Dr. Thomas Douglas
Pastor
Parkway Baptist Church
Kansas City, KS

Pastor Bill has made it to another December business meeting. As his church wades through the regular items on the agenda: approval of the minutes, treasurer’s report, written reports, oral reports, old business, and finally new business, he begins to feel his normally dry palms get sweaty. Pastor Bill knows in just a few moments he will be asked to leave so the church can discuss his salary for the next year. He will be ushered out and sent to the education space to await the decision on his compensation package. With this being his 6th year at the church of just under 100 in attendance the process of the church discussing his position without an avenue to speak for himself still rattles him. He has taken the time to examine why the church has been unable to break the 100 barrier. Oh, they passed it a few times but for all too common reasons slid back below the 100 thresh hold. One year they lost their beloved music director. Another, a couple families got upset over something he said from the pulpit. Another talk spread of him being unavailable to certain families because he didn’t make it to the hospital on one occasion. Then, he would never forget the class that refused to multiply into two because the teachers liked alternating every other month. Now the class has dwindled to fit in the room it once was outgrowing.

As Pastor Bill headed to the education wing, he knew someone would raise the question of the lack of numerical growth and tie it to the effectiveness of his ministry. He could answer what happened to each family that was not there but knew that wouldn’t satisfy the grumblers. Sometimes, Pastor Bill wondered if he should apply for any church with over 100 in attendance just so he could feel what it was like to pastor a bigger church. Other times he figured God knew best and/or maybe there was a deficiency in him that kept God from blessing the church with growth.

Perhaps you attend or pastor one of the 59% of American Protestant churches that have under 100 in attendance on any given Sunday morning.[1] If so, then you are personally acquainted with some of the feelings Pastor Bill experienced. So much of the emphasis in the media and in areas of denomination leadership focuses on the larger churches with more people and more resources. It can appear that if you do not meet certain growth quotas, then God has removed His “candlestick” from you and unless you make major changes God will shut your doors and sell your building to the up and coming funeral home.

While it is true that more people are picking large churches to attend, small churches have a vital place in the American landscape and offer distinct benefits that larger churches struggle to meet. This series will offer seven reasons why small churches are great churches to join and belong. Not all of the reasons apply solely to small churches. Some are true of effective churches no matter their size but have a special role in defining small churches. These articles are meant to encourage small churches to see themselves as more than the total number of attendees and offerings. God has a way of using the unlikely-in-the-eyes-of-the-world to transform the world. Jacob, Moses, Gideon, Deborah, David, Daniel, John the Baptist, the apostles, and of course, Jesus are people in the Scriptures God used despite their humble beginnings. Out of the small churches in America, God raises pastors, missionaries, Sunday School teachers, and witnesses of all shapes and sizes to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. While we strive to reach as many as we can, let us relish in those areas that the world might see as weaknesses but that God sees as strengths and use them to impact the world around us for Christ.

Technorati Tag: small churches

By Dr. Thomas Douglas, Pastor, Parkway Baptist Church, Kansas City, KS

This is the eleventh in a series of articles on sermon preparation for pastors and bivocational pastors with busy schedules. To see the earlier articles, click the links below:

Introduction article,
Principle #1: Bible Literacy
Principle #2: Know What You Believe
Principle #3: Know Your Audience—Exegeting Your People
Principle #4: Know Who You Trust—Trusted Sources
Principle #5: Know Your Text—You and the Scripture
Principle #6: Know What You Want People to Do—Application Points
Principle #7: Know the Right Story to Bring the Truth Home—Relevant Stories
Principle #8: Know How to Start Well with Good Introductions
Principle #9 – Conclusions

I will never forget my first coaching I received in the area of delivery. My recently acquainted friend from college invited me to visit his grandparents in rural Missouri. He said their preacher planned to have him preach in the Sunday evening service and that he would probably let me preach too. As we prepared for our back to back sermons, my friend offered one piece of advice. “Tom, whatever you do make sure to yell.” My friend, who had never heard me preach, radically changed my delivery forever. No, I don’t just yell all the time (I grew out of that faze), but before my friend I never gave a moment of thought to how my message sounded to others.

Now, a close second in importance to being biblical in the content of the message is how you share the message. Listen to what Stephen Rummage says about delivery. He states, “The truth is, no matter how careful you were in your exegesis and interpretation and no matter how skillfully you put together your message, your sermon will be evaluated on the basis of how you deliver it.”[1] Communication researcher Judee Burgoon developed a theory called “nonverbal expectancy theory.”[2] In essence, it states that people have presuppositions on how people should communicate. If your delivery falls below their expectations, you lose credibility because you have violated their expectations. That’s what my friend in college was trying to tell me. The people in rural Missouri will not listen if you do not yell. So, I yelled.

To all those introverted exegetes out there, I hear your objections and calls of unfairness, but speaking as an introvert I cannot ignore what scholars and experience teaches: a good delivery always helps in the communication of biblical truth, and a bad delivery hinders the communication of biblical truth. I know people should listen to the arguments, points, illustrations, and applications; and allow the truth to impact their soul, but reality is passion, emotion, and intensity warm hearers to the truth.

What style, how much passion, and how to display appropriate emotion depend on the text, the occasion, and the audience. Preaching on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus will sound different than preaching on a parable. Preaching on a psalm of repentance will differ from a psalm of praise. Each sermon may contain passionate moments, but some will be more text-driven than others.

The occasion for the message can also heavily influence the style and the display of passion. Sometimes the occasion restricts your normal delivery. Every Sunday morning I preach without notes and move quite freely around the platform. At a funeral, I stand still behind a podium and limit both my vocal range and mannerisms. Easter Sunday will be different than tithing commitment Sunday. Paying attention to the occasion will help in meeting the audience’s expectation.

Part of understanding the audience is surmising their delivery expectation. This doesn’t mean you turn into an entertainer, but you should be prepared to stretch yourself a little bit for the sake of communication. An effective communicator immediately accesses each speaking opportunity for potential hindrances and helps for his message. One of those is discovering the preaching atmosphere of the congregation. If you can discern that before you speak, you can deliver the message in a way that communicates more effectively for the particular audience.

When you are the pastor preaching to the same congregation week after week, I suggest what Rummage calls “finding your best voice.”[3] Bryan Chapell states, “Natural delivery now rules the day. The preachers most respected are those most able to sound like themselves when they are deeply interested in a subject.”[4] This requires establishing a normal, conversational tone that can rise in moments of passion and lower in moments of intensity. Beware of how you establish your preaching style when you begin your pastorate. Congregations will begin making assumptions (sometimes good, often times bad) when you deviate too much from it.

The only way to evaluate how you preach is to hear (and preferably watch) yourself preach. I have a habit of slowing my delivery down and turning a well-delivered sermon into a somewhat interesting lecture. Maybe you have a tendency to yell at unnatural times in the sermon. The only way to know is to listen. If you record your sermons, you can catch all sorts of nonverbal hindrances to communication. Your gestures, eye-contact, movement, and mannerisms that you unknowingly do are caught and can be corrected when you watch yourself. A good measuring stick is to ask, “If I were sitting listening to myself, would I turn myself off “ or “Would that movement, manner, or the way I hold my Bible distract me?” If so, work hard to change it.

