A word for pastors who aren’t the lead/teaching/senior pastor:

While you elders/pastors have plurality with each other, you don’t with the church.

It is critical to navigate this complexity.

Here’s what I mean: Whoever is upfront and out front the most will catch the most flack, harsh criticism, unnecessary complaints, and cruel expectations.

Lead pastors get emails from members who are angry they didn’t attend a high school graduation party.

Lay pastors don’t get that email.

Biblical Theology of Discipleship

I spoke last week at the @forthechurch conference on why we should prioritize discipleship—because God’s been about this before the first pages of our Bible.

A thread 🧵 Pre-Gen 1: We are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. The target of discipleship: Christlikeness in all of life—heart, soul, mind, body.

Gen 1: Is a new creation or testimony narrative too. Darkness, formlessness, given life by “God said.”

As an evangelical pastor, for my non-Christian followers on Twitter, I believe this is an egregious, disgusting use of the Bible for politics. He’s wrong on so many levels.

https://twitter.com/newsweek/status/1083513877315416064

First of all, it’s the New Jerusalem/Heavenly City, and it does have a wall surrounding it like all ancient cities did. But this City has 12 gates that are *always open*—signaling that God welcomes all nations, peoples, tribes, etc.