible says…

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Phil. 2:4

“Treat…younger women like sisters, in all purity.” 1 Timothy 5:2

Jimmy can’t breakup via text message with those verses in view. He must do the hard work of dealing with the consequences of his actions.

What does this have to with video venues and digital pastors?

They both share the mindset that the effect of content isn’t radically altered by its medium of delivery. Given, there are differences. Jimmy’s intentions are self-centered. It would be my assumption that many video venue pastors have noble intentions. They want to see more people receive and be built up in Christ. However, intentions are really besides the point. Intentions, be they good or bad, still can’t compensate for the changes that occur when the medium of preaching is altered.

So, how does the medium of video venues change preaching? I’ll just list two examples for the sake of brevity.

First, preaching is separated from all other aspects of pastoral care. The Anglican preacher Richard Cecil said, “To love to preach is one thing, to love those to whom we preach quite another.” I don’t doubt that video venues preachers possess a general love for the congregations to which their recorded images preach. However, I don’t see how they can truly love those to whom they preach in even a slightly stricter sense. They don’t know these congregations. There isn’t any relationship. Someone else has been given all of the other pastoral responsibilities that forge the bond between a preacher and his congregation. The medium removes the possibility of love between the preacher and his congregation. Therefore, the preacher isn’t really their pastor and the result is preaching that is less than pastoral.

Second, video venues sermons are crafted for general consumption and instead of being congregation-specific. I no longer use the phrase “a train wreck” to refer to messes. I have banished it from my vocabulary. Why? Because a family in my church lost several love ones (including a child) in a tragic train wreck. It was very traumatic for our church membership and to use this phrase in preaching would reawaken those feelings. A pastor should always be aware of the current state and personal history of his congregation as he prepares a message for them.

Did a mother recently lose her baby? Is a young man heading off to war? Is a particular marriage on the brink? What are the sins of the congregation?

This sort of knowledge should inform the content of a sermon as a pastor seeks to apply the truth of Scripture to his specific congregation. Paul’s letters are full of all sort of specific application. That is because, with the exception of maybe Ephesians, all his letters were crafted with a specific congregation in mind. He doesn’t rebuke the Colossians for being proud about a guy hooking up with his step-mom because that specific sexual sin was in the Corinthian church.

Video venue sermons are never this specific. The medium prevents it. As previously mentioned, the preacher doesn’t know the congregation. Therefore, the message needs to be crafted for as many campuses as possible. All the specific examples will be derived from the pastor’s own life and even that raises the danger of a certain type of narcissism.

What is my conclusion? Video venue preaching isn’t preaching in a historical Protestant sense. The medium has changed preaching to something that is greatly devoid of pastoral care. Preaching must be pastoral. We don’t need lecturers. We need pastors.