Rich Kao

The biblical figure of Daniel was an amazing man.  He excelled in three quotients.

#1 - He had a high IQ (intelligence quotient).  He was learned, smart, highly trained, and among the best students in the land.  As a result, it helped him move into high places.

#2 - He had a high EQ (emotional quotient).    Formally defined, Emotional Quotient (EQ) describes an ability, skill,  a capacity to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, and of others, and of groups.   Daniel had this in spades. In his role as advisor, administrator, counselor, policy maker to the King and his administration, he knew how to deal and interact with people at the highest level across many interests.  He was a master diplomat and a gentleman.

#3 - He had a high SQ (spiritual quotient).  As if having a high IQ and EQ was not enough, Daniel's highest quotient was his SQ.  As a man of integrity, prayer, obedience, prophetic insight and ambassador for God, he was unrivaled in his day.  None of the lofty positions he ascended to or outstanding awards he received went to his head or impeded him from being a worshipper and follower of God.  "God first" could have been his personal by-line, and he demonstrated this when he was in the lion's den and when he fearlessly delivered God's mesasges to Kings.

Application:  we need to mentor our leaders and our own children along these lines.  If we want them to be high impact people, with influence in the world, then let's develop them educationally, emotionally and spiritually - a generation of excellence.

Here's an article by Abraham Piper, son of well-known pastor John Piper, and editor of John PIper's Desiring God Blog.  I found Abraham's six reason as given below to be very insightful and helpful, and an expansion of what I shared in my previous post entitled "Why I Blog."  Hope this will spur you on to see blogging as a tool, and not a fad.  RK.

6 Reasons Pastors Should Blog - March 31, 2008  |  By: Abraham Piper

In this article I want to convince as many pastors as possible to sit down and start a blog today. If I can’t convince them, then I
want to convince churchgoers to hound their pastor until he does.

OK, all that’s overstatement, perhaps. You can still be a good pastor and not blog.

However, here’s why I think it would be good for you and your congregation if you did.

Pastors should blog…

1. …to write.

If you’re a pastor, you probably already know the value writing has for thinking. Through writing, you delve into new ideas and new insights. If you strive to write well, you will at the same time be striving to think well.

Then when you share new ideas and new insights, readers can come along with you wherever your good writing and good thinking bring you.

There is no better way to simply and quickly share your writing than by maintaining a blog. And if you’re serious about your blog, it will help you not only in your thinking, but in your discipline as well, as people begin to regularly expect quality insight from you.

2. …to teach.

Most pastors I’ve run into love to talk. Many of them laugh at themselves about how long-winded they’re sometimes tempted to be.

Enter Blog.

Here is where a pastor has an outlet for whatever he didn’t get to say on Sunday. Your blog is where you can pass on that perfect analogy you only just thought of; that hilarious yet meaningful story you couldn’t connect to your text no matter how hard you tried; that last point you skipped over even though you needed it to complete your 8-point acrostic sermon that almost spelled HUMILITY.

And more than just a catch-all for sermon spill-over, a blog is a perfect place for those 30-second nuggets of truth that come in your devotions or while you’re reading the newspaper. You may never write a full-fledged article about these brief insights or preach a whole sermon, but via your blog, your people can still learn from them just like you did.

3. …to recommend.

With every counseling session or after-service conversation, a pastor is recommending something. Sometimes it’s a book or a charity. Maybe it’s a bed-and-breakfast for that couple he can tell really needs to get away. And sometimes it’s simply Jesus.

With a blog, you can recommend something to hundreds of people instead of just a few. Some recommendations may be specific to certain people, but that seems like it would be rare. It’s more likely to be the case that if one man asks you whether you know of any good help for a pornography addiction, then dozens of other men out there also need to know, but aren’t asking.

Blog it.

Recommendation, however, is more than pointing people to helpful things. It’s a tone of voice, an overall aura that good blogs cultivate.

Blogs are not generally good places to be didactic. Rather, they’re ideal for suggesting and commending. I’ve learned, after I write, to go back and cut those lines that sound like commands or even overbearing suggestions, no matter how right they may be. Because if it’s true for my audience, it’s true for me, so why not word it in such a way that I’m the weak one, rather than them?

