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advice to young pastors: be like tri robinson
As a young pastor many years ago, I couldn’t help but look around for pastors to be like. Oh I know we can’t be like anyone but ourselves, but part of that process involves admiring certain others if for no other reason than to encourage the best in our ourselves. Let me suggest someone for you to admire, young pastor: try Tri Robinson on for size. Tri just did a post in the Huffington Post titled, Please Forgive Us.
Tri pastors the Vineyard Church in Boise Idaho. Idaho is the most conservative state in the union. It’s not blue, it’s not purple, it’s deep red. And Tri by culture, temperament and conviction is a pretty conservative guy, theologically, and I’m guessing–though he doesn’t wear it on his sleeve–politically. Yet he has the boldness, the conviction and the humility to do a guest column in the Huffington Post, that paragon of the liberal media, titled, Please Forgive Us.
Tri is a product of the Jesus movement that started off in the early 1970’s in a fairly, oh, anti-institutional ethos. A bunch of hippies who didn’t like the Vietnam war, who thought the man was sticking it to us, and who leaned toward what we then called “ecology.” But then the Jesus movement, or rather the baby boomers who made up the bulk of the movement, became progressively, pun intended, conservative politically. For lots of reasons, some convictional and some cultural and some theological.
And several years ago at the height of evangelicalism’s inebriation with the culture war metaphor, Tri got convicted by the Holy Spirit about missing it on environmental stewardship. He became an environmentalist. Again. A Jesus loving environmentalist for Jesus loving reasons. This put him at odds with his tribe, his conservative evangelical tribe.
Tri Was Willing to Offend His Own Tribe for Jesus
But Tri had a scent for Jesus, the treasure buried in the field of his tribe before his tribe had the good sense to be proud of him for going after Jesus, whatever the consequences. See that’s what a true Jesus freak does. Such a one doesn’t lick his finger and stick it up in the air to see which way the tribal winds are blowing and follow that direction mindlessly. He or she keeps on searching for the treasure in the field, and upon finding it, is willing to give up a little equity in the tribe to gain the treasure the tribe claims to value above all other loyalties.
And he did something that is hard to do sometimes. He followed Jesus where Jesus was leading him.
Notice the humility of the man. Speaking to the audience that reads the Huffington Post, he says, “Please forgive us evangelicals for being bad news for the creation instead of good news. Be patient with us as we regain our bearings by getting closer to the heart of our master. In time, perhaps, we’ll make up for lost time and do our savior proud.”
The Difference Between a Pastor and a Political Operative
Tri, remember, is a pastor. That’s what you are called to be. A pastor has to have a tender heart and a thick skin. But if you can only have one of those, you have to have a tender heart.
If you are primarily a political operative, and you can only have either a tender heart or a thick skin, you have to have a thick skin. If it’s a choice between playing softball or hardball, you have to play hardball.
A political operative is about forming majorities and coalitions. A pastor has to do some of that–churches after all need leaders who can help them move forward together. But that’s not what a pastor is about. A pastor is about people. Preeminently about one person: Jesus of Nazareth, and then fueled by love for him, about other people, sinners like the pastor who need a savior.
As you, young pastor, decide who to admire, who to listen to, who to be influenced by, ask yourself the question: is this leader functioning primarily as a pastor or as a political operative? A political operative named Paul Weyrich gave the Moral Majority its name. It was was about politics primarily, which is about forming majorities to exercise their power. A political operative, Ralph Reed, founded the Christian Coalition. It was about politics primarily, which is about forming coalitions to exercise their power. You can agree with the politics or disagree, or like most us, have mixed feelings about the positions these organizations advanced or at least the methods they used.
Many of the most powerful voices in American evangelicalism these days are functioning as poltical operatives. Some have been political operatives in the past, some work very closely with political opertatives, some have spun off political operative organizations. There’s nothing wrong, in principle, with expressing one’s faith in the political arena. But pastor, I would like you to note that not many of the leading voices in our movement these days are pastors.
Pastoring is a different gig. It requires different sensibilities, different commitments, different convictions, different methods.
And if you’re looking for a pastor to admire, you could do a lot worse than Tri Robinson.
Tags: christian coalition, environment, environmentalist, huffington post, humility, moral majority, pastor, paul weyrich, people, political operative, positions, ralph reed, tri robinson
December 22nd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
“A pastor is about people. Preeminently about one person: Jesus of Nazareth, and then fueled by love for him, about other people, sinners like the pastor who need a savior.”
