Code Blue In The Church Part Two
In “Code Blue In the Church Part One,” I addressed five Code Blue facts about the health of the American Church today (CLICK TO READ PART ONE)
1. Americans are not only skipping church services; they are skipping out of the church.
A 2023 study by George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University (CRC) found just 33% of Americans say they attend church once a week, down from 42% in 2000.
2. Americans who identify as Christian are living more and more “atomized” lives.
Masses of people who have all eaten the one Bread of Life (I Cor. 10.17) are walking their faith individually, alone, apart from Christian community.
3. Churches are closing at an alarming rate.
And studies demonstrate that church planting is not keeping pace with church closures.
4. The overwhelming majority of American Christians do not have a Christian worldview;
According to a 2024 study by George Barna and the CRC,
Just 6% of all Christians in America have a Christian worldview.
5. Pastors are discouraged
And the younger the pastor, the higher the likelihood of one or more of these factors.
I’ve included more information on each of the above Code Blue points in Code Blue in the Church Part One. To read more about them, click here.
WHAT PASTORS CAN AND MUST DO
It is clear that church leaders must take action to address these Code Blue alarms. Even now, many are praying, studying, meeting, and writing in an attempt to remedy these issues. May God bless their efforts with wisdom and the unction of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s consider what pastors can and must do to continue giving God faithful service as shepherds to His people, to build up themselves for a lifetime of healthy and effective ministry for God.
1. Stand. Keep On Standing. Then Still Keep On Standing.
“Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6.13:
Stand secure in the authority of Christ as His appointed vessel to a dying world and a living church!
Stand strong on His Word!
Stand sure in the power of His might!
Stand faithful in the hope of Jesus’ “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
Stand certain of Him who reigns Sovereign and Supreme over His world and, most especially, His church!
This is no mere devotional thought. This is the admonition of Scripture, the charge of the One who has called us to serve Him, He who has given us to His people as shepherds after His own heart. There must be no room given to doubt or fear. With the Apostle Paul, a pastor who knew temptation, tribulation, and persecution, this one thing do with intensity:
“. . . press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil.3.21
2. Pray in Jesus’ mighty name
“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5.16
Pray as if the life your nation depends on it.
Pray as if the life of your city depends on it.
Pray as if the life of your church depends on it.
Pray as if your own life depends on it.
Because it does. Your life, your church, your city, your nation depend on the sustaining and intervening power, grace, and mercy of God more than you will ever know.
To adapt a phrase by Pastor Richard Baxter: “Pray as never sure to pray again and as a dying man for dying men.”
Pray:
- Alone;
- With your church;
- With your church leaders;
- With other ministers of the Gospel.
Pray with faith, believing in the promises of God! Pray with faith, believing in the God of promise!
3. Preach the Gospel
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Romans 1.16
Preach as never sure to preach again and as a dying man to dying men. Richard Baxter
It is the Gospel that delivers and sets free.
It is the Gospel that transforms and renews.
It is the Gospel that conforms us to Christ and sets our feet solid ground, walking in a new and living way.
It is the Gospel that is truly the Good News for those who believe.
When the Church preaches the Gospel, people come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Their names are written in the Book of Life. They enter into the new and living way of relationship with God through Jesus.
Isn’t that the point?
Isn’t that why we are still on this earth and not on the New Earth?
Isn’t that still the mission God has given every pastor?
Isn’t that still Mission One for Christ’s church? To follow His primary, fundamental, and highest command to the Church, that of going into all the world and making disciples of all nations?
Which brings us to. . . .
3. Teach the Word
“Everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5.13
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Matt.28.20
The church is dying for lack of the meat of the Word of God. Clever, smart, sound-byte thoughts and exegesis-free, “God-told-me” bombast have displaced the careful exposition of God’s Word in many churches. But sugary sermonettes are insufficient for the soul, and self-sourced pontificating is toxic. No faithful undershepherd of the Great Good Shepherd should ever be satisfied to serve such pablum or poison – no matter how many people it attracts – at the high table of God. God has not called you, Pastor, to serve milkshakes or pesticides; He has called you to serve choice meat to His children.
