As I continue to age, I have some very interesting conversations with myself comparing the experiences that I HAVE had, and the experiences that CURRENTLY come at me each and every day. By the way, these conversations are not the kind that Jim Carrey had with himself as Ace Venture posing as a lunatic football player in the movie by the same name. No, these are the conversations that a man would have with his younger self in determining whether he has lived up to the dreams and hopes that we all have in our youth. MORE….
One of my recent conversations was reflecting on the time that I spend in the car. Throughout my life I have spent much time behind the wheel of a car. There have been jobs that required me to operate a vehicle (I used to work as a courier for FedEx) and several of my daily commutes were rather lengthy. Road trips, moves, out of town conferences, church retreats, camps, etc., have all been the source of large amounts of windshield time. The conversation centered on the stuff that I have spent my time listening to while driving, and how that has progressed through the years. Here is the progression and the correlation that I noticed.
As a youth pastor my car radio was constantly blaring out the latest and greatest Christian music that was available. I have always valued music and my tastes trend to the louder more upbeat stuff and as a student minister that was welcomed stuff with my youth groups. Relating to the sound of the student culture was one of the easier aspects of ministry in those days.
As a church planter my car radio was tuned to a different sound, talk radio. As a church planter I worked with a wide variety of folks. This was a challenge to stay relevant to all that is going on in the world, so I sought a source to keep me informed and aware of the current events and the perspective that various folks had. I found this readily available in the “callers” that would call in and share their thoughts with the various host on my local station. I would often think to myself, how would caller so-and-so feel about the sermon that I am planning on sharing this week, or how would they feel about the discussion at the small group we had last night.
Currently as pastor of a growing church, when I’m in my car the only thing I listen for is my phone ringing…
So the correlation looks something like this, as a young man not far removed from those that I was ministering to I related to them through the music that mattered to them, as a young pastor trying to reach folks for a new church plant I tried to be relevant to a wide variety of people by considering the wide variety of opinions that were out there. Now as pastor of a growing community oriented church, I am listening to the people, not only through the phone calls, but also through email, texts, tweets, (even this blog) etc. These folks are looking for ways to communicate the needs that they are facing and I want to be available to hear.
So there you go, you have just been privy to just one of the conversations I have with myself. Now what kind of conversations do you have? -Kent
The Barna Group recently released results of a study on what types of people are most active in “group” expressions of faith, including small groups, Sunday School classes, and house churches. The report found that women and older adults drive most faith participation in small groups and Sunday Schools. Women make up the majority of attenders of these groups, and a majority of church volunteers are female. Religious activities tend to have fewer single adults (especially never-marrieds), and Catholics, although they make up a quarter of U.S. worshippers, only one-tenth of them participate in small groups, Sunday School classes, or volunteer activities. Not surprisingly, many religiously active Americans tend toward conservative political views, but attenders of house churches are the most likely to call themselves “political liberals,” and nearly half are registered Democrats.
