Nobody tells you in Bible college that some church people are just not nice. But I quickly learned how difficult they can be in my first ministry as youth pastor at a small church a little way from the school I was attending in Illinois.

I remember one time in particular. I had just gotten home from a night class I needed to finish up my degree. It was 11:30, and when I checked my email, I discovered a rant from a guy complaining that the decibel level of the music in our student gatherings was too high. (The youth group had swelled to about 60 in a church of 170, and he wasn’t the only one threatened by the growth.)

No sooner had I shut my computer than I got a phone call from a 15-year-old kid in the group who said, “If you can’t get here in the next 20 minutes, I’m going to kill myself.” And I was 40 minutes away from her.

I stood in a corner and said out loud, “God, I didn’t sign up for either one of these things.”

I almost walked away from ministry that night. But in answer to my prayers, six months later my wife and I had moved to Compass Christian Church in Dallas. The leaders there cared about lost people and gave me freedom to go reach them as I saw what would work. But even there, in that positive environment, there were days when passion was hard to come by.

In fact, I can point to dozens of times, if not hundreds, since then when I’ve just gone through the motions of ministry. I knew theology. I had learned how to do church. But doing church and being the church are two different things. I remember times when I’ve stood on the platform and put on a face that said, “Things are OK,” because people couldn’t handle it if I didn’t.

I thought about all of this week as I re-read what God told the church at Ephesus, “Look how far you have fallen from the love you had at first” (see Revelation 2:4, 5). If the last year of pressing through a pandemic has taught me anything, it is that we must fall back in love with the God that transforms us, not the world that informs us. His remedy for the Ephesians and for us was a three-part approach I know I must pursue in my own ministry.

WHAT WE NEED MORE THAN ANYTHING IN 2021

Two years ago, I received a Facebook message on Christmas Eve that I’ve been thinking about this week. A member of our church, a young woman who would not live to see the next year, wrote to thank me for our service that night and one song in particular. All of us hear “O Holy Night,” every Christmas, again and again. But that year, one lyric lifted my friend’s spirit: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.”

That hope is what she needed that Christmas.

That hope is what her husband and kids would need just a few short days later.

That hope is what we preached at her funeral a week later.

That hope is what every reader of this blog needs in 2021.

3 REASONS I'M DONE CRITICIZING THE CHURCH

In some circles today it’s cool to criticize the church. Search social media and soon you’ll find someone upset because they say the church has failed them. Some have even walked away. In fact, most readers of this blog know at least one person who has decided to leave church altogether.

Obviously, the critics are not totally wrong. Attend church long enough and you’re sure to bump up against adultery, jealousy, lying, or just general unpleasantness among folks who are supposed to be redeemed.

I get it. Sometimes someone will say to me, “It must be wonderful to work at the church, doing God’s work all day every day.” Well, it certainly is gratifying to partner with God in his activity on earth. But it’s not for the faint of heart. Spiritual healing is like physical healing: sometimes it means cleaning messy wounds, draining ugly infection, watching for many months (or years) while disabled people slowly hobble along until their brokenness has mended.

So I could tell you plenty of reasons to criticize the church. But I’m committed not to join the critics, for at least three reasons.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageDecember 9, 2020church, criticizing, complain, leading, leader, leadership, leadership struggle, stop, bride, hope, jesus, loveComment

THE PERIL OF THE PLATFORM

It is easy, and perhaps even appropriate, to criticize, and perhaps even condemn, Jerry Falwell Jr. for his multiple indiscretions that finally led to his departure from Liberty University last week.

Most reports of his resignation also include a few facts about all that Falwell did to benefit the university: the property acquisitions, the fundraising, the endowment building, the enrollment growth. The school’s financial situation is exponentially stronger today because of Falwell’s accomplishments. So I’m pondering who’s really responsible for whatever negative fallout the school will receive because of this scandal. And who is responsible for the scandal itself?

Clearly, Falwell himself must shoulder significant blame. His repeated lapses in judgment and then clear violations of evangelical and Biblical norms leave him without excuse.

While some of these happened in private and the details surrounding some of them are in dispute, Falwell’s missteps have been known for years. Were those responsible for the school unable—or unwilling—to keep Falwell on a proper path?

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageSeptember 2, 2020leader, leadership struggle, character, speaking, platform, Jerry Falwell Jr, boards, management, mission, success, ministryComment

EVERY LEADERS BIGGEST STRUGGLE AND HOW TO FIGHT IT

If nothing else will distract a leader, discouragement will.

And if nothing else will discourage a leader, comparing himself with others will.

Envy is the great disabler. And sometimes it disables me. Here I am, constantly going for God while the stress and the pressure of ministry seems never to go away. When I dwell on this, I’m in a turmoil that feels like it just won’t end.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageJanuary 30, 2019envy, eternity, leadership struggle, fightComment

Trevor DeVage

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