Churches Can’t Afford to Be the Cleveland Browns Part 1

Mike Leake

I’m not going to make the point that you think I am.  You probably think I’m going to say, “The Cleveland Browns are horrible.  Churches can’t afford to be horrible”.  While that’s mostly true that is not my point.  My point today really gets at the root of why the Cleveland Browns are horrible.  If you aren’t a football fan please stick around through this little section on Browns history, because I think you’ll be able to appreciate my point. 

Why the Browns Are Horrible

The Browns moved away from Cleveland in 1995 and became the Baltimore Ravens.  They did not return to the NFL until 1999 when they became an expansion team.  Prior to the move the Browns were horrible.  They blew the whole thing up and became the Ravens. 

The first two seasons were horrible.  5 wins in two years type of horrible.  In 2001 Butch Davis looked like he was turning it around.  In 2002 the team actually made the playoffs.  They had some things going for them but for the most part their abysmal record in 2003 and 2004 was more accurate of the team.

In 2005 the Browns hired Phil Savage as GM and Romeo Crennel as the head coach.  They blew the place up again.  And it in its place they began building a pretty decent football team.  (Though many will disagree with that statement).  In 2007 they actually finished 10-6 but missed the playoffs.  They were pumped for the 2008 season.  But as it usually happens with the Browns the wheels fell off.  Injuries and poor decisions led them to a 4-12 record.  So guess what happened.

They blew the thing up again. 

They fired Crennel and Savage and hired Eric Mangini and George Kokinis.  They led for about a year.  Then Mike Holmgren came in.  And guess what he did?  He blew the place up.  He fired Mangini.  Hired Pat Shurmur.  And started the rebuilding process over again. 

Whew.  Browns fans are done right?  Nope.  In July of 2012 Randy Lerner sold the team to Jimmy Haslam who plans to…you guessed it—blow the place up.  In case you aren’t aware “blow the place up” simply means fire almost everybody and start over again.  That, my friends, is one of the main reasons the Cleveland Browns are horrible.  They never stick it out past the speed bumps.  They don’t have one singular vision that they stick to.  They do for a season and then they blow it up and try something different.  You’ll never win that way, and even if you do it will be a short-lived fluke. 

Why Churches Can’t Be Like The Browns

Many churches are like Browns.  Pastor Bill stays for 2 years and implements his vision.  The church rallies around the new vision (or at least most of them do).  Then Pastor Bill “gets called” to pastor a larger church in a different state.  Pastor Frank comes in.  He eventually blows the place up and implements his new vision which the church lives out for all of 6 months before they have to call their next pastor.  On and on it goes.  4 pastors in 10 years = at least 4 different visions for the church. 

Just as Browns fans get frustrated wondering if we are ever going anywhere, so church members get frustrated wondering what the church is going to look like in a couple years.  People are less enthused about following the new pastor’s vision because let’s face it, homeboy is going to be gone in two years and we’re just going to have to do some other Purpose Driven something to restructure our church. 

It doesn’t have to be like that. 

If pastors would simply lead their churches to implement a biblical structure and not worry so much about specific “vision” then you wouldn’t have to change it with every new pastor.  Sure the way that Pastor X decides to live out being a “kingdom-focused church” will look different.  But hopefully if a biblical structure is in place you won’t have to blow up the place with every new pastor.  (I am encouraged too that a good number of pastors are beginning to understand the benefit of sticking it out for years instead of being “called away” at every difficult time). 

Come back in a few hours and I’ll show you what we are attempting to put in place at our church to match this commitment to not be the Cleveland Browns of churches…

5 Great Things About The #GospelProject

Mike Leake

The leaders of The Gospel Project decided to engage the world in a Twitter chat today using the hashtag #GospelProject.  It quickly began trending on Twitter.  A few folks came into the chat wondering about this Gospel Project thing. 

I do not have any vested interest in The Gospel Project other than my respect for the people behind the project and my love for the gospel.  I’m not a Lifeway employee or anything of the sort.  I’m simply an associate pastor in Indiana that has decided to get on board with The Gospel Project curriculum. 

