Planet Church

I’ve just watched a painful, heart-breaking message from a man with a brain tumor. He speaks to pastors about the lack of compassion in their churches.The message is not heart-breaking because the man is hurting – his hurt barely shows. Rather, the pain comes from watching the antics of pastors trying to be hip, funny, relevant, and trendy.

The punchline? In trying to become entertaining we have lost the way and become useless to those in pain. Every pastor needs to watch this…

The one thing will change us pastors is first-hand experience of pain. Having had a small taste myself in recent months, I can tell you it has profoundly changed me. I’m still gung-ho but I’m MUCH more dependent on the grace of God. A typical Sunday begins with me crying out to God for grace just to get through the morning. I never needed to do that before. My experience is that His grace does come and I do what under normal circumstances would be impossible.

I suppose I should say something wise like “His grace is sufficient” but sufficient seems such a small word. It’s like saying to a starving man that food is sufficient. I have found that God’s grace is often the difference between me functioning or not. It’s the difference between staying in bed and preaching the gospel. God’s grace is like oxygen – I don’t last long without it.

I want to build a church that is a haven for those in intense pain and where those who are healthy are prepared to rip holes in roofs to get their sick friends to Jesus. I have two messages to send; (1) if you’re hurting, come just as you are, and (2) if you’re healthy, comfort the weak and help them to find their strength in Jesus.

Thanks to the bloggers at Christian Theology for posting the video. And thanks to Christian for making the video. If you ever read this I want to tell you that God still has a purpose for your life. His plans are not thwarted by illness or brokenness. Indeed, His plans often seem to be accelerated by what we would consider set-backs. Joseph was sold into slavery – God used that. David was branded a terrorist – God used that. Job lost his family, his health and his wealth – God used that. His enemy and yours will tell you that you that “this is the end”. But I have found God to be most real, most easily found in the dark places of private anguish. He has not stopped writing His story in your life.