Author Archives: Mark Stevens

by | June 18, 2013 · 5:50 am

The DMin I’d love to undertake: NT Context

Poor Scot! ;)When I saw THIS from Scot McKnight I jumped up and down in giddy excitement. Even my wife was excited and agreed that I should do something like this. And then reality  hit. It’s in Chicago and well, we are not. Not even close. But for those who are in the US this DMin looks FANTASTIC!

“The DMin in New Testament Context will give pastors the opportunity of a lifetime.  In my speaking and conversations with pastors, preachers, and lay folks, one of the most illuminating features we have to bring to the church is clarifying the historical context of Jesus and the apostles. Time and time again flashes of insight come to Bible readers when they grasp a social custom at work, a religious controversy throbbing behind a question put to Jesus, or a historical memory that is shaping precisely what Jesus was teaching or the apostle Paul writing. Because this “background” or “Jewish context” is so important and at the same time much less accessible for pastors, the DMin in the New Testament Context will provide pastors with the opportunity to focus study on Jewish texts and this will enable them to shed light on pressing concerns in the church today.”

-          Dr. Scot McKnight

I like the idea of a focused DMin program as opposed to what I see offered by many colleges and seminaries here in Australia. Should I ever get the chance I’d love to a DMin in the United states. But that is in God’s hands!

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by | June 12, 2013 · 1:59 am

Badlands: Just being honest…

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Would you allow me a moment of honesty and transparency? I’m struggling with the transition. The transition from student to pastor. For the past 6 years alongside my work as a pastor I have been a student. First I completed my Graduate Diploma and then I commenced my Masters degree. Having recently graduated I find myself lost, drifting rudderless. Like a boat without anchor or rudder I have no way to settle and no idea where to go. I don’t know what to do with myself. I stare at my bookshelves endlessly wondering what to read. All of a sudden I have a choice and I’m not sure what I want to read.

I see this kind of discontent from time to time in men who retire. For years they have given themselves to their chosen vocation and then one day it comes to an end. I see them struggle to work out what to do with themselves. Eventually they settle into retirement comfortable and life begins again.

For the past six years I have been a Pastor/Student. My mind has been immersed in the world of education. The world of the gospels, of the New Testament and of the pastoral vocation has filled my heart and mind. It has been a truly romantic time and a wonderfully rewarding journey. In fact this blog has basically followed my journey of discovery. But now I just feel lost. I pray and I ask God to show me the way forward but I get nothing. Melancholy sets in and once again I feel adrift, rudderless.

In his memoir Eugene Peterson describes his own season of barrenness. He calls it the badlands. Of this experience he says, ‘“I had no way of knowing it at the time, but I was entering into a time of my life that I later named the ‘badlands.’ And I had no way of knowing how long I would be there. It was going to last six years.” It was during this experience that Peterson clarified what he considered faithful pastoral vocation.  The badlands gave birth to the pastoral vocation in Peterson. (The Pastor: p. 203).

And here I sit wondering if my own badlands season has arrived. Here I sit wondering what it means for me to be “just a pastor”. Gone are my student days. It is tempting to take on the next thing but I don’t feel the Lord calling me to that…despite my pleas. So I am left wondering and wandering. I wonder what’s  next and what should I be investing my time in.

I used to think I wanted to be a pastor/theologian. I still do but I lack the one thing necessary – the skills to give my mind to study. I once thought of myself as a teacher /pastor and then I realised I couldn’t even learn Greek. I know I am not what they call missional and I don’t enjoy leadership. Pastor/barista has appeal but hardly a vocational calling. So what is it Lord that you have called me to be and do? Oh why, oh why are you silent?

Maybe God wants me to be a pastor, a lowly shepherd of God’s flock; unknown and obscure. Maybe my struggle is not the transition but my own ego. Maybe I struggle to let go of study because what it achieves is able to define me. Maybe now it’s about learning. Perhaps it is about faith and trusting not in the things I can do but in the one whom I am called to follow.  Maybe I am just a pastor.