People want to know that their pastor knows he is an ordinary, imperfect human being. They want to know that you’re recommending things that have helped you in your own weakness. If you say, “When I struggled with weight-loss, I did such-and-such,” it will come across very differently than if you say, “Do such-and-such if you’re over-weight…”

If you use your blog to encourage people through suggesting and commending everything from local restaurants to Jesus Christ, it will complement the biblical authority that you rightly assume when you stand behind the pulpit.

4. …to interact.

There are a lot of ways for a pastor to keep his finger on the pulse of his people. A blog is by no means necessary in this regard. However, it does add a helpful new way to stay abreast of people’s opinions and questions.

Who knows what sermon series might arise after a pastor hears some surprising feedback about one of his 30-second-nuggets-of-truth?

5. …to develop an eye for what is meaningful.

For good or ill, most committed bloggers live with the constant question in their mind: Is this bloggable? This could become a neurosis, but I’ll put a positive spin on it: It nurtures a habit of looking for insight and wisdom and value in every situation, no matter how mundane.

If you live life looking for what is worthwhile in every little thing, you will see more of what God has to teach you. And the more he teaches you, the more you can teach others. As you begin to be inspired and to collect ideas, you will find that the new things you’ve seen and learned enrich far more of your life than just your blog.

6. …to be known.

This is where I see the greatest advantage for blogging pastors.

Your people hear you teach a lot; it’s probably the main way that most of them know you. You preach on Sundays, teach on Wednesdays, give messages at weddings, funerals, youth events, retreats, etc.

This is good—it’s your job. But it’s not all you are. Not that you need to be told this, but you are far more than your ideas. Ideas are a crucial part of your identity, but still just a part.

You’re a husband and a father. You’re some people’s friend and other people’s enemy. Maybe you love the Nittany Lions. Maybe you hate fruity salad. Maybe you struggle to pray. Maybe listening to the kids’ choir last weekend was—to your surprise—the most moving worship experience you’ve ever had.

These are the things that make you the man that leads your church. They’re the windows into your personality that perhaps stay shuttered when you’re teaching the Bible. Sometimes your people need to look in—not all the way in, and not into every room—but your people need some access to you as a person. A blog is one way to help them.

You can’t be everybody’s friend, and keeping a blog is not a way of pretending that you can. It’s simply a way for your people to know you as a human being, even if you can’t know them back. This is valuable, not because you’re so extraordinary, but because leadership is more than the words you say. If you practice the kind of holiness that your people expect of you, then your life itself opened before them is good leadership—even when you fail.

Conclusion

For most of you, anything you post online will only be a small piece in the grand scheme of your pastoral leadership. But if you can maintain a blog that is both compelling and personal, it can be an important small piece.

It will give you access to your people’s minds and hearts in a unique way by giving them a chance to know you as a well-rounded person. You will no longer be only a preacher and a teacher, but also a guy who had a hard time putting together a swing-set for his kids last weekend. People will open up for you as you open up like this for them. Letting people catch an honest glimpse of your life will add authenticity to your teaching and depth to your ministry,

In creating an outreach culture, I ask three questions:  1) What strategy fits our team;  2) What strategy fits our church; and 3) What strategy fits our area.   Having pastored for nearly 20 years, I've come to realize, the more a church can customize an outreach strategy that matches  the strengths of the church and it's leadership to the ethos of the area it's in, the more it will be effective in reaching the lost.  I pastor in Vancouver, BC, a fanstastic world class city, but one that is far, far away from God.  People are hip, cosmopolitan, "enlightened," avant garde, international, spiritual, wealthy, but not any closer to Jesus for it.   So how do we build a culture that attracts people to Jesus?  Here's a bit of what we've discovered here in Vancouver.

#1 - It's a process not an event.  This has been the hardest for me, because I'm a results oriented guy.  I don't like fruit ripening stages, but no amount of whining on my part can change this.  So I can learn to be patient and work with it, or frustrate myself.   I've decided to be patient and even enjoy it!