You have declared that the priorities of a pastor are love for Jesus, then love for other people, all of whom, like me, are sinners in need of a savior. In other words, Jesus and the salvation, healing and wholeness of sinners is what a pastor is all about. I agree.
If I were an infinite being, I would have time to spend on environmental issues. Since I am a finite being, my time is limited, and I try to devote all of my time outside of the bare necessities of life to the salvation, healing, and wholeness of people who, just like me, are sinners. That includes the time I’ve spent reading this page and composing this reply. Sorry, no extra time for anything other than the salvation, healing, and wholeness of people.
Gotta go! Maran Atha! Marana Tha!
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Ken, this was an excellent post. As I tried to demonstrate in my book (Our Father’s World-IVP) Pastors have a critical role to play in the environmental movement. The scientists have done their job – now its up to the rest of us, often led by pastors…
To Pastor Mike I would say this: Jesus saw his task as being more than human salvation – his redemption includes all of creation (Col 1:15-20). Those of us who are called to be pastors are called to lead Christ-followers in following Christ to accomplish this “full redemption”! Anything less is leaving the job half-done.
Keep up the good work, Ken.
December 23rd, 2008 at 1:36 am
Mike, Oh.
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Ed, My previous post has premises, logic, and a conclusion, none of which was addressed directly by you in your reply to me, as far as I can see.
Also, please inform me as to where Jesus said something that makes you believe that, as you said, “Jesus saw his task as being more than human salvation.”
Thanks.
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Ken, thank you for your succinctness.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:06 am
mike, does alleviating human suffering count in your understanding of human salvation?
December 24th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Notes from the peanut gallery; I am not a pastor, but I am one of the sheep that prays, pays, and tries to stay in a church as long as my conscience, or my wife, will allow. I have some questions and comments.
The global warming issue, also now referred to as global climate change, is one of the most politically hot topics of the day. There seem to be the same types of struggles and debates that have accompanied the leadership of the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition movements in the past. I will agree that the Creation Care movement is in its infancy, but the political tide has shifted and the movement will now have its voice leading across our government. It appears to me that there is a new breed of political operatives working the environmental issues.
Is this a purely God ordained movement? How is this new emphasis, aligning ourselves with science/government politics, any different than those movements of the past critiqued in this post? What other sins should we ask the world to forgive us for? What about other leaders in the body of Christ, who would lean to the belief that the political/environmental movement is at the leading edge of the great falling away? What level of morality will be associated with environmental sins? Is this something that pastors like Tri will want us to seek forgiveness on an individual level?
December 25th, 2008 at 4:35 am
Ken, thanks for the query. My understanding of human salvation includes the alleviation of the human suffering known as separation from God, both now and in eternity. I consider that to be the “prime directive” of Jesus. Jesus did say a lot about the alleviation of human suffering. I interpret all that he said, about anything at all, in the light of His prime directive. For example, I interpret spiritually His words, “I was hungry and you fed me,” and His words, “Feed my sheep,” not as feeding people’s stomachs with literal food, but as feeding people’s spirits with the news of salvation, healing, and wholeness, both now and in eternity.
How do you count the alleviation of human suffering in your understanding of human salvation?
December 25th, 2008 at 4:36 am
Merry Christmas, y’all !!!
December 25th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Mike, Now that I understand what your understanding of salvation is, your earlier post makes perfect sense. I have a more literal reading of “I was hungry and you fed me.” I think he was talking about feeding people food who had empty stomachs. With your metaphorical understanding, I could see how you would view caring for the creation as outside the scope of the good news. One prime reasons for caring for the creation in my understanding is that it is God’s provision for human good (among other goods) and when it is not treated with respect, humans suffer. So for example, when we don’t conserve electricity, we are contributing to the pollution that comes from coal burning power plants. Which releases mercury and other toxins that affect unborn children, lead to mental retardation and other bad things–especially for the vulnerable poor who tend to live closer to where the plants are located. Merry Christmas right back atcha! Ken
December 25th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Gem, Your questions are I think well worth pondering. What have we learned from the last 30 years when much of American evangelicalism aligned with the political activism model of the Moral Majority, then the Christian Coalition, and now the Family Research Council? And how could these lessons be applied to other public policy issues, like environmental concern, or AIDS relief, or efforts to end the internalitional slave trade? In particular how do we apply these lessons within the body of Christ.