Here’s the rub, pastoral work is not glamorous, it is not sexy, and it takes place away from the spotlight. Out of this badlands experience Peterson developed a framework within which he defined the pastoral vocation. This framework is repeated in many of his writings about the pastoral vocation but is best described as his “trigonometry of ministry.”[1] In his book, Under the Unpredictable Plant[2] he explains it this way:

I want to study God’s word long and carefully so that when I stand before you and preach and teach I will be accurate. I want to pray, slowly and lovingly, so that my relationship with God will be inward and honest. And I want to be with you, often and leisurely, so that we can recognise each other as close companions on the way of the cross and available for counsel and encouragement to one another.[3]

These three acts of prayer, Scripture and what he calls spiritual direction are the foundation of the pastoral ascetic. I wonder what being a pastor would look like if I was a pastor who prayed, a pastor who studied God’s word and who gave attention to God at work in the person opposite me?

Who knows what lies ahead. In the mean time I will seek to discharge my duties and endure the badlands knowing that eventually exile and wilderness wanderings will come to an end and God will have brought me to a place of repentance and restoration. Thank you for listening…

 

[1] Peterson, Working the Angles, 18.
[2] Peterson, Under the Unpredictable Plant.
[3] Ibid, 39.

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by | March 14, 2013 · 5:23 am

The Pastor as Spiritual Director

This is part 8 of my series on Eugene Peterson’s definition of the pastoral vocation. The rest can be viewed here.

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Spiritual direction is a bit of a buzz word at the moment. But long before there were Masters Degrees and DMin’s specialising in spiritual direction Eugene Peterson used the word to describe one of three foundational elements of the pastoral vocation. When Peterson uses the term he mixes both leadership and what might be more commonly known as pastoral care. It is another element of his spiritual leadership approach. Essentially it assumes the person before us, the pastor, is worthy of our full attention.

In the same way that pastors are tempted to depersonalise prayer and the reading of Scripture, people are equally likely to fall victim to the pastor’s impersonal approach. Peterson notes: “The culture conditions us to approach people and situations as journalists…But the Scriptures and our best pastoral traditions train us in a different approach: notice the small, persevere in the commonplace, appreciate the obscure.”[1]

Spiritual direction, according to Peterson, is the act in which the pastor pays attention to the person and what it is that God is doing in them.  It refuses to dehumanise a person to what they can do.[2] The pastor as spiritual director makes and takes time to sit with people. This is not an act in which the pastor conveys knowledge or offers quick fix solutions. Rather, the pastor as spiritual director guides people to Jesus. “The basic requirement of being a spiritual director is simply to take seriously what we already know are serious matters – a sign of grace here, a desire for prayer there – and shape the agenda of our work from the souls of people we meet, not from the demands to which they give voice”[3]

These three acts of prayer, Scripture and spiritual direction form Eugene Peterson’s pastoral ascetic and are the disciplines by which the pastoral vocation maintains its integrity. They are the acts which ground the more visible acts of preaching, pastoral care, and administration. As previously mentioned they are not the only three practices of ministry but they do, according to Peterson, form the pastoral aesthetic by which the pastor pays attention to God throughout their day, thus preserving the integrity of the vocation as it is given witness in Scripture and through tradition.

In a world that has dehumanised almost every interaction between humans into technological or contractual exchanges, and a church culture more interested in using people than loving them, the pastor reminds people that someone cares and that God is with them. The pastor is one who is contemplative in prayer, attentive to Scripture, and aware of the human soul.

In light of this I close with one of my favourite Peterson quotes: ‎”The job of the Pastor is to get to know God well and people well and then introduce the two of them!” Sounds easy but take it from me, it is not!

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by | March 12, 2013 · 5:43 pm

Image versus Identity

My spiritual director sent THIS article though (probably because it begins with a Peterson quote). The article discusses the “New Televangelist of today”. He or she is no longer on TV. They have YouTube channels, blogs, sell books and post cool Instagram pics to Twitter. It is more about Image than identity.

“The biblical vision of pastoral leadership is nothing like the Televangelists of the 1980s or the ones of the new millennium. It is not about fun or entertainment. In fact it is often painfully ordinary. The building blocks of a great ministry include such everyday things as a community meals, counseling sessions, and private prayer. It is about knowing the poor by name and praying for the people in your congregation when they ask. It is about calling people back and remembering the names of their children.”

How many of us know this to be true but still drink from the Kool-Aid?

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by | December 14, 2012 · 5:40 am

What did Seminary not teach you?

Dave posted a link to some advice HB London gave some seminary students at Dallas Theological Seminary recently. 10 Things they didn’t teach me in seminary. I can resonate with the list and ironically I learnt more in Bible College about these things than seminary! What do you think, what else could you add to the list? Personally I love number 8 & 9!