Rex was a rough and tough born-again truck driver who was part of the Naval Combat Demolition Units during WWII (early Navy seal). Every Sunday Rex gave immediate grades on my preaching and as you might imagine he didn’t sweet coat his remarks. I came to find out that in order to get a good grade from Rex I had to accomplish two things in my sermons: at some point yell and go after the heathen that didn’t bother to come to church that day. Sometimes I let Rex down because my sermons usually focused on the people who did come to church on any given day; and other times I didn’t show enough passion in my delivery. I still focus my sermons on those who attend worship, but if I want to do what I can to make sure they hear God’s Word, then I better make sure my delivery shows the passion of one trying to persuade people to “escape the wrath to come.”

Technorati Tags: public speaking, sermon, sermons

By Dan Nelson, Pastor,
First Baptist Church,
Camarillo, CA

The Bible is clear that the church is a local assembly on earth and not an invisible glob of people that say they are believers but never assemble here on earth. The latter is the “Kingdom of God” we all enter into by spiritual birth (John 3:3). It is not synonymous with what God’s Word calls the church here on earth.

Consider what Paul writes to the church at Corinth, the church at Ephesus, the church at Philippi. The Antioch church sent Paul and Barnabas out on their missionary journey (Acts 13:1-3). It says he and Barnabas confirmed souls and ordained elders in every church (Acts 14:23). Christians were added to the church at Pentecost (Acts 2:41). When you add to a family that is visible you know that by their participation in that family. The food bill goes up. The sleeping quarters have to be rearranged and people schedules and needs increase.

The dangerous trend of “I don’t need organized Christianity or the local church” has no biblical foundation. It was to visible, assembled people who Christ gave the commission, who went out and won others forming other groups of visible assembled people.

Many still insist however that I’m in “the invisible church” if I’m saved and it really doesn’t matter what a local group does who calls itself a church. Just being in the “invisible body of Christ” is good enough for me! Oh Really? The last time I looked my body was visible.

On a bike ride the other day I hit a lot of fog. I was wet by going through it. It was cold. My fingers lost their feeling. I became congested in the dampness. Now if I had an invisible body, I would have noticed none of these sensations. But I did because I have a visible body.

But if you think that is not enough logic, let me compare other illustrations to prove how ridiculous the claim is that the invisible, generic, universal church is good enough for me.

(1) You say, “I’m going to the office to do my job.” “But it really doesn’t matter which one because I’m a part of all offices that have a job like mine.”

(2) You say, “I’m going home to my family.” So you say, “I don’t have to go home or to my specific family.” Any old family will do since I’m a part of all families. Careful whose house you walk into. They may call the police.

(3) You say, “I’m going to list my school education” on your resume. “It really doesn’t matter which school I attended since I attended school.” But there is a big difference between Pre-School and Graduate School!

(4) You say, “I’m going to get in my car and go home” at the grocery store. Let’s say all cars are unlocked and your key will crank any car. Someone says, “Which car is yours?” You say, “It doesn’t matter any will do since I believe in the ‘concept of the car.’ I’ll pick anyone.” If you don’t pick the one you drove up in someone will call the police, again.

(5) You are sick in the hospital needing an operation. You need your gall bladder taken out the old fashion way. A dermatologist just happens to be in and says. “I’m filling in for the resident surgeon who does gall bladder surgery. I’ve never done it before but I think I can take your gall bladder out.” You say. “Oh, go ahead. I subscribe to the concept that ‘doctors are here to help heal the sick.’” No, you wouldn’t let a doctor within a mile of you like that.

it matters what you believe. A pig is not a cow and a rabbit is not a squirrel. Let’s stop attaching meanings to something that is not there. The church is defined 110 times as a local assembly in the New Testament. The other four times describe it as an institution only visualized locally.

The invisible church concept is one perpetuated by Catholicism and bought into by many Protestants because it is a way to distance themselves from any specific group. It matters what you believe and it matters what you believe about the church. You are accountable to Christ but through a body of believers. If you don’t believe that, you need to go back and read the book of Acts. God uses visible believers to do his work through visible congregations. We dare not diminish the biblical concept that is vital to what type of believer we will be. 

Dr. Bailey has been the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Covington, Louisiana, since 1989.  He formerly served as Professor of Old Testament at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary from 1978 to 1995. He has authored five books: Step by Step through the Old Testament; Biblical Hebrew Grammar; Joshua: Courage for the Future; As You Go: Biblical Foundation for Evangelism; and (with Kenneth Barker) Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, and Zephaniah in the New American Commentary. He is the current President of the Louisiana Baptist Convention

You have a goal that your church must accomplish. If you want your church to grow, you must keep it small.

It’s neither an oxymoron nor a paradox. It is simply this: as the church grows larger, the fellowship must grow deeper. Deeper fellowship gives the church a sense of being small. That’s what you want–a sense that the church is small.

How do you accomplish making your church “small?”

John Maxwell said it this way: “You walk slowly through the crowds.” I once had a pastor who never walked slowly through the crowds. He was in constant motion. He never seemed to have time for people. Though the church really was small, he lacked giving any meaningful time to people. I never felt that he had time for me and, consequently, I never felt valued by him. As I look back over the years, I realize that he was a fine man. He didn’t intend to harm me. But his actions kept the church from accomplishing so many things which God values. My posts on breaking the 100 barrier and staffing to grow not to plateau deals with some of the same issues of growing a church.

Maxwell counsels giving people time. Walk slowly through the crowds. Smile, look people in the eye, shake hands, call names.

We all want to know and to be known. When pastors, deacons, teachers, and other church members walk slowly through the crowds spending time with people, we make the church small, caring, and intimate. When the pastor is too busy for people, he chokes the life and growth out of the church.

Jesus always walked slowly through the crowds. Remember the story of the woman with the hemorrhage? In the midst of a huge crowd with people pressing on every side, she simply touched the hem of his garment. Jesus asked: “Who touched me?” The disciples ridiculed Him because everyone had touched Him!

Jesus knew when a single, (seemingly) insignificant person touched Him. He walked slowly through the crowds and gave attention to people. He made the crowd seem small. We need to do the same with the church.

I know pastors will take this to heart. I want church members to do the same. All of us are the key to making the church small–that is, warm, intimate, personal, and caring. Please make it your responsibility to keep the church small even as it grows larger. In fact, keeping the church small will almost insure that it reaches more people.

You can follow Dr. Bailey weekly on www.waylonbailey.com.

By Joe McKeever, Preacher, Cartoonist, Pastor, and retired Director of Missions at the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans.

This is the last in a five part series on finding people within the congregation who can meet extraordinary needs in the life of the church. The previous articles are:
The League of Church Members Extraordinary
Leaders: Find the Devil in Pew Number Seven
Reach the Ugly Woman in the Balcony
Midwives: Find the Lost and the Seekers

A SWAT team is a small group of highly trained military or law enforcement people who can go into a tense and dangerous situation, armed to the teeth, able to respond in any way necessary. The initials stand for “Special Weapons And Tactics.”

No, we don’t require such combat specialists in the church, as far as I know.