First, I’d say that the church needs to maintain it’s prophetic voice. That means that political operatives shouldn’t have the same prominent role that they have had in the church through organizations like Moral Majority and Christian coalition, which were named and adopted the approaches of their founding political operatives (Weyrich and Reed.) Leadership should come from those whose first commitment is not to a political agenda, per se. There should be a more prominent influence by pastors and other leaders who are in more direct contact with pressing out the implications of the gospel with a wide variety of people and who are more imbedded, so to speak in the body of Christ.
Second, I think it means we shouldn’t accept such a narrow agenda as was adopted by the religious right groups. This was essentially a political decision: you can mobilize people more effectively for a couple of issues (abortion and opposing the state allowing same sex marriage) if you limit your focus to these two issues.
Third, I think it means we shouldn’t align ourselves so strongly with one political party. In the same way that I think it’s a mistake for African Americans to be so strongly aligned with one party. People get taken for granted when that happens, as has happened with single issue voters and the Republican party. I don’t think any one party has the corner on the truth when Jesus is the plumbline for truth.
Fourth, I think it means that we should be very careful about adopting a group think mentality on any one issue. The religious right has done this with abortion. Witness how much trouble Rich Cizik got into trouble for simply suggesting that the government provide access to birth control for those who can’t afford it in order to reduce the number of abortions. This goes against a major constituency in the pro-life lobby so it is considered a kind of heresy. The same goes for supporting distribution of condoms in Africa to reduce the transmission of Aids. That’s a great example of a group think setting in so that deviations in that mindset are viewed as a kind of heresy. People get excluded for having views that are outside whatever the coalition has come up with.
In the case of environmental concerns, I think there should be quite a diverse set of perspectives on how to best exercise the biblical mandate of good stewardship over the earth. I tend to think that nuclear power should be used more than it is, in order to reduce dependence on coal burning power for electricity generation–known to be a very dirty form of energy use. Many environmentalists don’t agree with this. There will be significant differences on how to reduce carbon emissions. I think there should be room in the church for many different perspectives on this. Including people’s assessment of what is causing climate change. I personally think that the preponderance of science clearly indicates that it is human caused and prudence suggests that the burden of proof should not be reasonable and not overly exacting before we take steps to reduce the damage, especially when those steps are needed for other reasons (dependence on oil, care for future generations, etc.) But that’s all in the “debatable issues” category that Paul speaks of in Romans. We love one another through those differences, just as we do in differences over young earth creationism, theistic evolution, etc.
Currently, I don’t think there’s a great danger of environmental concern turning into a lock step group think within evangelicalism because there has been such a strong alliance with conservative politics that it is still a minority perspective within evangelicalism. (Focus on the Family, the most powerful Religious Right group and the President of the largest Protestant denomination, Richard Land, both don’t accept the scientific evidence for human cause climate change, along with virtually all the conservative a.m. talk radio hosts.) But we should definitely learn from our mistakes of the last 30 years and apply them to the next thirty!
December 25th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Ken, I admire you more than I can ever say. Keep up this important work.
December 25th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Ken, thanks for bringing loving one another through the differences back into the conversation. I have never been at ease with the vitriolic words hurled at each other over these issues. Both sides bother me, and sometimes I bother me. Love covering a multitude of sins must be evident first amongst Christians. I think we are all a little tired of issues driving agendas when there is no love to be found.
Are Christians responsible to fight for change into the unredeemed culture and world? I don’t think so, but I think our lives can be an example of what love and freedom looks like. We talk a good game, but we need to look no further than our own lives and relationships to realize where we need to change. I think we need to be good stewards of our lives and this earth, but never losing sight of who sustains both. Jesus gives us the hope both in this life and beyond that he can bring compelling change to all of creation.
Merry Christmas.
December 26th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I am a fallible sinner, and yet I am attempting to base my life upon the following, as 24/7 as I possibly can:
From Matthew 28 (The Message):
18-20 Jesus gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
From Luke 24 (The Message):
45-48 Jesus went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations—starting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses.”
From 1 Corinthians 9 (The Message):
16-17 If I proclaim the Message, it’s not to get something out of it for myself. I’m compelled to do it, and doomed if I don’t! If this was my own idea of just another way to make a living, I’d expect some pay. It’s not my idea but something solemnly entrusted to me.
19-23 Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!
24-25 You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.
26-27 I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.
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It is my belief, therefore, that the Gospel Message is the following: that salvation, healing, and wholeness is available for all, both now and in eternity, by grace through repentance and faith in Jesus, as expressed in the above words by Jesus himself and by Paul. Therefore, that is all I will ever have time for, aside from the bare necessities of life. That is the God-given logic of our faith, my friends!