  1. They did not teach me how to love. That came through experience.
  2. I did not really understand how complicated the lives of people really were. Some of them were too broken to mend.
  3. I was surprised at how judgmental and cruel Christian people could be. Graduate school did not warn me, or at least if they did I didn’t listen.
  4. I probably needed more specific training in problem solving, and crisis management.
  5. In my day there was not much attention being given to financial management. Even though my first assignment was small, I was still a 23 year old CEO. Scary.
  6. I do not recall much attention being given to family matters. In fact, I remember some well-meaning leader saying to me, “You just go out and serve the church. God will take care of your family.” It didn’t happen that way.
  7. There is no way you can prepare for loneliness. But the importance of friendship with colleagues should have been reinforced.
  8. Another problem I would have to deal with, and had to learn on the fly, was that the church was God’s church … not mine. I was an under-shepherd.
  9. I had to learn how to be myself and build on my own strength. Seminary had made me into a kind of cookie-cutter presenter.
  10. Pastoring was not for the faint of heart. Probably, if they had told me everything I would never have completed my training. I am so glad they didn’t, and I am so glad I did.

With the advent of missional leadership programs, Biblical studies majors and leadership focus in Seminary programs something has to give. I am fearful that what little formation for the pastoral vocation was included in seminary curriculum’s will disappear. What happened to training pastors to be pastors. What happened to teaching pastors to weep with those who weep. To love their wives like Christ loved the church. To read their Bible and hear the Word of God? When did we stop teaching pastors how to be pastors? When we focus so much much on growth and style we soon lose sight of the gospel and those things that keep us faithful in our gospel vocations. I’m not saying we don’t need to learn about mission or even leadership. I’m just saying these things should not be at the expense of the vocation itself!

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by | December 4, 2012 · 4:21 am

Pastor to Pastor: Lessons from Bonhoeffer

The most challenging words I have ever read on the subject of community come from a little book by Dietrich Bonheoffer entitled, ‘Life Together’.[1] Alongside Henri Nouwen’s ‘In the Name of Jesus’ it is one of the best books on pastoral leadership I have read.

“Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it has sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and try to realise it. But God’s grace speedily. Shatters such dreams.” p.35

What Bonhoeffer corrected in me was the sin of idolatry. What I discovered as I read this chapter is that for too long I had been imposing my own wants and needs on the community of God’s people. My vision for the church was more important than what God wanted for his people. As a result it failed to live up to my standards and disappointment and disillusionment set in. What Bonhoeferr challenged me to do is:

  • Firstly, to see the Christian community as a gift from God: “The Christian cannot take for granted the privilege of living together with other Christians” p.27. The community of God’s people is to be embraced and welcomed, warts and all.  It isn’t just about loving God it is about loving the people of God.
  • Secondly, I must remember that we are more than just friends. “Christian community means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it is a brief, single encounter, or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another through and in Jesus Christ.” p.31 Those with whom I ascend to the house of God with are brothers and sisters in Christ. There is more to my relationship with these people than simply liking them. We are forever bound in Christ.
  • Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, I must love the community as she is not as we wish she were! “God hates this wishful dreaming” says Bonhoeffer, “because it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. Those who dream of this idealized community demand that it be fulfilled by God, by others, and by themselves. They enter this community of Christians with their demands, set up their own law, and judge one another accordingly…They act as they have to create the Christian community, as if their visionary ideal binds people together” p.36How many times have I forced my will upon the congregation? How many times have I sought to create the congregation of God’s people in my image? The church we lust for, the community we crave, becomes the enemy of the church we have.

God has given us this wonderful gift of Christian community. Let us not take it for granted rather let us embrace this place and these people as God’s gift to us and stop thinking of ourselves as God’s gift to them.

[1] D. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 5: Life Together Prayerbook of the Bible, Fortress Press, 1996

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by | November 7, 2012 · 3:26 pm

Am I Really That Important?

One of the most common criticisms I hear from people when I discuss the pastoral vocation relates to why we need pastors at all. I am not sure where the question comes from on a case by case basis but I often wonder if it is born out of some sought hurt and disillusionment. I know my own questions in this area have come from such experiences.  However, it is fair and reasonable to ask why so much attention is given to the pastoral calling over the other gifts mentioned in Ephesians 5. Furthermore, we might consider why the pastoral vocation is talked about as if it is some kind of high and lofty calling.

