It is quite common: the young seminarian begins his first pastorate, he is willing to suffer, brimming with theological conviction, wanting to love people, he is ready to face the devil on the battlefield, one-year sermons are planned. big, pray a lot and are ready to go.
Then he faces lethargy. Indifference. Spiritual laziness.
- In his autobiography El Pastor [NT: Published in Brazil under the title Memerias de um Pastor].
- Eugene Peterson reflects on it.
- At first.
- The church he established produced: a few mature Saints who knew how to pray.
- Listen.
- And persevere.
- But also a considerable number of people who attended practically only services (128).
- They were “indifferent” and there were many of them.
In such a situation, in the face of spiritual lethargy in a congregation, what should a pastor do?
First, you should think carefully, not reflexively, about the factors that can contribute to this sad situation. Here are some of the main ones.
Many 9Marks readers know what happened in American evangelism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For several reasons, many churches have adopted a more pragmatic, business- and consumer-oriented model. This model was good at attracting people, but not for hiring them.
Guess what? If you treat people as consumers, that’s how they’ll act. If you recruit them as spectators, that’s what they’ll be. That’s how many american faithful they are today.
Following closely the previous point, many men from the mid to late twentieth century joined the churches. The postwar evangelical explosion, narrated in Billy Graham’s upcoming Grant Wacker biography and in historical works such as Joel Carpenter’s Revive Us Again (Oxford, 1997), led to a huge increase in attendance and church members in the 1950s. people were not qualified to consider their loyalty to the congregation important or, dare I say, costly.
In many communities, you have joined the Kiwanis Club, Rotary, the Youth League, and a church. Not that participation in church was a meaningless ritual; many men were genuinely converted at that time. However, many church members were not trained to view the church as “real culture,” as Stanley Hauer argued, but rather as part of culture in the broadest sense.
The previous two points are what we might call “legacy problems”. These are realities that have shaped many existing churches in which pastors enter today. But there are also fewer cultural and more indigenous problems that push ecclesiastics into passivity and laziness.
Our modern evangelical movement, especially the branch of merciful love (of which I am an enthusiastic participant), tends to take a biblical text, perhaps rooted in God’s mercy but with some sharp edges, and then soften everything. .
In fact, we should read all the scriptures with a theological lens and christ in the center, but if we are not in tune with the current accent and style of the biblical authors (and not with a careless and carefree pastiche of his work), passages like Titus 1. 10-16 may seem very our modern ears:
Because there are many who speak insubordinate, frivolous and deceptive, especially those of circumcision. You must shut them up, for they have perverted whole houses, taught what they should not, out of ungodly greed. Among them was one of his prophets, who said: Cretans, always liars, terrible beasts, slackers, such testimony is correct. Therefore, give them back severely, that they may be healthy in faith and do not worry about jewish fables, nor the commandments of men deviated from the truth. Everything is pure for cigars; however, for the unclean and the unbelievers nothing is pure, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. As far as God is concerned, they claim to know Him; however, they reject him for his works; that is why they are abominable, disobedient and disapprove of all good deeds.
Paul knew the glories of first-hand grace, but he strongly condemned the culture of laziness in Crete. He didn’t stop. He said there was a tendency to laziness in the area, he also noted that laziness and not following the Lord with all his heart and not participating in God’s mission are shameful sins, behaviors that are also dangerous, since indolent passivity makes people vulnerable. false teachings, especially selfish and for-profit teaching.
Spiritual indolence is a sin. That’s our starting point for addressing it. However, in addition to this truth, what are the possible problems that hinder the meaningful participation of the Church?
In the next part (to be published on April 30), Strachan will focus on some solutions to the problem.
By Owen Strachan. Excerpt from www. 9marks. org. Copyright © 2013 9Marks. Used with permission. Original: Shepherding the Idle
Translation: Vin-cius Silva Pimentel? Faithful Editor © All Rights Reserved Original: Pastoring the Indolent (Owen Strachan)
Authorizations: You are authorized and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that the author, his ministry and translator are no longer no longer modified and not used for commercial purposes.