The Lone Ranger

A great time at InterVarsity tonight. Good crowd, good discussion. It is exciting to see God continue to work in the lives of the students up there. I look forward to being with them again next week. Had a big conference call today as we work on the CB Supercluster for Northern New England. It is always interesting to work in a group where we have to synthesize and work together. I am so thankful for the other pastors who are putting so much work into making this a good meeting. I hope we can continue to network and encourage other churches to join together. After all, we are all the church together, not just a bunch of lone rangers. That is a good picture of us as Christians. Too often we close people off, especially when we are having problems. But the secret is to open up. The more we turn to each other and open up with each other, the stronger the body grows. Lone ranger Christians are unBiblical. Pastors can be the worst offenders in this regard. We are taught in school to stay aloof. If you are struggling with a sin, with your marriage, with your family, finances, whatever, you can't let your church know because it will diminish your authority. You will give people something to attack you with. They actually teach this. But I do not agree. My authority as a pastor does not flow from some sort of stature or reputation. It flows from Christ. If I hold myself apart, I lose the ability to connect to my fellow Christians, many of whom have the same struggles. Also, by hiding the problems and issues, I deny my closest brothers and sisters in Christ the chance to help me bear the burdens and fight off the sin. I will not cultivate an air of invincibility, super-spirituality, and infallibility. I struggle. I fail. I sin. My guess is, so do you. :) So no lone rangers, and no lone ranger churches. We are ALL part of the body of Christ. Let's open ourselves up to one another, be honest about our fears, failures, and sins. It is amazing how much God's power will flourish as we do that!