I came across these few paragraphs while editing my thesis and I think they go some of the way to answering people’s questions about why we feel the need to speak so often and so passionately about the pastoral vocation:

Perhaps the most telling definition of the pastoral vocation by Peterson is his constant reference to “pastoral” as a vocation. Vocation for Peterson is a specific and intentional approach to one’s calling to be a pastor in a manner that reflects its holiness, integrity and identity. The vocation for Peterson is unique and must be understood and undertaken on unique terms and not terms or agendas set by culture, congregation or the pastor’s ego.

The uniqueness of the pastoral vocation lies not in a form of leadership rather in its uniqueness within the body of Christ, “Not everyone is called to be a pastor” recognises Peterson, “There are numerous ministries in the church of Christ. But those of us who have been assigned the pastoral vocation must comprehend and accept the conditions of our work and not another’s.”[1]

Peterson’s use of the word vocation is in many ways self-defining. Although Peterson recognises that there are many gifts in the church his specific and intentional discussion relates to how the pastoral vocation is understood. “A pastor has a unique place in all of this. I realized I needed to stick to what I was called to do. The way I understood the uniqueness of the pastoral vocation is that it is insistently personal. You cannot do pastoral work in a programmatic or impersonal or organizational way.”[2]

Speaking or writing about the pastoral vocation for me is my way of getting it straight what it means to be a faithful pastor. This vocation to which I and many others feel a strong sense of call is the most context specific vocation there is (to borrow a Peterson phrase). What we do is as important as the way we do it. I realise that the church does not rise and fall on the pastor (although many of us wish it would) but that does not mean we shouldn’t continually reflect on why and how we undertake this unique calling.

[1] Ibid, 23.

[2] Lyons, G. An Interview With Eugene Peterson, [Accessed 27th August 2012] Online


http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/145302-a-candid-interview-with-eugene-peterson.html

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by | October 24, 2012 · 5:45 pm

The pastor and Politics…

So I hear it is election season in the US…

In a recent post Dan asked, “I am a political person, but over the years as pastor, especially getting to be in one church for many years now, I am finding it more distasteful than ever. It is so incredibly hard to maintain friendships with people I desperately want to reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ when the political environment is so toxic. How do you handle it in your ministry?” Dan, can I be honest? I don’t think we should. Here is what I shared at the Lord’s Table on Sunday…

Some of you may find this hard to believe but I can be quite opinionated; especially about politics and theology. However, as a pastor I have never felt comfortable expressing these opinions because so often opinions can actually alienate another and it is my job to pastor everybody (This does not mean I haven’t shared my views). I do not beleive pastors should share their opinions on politics, politicians or take sides. They most certainly should never endorse candidates. But hey, that’s just my 2 cents. I have noted a rise in the number of pastors and ministers taking to blogs and FB expressing their strong political views. Something inside of me feels incredibly uncomfortable about this and I’m not sure why. I feel the pastor should appear to be political neutral.

This week on FB I posed the question: Should I as a pastor be free to share my opinion on politics and political issues? Do I have a right to take a stand? Do I have a right to say I like this party over that (why they call them parties is beyond me, no one seems like they are having fun!) or this leader over this one? This policy over this one? Many people suggested I do have the right and that I could express these so long as I was polite and respectful. However, despite people’s approval I still did not feel comfortable.

And then I read this…

Upon reading this I was reminded of why it is not my job as a pastor to become embroiled in politics or political issues; at least not in an activist sense. My role as a pastor is to proclaim Christ and him crucified. To invite people, powerful and weak, rich and poor to this table. Ironically this table is a political statement. It says that Jesus is Lord and the rulers of this world are not. This stable stands, feeble and weak in the midst of corrupted powers as the one true hope for the world. While politicians try to convince us of change we can believe in this table has affected the one true change this world really needs.

But this is not just true of me as a pastor – it is also true for each one of us (although I do think people are free to have and express their political opinions). We are not defined by our politics. We are defined by this table and the events and truths that it reminds us of. As we come to the table this morning let us remember that Jesus cares little for our political opinions or affiliation. He takes us as we are. This table is the one true place we find equality and peace. All because Jesus was crucified, buried and on the third day rose again! Imagine what the wold would like if we lived as if the resurrection did actually change everything!

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by | June 13, 2012 · 3:11 am

Technologies old and new…

Today I visited a man in hospital to give him communion. It is likely this will be the last time he ever partakes of the Lord’s supper. His body is slowly shutting down and he could hardly speak. I spent time with him reading the scriptures and preparing him for a good death.