I’m suggesting a different kind of S.W.A.T. team. Let’s have a small band of church leaders who are constantly on the alert for fellow members who have spiritual gifts that they are not using in the Kingdom or are under-utilizing them.

Such gifted church members are usually unaware of their spiritual endowments, of the ways in which they could be serving, and of the difference they could make in the lives of others.

Our job–your job, if you are one of those gifted by the Lord for this kind of work–is to find these people, open their eyes to what God has done in their lives, teach them, and then help them find their place of service. Find their calling.

The strange thing is that far more people believe that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to every believer than believe that there is a place of service in the Kingdom for each person. A rather odd little dichotomy, I think.

Here’s a director of human resources who puts someone on the company payroll and sends them to the plant manager with instructions, “See if you can find a place for this one.” An hour later, the individual returns with a post-it note on his back saying, “Don’t need him.”

If God loves us and saves us, calls us and gifts us spiritually, then has no place of service for us in His work, He is as inefficient and foolhardy as that director of human resources.

If God gifts you for His service, He has a place for you in the Kingdom. And that, I say to you, is one of the most exciting things in the world.

Acts 26 is one of three places giving the account of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. As the Apostle Paul tells it, the Lord said to him, “I now send thee (to the Gentiles), to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (26:16-18).

One of the earliest disciples who believed in this new convert and encouraged him was Barnabas (see Acts 9:27). Later, after Paul had fled Jerusalem ahead of a lynch mob and returned to his ancestral home in Tarsus, Barnabas learned of a great revival taking place in Antioch of Syria.

The Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to Antioch to check out this new thing the Lord was doing. “When he came and had seen the grace of God, (he) was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord” (11:23). Then, something occurred to him.

Many of those coming to Christ were Gentiles. And God had called Saul of Tarsus to be a missionary to these very people. And so we read one of the most critical sentences in the history of this planet: Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul (11:25).

Among the fascinating aspects of this wonderful thing that Mr. Encourager (the literal meaning of “Barnabas”) did was this: evidently, he did not ask Saul to do anything. He merely exposed him to the things God was doing. Since the Lord had called and gifted Saul, once he saw the need and stayed close to the Lord, the opportunities opened up. The rest, as they say, is history.

Barnabas was one of those rare individuals who sees a need and asks himself, “Who do I know with the gifts for this work?”

Just as fascinating is the way Barnabas and Saul went out on that first missionary journey (Acts 13), with Saul as the understudy, and shortly the roles became entirely reversed. The next journey (Acts 15:36ff), Paul took Silas on his trip into Asia Minor, while Barnabas chose another youngster, John Mark, and they headed to Cyprus.

One reason the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is so weak in parts of our world today is that saved, called, and gifted believers are sitting back, letting others do the work of the Kingdom, while their gifts atrophy.

The caricature of the typical church as a stadium of spectators cheering and booing on a few over-worked athletes is not far wrong.

Tell the average Joe in the pew that he should be up there preaching or singing, going door to door witnessing, or organizing for the mission trip to Uganda, and he will wonder if you have lost your mind.

Christi Gibson has an unusual title. On the staff of New Orleans’ First Baptist Church, she is the Minister of Connections.

I asked her about that today. “My job is connecting God’s grace in people with the work He has prepared for them in the Body.”

I said, “In other words, you help them find where to use their spiritual gifts in the work of the Lord.” Exactly. “At first,” Christi said, “we were calling it Minister of Assimilation. Same idea, but people responded to it negatively. I think it sounded a little too Star Trekkie to them.”

“So, we went with Connections. The idea is to get people connected.” But connected with what?

“With their place of service. After all, they are saved by grace and gifted by grace. So, now let’s see where the Lord has for them to use those gifts.” How do you do that?

“We take people through a course on the subject. At the conclusion, I have a personal consultation with each one. We look at their testimony, their life experiences, and a spiritual gifts inventory. We talk about where they might want to plug into the Lord’s work around here. The best thrill is seeing that ‘aha!’ light go on in their eyes as they see that there really is a ministry for them to do, one that is just right for them.”

Now, there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. (I Corinthians 12:4-5)

On a football team, the last thing you need is eleven quarterbacks. Or eleven tackles or centers or running backs. You will need one center, two guards, two tackles, a quarterback, and five more athletes who will line up variously as ends or running backs. And that’s just the offense. You’ll require another set of skilled athletes altogether on defense.

In an orchestra, you will not want 25 violinists or 25 tuba players or 25 percussionists. You will want several of each talent–violin, cello, bass, flute, various horns, perhaps a piano or keyboard, and such.

In a church, you will not need 100 preachers or 100 soloists or custodians, unless your congregation is massive. In most cases, one or two preachers, a few Bible teachers, a group of singers, and then child care workers, teachers for children and youth, custodians, groundskeepers, secretarial, and such. And that’s just inside the building. These days, churches often need technical workers with computer skills, graphic artists, marketing people, and church planters. In their local community, the church will need members with a calling for feeding and clothing the needy, trained witnesses for reaching the unsaved, and skills in housing the homeless.

That most of our members sit on the pews expecting to be fed once a week and seeing that as the extent of their discipleship can be laid at the feet of the ministry. We have not taught our people that the Lord of grace who saved them has both gifted them with special abilities and callings and prepared places of service for them.

Members who will help me find my calling, my place of service, the ministry for which the Lord saved me, are doing me an incredible favor.

By Dr. Thomas Douglas, Pastor, Parkway Baptist Church, Kansas City, KS

This is the tenth in a series of articles on sermon preparation for pastors and bivocational pastors with busy schedules. To see the earlier articles, click the links below:

Introduction article,
Principle #1: Bible Literacy
Principle #2: Know What You Believe
Principle #3: Know Your Audience—Exegeting Your People
Principle #4: Know Who You Trust—Trusted Sources
Principle #5: Know Your Text—You and the Scripture
Principle #6: Know What You Want People to Do—Application Points
Principle #7: Know the Right Story to Bring the Truth Home—Relevant Stories
Principle #8: Know How to Start Well with Good Introductions

“Let me close by saying . . .” Conclusions are meant to end the sermon. Bryan Chapell shares these words about conclusions, “With these final words, a preacher marshals the thought and emotion of the entire message into an exhortation that makes all that has preceded clear and compelling.”[1] Richard Mahue declares, “Just as an athlete needs to finish strong at the end of a race or game, the preacher must be at his best in the closing minutes.”[2] In one sense a preacher’s conclusion should be the easiest part of the sermon. If he has been effective in securing the listeners’ attention in the introduction and if he has faithfully and passionately proclaimed God’s truth with application points, then most of the work for his conclusion has already been accomplished. All the preacher has left is to summarize his main points, tie them together with a story or a series of questions, and energize the congregation to action.