This means the relatively new idea of a “pastor’s office” has to be remade into the historic “pastor’s study,” a place of fervent prayer and diligent study in Acts 6.4 devotion:
“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Not only will teaching the Word give health to the people God has placed in your care, Pastor, but it will bring health to your soul. Devote your life to prayer and the Word of God for the next six months and see if your surviving doesn’t become thriving, your pastoring lifted, and your walk with God deepened.
It’s a truth I see even in our coaching community at Journey. Those who are not devoted in heart and practice to prayer and the Word struggle not only to get a healthy pace in ministry life but to even get their feet under them. Those possessed by and practicing this devotion are far, far more likely to be healthy and thrive, even in days of testing.
4. Build an Ordered Life and Ministry Community
“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. . . In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” Jude 3, 18-21
Benedict of Nursia lived during the waning days of the Roman Empire. He saw how Rome had embraced Christianism without embracing Christ. And so, he called Christians not so much to separate from Rome as to separate themselves unto Christ by living an ordered or “ruled life” in faith, practice, and community. We need not apply Benedict’s specific rules. But we must adopt his primary point: a disciplined (discipled) life, not only in theory but in practical habits designed to help us work with God in being conformed to Christ. We must live ruled by and for Christ as taught in His Word, each one as a working member of the body of Christ, not just in general belief, but in practical actions.
Benedict formed the solid substance of what we today so lightly label “faith communities.” He called on believers to form small groupings in which they would:
First, preserve and protect The Faith once for all delivered to the saints – teach the cardinal propositional doctrine – for themselves and future generations;
Second, in community, focus on serious discipleship and caring for all – practical body ministry in the faith community;
Third, prepare to receive into their faith communities those who have been harmed by an increasingly disordered world, those who come because they see the God of order in our ordered life and ministry; it was his conviction that nonbelievers would see the unique, holy, and committed lives of Christians in community, and be attracted to the Christ Christians not just “believed” in, but passionately served.
The days of sugary Sundays and event-focused Christianism must be nailed to the Cross and buried. God, forgive us that they were ever here. Show us the error of our ways and help us as pastors return to the life you have ordained for us:
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Acts 20.28
It’s time to return to living an ordered life together in Christ.
5. Share Another Minister’s Emmaus Road
“That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, . . .They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while (Jesus) talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” Luke 24.13, 32
God put two disciples together on the road to Emmaus, so that, together, they could receive the ministry of Jesus.
Over a decade in full-time pastoral coaching, I’ve heard it hundreds of times from ministers: “I couldn’t have made it without the encouragement of my mentors and peers.” I heard it again just this morning from a young minister who has already learned the value of shared travel on life’s Emmaus Road.
Conversely, I’ve heard it hundreds of times from ministers: “I just can’t make it. I’m alone. I have no who cares, no one to talk to.”
Those who walk alone in ministry die alone in ministry. Those who share the Emmaus Road journey of ministry meet Jesus! They break bread with Him at His table! And their hearts burn because of His presence! (Luke 24)
And they receive what they need to not only survive but thrive, even in challenging times like these.
“The most effective learning of all, more than all other forms combined, is going through hardship with support, and evaluation.” The Center for Creative Leadership
Even in our Journey coaching community I see it: those who walk more alone struggle to survive; those who engage and share their Emmaus Road with fellow Journey members, survive the tough times and soon thrive – when they can’t see, hear, or sense Jesus’ presence, walking with others sees Jesus join their journey, break the bread of life with them, and renew the fire of His presence in their souls and ministries.
6. Build a “Company of Pastors”
Emmaus Road encouragement, challenge, camaraderie, confession, and comfort must be a part of a shared journey in ministry. But they are not all we need; they are not all that is essential to the lifelong development of the minister of the Gospel. If we are going to help one another build strong for a lifetime of healthy and effective ministry, we must include shared formation in the Scriptures. It is only as we grow in the Word of God that we grow strong as ministers of the God of the Word.
