First Person for February 9, 2006
By Brooks R. Faulkner
LifeWay Christian Resources
It's a line by Jack Nicholson in the movie, A Few Good Men, and it goes like this: “You can't handle the truth.” It's an effort to intimidate the young lawyer played by Tom Cruise.
Well, it fits me. I can't handle the truth. True, age is a factor. I'm 70. I pastored my first church in 1953. I've been in a pastoral role ever since. I have worked closely with pastors at LifeWay Christian Resources for 40 years. Shouldn't that qualify me for 2006? It doesn't. I should have learned something from their struggles. I didn't. I just hurt with them. I certainly did not become an authority on transitions and terminations. I have worked as minister of music, minister of youth, associate pastor, custodian, secretary and pastor. (My custodial vocation was cut short-I was terminated.) I have worked in pastoral ministries for these 40 years and primarily with terminated ministers, transitioning ministers and ministers who were looking for a more effective way to lead their church.
My connection to Virginia Baptists has been warm and caring. Some of the best preachers I have ever heard pastored churches in Virginia. I love the state of Virginia. I love pastors and leaders in Virginia. But – I could not make it as a pastor in Virginia, even if I were 35 years younger.
Now, my credentials look good. I can admit that with unapologetic candor. Southwest Baptist University, Southeast Missouri State University, Southern Seminary and even a doctorate from Vanderbilt University. I pastored churches in Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. I have been interim pastor of more than 20 churches. But I must confront reality. I could not cut it today. This is the roughest time in history to pastor a Baptist church. I am not qualified.
Here are a few of the reasons why I am unqualified to be a pastor in 2006.
1. I am too old to attract a sizeable majority vote. Churches looking for a pastor want a 35-year-old with 20 years experience (preferably in a church with more than 1,000 members). I am less than 6' tall and my hair is thinning. Masculinity, youthfulness and attractiveness are almost as important as spiritual fervor, pedagogy, theological expertise and kerygmatic competence.
2. I get nervous with multi-tasking. We live in an age of iPods, cell phones, web sites, Power Point and multi-screening. To many, you don't “get it” until you have multi-site worship. A recent futurist revealed the average interruption of a busy executive comes every 10 and one-half minutes. The bad news is it takes an average of 21 minutes to get back to the task, and by that time, I will have forgotten what the task was. I get nervous with multi-tasking.
3. I must tread softly here. I am not partial to drums, especially drums that overpower melody and hymnody. But the reality is, organs and pianos are viewed by many as worship instruments for nerds, or at least for the over-55 crowd. They have been replaced with the “with it” group of praise teams with individual microphones. Don't get me wrong. I am a fan of Bill Gaither. I love the music of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. I listen attentively to music at Ronnie Floyd, Andy Stanley and Ed Young Jr. gatherings. But I miss the power of organs, pianos and choirs that don't levitate. And, frankly, I get a little grumpy when the musical phrases are repeated more than eight or 10 times.
4. I am unqualified because I am prejudiced about excessive spontaneous expressions and gestures in worship. I'm not talking about the controversy being stirred about glossalalia. I am talking about the freedom many feel to interrupt and/or replenish the agenda. I don't relish the thought of obsessive compulsive behavior in strict format, but neither do I feel comfortable when, “as the spirit moves,” a disruptive church member feels the need to offer an individual homily.
5. And who says we don't have a dress code for the pulpiteer in 2006? We do, of course. The dress code is no tie, no coat, frequently no collar and certainly open collar, running shoes, short sleeves with designs or inscriptions, and occasionally tattoos. A pastor with suit and tie is equal to an '80s kind of guy completely out of touch with 2006. Times change. Dress codes change. But we still have dress codes. They are just more contemporary.
6. I have a fear of spiritual steroids. I have been tempted. I have thought about speaking to the masses in the fashion of those speakers who grace our platforms at every state convention evangelism conference. Spiritual steroids, to me, are adopting the manner and person of someone other than yourself, and pretending that it is yours. I wanted to speak the “languages of men and of angels,” but ,of course, too often ended up as a “sounding gong and a clanging cymbal.”
Vince McMahon was at least honest enough to admit his promotion of World Wrestling Foundation was not “sport” but rather “entertainment.” Now it is called WWE-World Wrestling Entertainment. It wasn't wrestling. It was rasslin'.
There is something unnerving about anonymity in massive worship that creates awe and wonder of the performers. Nouwen wrote, “Stardom and individual heroism, which are such obvious aspects of our competitive society, are not at all alien to the church.” I should be more than a spectator, and I certainly hope these worship leaders are not taking spiritual steroids by copying, in a rural community church that never runs more than 200 in Sunday school, the mode and manner of megachurches. The bottom line is, I don't want to be a phony. Sometimes I am, but I don't want to be. I want to be what God intended for me to be-myself. He loves me that way and I am thankful.
So am I fearful of “somebody else putting a belt around me and taking me where I would rather not go” (John 21:18)? Actually, no. We are in good hands. Most of the pastors I have connected with who are in their 30s and 40s are even more healthy than when we were at that age.
The reasons vary, but I have a theory. They, too, resist phoniness. They are honest. They are primarily lacking in unhealthy ambition. They are prayerful, honest and filled with integrity. They are hungry to preach the word and share the good news of Jesus to the world. They take risks. They admire Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Ed Young and their accomplishments. They take what they can use and dismiss what is impractical in their own church.
Most are not addicted to pornography on the internet as many nay sayers claim. They live for Christ and seek purity for their church members. Adultery and theft are not the main reasons for forced termination. We have traced that study for four decades and the reason for forced termination has remained the same. The “who's in charge?” question is the number one reason for termination.
Scandalous sins are just that-scandalous-but most churches are filled with human beings who want to be in charge of something. Sometimes pastors get in the way of these misguided church members and more than 100 pastors bite the dust each month. But for those who stay the course, they have adopted the values mentioned above, and nearly always end up finding God's path in another venue. Thank goodness for the calling of God that carries them through the murky waters of dysfunctional and misguided detractors. We are in good hands.
Brooks Faulkner will retire this month after 40 years of service with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.