If it was only that easy. Many preachers struggle a great deal with conclusions. How does a preacher take all that has been said in the sermon and use it to move his listeners to faithful obedience to the preached Word? While the axiom is true that a bad conclusion can ruin a good sermon, the reverse is also true. An excellent conclusion can cover a multitude of weaknesses in a sermon. Preachers who have limited time have tough decisions to make. Do they short change the exegetical process to devote more time on the development of the structure? Do they squeeze a few more moments of study into the introduction and conclusion or hope their application points drive the truth home in the hearers? Both Chapell and York contend that listeners will remember the conclusion more than anything else about the sermon.[3] If this is true, preachers cannot relegate the conclusion to the leftovers of time and preparation. Eternal souls hang in the balance after hearing the Word of God. Preachers cannot leave the listeners hanging. They must provide closure. They must call upon the people to respond in faithful obedience to the preached Word.

Daniel Akin, Bill Curtis, and Stephen Rummage have an excellent chapter on conclusions in their recently released book, Engaging Exposition. Let me share their seven elements of what a conclusion should accomplish. The conclusion should:

(1) bring the message to a timely and appropriate end;
(2) restate the major idea and points of the message;
(3) make the final appeal to encourage the people to action;
(4) engage the mind, elevate the emotions, and excite the will;
(5) ask for a verdict;
(6) answer the question, ‘So what?’; and
(7) encourage and challenge, as well as comfort and guide.[4]

With these elements in mind, let me offer a few suggestions that help me move the congregation to action. First, your main points should already lead to the expectation of a response from the listener. Even as basic a response to “Will you do it?” comes from any sermon with application-oriented main points. By sticking with application as your main points your summary of them in the conclusion contains built in calls for a decision. Second, narrow the focus to the specific responses called upon by the passage. For example, if you have preached on prayer, call on people to change their prayer life, to reignite their prayer life, or to persevere in their prayer life. Now is not the time to ask them to repent of lusts, selfishness, or pride. Keep the conclusion focused on the truth proclaimed. In the sermon, you have argued for the authority of God’s Word in a specific way. Don’t let the people escape in the conclusion by bringing up other responses.

Third, the only exception to this is presenting the gospel in the conclusion. Every subject we preach must come from a Christ-centered focus. We pray directly to God because Jesus removed the barrier between God and us through His death. We obey God’s commands as a love response to God’s love that was poured out for us in the death of Jesus. We help the poor, clothe the naked, and feed the hungry because when we do, it’s as if we were helping, clothing, and feeding Jesus. The challenge is to tie the gospel to the truth proclaimed in the body of the sermon. Sure, anyone can tack on the four spiritual laws at the end of a message, but what you want to do is show the people how the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus affects every area of their lives and every teaching from God’s Word.

Fourth, if questions help people get interested in your subject, then questions will motivate them to respond to your subject. Taking the example of prayer, you can ask questions such as “Based on James 5:16-18 what keeps your prayers from being heard,” “Do you believe enough in the power of prayer to change how much you pray and what you pray,” “Will you let God change you through your prayer life,” and “When was the last time you had a good one-on-one talk with God? Why not start one right now?” When you give listeners multiple ways to respond to the preached Word, they are more apt to pick one. If all you tell them to do is to come forward and pray at the altar, then if they don’t they have little to take away from the sermon. Instead, offer them the altar and direct them to ways in which their response will be seen in their daily lives.

Fifth, remind them of whose responsibility it is to respond to the message. After you have preached your heart out, the responsibility falls to the Holy Spirit and the listener. We all know people that if we could we would believe for them and run down the aisle in public profession of Christ. We also know God never accepts one person’s faith for another. While the gospel is publicly presented, salvation requires a personal faith in Jesus. While our daily walk with Christ is before the world, obedience or disobedience falls on the shoulders of each individual.

The preacher’s conclusion must leave each listener with a clear decision to make. It must contain the urgency of eternity hanging in the balance and must clearly articulate what has to be done to respond obediently to God’s truth. If your conclusion does that and the people leave unchanged, the consequences lay entirely on them; and as the Apostle Paul claimed you are innocent of their blood.

By Joe McKeever, Preacher, Cartoonist, Pastor, and retired Director of Missions at the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans.

This is the fourth in a five part series on finding people within the congregation who can meet extraordinary needs in the life of the church. The previous articles are:
The League of Church Members Extraordinary
Leaders: Find the Devil in Pew Number Seven
Reach the Ugly Woman in the Balcony

I wish for your church a small, dedicated group of people who are called and gifted, trained and faithful, in helping other people into the kingdom of God.

Call them soulwinners or witnesses. I call them midwives. They are not responsible for the new life, but they assist it in coming into being.

Someone walks forward during the invitation time and tells the pastor, “I’m ready. I’d like to become a Christian.”

Fortunate is the pastor who can turn to a member nearby and say, “Bill, this is Tom. Tom wants to become a Christian. Would you help him?” Bill invites Tom to come with him, and they exit the sanctuary into an adjoining room where they can speak quietly and privately. Bill opens the Scriptures and shows Tom what God has to say about becoming a disciple of Jesus, answers his questions, and prays with him. Then, after Tom is satisfied he has done what he came to do, Bill begins the process of disciplining him–that is, grounding him in the Christian faith.

There are those who teach that every member of the church should become soulwinners, capable of leading others to Christ. In a perfect world, I agree. But the reality is that not everyone is going to do that. Others have gifts and callings, burdens and opportunities, in other directions.

All are witnesses. But not all are soulwinners or midwives.

A witness is any believer who tells others what the Lord has done for him and what the Lord means to him. We are all commanded to be witnesses (Acts 1:8 among other places).

A soulwinner (what I’m calling a midwife) is a witness who can assist one wishing to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior into this new life. That means learning certain skills.

A soulwinner will learn a series of Scriptures that explain in an orderly fashion how an inquirer can come to know the gospel and give his/her heart to the Lord Jesus. The soulwinner will learn how to respond to basic questions the seeker may have, and to keep the conversation on track. He will develop the ability to lead in what we call “the sinner’s prayer.” And, just as importantly as everything else, he will learn how to do follow-up, helping the new believer to grow in the Lord, to join the church, to begin to know his Bible, and share his faith.

The church is blessed that has a corps of midwives throughout the sanctuary every Sunday.

These people are doing the most cutting-edge work of evangelism: helping people enter the kingdom. They will be doing several things each time the church gathers:

• They will be available to the minister for help during the invitation time, as Bill assisted Tom in the story above.
• They will be on the lookout for first-timers and seekers in church. You will know them, as a rule, by the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look in their eyes. They are unaccustomed to church or to this church in particularly, and in most cases will appreciate a friend stepping up to assist them. In fact, that may be a better term than witness, soulwinner or midwife: friend. Because that’s all it is, doing the thing a good friend would do.
• And, they will be available when ministers or other leaders tell them of particular people who have been coming to church but have not made professions of faith in Jesus. These–those who have been attending regularly for some time now–are often ready and eager to commit their lives to Christ.

Pastors will work to do two things: find just the right people to train as midwives and keep certain other people away from midwifery.

Finding the right people is simple. You look for healthy, growing believers with a natural exuberance about them. Often, they are eager to train to share their faith and assist others into the Kingdom.

Excluding certain others is just as important. Within every congregation are people with bad mental health, people who are obsessive and compulsive, driven by guilt and afflicted by sinful habits. Send them out as soulwinners or preachers and you will cause havoc in the field and bring shame upon the name of Christ. Anyone who has observed the Christian scene for any time has seen just such people doing the Lord’s work in all the wrong ways and causing more problems than they solve.