Before I give you my five great things I want to share a little of my story.  I have been doing student ministry for over ten years.  In the beginning I used a good amount of the curriculum that was pushed my way.  I tried all of the latest and hippest material to get our students engaged in the Word.  Most of it stunk.  So, frustrated with the moralistic therapeutic deism that was passed off as Christian curriculum I gave up on curriculum.  When I opened the pages of The Gospel Project and began teaching our students I was using curriculum for the first time in over 5 years.  And I love it.  Here are 5 reasons why (in no particular order):

  1. Every week the teacher is encouraged to pursue additional resources.  These are great resources that will expand the teachers knowledge of the gospel and the topics covered. 
  2. Everything is tied back to Christ. This is not just a cute little saying but in reality they just give Jesus a few props at the end of the lesson.  You can tell that the entire point of the lesson is Christ and His accomplishments.
  3. My son loves it.  Isaiah is a growing little boy.  He’s loving Bible stories and he’s beginning to slowly understand the gospel.  Previous curriculum taught him how to be a good little boy.  This curriculum is teaching him every week of his need for Jesus.  I love that my son can tell me each week why Jesus was the hero of the story.  He’s a bright little boy (4) so I’m not surprised that he is able to following along really well.  But he can usually tell me the story, he loves the cards, and he gets that Jesus is the main point. 
  4. It tells the Bible’s story.  Most other curriculum feels rootless.  What I mean is that you’ll hear the story of David and Goliath 10 times over a 5 year span.  You’ll talk about the day to day problems that we all face over and over again.  Yet, seldom are these grounded in the Bible’s big picture story.  The Gospel Project tells the Bible’s story and I love it.
  5. God’s mission is always explicit.  We are never left with simply thinking about how this applies to my day to day life.  That is good and that is addressed.  But the thing that I love about The Gospel Project is it always expands my view of God’s work.  It draws me out of my own little world and helps me to see that God has a much bigger mission than making sure I get a good parking spot at Wal-Mart.  God’s mission of redeeming lost sinners is always explicit in every lesson. 

I could have given you a few more reasons but if you are looking for a curriculum to use for your Sunday school, your small group, or your mid-week Bible studies, then look no further than The Gospel Project.  It is a Christ-centered curriculum that tells the Bible’s story in an engaging way and always encourages the reader to a gospel-centered response of mission and life change. 

Check it out.

Today in Blogworld 10.09.12

Mike Leake

Toward a Theology of Church Unity

Solid work here from Kevin DeYoung.  Reflecting on Ephesians 4:1-16, Kevin makes eight points about unity within the church.

Two Sides of the Counseling Coin

There is one coin of biblical counseling but it has two sides.  Heath Lambert explains the difference between the two sides, while also displaying the truth of there being one coin.  Very helpful article for all involved in Christian counseling. 

A Young Preacher’s Library

Jake Eggertsen asked a few seasoned pastors what books young pastors should be certain are in their library.  Helpful answers.  (HT: David Murray)

The Pastoral “Call”, and how there isn’t one

Dan Phillips presents his case for there not being a pastoral “call” in the Bible.  What do you think?  I won’t reveal my position…though if you read the comments you might be able to discern it. 

A good explanation of the Christian’s identity:

Ducks Out of Water

Mike Leake

Ducks are made for water, right?

What happens, though, when they are held captive for their entire lives and forced to live in conditions contrary to that which they were created for? 

You get this…

(HT: 22 Words)

Ducks afraid of water.

That is an apt picture of our need for redemption.  We are like ducks that are repulsed by the water that we were created to enjoy.  We prefer the familiarity of dry ground.  We run away from what would be our joy.

Then the Rescuer comes. 

He’s not content with us being land-dwellers.  He wants us to swim.  That is what we were created for.  Out of his love he does the painful, yet necessary thing, and throws us in the water.  At first we are angry.  We are repulsed.  We wonder why our Rescuer is causing us such pain and discomfort.

Then.

Suddenly, we begin to experience the joy of water.  We realize that this is what we were created for.  We start to enjoy the water and everything is changed.  Now, the water which once repulsed us becomes the source of our greatest joy. 

This is what redemption looks like.  This is the affliction of the gospel.