Pastor as Medic

We need to build a community of Christ that deals openly and honestly with the issues that are causing spiritual paralysis and death in our people. Sexual sin is by far the biggest issue for men. Sex is the biggest idol in our world, and yet, most Christian communities play lip service to the problem of sexual sin in their ministry, while placing greater importance and emphasis on outward, peripheral issues such as hospitality and missional engagement. We need to bring the Gospel to bear on specific sins and addictions that people are dealing with so that they can learn to war against and mortify their sin through the power of the Holy Spirit in accountable community. Missional outreach, social justice, fellowship…none of that stuff is going to be effective if the people that you have serving in those ministries are paralyzed by sexual sin, pornography, and lust, and if you don’t have redemption ministries that can help them. Without outlets for healing, we’re spreading superficial Christianity, hypocrisy, and the people serving in those ministries will not endure, because the weight of their sin will eventually break them.

I don’t think you can build healthy community without a robust and effective redemption groups ministry. How can a person who is constantly checking the knots in their suit of fig leaves, hiding their sin, and walking in darkness share the freedom and love of Christ with the world? They can’t. You can not evangelize the Gospel if you are not living in it yourself. We need a ministry focused on people struggling with addictions and depression, so that people will know that the community of Christ is “an okay place to not be okay” (as Matt Chandler says).  Qualification: It’s okay to not be okay, but it’s not okay to stay there. Moreover, we need to stop sending the message that church is a country club. It’s not a place where people come to network and feel better about themselves, get their favorite latte made for them, where the pastor is a life coach. Church is a HOSPITAL, where people own up to their brokenness, their sin, their idolatry, and the pastor is a MEDIC who carries people to the surgery table of the Cross, so Jesus the Great Physician can heal them and set them free for kingdom service. If you are a pastor, you’re not a motivational speaker, you’re a medic. Medics don’t need to look cool, dress in the latest fashions, or be an amazing musician. They need to understand how the redemptive and restorative work of the Gospel heals wounds and transforms hearts. God help us to be that kind of community.

[I understand that the church is not JUST a hospital, and the pastor is not JUST a medic. But in regard to the devastating effects of sin in our lives, and our desperate need to help men and women deal openly with sexual sin and other addictions, I think it's a perspective that needs to be fostered.]