An obsessive-compulsive soulwinner will browbeat sinners into submission, then–almost literally–drag them to church, down the aisle, and through the baptismal waters. Their poor victims will be so relieved finally to be rid of their dominator after the last step, they disappear out the back door of the church and are never seen again.

The biggest disqualification for witnessing and soulwinning is sin in the life. Second to it is bad mental health.

No church has such a corps of focused midwives accidentally. Only through much prayer and planning and preparation do we end up with these miracle-working life-changers.

Where do you find such workers? The same place as all the others. “Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that He may send forth laborers into the harvest.” Believe me, you don’t want any other kind than the God-called.

Once you find them, they must be led and trained, then nurtured and appreciated and encouraged. Turn them loose without any accountability and, in the nature of all life in this world, they will wind down and lose all energy, focus, and will.

I am not saying the pastor must be their overseer, although he may need to at first. But as soon as the ministry is going, he should ask the Heavenly Father to raise up one of the most faithful to ride point for this work.

There is a shameful thing happening in churches all across our land today. Someone far from God decides to get up on Sunday morning and go to church. They walk in tentatively, not sure where to go or to sit, when to stand or to kneel, what book to use, the right terminology for anything. They have shown great courage in leaving their comfort zone in search of the missing element in their lives. And what do we church people do?

Nothing. We ignore them. We gear our programs and ministries for those who know the songs, are familiar with where to go and how to do things, and are acquainted with the right words. Anyone else is out of luck.

Anyone doubting this should read the church bulletin and imagine yourself as an outsider without a clue as to what all this means. Would you be drawn to those activities? Would you understand what is going on?

In most cases, this courageous outsider leaves our buildings and returns home without anyone ever learning his name. There will be no followup, no prayer for him, no contact.

No one cared.

Let some of us decide to change that. We will be on the alert for the newcomer, the outsider, the seeker, the questioner. We will be available for anyone and everyone wishing to find the way to God and willing to invite us along.

Let the church have midwives.

By Dr. Thomas Douglas, Pastor, Parkway Baptist Church, Kansas City, KS

This is the ninth in a series of articles on sermon preparation for pastors and bivocational pastors with busy schedules. To see the earlier articles, click the links below:

Introduction article,
Principle #1: Bible Literacy,
Principle #2: Know What You Believe,
Principle #3: Know Your Audience—Exegeting Your People,
Principle #4: Know Who You Trust—Trusted Sources,
Principle #5: Know Your Text—You and the Scripture
Principle #6: Know What You Want People to Do—Application Points
Principle #7: Know the Right Story to Bring the Truth Home—Relevant Stories

As a college freshman my church allowed me to fill the pulpit on a Sunday evenings when the pastor was on vacation.  I remember sharing with another religion student my disdain for introductions, saying, “My introduction is ‘Turn in your Bibles to…’”  I believed that a “true” Christian would come to church ready and willing to hear God’s Word proclaimed from God’s spokesman.  If someone in the congregation refused to prepare their hearts to receive God’s message, then shame on them.  I put the responsibility for preparation solely on the listener.

Fast forward twelve years to my dissertation where on page 2 of chapter one I quote Charles Kraft, stating, “Frequently, it is necessary for communicators to build the bridge nearly all the way to the receptors if they are to have any assurance of being understood.”[1] John Stott popularized the use of the term “bridge” in his work, Between Two Worlds.  He states, “I recognize that in fact there has been a long succession of bridge-builders; that throughout the history of the Church Christians have tried to relate the biblical message to their particular culture; and that each new Christian generation has entered into its predecessor’s labours.”[2]

What changed?  I preached over 1,000 sermons between my college years and my dissertation.  Soon after a preacher takes his first pastorate he realizes how many people come to church unprepared to hear from God.  The preacher’s greatest task is often deterred by several factors beyond his control.  Preachers cannot control the lifestyles of their listeners, cannot control the circumstances they encounter, and cannot control their hearts and minds.  Thousands of potential interruptions through temptation, through sin, and/or through spiritual attacks await anyone who desires to hear the Word of God.  I’ve come to the conclusion that even though it might not be the preacher’s fault that a listener is unprepared to hear the Word of God when he begins, he still bears the bulk of responsibility for moving his hearers mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to the Word of God.

In addition to personal experience in front of a congregation, Ben Awbrey’s passionate conviction that most expositors’ biggest weakness is securing the interest of the listener and keeping it throughout the entire message influenced my view of introductions.  Dr. Awbrey is a New Orleans alum whose dissertation compared the preaching styles of John MacArthur and Charles Swindoll.  He graduated from New Orleans and went to teach at Master’s Seminary under John MacArthur until securing his current position as assistant professor of preaching at Midwestern.

Coming out of a solid Christian undergraduate program, I encountered Dr. Awbrey with a “already know how to do it” mentality.  I immaturely concluded that my one preaching class in college, my biblical languages major, and my conviction to be an expository preacher had given me everything I needed and the only thing left for me to achieve a mastery of the pulpit was opportunity.  Oh, how ignorant (and arrogant) young ministers are (some older ones, too).  Five minutes in Dr. Awbrey’s presence convinced me that I wanted to take every preaching course I could under him.  His passion and intensity for expository preaching seemed to run through every fiber of his being.

In 2008, Dr. Awbrey’s first book, How Effective Sermons Begin, came out.  That’s right, 346 pages of text dealing specifically with introducing an expository sermon.  Some would call it overkill, but after sitting under Dr. Awbrey I expected no less.  His work is as thorough as any out there.  In it, he suggests that the people, the preacher, and the passage need an introduction.  He gives five reasons the listeners need an introduction:  (1) heightened focus; (2) overcoming inertia; (3) natural elevation; (4) a communication bridge; and (5) alleviation of abruptness.[3]

Of these, let’s narrow our look to two:  overcoming inertia and a communication bridge.  I used to think what Christian would not want to hear from God during the message.  The carnal Christian is alive and well in the 21^st century.  Even if preachers discounted those in the congregation who really want to be someplace else (unbelieving spouses, teenage kids, angry deacons, etc.), the preacher still encounters roadblocks to communication.  Inertia as it relates to listeners means people not listening will continue to not listen until some force (the preacher’s words) is exacted upon it.  Every preacher knows the sound of the Bible cover zipping as he heads into his conclusion.  More and more we discover it happening less, not because they are so engrossed with the words we speak but because they tuned out long before the conclusion or never tuned in during the message.

Second, a communication bridge exists between preachers and their listeners.  Even the preacher with only five hours of prep is five hours ahead of his listeners.  He has read the passage, the experts, and spent time meditating on how to communicate the truth of the passage to the congregation.  Preachers should not expect their people to be where they are either in knowledge or zeal for God’s truth.  We must bring them to the same appreciation, respect, and obedience to the Word that we have.

