The Burden of Church

by: Vince Antonucci

I was inspired to post on this topic because I keep reading all of these blogs from pastors called, “I love my church!!” and “I love pastoring!!” and “If I loved my church and loved pastoring any more than I do, my nipples would burst!!” And I think it’s cool that they feel that way, but I often don’t. Yesterday I explained WHY I pastor anyway, but for me it’s not because I get a lot of joy out of it. So from what do I get my joy?

Well, in my opinion, from the right places. As far as I can remember, God never teaches us to get joy from pastoring or from our church. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. If you can, more power to ya. But there are two places (that I can think of) where we’re told where we’re to get our joy. (1) Nehemiah 8:10, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (2) Proverbs 5:18, “…rejoice in the wife of your youth.” (I’m not going to mention the fact that the next verse says, “may her breasts satisfy you always.”) (Whoops, just mentioned it).

I don’t acheive this perfectly, but I want my joy to come from my relationship with God and my relationship with my wife. Personally, I don’t look to pastoring or my church for joy. If I do get any joy out of that, that’s just icing on the cake.

So, maybe my “confession” has encouraged you. At least, if you feel like I do, you can know that you’re not alone.

Read more from Vince here.

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Vince Antonucci

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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
— Argaw Alemu
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