This post sort of ties in with the Church as Business Series I did recently, although I’m not going to talk so much about the business aspects of church, but more about the intangible more intangible personal effects it has on people.
I’ve now had ample time and experience on both sides of the institutional paradigm. I remember how passionate I used to be about majoring on the minors, and the pressure I felt to “succeed”–whatever that is. And in trying to come up with some sort of analogy to describe the difference between the two–nowadays, I feel….lighter.
No, I’m not talking about the weight loss. I’m talking about the emotional weight I used to carry.
You see, when we attach so much significance to things that are ultimately unnecessary, every one of those things becomes extra weight that we carry. When it matters so much how smoothly the church meeting goes, whether we started or finished on time, how many people attended, etc….all that stuff weighs upon us, particularly the leaders. The picture I have is of this huge backpack I was carrying around on my back, having to run with it–uphill–as fast as I could.
Religion is a lot like that, too, isn’t it? Forget whether or not you lead a church group, and all the weight that can add to your back. Religion consists of so much man-imposed stuff, the “fences around the fences”, the protocols we’ve added that the Bible says little or nothing about. We carry all that around above and beyond the life Jesus actually prescribed for us–to the point that we focus more attention on man’s rules of piety, and not enough attention on the lifestyle Jesus actually prescribed for us.
It all just weighs too much. No wonder we have such a hard time selling this pitch to the world these days. Who in their right mind would want to carry such a weight?
True discipleship is costly, make no mistake. And yet, I remember some words Jesus spoke–words that should have long ago given us a clue that we were overdoing things, both with how we do church, and with religion itself. Here’s what He said:
“Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-29)
That last line alone should have been a plumb line for us. Once this pack started getting heavy, we should have known there we had put more in it than God had intended.
The interesting thing about a yoke is that it links two burden-bearers together, making the load easier for both. When Jesus tells us to take on His yoke, I believe He’s inviting us to shoulder a burden with Him, not for Him. In other words…He’s on the other side of the yoke. Discipleship, as I said, is costly; it is a burden. It’s Jesus on the other side that makes that burden light. People throughout history have paid a great personal price to be Christ-followers; but for them, somehow, the burden was lighter with Jesus on the other side of the yoke.
By contrast, when we add the extra stuff to the pack, that is stuff we are carrying alone–stuff Jesus has no interest in carrying. These are the things that weigh us down–not the things Jesus is placing on us. I’m convinced that when a minister burns out–when a Christian burns out–it’s because of the stuff we put in the pack, not because of Jesus’ yoke.
So when my religion failed me, and when I began to question how much of what I thought of as “church” was really necessary, I began to see how futile–no, how stupid–it was of me to be carrying all that extra weight around. How it was stopping me from moving, rather than helping me along. That’s why these days, I feel so much lighter.
I’m not saying I have a full handle on the burdens I should be bearing. A lot of that I’m still figuring out. When you’ve grown up with a certain perspective and find out you need to sort of re-learn everything, that can take time. For now, I just know a lot more about the stuff I shouldn’t have been carrying. And I’m thankful for the weight that is off my shoulders. It adds new meaning for me to the words in Hebrews:
“Therefore…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us…” (Heb. 12:1)
There are more things that can weigh us down than just “besetting sins”. I’ve found that out firsthand.
Traveling light is a great thing. I never knew I could jump so high.
Wayward Son
Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo.
I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.
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awesome! 🙂 love it again.
I just can't seem to figure out what I'm supposed to do (as always) because when we get into discussions on details – the push back I usually is… "how do we make it go smoother unless we what we could have done different?"
which I could say, "but is it really that important? do we really want to attract & keep people that care that we didn't have food at one gathering – or cared that the colors on the brochure were off – or cared that we went 'over' at our service – or cared how smooth things seemed….
or do we want to attract & keep people that can see they are loved. that can see peace in us and harmony in our relationships. that can see that despite us not being perfect – that we have something they desire.
what we make important– is the message we send to our visitors/people on what is important. What do we want THEM to believe is important?
but then the argument back is the regular "excellence" thing…. to which I say – but shouldn't we rather be excellent on the intrinsics and then if we have time we can worry about the other mess? 🙂
but it seems those who disagree with me really just have a goal to make the most people we can happy/pleased with our services through details….
so I guess I just have to be okay with being seen as not caring about "excellence" and attraction strategies and retention strategies and all that…. (which is funny because 2 – 5 years ago I LIVED for all this – I was a marketing major and went into marketing and really was happy to pull all those skills into church)….
but ultimately what you said really pulls it all together for me — if Jesus wouldn't carry it – He wouldn't ask me – so why am I?
THANK YOU! 🙂
Do you feel that a team could be composed of people from both "sides" of this camp and still be a successful team leading a church?
maybe it's possible? maybe it's good to have both sides on the team — or would the constant differing goals/priorities cause complete mess & cancel each other out instead of having any good come out of it?
just because I think certain things are extra weight – I shouldn't judge that others don't? If it's going to bring up an argument – maybe I should just let them be happy in their belief that thing is so important?
these are questions I ask myself now.
I guess nobody here could help me – but maybe somebody will share some wisdom 🙂
Great words. I like the concept of traveling without burdens.
Very insightful Jeff.
Randi Jo,
I think the question about teams on both "sides" is one only an individual in that situation can answer. I don't think that in this case it's a matter of either/or, but on paradigm. I believe in excellence, for example…I just have learned to define that word differently. So what it boils down to is, can people on a team effectively *communicate*, getting over any barriers in terminology, etc…and then, can they accept one another even as they disagree?
So I don't think anyone could call that one except the person who is in that situation–whether that person could deal with the conflict, whether the others would accept his/her opinion…and ultimately, whether that person is there by the leading of God. (The presence of conflict isn't necessarily a litmus test of God's will. He works His purposes through many avenues.)
Mike and Jonathan,
Thanks to both of you for the kudos.
good comments. thank you!