In regards to the preacher, he needs an introduction to build up his confidence and sense the goodwill of the congregation.  While many in the congregation may be predisposed to not listening, they still give preachers a few minutes to determine if it’s worth their time to listen.  A good introduction that grabs the listeners’ attention and secures their interest lets the preacher know the water is safe.  Awbrey states, “No matter how well he has preached before, that reality does not exempt him from the necessity to do in this sermon what was required for him to preacher effectively in times past.”[4]

The passage benefits from an introduction because it never stands in isolation.  Sharing with the congregation the context and background of the passage, giving the purpose of the sermon, getting people’s attention, and making them feel that if they fail to listen they will miss out works to present the truth in the most persuasive way possible.

In an introduction, you need to accomplish several tasks, but that doesn’t mean the introduction has to be overly long.  In the space here we will narrow the focus to introducing a deductive sermon where preachers let the congregation know the direction they are heading.  This does not mean that the sermon cannot contain suspenseful elements.  It just means those suspenseful elements are not the central idea of the passage or the main points of the sermon.

So, how does the busy pastor make his introductions meaningful and effective?  In following the approach taken with the text in article 5, a preacher must begin thinking how to introduce the passage soon after he discovers its central teaching and begins to frame his outline together.  As he meditates and considers his application points, he must discover the unifying theme of his message so his creative process can begin.  The more in tune you are with the truths of the passage the easier it is to convince others of their need to hear it, the more you have applied it to your life the more ways you can think to persuade others to listen.

First, begin with a plural noun proposition taken from the central idea that ties every main point together.  Second, establish want you want the people to do after the sermon (purpose statement).  Third, look for a creative way to introduce the central idea.  Fourth, develop questions to cause the listener to consider how the topic applies to them.  Fifth, make the connection to previous messages and/or context of the passage.

Let me demonstrate by this past week’s sermon.  This past week I preached on the wise men traveling to Bethlehem to worship Jesus.  My plural noun proposition statement was “4 components to giving your life to God.”  Once I determined that giving your life to God was my central theme that became the purpose of the sermon.  At the end of the sermon I wanted the listeners to know what giving their lives to God required and then do it.  I began thinking of ways to introduce the topic.  In this case, a youth white elephant gift exchange became my inspiration.  I received a sheep jelly bean dispenser that dispensed the jelly bean from its backside when you lifted its tail.  (Yes, for some reason, I often acquire such gifts.)  I carried my gift up to the platform and began my sermon reminiscing about white elephant gifts, showing them my latest present.  Then, I asked how they would feel if the sheep jelly bean dispenser was their gift from their spouse or from their parents.  Just as I had them looking at their spouses and making “Don’t even think about it” looks, I asked,

Do you ever wonder if the gifts we give to God amount to a white elephant gift?  Is God ever disappointed, like your spouse would be at a sheep jelly bean dispenser, by how much of your life you give to Him?  God has given us the greatest gift in His Son and so often the best we come up with is a little extra money, maybe an extra candlelight service, and/or a big donation to the Salvation Army.  As wonderful as our mission offerings are, as meaningful as our candlelight service is, and as needed as our donation to Salvation Army is, God wants and deserves so much more.  God wants your life.  He wants you to trust Him enough to fully commit, submit, and devote every area of your life to Him.

This morning I want to share with you what giving your life to God entails so that you can truly receive the fullness of God’s gift to you.  The danger of giving God a white elephant gift is not hurting His feelings.  Instead, you endanger and call into question the faith you claim to profess because your life is not only what God wants but what He expects from every follower of Jesus.  Today, I want you to leave knowing you gave God the only gift He really cares to receive:  your life.  Please turn with me to Matthew 2:1-12 as we see 4 components of giving our lives to God.

As the people turned to Matthew, I set the background of the birth of Christ as recorded in Matthew’s gospel, read the passage, and proceeded into my first point.

A life-changing sermon calls for an effective introduction.  The key for an effective introduction requires you to narrow down why the listener should take heed to what the passage teaches.  The more you can show the “why” the more prepared the listeners will be for the “so what” application derived from the text.

I wish I could tell you every introduction secures the interest of the entire congregation or even any of the congregation.  The truth is some fail to achieve the desired effect, but it should never come from a lack of effort or investment in the introduction.  The people need to encounter God through the preaching of His Word.  That requires preachers to make every effort possible to prepare them to hear Him through the proclamation of the Word, and that starts in the introduction.

By Joe McKeever, Preacher, Cartoonist, Pastor, and retired Director of Missions at the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans.

This is the third in a five part series on finding people within the congregation who can meet extraordinary needs in the life of the church. To read the first two articles, “The League of Church Members Extraordinary,” and “Leaders: Find the Devil in Pew Number Seven,” follow the links.

My wife tells me not to use the term “ugly woman” and as you surely know, for a preacher to go against the advice of his wife is foolhardy. But since we were unable to find a better substitute, it remains — at least for the moment. I can always return and tweak this article. Readers with better ideas should send them this way posthaste!

The story comes from a longtime friend, Lynn. Now, Lynn is a better Christian than almost anyone I know. She has had enough pains and heartaches for several lifetimes. Instead of making her hard and calloused, the trials have driven her closer to the Heavenly Father. Consequently, she is full of mercy and grace.

Her church has wisely made her a greeter for the congregation. That sweet spirit and smiling face draw people in. Every church should have such people out front to welcome worshipers.

Not long ago, prior to the service, Lynn spotted a woman in the balcony. I’m using Lynn’s words when I say that she was ugly. The scowl on her face warned everyone to stand back about 500 feet. And that’s why Lynn did what she did. She sought her out. Climbed into the balcony and went straight to her, thrust out her hand and said, “Hello.”

The woman may as well have uttered a “bah, humbug!” for she was a living personification of Scrooge himself. She said nothing and turned away. Now, for most people, that would have done it. They would have written the woman off, but not Lynn. Not even close.

The next few Sundays, Lynn made it a point to seek the woman out. Each time, she received the same rebuke. Lynn told her husband, “I’m going to get through to that woman.” He said, “If anyone can, it’s you.”

The next Sunday, Lynn found her in the balcony and reached out to shake her hand. “My name is Lynn. What’s your name?” “Why do you want to know?” the woman asked.

“Because we are the Lord’s children and we ought to know one another.” If she gave a name, I don’t recall. However, that morning, as everyone was leaving church, Lynn felt a hand grabbing her arm from behind. She turned and saw her, the unattractive hostile lady from the balcony. “Do you have a moment?” she asked. And then, “I need prayer.”

“I’ll be happy to pray for you,” Lynn said. “What shall I pray?” The woman said, “I’m just so lonely. It’s my husband.”

Lynn said, “Did he die?” “Yes. Three years ago. And I know I should be over it by now, but I’m not.”

“Oh no,” Lynn said. “When you’ve had a wonderful marriage for many years, you don’t recover from the loss of your husband quickly.” They talked, Lynn prayed, and now they are friends.

That’s the process. It’s almost miraculous how it happens. A believer with a tender heart and sensitive spirit sees one who is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and reaches out until she decides to let down the drawbridge and admit her.

There are at least four groups of church leaders who should be on the alert every Sunday for certain people who need them and their particular ministry.

Deacons need to be watchful for troubled members and trouble-making people.

People like Lynn–I call them compassionate healers–need to watch for worshipers whose burdens have made them angry, unattractive, unfriendly, and unwelcoming to human contact.

Trained witnesses and soulwinners need to be on the alert for seekers in the congregation, people drawn by their need for a Savior.

