How big is your pile?

That is the question that Francis Chan asked us at the youth specialties convention.  But before you tune me out, let me give you a big of context for the question.  Chan has been a very successful pastor in California in terms of building a mega church that started as a church plant.  He shared with us that God had been dealing with him about what success was in the Kingdom of God and how he started to rethink his priorities in ministry.

Chan then went on to talk a little about discipleship and how Jesus did discipleship.  He talked about how Jesus ministered differently to his disciples than to those in the crowds.  He then talked about the parables and Chan seemed to say that Jesus spoke in them to confuse those that didn't really care about what Jesus had to say.  I don't really know what I think about this but I see what he was trying to say.  He pointed to the fact that the disciples would come up to Jesus after a parable and then ask what the meaning was, this according to Chan is what Jesus means by the good soil. (Matt 13:1-17)  My problem with this is I don't know if I can say that Jesus essentially didn't care about those in the crowds at that time.  I understand that Jesus was concerned with teaching the disciples as much as possible since they were going to carry on what Jesus started.  But I'm a little uncomfortable in saying that Jesus didn't care about those in the crowd with whom he was teaching.  Maybe I'm wrong about this and would be willing to discuss it the comments of this post.  Or maybe I misunderstood what Chan was trying to say.

Anyways, Chan then began to talk about salt (Matt 5:13) in terms of "success" in ministry.  He then did something that has stuck with me the past few weeks and I am still thinking about.  He pulled out a little salt packet, opened it up and poured it on the top of his Bible and said that this represented those in his church who were truly living into the mission of God.  These were the people that he wanted to pour his life into and see how they would begin to flavor the world around them.  He then poured a big salt shaker that you would get at Denny's and dumped it on top of the smaller pile and said that this salt represented those that were just around for entertainment, prestige or any other reason that does not correspond with living into the mission of God.  He said when we get caught up in our "success" that we begin to walk around asking the question, "how big is your pile?"  I had to chuckle a little bit because not only have I been asked that question before, but in some cases I've asked that question.

If you do not know me, I must tell you that I am a co-youth pastor of a large youth ministry.  I do not say this to brag, but to let you in on my current situation.  We have a lot of kids that come through our doors, but Chan has me thinking about what kind of salt our students are.  Are they living into the mission of God or are they there to be entertained or to be seen?  More than anything this has me thinking about the discipleship process that we hope happens organically and I am wondering how intentional we should be about this. I am also thinking about how a student should enter into a discipleship process.  Should they be invited?  Should they take the initiative?  Should it be forced upon them?  What do you think?

I hope that I have done Chan justice in how I have remembered his message that evening.  If not, please correct me as I do not want to misrepresent what he said.  I will say that I totally admire the changes that he talked about that he and his church are making in an effort to live into the mission of God.  I pray that they will continue to allow God to lead them as they shift the way in which they "do" church.

Weekly Update

The week that was:

I was at the Youth Specialties convention in Nashville, my hometown.  I had a great time there with my wife and our other youth pastor couple from our church, Doug and Mear.  We actually drove down which took about 14 hours with a pregnant Holly in tow.  Overall the convention was great and I will be posting a few thoughts from it over the next few days.

We also had a baby shower at my in-laws house that was great.  It was good to get some baby stuff, but even better to see some old friends that came.  Plus the strawberry cake my mother-in-law had made was amazing!

The week that will be:

I'm currently at my sisters house in Chattanooga, TN as my wife started a rotation at a local hospital for the next 4 weeks.  I will be in the area until next Wednesday which should be fun.  We are going to my grandma's house for Thanksgiving and then will be with Holly's family for the weekend.  All in all I'm looking forward to eating a lot of great food and seeing family that I don't get to see very often.

Music I couldn't stop listening to:

I didn't listen to much this week so I'll talk about the groups that we at the convention.  David Crowder Band led worship for two session and did an amazing job.  Mercy Me performed for one session and did a great job as well.  Shane and Shane performed an amazing set with just the two of them singing, one guitar and a very unique drum set.  I really like hearing those guys.  Lincoln Brewster led worship at two sessions and seeing him live is pretty amazing.  I wish I could play guitar like him.  Finally, Starfield led for 3 sessions.  I had heard them on a couple of other occasions and still like them.  I'd recommend any of these artist's albums.

What I'm reading right now:

These books are for a class that I'm teaching starting in Jan.

The Holy Spirit by LeRon Shults and Andrea Hollingsworth.  This book takes a look at how the doctrine of the Holy Spirit came to be and what it's implications are for us.

Simply Christian by N.T. Wright

What I'm keeping my eye on:

The blogalogue that Tony Jones is doing on Same Sex Marriage is unfolding over on beliefnet.com.  There is a link to Tony's blog on the right.

Lastly, Saturday is Phil Fulmer's last game to coach at UT.  I hope the boys send him out as a winner over KY.  Go Vols!!!!