Lessons 101: A younger leaders conversation with a Veteran of Ministry

A few days ago I had an hour and a half conversation with a pastor of a mega-church. We happened to be in the same place at the same time and have known each other for sometime and we began (off the cuff) to discuss SBC stuff. It was very refreshing and interesting to hear his take on things. The following are a few highlights of our conversation.

We began by talking about Greensboro and the upcoming convention. His take was right on. He was well aware of the discontent in SBC circles with much of what is and has happened....and he seemed to understand much of the rumbling that is taking place.

He made the comment that he and another mega church pastor recently talked and that they cannot remember a time in the SBC when it was as fragmented as it is now. The fragments he was talking about were as follows in his eyes: Calvinist, Non- Calvinist, emergent guys, missional guys, bloggers, fundamentalists, landmarkist, etc. I thought that was a pretty fair assesment....some overlap in categories but those are some of the distinct groups we see on the SBC landscape....most would agree.

He believed in the CP.....but completely aggreed that there needs to be a overhaul of how we present it, and where the money goes. His church is a faithful giver.

He was very sharp on his assessment of the traditional vs. contemporary dialogue that is taking place. He realizes that it is not an argument over music styles as much as it is an argument over ministry philosophies and methodologies. I respect the heck out of him...because his take is whatever reaches people and is true to Scripture should and has to be used.

He aggreed that the baptism guideline that is the center of much controversy was completely wrong......and stood on the fact that baptism is identification with Christ, not church, or denomination.

We talked about some of the recent talk of the death of the mega church in emerging generations. He asked me what I thought....and I have read Barna's book, but I have to admit that Mark Driscoll in his new book makes a strong argument for the false claims of talk about the death of mega churches. I tend to believe that there will always be churches who are reaching and appealing to a large audience...period. Now the mega church of the future might look different(mulitple venues), but there will always be churches that reach larger numbers of people and I think that is a good thing.

We talked about the rise of Calvinism in our convention. We both agreed that there is no room for hyper-calvinist.....why....because that is not Biblical....but that discussion is and should continue to be healthy!

There were some other practical things we discussed when it came to ministry, but this for me was a lesson. It was a lesson in the danger of being broad in our genralizations. We seem to lump in the old guard or experienced ministers of mega churches into one category....and that just doesn't work.

If you know me, you probably know who I am talking about. The reason I have not stated his name is because I did not tell him I was going to be blogging about our conversation. I'm sure he wouldn't have minded....but I know that he would get my vote if he ever ran....and he should run, but that is just my two sense worth!