Warning that this will be a longer post because has been on slow cook in my heart, mind, and soul for several years now, and I have attempted to deeply think and pray it through beforehand. In both our personal lives and ministries, have you noticed how easy it is to allow what was or what is to diminish our ability to anticipate and adjust (NOT our biblical message/mission but our Spirit-led methodology) as we race towards that future? Please know that there is also the danger mentioned by the professor Walter Kotschnigof years ago of “being so open minded that your brain falls out” that I would love to tackle in a future post as the Lord leads. With that being said, the greater issue I observe in our ranks today is an atrophy of our theology that often thinks it is closing out “heresy and compromise” where it is actually closing out the active, fresh leadership of God’s Spirit, always within the purview of Scripture, that is personal, creative, and adaptive.

I, as a pastor who has no axe to grind and would even skew towards being labeled by many as a “conservative” and “traditionalist” in form, recently came across a perfect illustration of this perpetual struggle of getting stuck from my home state of Ohio…specifically Milan, most known for being the birthplace and childhood home of Thomas Edison. What’s ironic is that the same zip code that birthed the inventor of some of the world’s most innovative and enduring inventions got quagmired itself in the status quo of being an only-and-forever a “canal town”:

Inevitably, the conflict (between canals and railroads) came home to Milan. In 1848, the Cleveland and Ohio Railroad sought right of way through the town. The Milan Canal Company rejected the appeal outright. Local farmers refused to accept the newfangled railroad. Engine-stack sparks would burn grasses in their fields; the shrill whistles scared the livestock, they said; smoke and soot sullied everything; poorly maintained tracks of uneven grade resulted in fatal wrecks-the protests went on and on. And so the railroad rerouted through the neighboring town of Norwalk, four miles to the south, bypassing the proud, independent citizens of Milan…The even more grandiose invasion of the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad subsequently cut right across the town of Abbott’s Bridge, Milan’s northern neighbor, with a gigantic trestle requiring one million feet of lumber to construct.

Milan’s SHORTSIGHTED, LOCAL PRIDE was its swift undoing. As the inexorable railroads simply forged on-they could destroy as well as build-the town precipitously lost commercial viability as a hub for trade. Numbers tell the story: In 1847, Milan’s banner year as a hub for trade, 917,800 bushels of wheat were shipped through its bursting warehouses. With the railroad completed, the amount plummeted by three-quarters, to 258,778 bushels. Grain terminals went up in other towns on the railroad lines; wagon roads with their once glorious Conestoga parade leading to Milan were not diverted to markets nearer the source of agricultural production. Samuel Edison (Thomas Edison’s father) could read the writing on the wall. It was time for the Edisons to pick up and move…

Here are a few intentional ways of positioning our most dominant thoughts to avoid being bypassed by a world that has not moved on from its need/desire for God but our far-too-one-era-specific presentation of Him.

Recognize that your sincerely-motivated “sticking by the stuff” could be an indication of not greater spiritual fidelity but, by God’s standard, greater immaturity.

I am in no way questioning the sincerity of a church leader who refuses to go along to get along…a noble and commendable stance in one sense that can also be misguided and actually reveal an underdeveloped discernment. According to Romans 14-15, the weaker brother is the one who is described as literally OVER-scrupulous. Take an honest read of the Paul’s chapter like you are sitting on an island without the deeply resonate voices of your upbringing, seminary, or fellowship circles drowning out God’s. Notice this well-intended but hung up on lessor issues is not possessed by the stronger but the weaker. The funny thing is the weaker brother typically thinks internally he is “more mature” and “more orthodox” when nothing could be less true from God’s perspective…and the Apostle Paul’s by the way. The other typical move of the weaker brother is to hold everyone hostage to the tyranny of his subjectively scrupulous sensibilities…which is especially hindering to God’s Spirit when we as leaders get between Him and His people. This flawed train of thought is not just internally generated; it is also often imposed by others above us on the “food chain” of ministerial influence. David Allen put it this way, ““I know people who like THEIR conscience to be MY guide.” Ultimately our conscience, by itself or with only human influence, moves us away from God not towards Him. It is only with God’s Spirit that we can land where God Himself lands on a given issue or dynamic. (If you want a great book on this front, check out Andrew David Naselli’s Conscience What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ.)

Learn to keep our pivot foot firmly planted in your God-given, irrevocable values while valuing the perpetual art of pivoting.