Reformer John Calvin understood this. He formed his history-changing “Company of Pastors,” setting in motion a set of practices designed to continually form pastors in the faith and healthy ministry. This is something desperately needed in this day when so many pastors are so biblically light in their preaching and teaching, some even biblically illiterate.
Click to watch and hear Pastor Tim Keller speak on the subject of Calvin’s Company of Pastors. While all of Calvin’s practices may not be possible or even necessary today, they do serve as a beginning point of discussion for what pastors can do to preserve the faith, live as true disciples, and form communities of disciples in which the living Christ is powerfully present. Courses for credentialing and ongoing classroom instruction are not the same as Calvin’s Company; we and our churches need more.
I encourage you to listen to the Keller presentation above and consider the possibilities, however simplified, for your context. Some sort of Company of Pastors will be necessary in the future as the church is pushed more and more to the margins by the culture and faces greater temptations, tribulations, and persecutions.
Many churches and pastors will not survive in the years ahead. We already saw this growing trend in part one of this article. Pastors who fall to the wayside will do so, in large part, because they do not build Emmaus Road relationships or build some form of a Company of Pastors into their Ordered Lives and Ministries.
7. Lift Your Heads
Your redemption draws nigh!
This present world is not our home and of its kingdoms, we are not their citizens. We are citizens of an eternal Kingdom, inheritors of a New Earth to come – all to be delivered in full after the coming of the Lord of Life. Therefore, we are prisoners of hope and happy captives of His Lordship. The blessed hope of His appearing is our heartbeat and faith in Him is the fire that keeps us focused first not on what is happening around us, but on the Eternal God who is our prize!
Let us therefore minister in light of eternity, and most of all, in light of His coming and our appearance before Him, always knowing . . .
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28.20
FINAL WORD
After the text conversation with my friend and fellow church leader I mentioned in Part One of this two-part series, I contacted the members of our ministry, Journey Pastoral Coaching, reiterating a prayer request I had sent them only days before, one calling on them to pray for revival in our nation. In that message, I reemphasized the importance of praying with and for the pastors and churches in our own cities – the churches right down the street. I then bowed my head and told God He will have to empower me and give me wisdom to do even more to strengthen the pastors of His church.
Spiritual warfare, open and deadly, is taking place in America. Pastors, church leaders, and all disciples of Jesus must be strong in the Spirit, clothed in the armor of God, the sword of the Word in one hand, and the shield of a real and living faith in the other.
We must be on the front lines, and we must be there now.
These are days to run to the sound of the battle, joining with ministers who are strong in Christ and giving care to those who are weak. These are the days to do all we can to build up others in Christ. That ministry to the entire body must be focused first on the leaders of local ministries – ministry multipliers.
Men and women of God, the day is dead and buried when we can allow ourselves to focus only on our own churches or even our own portfolio in the ministries where we serve. We pastor not only our own local churches or a specific ministry area in our local church. We pastor our cities! Along with others, we pastor our cities and counties, connecting to churches across our states and nation.
Pastor, at the end of the day (and at the end of the Age), it is Christ’s church – He will build, strengthen, and sustain it, and He will build, strengthen, and sustain those who lead the church.
Therefore, neither be intimidated by all that is happening in the world nor discouraged by any seeming lack of growth in your church. Be refreshed by the Holy Spirit as you give yourself faithfully to the calling God has set before you. The day you stand before Jesus, His eyes looking deep into your eyes, you will hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
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Saddled with large student debt, just beginning to set up homes and start families, and serving in low paying first and second positions, Millennials are those who most desire but can least afford to pay for pastoral coaching.
We are able to do so thanks to the faithful and generous support of individuals and churches like yours who want to see young leaders not only enter the ministry, but remain in the ministry.
Now, more than ever, we need your help.
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