As I was leaving to visit the man I almost forgot to grab my Bible. I had my iPad and therefore my electronic Bibles but I did not have an actual Bible with me. It occurred to me at that moment how inappropriate it would be to stand before someone with the cup and the bread and then whip out the iPad and start reading the Bible. I suppose if that is all I had with me then it would have had to do. However, it felt to me as if it using an e-reader to read the Bible to the dying was in some way cheapening what I was doing in that room at that moment. It’s as if the Holy in Holy Scriptures would have been lost. Maybe I am being sentimental, maybe I am listening to my conscience.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the rise of e-books and electronic devices in class room and church. Today I was once again I was reminded of the importance (for me at least) of the Bible as a book. Electronic Bibles may be convenient and they might be a great new way to engage the scriptures, nevertheless, in my mind at least the Bible should feel like something. In the same way the physical aspects of the Lord’s Supper represent the theological meaning I also wonder if the Bible as book, with pages and leather bound covers,  represent the presence of God in written form. Does the book itself remind us that God is with us?

I continually wrestle with how much I am allowing electronic media and devises rule my life. I wouldn’t say I am addicted but I could easily say I am distracted. But am I fighting a losing battle? Is this the same battle they fought with the advent of the printing press and the telephone or even TV? Should we embrace new technologies and the way they are shaping our lives or should we stand fast against the tide of new technologies?

I finish with this quote about new technologies,

“The new technology will change the way we understand truth; it will change the way we use language; it will erode our memories and our relationships; it will take the soul out of language and turn it into a mere “image” a deceitful apparition of true understanding. In short, this new technology is not merely a useful invention; it is something that threatens the very fabric of our society.”

Is this a quote about blogs? About the internet or Facebook? No. It is Plato, written in the fourth century BC about the shift from an oral culture to a written culture! [As quoted by Ben Myers]

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by | May 24, 2012 · 8:25 am

The electronic revolution of books and classroom…

Dave Black directed me to a post by Tim Gombis reflecting on the possibility of banning electronic devices in classrooms. I can understand Tim’s struggle. Essentially having a computer or iPad in a classroom is essentially the same as having a TV with you in class if you use it to check email, Facebook or play games. During this intensive I have been using my iPad to takes notes, look up scripture references and the like. Fortunately the internet at my Seminary is terrible but also, Scot is incredibly engaging (as I imagine Dave is!) so the temptation is minimal or fleeting. Having said that, I am uncomfortable seeing people use iPhones or the like while I am preaching. I know some people make comments (nice comments) about my sermons on Facebook but I feel it is the same as if they were talking during my sermon. Anyway, have a read of Dave’s post and Tim’s. Interesting thoughts.

This leads me to my next reflection regarding e-books. For quite some time now I have been a fan of electronic books. My Logos library is incredibly convenient. Since I bought my iPad I have been using my NIV Study Bible app as my main bible and OneNote as my notebook. it is great I can take my Bible, notebook and library with me easily. However, lately I have been wondering if the physical act of writing out my thoughts and prayers with a pen in a physical book helps me to remember and process the thoughts better. Has the digital age destroyed something in me that the physical act of writing something down or flipping pages helped? Or, do I just worry too much? So, for a few days I reverted to using a journal. It was terrible! I had forgotten how bad my writing is!  I think the idea of a journal is somewhat romantic. Using an electronic notepad is a new way of practising an ancient art. But I certainly understand why people continue to use a journal.

But what about reading?

 

Is the image above a good thing? Has my life become so connected and digital that I have lost connection with myself and the simple art of reading a book and writing? I suspect I am worrying too much but, much to my surprise, the picture above saddens me. Despite the convenience of electronic books I have come to really miss the physical feeling of picking up a book, of receiving a book in the mail, of pulling a book off of the shelf. It maybe romanticised ideal of reading but there is something about holding a book that aids the experience of reading. I used to think reading was the main point so the form did not matter. But the idea of just having an iPad or Kindle has begun to cheapen the act of reading, for me anyway.

I don’t know what the future holds for publishing. I would like to think the two mediums can coexist fora very long time to come but then I read that CDs are on the way out and my hope begins to fad. I see another book store closing and I lose faith. Maybe electronic is the way way of the future. Nevertheless it isn’t a future I look forward to! :)

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