#2 - When in Rome, act like the Romans.  I'm not talking compromise.  I'm talking I Cor 9 - becoming all things to all men.   How this has played out in Vancouver is something I never anticipated...God shifted my mindset (during an extended period of fasting) from an "entreprenurial gospel" to a "social gospel."    This is to say, establish connections with people through felt needs rather than through meetings.  An outcome of this has been the establishment of our Dream Centre in which we reach the poor and needy in practical ways - doing small things with great love.  We have already seen more lives touched, people saved and baptized through this than all our other events put together.  Why has this worked?  Because Canadians in general have a ethos of helping people and advocating for the disenfranchised.   We're doing what "fits" and what matches the talents of our leadership team (which is strong in practical works and Jesus-inspired humanitarian aid).

#3 -  "Belong before you believe."  St. Patrick first proved the power of this in evangelising Europe (see Celtic Way of Evangelism post).  And before him, it was none other than Jesus.   We are nurturing a culture in which people can easily and naturally come along side (e.g. with our social programs) without having to "believe" first.  They can first belong.    In the US, there is a new term that has been coined that captures this idea - it's called "withreach" instead of "outreach."  (See withreach.org).  We've had seeking families with us for over a year.  Youth that don't know Jesus with us for as long.  It's exciting that they feel enough acceptance to "stick around" and take in what Christianity is all about.

 
#4 - Do things with excellence.  Excellence in any culture at any level is attractive.  As best as we can, given our size and budget, we try to be presentable, clean, crisp, orderly, organized, pleasant, strategic and forward-thinking in all areas.  Excellence makes one feel good, makes a community feel good, just like putting on clean pressed shirt or dress does.  Excellence represents how we feel about God.

What is the sum of these four key things we've learned?  They represent an approach, an macro strategy, a platform upon which we build.  It's like building an ice cream shop to sell ice cream instead of just selling popsicles.  It's quicker to sell popsicles, but in the long run it's more effective to build the ice cream shop.

This is what fits our team, our church and our area. 

 

Timothy Keller, pastor of the now well known Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City (Manhattan!) is a modern day David.  He has slayed Goliath.  Here's why.  A couple of years ago, during a season of fasting in our church, God really opened my eyes to the fact that when David slung his fatal stone at Goliath, it hit him in the forehead; "the stone sank into his (Goliath's) forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground" (I Sam. 17:49).  What was the significance of this verse?  To bring down the strongman, you need to hit him in the head -- his thoughts, his thinking.  Goliath was not killed by a shot to the heart, but between the eyes.   God has to bring down the strongholds of the mind to release a city.  This showed me the importance of having a high view of the pulpit.  Our messages must be like stones that tear down the wrong thinking of the people (more by reasoning - see Acts 19:8 than exhortation).  This is exactly what Tim Keller has done.  He has gone into New York City and by his preaching / apologetics tone, disarmed the assumptions and premises that have held people back from God.   He has skillfully examined the highest arguments against God (e.g. "It's arrogant to insist your religion is right and to convert others to it;"  "A God of judgment can't be a God of Love.") and brought into doubt the confidence people have placed in them.  Pr 21:22* A wise man scales the city of the mighty And brings down the stronghold in which they trust. The result?  Five thousand church members and a dozen daughter congregation.  Warning:  This kind of preaching & reasoning takes A LOT of hard work.  It has to be intellectually deep, and philosophically convincing.  I am personally inspired to do something like this in Vancouver.  To work really hard, capitalize on my rigorous academic training from years past and sling a stone that will hit the mark.  And here's my joy...not so much to bring in the masses and grow a big church, but to locate and articulate truth in such a way as to deliver people intellectually. Take care of the top line, and the bottom line will take care of itself.  Pray for me.  No, really pray for me.

Share on Facebook  

1) The reason I keep a blog is to add value to others -- either by way of seed thoughts, perspective, learning from mistakes I've made, synthesizing ideas, passing on experiences,  or sharing things I've worked on (e.g. sermons / teachings).  In this sense, I see my site as a mini reference spot.   2) As a supplement to #1,  I add things about myself to "humanize" the information on my blog.   These personal things are secondary to my overall purpose, but it helps for readers who don't know me -- but have landed on my site by a search result or recommendation of a friend or a link -- to get a better sense of who I am.  This helps eliminate the "vacuum" effect of "who is this person?"   3) To help my friends feel a little bit closer despite the distance that separates many of us.