This pivoting is not required just during world-wide pandemic moments fo our recent past but every day of our leadership. Carey Nieuwhof has, for several years now, be preaching what he calls the ten year theory: “Most of us have about a decade of optimal leadership in us before we need to reinvent, reimagine or make a significant change.” So how do we keep our pivot foot while regularly pivoting? John Anderson, of Pinecrest Baptist Church in McDonough, Georgia, helps us with an example of how he is navigating this tension practically: “I desire to fellowship widely but maintain our distinction as a church and ministry. This new statement is being incorporated into our New Members Curriculum: Christian Fellowship requires gospel alignment. Covenant Membership requires doctrinal alignment. Church Leadership requires philosophical alignment.” So grounded and yet so adaptable!

Below is a screen grab from a video posted by some touring the dilapidated remains of Akron Baptist Temple, also not too far from my Ohio home and touted as the largest church of its day in America under the innovative leadership of Dr. Charles Billington. Note the now-antiquated VHS tapes strewn across the floor that has since begun the sad stage of being demolished as of March of 2024. There are many other factors inside/outside of the control of this once-thriving church. But any church that gets ultimately stuck on one “VHS” method of serving up and out the Gospel will inevitably be described like the current Akron Mayor’s assessment, “The Akron Baptist Temple was a cornerstone of the city’s faith community and a historically significant structure. The last few years, however, it has become a significant blight on this community.” The heart behind this post is not to criticize my brothers in Christ who are holding to their conservative traditions and preferences; it is simply to help you preemptively avoid a potentially similar picture/final chapter for your ministry! I purposely am avoiding mentioning any specific changes “that you have to make” (theological interpretations, worship styles, polity structure, Bible translations, etc.) not out of fear or passive aggressiveness but in order to give room for God’s liberating Spirit (2 Co. 3:17-18) to make the needed applications for your respective areas of influence.

Be humble enough to admit that much of our reluctance to change is actually a lazy lane to consolidate and maintain control.

Nieuwhof chimes in again, “Culture moves on with alarming disregard for how you set up your organization last year or last decade. That’s why you must lead with vision, not control.” May we never be numbered among the leaders who demonize others and other ways of doing things not forbidden by God’s Word to cling to our position of power…because the exact opposite effect will inevitably occur. Sadly, it is often not the preferences of the leader but the preferences of their followers that set the tone for decisions/direction instead of the desperate needs of this lost world. Tod Bol asserts, ““To build a church for the people we love who do not know the God that we love means messing with the church people have loved a long time.” You will never lead significant and courageous change that is of God if you wait until you have absolute consensus…that goes for holding God’s ground as well as abandoning man’s preferred ground!

Admit where our local bias is limiting what is “right” or “appropriate” for the broader body of Christ not just abroad but at home.

A filter that I am trying to regularly apply to my parenting, counseling, and pastoring is this: Could my “gospel” be effectively preached anywhere to anyone at any period in human history. If not, I am likely allowing my western culture or overreaction to this postmodern world set my convictions more than THE transcendent-over-it-all Head Jesus. I am not saying that we avoid contextualizing our presentation of the Gospel, but this contextualization must never get inhibited/distorted by our original context alone. Tim Keller summarizes it well on this front, “Yes, there must be one gospel, yet there are clearly different forms (that aren’t invalid but actually biblical) in which that one gospel can be expressed. This is the Bible’s own way of speaking of the gospel, and we should stick with it.” Could you preach what you preached from your pulpit last Sunday-especially your hot takes and “I just need to get something off my chest” moments-in India, Mexico, Chile, Germany? That’s the broader view of what I am inviting my sincere brothers in Christ to consider? ( You are welcome to regularly ask me the same question when you feel it is required.) Have you noticed that hyper-separatists tend to struggle in the following areas: 1) Allow egos to grow unchecked; 2) Struggle to collaborate with those who are different on non-essentials; 3) Possess a culture that is non-transferable to other cultures? May the Lord protect you and me from these Gospel-diluting tendencies!

Let the objective numbers not our emotional preferences/evaluations tell the story of how what we lead is actually trending.

One of the most interesting things that happened when our family of history nerds first visited Milan a few years ago was a preening peacock that randomly appeared in front of Thomas Edison’s birthplace (I have a picture of it with my wife to prove it but can’t seem to find it). Doesn’t that perfectly embody how many process a declining church-by continuing to project success and and vitality when nothing could be further from the truth? Here is a great podcast on letting our instruments, not our emotions guide our adjustments by Craig Groeschel on “Leading with Agility: How to Correct Quickly.” Study after study reveal that an organization’s ability to discern empirical data on how it is trending decreases proportionately as it become more unhealthy…may ours be the exception with the Lord’s help! Far too many of us are in maintenance mode where we need to be in growth mode-not so much in numbers but in culture…hence why the “Conestoga wagons” are being diverted to not just other places in the late 1800’s but where God’s Word is producing fruit in the 2020’s.

