Baptist Spirituality

Over the course of sabbatical I’ve worshiped in churches with as few as 8 people and as many as 100, from the mountains of Virginia, to sleepy neighborhoods of Staten Island, and each service was beautiful and Spirit-filled.

We ministers can get so wrapped up in the numbers game that we forget what the church is: It is a gathering of Christ-followers who need each other and encourage one another as they give praise and honor to Him who calls them together. It is not a platform for entertainment, and it is certainly not a numbers game.

Every church I visited, no matter the size, expressed a deep conviction that God called them to be a light to their community, and all of them had some outreach or small group niche that helped connect them with their neighbors. They were not concerned with growing for the sake of numbers (not explicitly, at least), but with simply being faithful to Jesus. They were led by faithful pastors — both men and women — who were determined to live out Jesus’ commission as passionately Monday through Saturday as on Sunday regardless of the cost.

God used this experience to shift my attention from “results-based” ministry to setting my eyes on Him. I am determined never again to ask “How am I doing?” or worse, “How was my sermon?”, but to ask, “Are we being faithful to God’s call?” and “Are we experiencing the Presence of Christ and magnifying His Person and His Love to the world?” This is a healthier way of being.

I also determined no longer to let my fears of what people think about my wife’s ordination to the Gospel ministry shape my ministry as a faithful follower of Christ and rob me of my joy in church leadership:
Denominational politics? OUT. Calling in context: IN.
Labels, such as “conservative” or “liberal”? OUT
Ministering from an abundance of the love of Christ for the sake of others: IN.

As a spiritual director advised when I was in North Carolina the first week on sabbatical, I’ll “just show up and see what God does.”