Archive for the 'Pastors' Category
A Letter To Pastors
Dear Pastors,
I am one of you. For 39 years I have served as a pastor of a local church. The last 29 of these years I have served the same church. Even though I began when I was very young, God was and has been faithful to protect me all the way.
In the past few weeks, I have felt compelled to write you this letter. These are words that any local church pastor can identify with in life and ministry. Please consider these words, place them before the Lord, and then apply as needed or as He desires.
First, put Jesus first in your day. Start your day early with God and if early is not your deal, at least start your day with God first. Yes, first things first. If we do not begin our day with Jesus, then we forfeit the privilege to lead His people. Please begin your day with God; otherwise, defeat in life and ministry will become normal for you.
Second, renew your belief in the power of God. He can do anything, anytime, anywhere with anyone. He can do this with you and through your church. Refuse to dissect what He can and cannot do. Receive what He is able to do with you and through you. Begin to teach and preach about the power of God to your church. They need to begin to believe again.
Third, bring prayer back into the worship services of your church. Get beyond the, “Bless me prayers”, into appealing to the God of Heaven to manifest His presence to the people of God. Weekly, call out to God before your people. They need to hear you pray with both confidence and conviction. At times, move your people to pray together in groups around the room. At other times, call them to their knees in humility. Pray for revival to come to the people of God and for the next Great Awakening to occur in America. Prayer always precedes great works of God.
Fourth, prioritize evangelism again into the life of your church. Celebrate the reaching of the lost and the baptizing of new followers of Christ. Discover places in your community where the gospel has never been shared. Resolve to take the gospel into these places. Study the demographics of your city. Strategize how to win your city to Jesus Christ. Then, you will not cease evangelizing.
Fifth, call your people to support God’s work financially. Unashamedly, model and teach God’s people about giving the first ten percent of their entire income to their local church. Call them to give beyond this and challenge them to live life in the lane of generosity. Then, as a church, give to advance the gospel across the world exponentially. Give sacrificially and generously to forward the gospel throughout the entire world by planting gospel churches and supporting missionaries globally.
Sixth, stand upon the Word of God courageously. Our biblical Christian worldview is in constant conflict with the culture. Do not coward down to our culture nor cuddle with it. Stand strongly and courageously upon the Word of God. This will call you to be against some issues, when it does, communicate it in love.
Seventh, value each person in the world today. Stand for the dignity of each person and for the sanctity of life. Reject racism in any form. Renounce abortion in every way. Stand for the dignity and the sanctity of human life from the womb all the way to the tomb.
Eighth, learn from criticism. It will come. Count on it. Determine to outlive it. Refuse to become bitter toward any person being critical of you. Do not let anyone outside of your circle of love.
Ninth, lead cross-generationally. Do not be influential with just your generation; develop relationships with the generation before you and the generation behind you. Otherwise, your leadership will be limited and any potential legacy you may have will become short-lived. Invest in all generations. This is biblical.
Tenth, be humble before other people. When you are humble, God will raise you up. The way up is down. When you humble yourself before God, you can more easily humble yourself before others. God is not attracted to pride, but He is to humility. He lifts up those who are humble before Him.
Thank you Pastor for living for Jesus. Fulfill the calling God has given to you in your life. Please know I am with you in this battle and praying for you daily.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
It’s Time for Pastors to Lead a National Conversation on Racial Unity By Jerry Young and Ronnie Floyd
Ronald Reagan once said that “all great change in America begins at the dinner table,” and we agree. But, as ministers, we also believe that great change can’t happen unless someone sets the table for tough conversations. That’s where the pulpit comes in.
Recent events have poured salt in our deepest national wound: the injustice of racism. You can’t turn on the news today without hearing about another incident of racial tension: a shooting here, an aggression there.
But, it’s the incidents that don’t make the news that trouble us, too: the passed-over promotion, the crude comment, the suspicious stare…
We lead two of the nation’s largest Protestant denominations, each with their own complicated pasts and experiences with this issue, and we see the adverse effects of racism in our respective churches every day.
Racism is all around us. You might even say it’s in our national “DNA,” because in a way, it is—sin is in our DNA, at the heart of the human condition. Prejudice against our fellow man is one particularly visible and egregious example of this.
Because the Bible teaches that all men and women are created equal, we know that the sin of racism is not simply a violation against one but a crime against humanity. Racism creates between us a false division; it fosters the illusion that those of different ethnicities, who share the divine imprint, are instead our enemies. It is a sin founded upon fear and ignorance—a perpetuation of the lie that only some are made in God’s image, and the rest are disposable.
As religious leaders charged with shepherding the faithful, we are resolved to address this tragedy together. Now, as ever, pastors across America must stand before their congregations and call racism for what it is: ugly, unwarranted, and un-Christian in all its forms.
Last week in Jackson, Mississippi, we did just that. Each of us invited ten pastors from our respective denominations to gather for a summit we described as “A National Conversation on Racial Unity.”
We trust that when people of faith come together in peace, compassion and humility, seeking nothing but truth and freedom, the scene is set for dialogue. Not political dialogue, mind you, nor an argument, thread of Facebook comments, or even a sermon, but rather an authentic exchange of perspectives and a genuine petition for our nation. It is in the same spirit as that modeled by Martin Luther King, Jr. in his famous letter to the clergy of Birmingham, Alabama: “since I feel that you are good men of genuine good will,” he wrote, “I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.” With Christ as our guide, patience and reason will overcome temptations toward anger and fear.
Twenty-two pastors engaged in dialogue, on one day, for a few hours, may not sound like much, but it’s a start. Even William Wilberforce, the great abolitionist and himself a devout Christian, led the charge to outlaw the British slave trade with a committee of even fewer men.
As we move forward, we do not presume that this discussion can be brief or easy. It requires us to look inward—to shine a light on things we would rather keep hidden from ourselves and from God. It demands the courage of honest testimony and sincere forgiveness. It will rely on clergy all over this nation who are willing to step up, speak out, and urge their congregations to begin community conversations about racial unity.
As citizens of the United States of America, we believe this is in our common interest. As citizens of the Kingdom of God, we know it to be our duty.
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is president of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination. Dr. Jerry Young is president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, the nation’s largest predominantly African-American denomination.
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.