And last, there is a certain small group of leaders whom I’m calling “Ministers of Connections” who will want to be watching for gifted members whose talents and abilities are not in the service of the Lord.

Back to (ahem) the ugly woman in the balcony.

I apologize in advance for the way I’m about to characterize this lady. Once her circumstances changed, everything about her countenance reversed. But here’s the tale.

I said to our church staff on a Monday morning, “Did you see that new family in the balcony?” A dad, mom, and three children, the older two being teens. I said, “That has to be the ugliest woman I have ever seen.” Whatever their response has long since been forgotten.

The family kept coming to church and we learned their names. They joined the church and the kids got active in our programs. Then one day a phone call came from the school. The teenager daughter has reported to a schoolteacher that her father was molesting her. After calling the authorities, the teacher called our youth minister. We all went into action.

The daughter was placed in state protection, the father was arrested, and the church flocked around the wife and other children. In time, the father went to prison and the wife divorced him. She went back to school and became a professional in the field she had long loved. And one more thing. She became beautiful.

I had never seen anything like it. I knew the Bible talks about how the Lord helps our countenance; and common sense says that the burdens of life can weight us down and rob us of a thousand things, including our smile, our glow, our peace, but still–to see it demonstrated was stunning.

Most people read the ugly countenance wrongly.

Thinking that scowl is saying, “Stay back! I do not like you,” they avoid this individual.

Sometimes when such heavily burdened people make it to church, they return angry because “no one spoke to me.” But we wish they knew there is a good reason for that: They told them not to. Their “no” face warned people away.

The “Lynns” in the Kingdom of God–the compassionate healers–read those faces differently from the rest of us. They see the same thing we do, but since they are better at interpreting facial messages, they read the hostile ugliness as, “I’m hurting. Come find me.”

Do I have to tell you the Lynns in any congregation are extremely rare? They are hammered out in the crucible of life, they have been battered and beaten; they have suffered more than most. Finding their strength in the Lord, they emerge with a Christlikeness and a compassion the rest of us can only wonder at.

Pastors know to treasure such persons in their membership, but usually do not know what to do with them. Answer: Make them roaming seekers of the hurting. Send them forth into the sanctuary to be themselves and do what the Holy Spirit in them wishes to do.

How to recognize the burdened and hurting hostiles who need us:

Consider the following aspects to reaching these needy souls.

1) They are angry. So, listen for the ugly tone of voice, for the snapping responses to attempts to befriend them, for the kind of attitude that would cause a mother to send a child into time-out. Don’t be put off by it. Hurting people are often grumpy. If you doubt that, visit a hospital room and listen. The pain in their voice betrays the pain in their bodies.

2) You must not retaliate. Something inside us wants to “give as good as we got.” Stifle it. All a curt response does is drive the hurting hostile away. It confirms them in their isolation. They return home confident that staying home would have been the best choice. Those whose mind is set on the flesh cannot pull this off.

3) A soft answer turns away wrath. Some (ahem) wise person said that once, and it wasn’t Ben Franklin. So, try it. No matter the harsh words you heard, respond with, “I hope you have a wonderful day.”

4) Pray for them. Pray for them every time you think of them.

5) Be consistent. Smile and greet them warmly. Whether they respond or not, do your job. Stay on focus.

6) Expect the same response Lynn got. Eventually, they will decide to trust you and will open the door a crack. They will ask you to pray for them or ask for a word of counsel or a visit. That’s a big deal to them. So don’t blow it, friend. Do not make a promise–I’ll try to get by as soon as I can–and then fail to keep it. If so, you will lose them forever.

7) In time, help them to become compassionate healers themselves, to seek out wounded worshipers like themselves.

They’re in every church, friend. Watch for them. And remember: when that moment arrives to greet them, it’s too late to stop and pray. So stay close to the Lord, let His Spirit empower you and sweeten you and steady you, and when the moment comes, you will be ready.

By Joe McKeever, Preacher, Cartoonist, Pastor, and retired Director of Missions at the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans.

This is the second in a five part series on finding people within the congregation who can meet extraordinary needs in the life of the church. To read the first article, “The League of Church Members Extraordinary Part 1,” follow the link.

Deacons and other mature leaders of the church have a responsibility, probably not spelled out in their bylaws, but as necessary as any given them in Scripture or by the membership: Be on a constant lookout for trouble and troublemakers within the congregation.

The Apostle Paul told the Ephesian leaders that they could expect deadly threats to the congregation’s survival to arise from two sources: outside and inside (Acts 20:29ff). The first they would have expected. It is no secret that the devil wants to destroy the church and neutralize its effectiveness and will use any means necessary to pull that off. It was the second–enemies arising from within the body itself–that must have surprised them. Had those leaders been as trusting and naïve as many of us, they would have expected all the worshipers to be loving and gracious, faithful and trusting, and would have been blindsided by tyrants arising from their own number.

So, Scripture warns us to be alert, to be watchful in both directions.

This is not the pastor’s job alone. Granted, he is charged with this responsibility. But in a congregation of hundreds or even thousands, he needs eyes and ears other than his own. He needs the deacons and Sunday School teachers–note that we are assuming them to be godly and mature–to keep their eyes and ears open, their antennae up, to remain always vigilant. They are to watch out for the devils in their midst, plainly put.

Rebecca Nichols Lonzo’s new book, The Devil in Pew Number Seven, ought to read by every pastor and leader. In the 1970s, Rebecca’s father went to pastor a small Holiness congregation in rural North Carolina. Everything about it seemed normal at first. The people were warm and gracious, they built a new parsonage, and they appreciated Pastor Nichols’ messages. There was, however, one problem. The devil sat on the last row, in pew number seven. And he ran this church.

Mr. Horry Watts, the richest man in the county, lived across the street from the church. From his throne on the back row, he called the shots. The oddest thing about that is that the old man was not a member of the congregation. In fact, he was not even a professing believer.

His power and influence stemmed from his financial dealings, personal intimidation over individuals, and his wife. Mrs. Watts lorded it over a women’s Sunday School class and was the church clerk/treasurer. No one but they knew the church’s finances. There were no treasurer’s reports and no one was allowed to look at the books.

Soon, Pastor Nichols began to exert leadership within the congregation. The members voted to replace Mrs. Watts as teacher and elected another clerk/treasurer. When the time came to turn over the books to the new officer, she handed the clerk a new checkbook with the present bank balance listed. Nothing else. No one ever knew what was done with the church money during her tenure.

From this point on, old man Watts dedicated himself to getting rid of the preacher. He began with anonymous notes and phone calls. Soon, he graduated to the heavier stuff: shooting up the mailbox and setting off dynamite near the house.

Over a space of several years, even though law enforcement authorities became involved, the old man and his hired thugs continued their reign of terror. It culminated with a gunman entering the parsonage and shooting the pastor twice and killing his wife. The man was arrested and sentenced to life in prison, but Horry Watts was not implicated.

An FBI agent eventually put together a case against Horry Watts and brought charges. He changed his plea from “not guilty” to “nolo contendre” when a gunman testified that Watts had paid him to run over the preacher with his automobile, then backed out. Watts was sent to prison.

After the death of his wife and recovering from his own wounds, Pastor Nichols was no longer able to function and resigned the church. In time, he had a nervous breakdown and eventually lost his mind. He died at the age of 46, as I recall.

Last Tuesday–three days ago–my copy of this book arrived in the mail. Anyone who reads this blog knows that church-controllers in the pews is a regular, although reluctant, theme here, so when this book was recommended, I ordered it immediately. (Published in 2010 by Tyndale, it’s available new or used at amazon.com and alibris.com.) That afternoon at 5 pm, my wife began some preparatory steps for a medical test the next day. In between, I began reading this book aloud to her. At 8:30, we finished it. That’s how intriguing and captivating we found this sad tale.

I laid the book aside wondering several things. Where were the laymen in the congregation? Why did the godly and mature leaders not step up and deal with this tyrant? Why did they leave it to the embattled pastor to handle all this?

It appears from Lonzo’s book that the members of the congregation limited themselves to caring for the emotional needs of their pastor and his family. They loved the Nichols’ and fed them, took them into their homes, and grieved when tragedy struck. But they abandoned their pastor where he needed them most: he needed a few men to step in and take this burden off his shoulders and deal with the devil.

I have my own gentler story of the devil in pew number seven.

It is not, let me emphasize, of the magnitude as Pastor Nichols’ situation, and it turned out well. His name was Earl and this was my seminary pastorate. I was 25 years old, just learning how to lead a church, and determined to get this right. The church ran 40 in attendance. When they voted on me as pastor, six people had opposed us. No matter. The Lord wanted us there, and we promptly moved from the seminary campus in town, into the small apartment in the rear of the church.

Immediately, I saw a problem. Earl sat in the middle of the congregation with his arms folded and a scowl on his face. As eloquently as possible, he was communicating displeasure over his new kid preacher. I was not alone in noticing it. More than one person called our attention to what he was doing.

After two or three Sundays putting up with this, I decided something had to be done. One Sunday, just as our little family finished lunch, I called Earl. “May I come over for a few minutes?” “Sure. Come on.” He told me how to find his house in the next town.

Earl was divorced man and was raising three children, two teenage sons and a younger daughter. He owned a trailer park next to his house as his source of income.

Sitting in his living room, I said, “Earl, tell me what’s wrong.”

He said, “What do you mean?”

I said, “Your unhappiness with me is written all over your face as I preach. I want to know if I have done something or failed you in any way.”

“Nope. I don’t have any problem with you.”

“Then,” I said, “what is it? There’s something wrong.”

He explained that he and his sister-in-law and the four children had been the six ‘no’ votes concerning my call. “I just felt that we’ve had seminary students for too long, and our church is in a stalemate. We need a full-time pastor.”

Oh great. They’re running 40 in attendance and he wants a full-time pastor. The weekly income at that time was less than $150.

I recall nothing more about our visit. We prayed together, and that was the end of it. Earl became a great friend and supporter. In fact, we remained friends until his death some 30 years later when I led his funeral.

The worst thing members of the congregation can do when a devil sits in the pews is to ignore him, hoping he will go away.

Devils-in-the-pews–let’s call them DIPS–thrive off the passivity of the congregation. DIPS have contempt for the members in general, believe them to be cowards, and know from long experience their willingness to back off and give power to the person with the loudest voice and most intimidating manner.

Here are my five suggestions. Ahem, let me rephrase that. Here are five strong recommendations for church leaders in regard to the tyrants who want to infiltrate the congregation and control it.

1. If this is left to the pastor, you’re sunk.

The preacher is the focus of the DIPS. So, anything he does to stand up to the tyrants is considered self-serving by some. Being Christlike, he has an uncanny ability to absorb great amounts of pain and personal injury. He might choose to do nothing rather than do what some would interpret as retaliation.

In Pastor Nichols’ case, the head of the Ku Klux Klan stepped up and offered (in secret) to “take out” Horry Watts if the pastor would give the say so. While violence is never the answer, a prompt response from strong laypeople is in order.

2. However, there are rare occasions when the pastor can handle it alone.

Contradictory? Probably. You’ll notice that I handled it with Earl without involving anyone else. And my pastor tells me a similar story of the time he confronted an actual evil-doer in the church and it turned out well.

So, there are exceptions. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in this.

3. No person should attempt to resolve this alone.

(Once again, there are exceptions. Smiley-face goes here.)

Matthew 18’s plan fits here. Admittedly, the first step given (18:15) is to go alone to see the offensive one. However, that’s speaking of personal slights between two people. But since what we have here is a tyrant (or would-be tyrant) spreading trouble within the congregation, this should not be handled by a single individual.

At first, let two strong leader visit with Mr. Watts (or his counterpart in your congregation). If the matter is not resolved, a larger stronger contingent goes next time. The third time is when the congregation gets involved, if necessary. Do all you can to keep it from coming to that.

4. In the first visit, the leadership duo goes with a single question.

They ask the DIP the same one I posed to Earl all those years ago: “What’s wrong?” They are not making charges, but seeking information.

Now, he will give the same answer Earl did. “What do you mean?”

That’s when they tell their perception of what he is doing or share the reports they are hearing or say what they have seen and heard.

Let them listen to his response. Even if it appears he has been a trouble-maker, there is always the possibility that something else is going on, something completely unforeseen to them.

If the trouble-maker has a genuine beef–if he identifies some actual problem that has prompted his actions–the leadership duo has a responsibility to begin the steps to address it. In most cases, they will report to the pastor and start there.

If the man perceived as a DIP is indeed an actual troublemaker, the leadership team lets him know in unambiguous language that his actions must be stopped immediately.

5. Then, the leadership duo enlarges their team.

The pastor needs to be kept informed, and at least two or three of the most respected leaders should be drawn into the circle. If nothing else, just to keep them informed. If action is to be taken, their counsel will be needed.

It’s clear that this entire approach is contingent on a church having a small corps of dedicated and godly, mature leaders. Ideally, they are serving in elected positions within the church, and such actions will naturally fall to them. In any case, the members who take the lead will be required to have a unique blend of courage and humility.

“Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3)

If the DIP is violating the law, church leaders have an obligation to the pastor, to the church, and to the tyrant himself to report it. Call it “tough love.” We do trouble-makers no favor when we let them destroy God’s church or ruin a man’s ministry.

Leadership in the Lord’s church can be one of the greatest joys in life. But at times it can be the most difficult task a person ever faces.

If one does not have the courage to step up and speak truth to power–whether that power runs the community or preaches from the pulpit on Sundays–he should decline when nominated for high office within the congregation.

If one is not willing to do everything in his power to protect the ministry of the servant of God and the health of the church, if he wants high office in the congregation for the prestige, let him apologize to God and resign so someone faithful can fill the position.

Church leaders must always be on the alert. They must listen to reports as to what is being taught in classes. They must pay attention to idle chatter in the foyer or hallways prior to or following worship. They should monitor the attendance, the offerings, and other signs which could possibly indicate disaffection within the membership.

But–once again–no church leader should act alone. If he or she does, the perception may soon get out that this individual is trying to become a controlling tyrant himself. And that’s the last thing you need.