Admit that the promising, emerging leaders that are leaving your oversight/ministry are likely doing so less because they are “unfaithful to the doctrine of God’s Word” and more so because you and your culture are not open to God’s Spirit refreshing and expanding your vision to reach the world…and, in the process, INSPIRE AND ENGAGE THEM.

I must admit, brethren, that I have been guilty of getting this one wrong in more ways than I can include in this post. All I will say is that there will be some young adults that I love dearly who will read this post and know God is growing me beyond where they unfortunately knew me in the past…to each of you, I am sorry if I came off as judgy or dismissive of where the Lord was genuinely stirring in you. In a general sense, could it be that many of the young people leaving our “Christian” homes and “faithful-to-God” churches are not moving away from but towards Christ and God? (I don’t want my sons, pictured below a few summers ago in front of Edison’s first home in Milan, to have to separate from a small-minded father to faithfully and effectively serve their generation with the “faith once delivered to the saints” not just what is my generation’s way of doing it/not doing it!) As Chris Teis recently put it, “It’s not a sin to deviate from tradition. It’s a sin to deviate from the truth. When tradition is placed on the same level as truth or they are treated interchangeably there will be a lot of confusion and misinformed consciences in regard to truth. Tradition can be a wonderful thing in culture and community, but a terrible thing when it causes us to lose sight of truth and unity.” Getting tradition and truth confused hurts no one more than the next generation on multiple fronts.

My sons in Milan, OH Summer 2021

Admit where it is actually fear of man and not fear of God that keeps us in protective mode of what we all know, if we are fully honest before God’s Word and Spirit alone, are preferences at best.

Our “sticking by the stuff” does not alway possess as noble of motives as we pretend. Ryan Thompson, of Liberty Baptist in Newport Beach, California, recently posted, “I heard a pastor say that his entire ministry changed when he asked himself, ‘How would I lead our church if all I cared about was pleasing God and reaching the lost in our city and I wasn’t worried what preacher friends would think?’ That question hit me at my core.” I choose to join the many Ryan’s of gospel ministry in focusing upon those first two priorities even, if necessary, at the expense of the latter. Your ministry obviously doesn’t have to look exactly like Ryan’s or mine, but will you catch and choose the spirit of his post? Don’t enable, with your support, those who advance themselves, platforms, and institutions at the expense of others’ so-called “compromise” that is likely just different and contextualized by God’s direct leadership…what a novel idea!

And the last one is the most tough: Repent of where your relationship with God is really an inflexible relationship with a certain type of people or form of worship/service/camp that claim far too exclusive of an association with God.

Paris Reidhead bluntly writes, “Most people do not have fellowship with God; they have fellowship with each other about God.” Wow, that hurts a bit but is far too true. If God is truly immutable and transcendent, then He cannot be bound to one generation, culture, or set of even religious traditions…those who truly know Him, through His revelation on His terms alone, know that and lead in light of that. The only way to let God have His way in and through us requires following the leadership of His Word alone. H.B. Charles Jr. writes, “The Word of God is to be the final authority in local church ministry – not pastoral vision, congregational tradition, statistical goals, ministry programs, or attendee preferences. The church is not a business, pastors are not executives, and ministry is not franchise-building.” That last “not” is especially important; far too many church powerbrokers in our day want to make you their latest franchise. For the sake of your own family and local church members, don’t go along with these thinly-veiled at best ambitions.

So my question to you is how close is everything/everyone you lead living to Milan, not in a literally geographical sense but in a philosophical one? Our God is all for small towns including Milan, Ohio and my little home town of Butler in the same state but not small-mindedness. He yearns to extend His grace and glory to all who will receive His Son Jesus…most of which live outside of your immediate and preferred context. It truly is your choice, but that choice has epic implications for everything and everyone that will outlive you and ultimately inhabit a fixed-in-eternity destination. I challenge you to read Revelation 5 and 7 and let God soften your heart and expand your vision to not just the size but the range/diversity of the redeemed throng around the throne of the Lamb! Will you join me in leading the changes necessary out of our comfort-posing-as-convictions zone of personal preference in our homes, churches, and world that help us merge with what God is yearning to do not just yesterday and today but in our perpetual tomorrows?

As the leader of a growing-by-God’s-grace local church and counseling ministry, I have plenty on my plate but just had to write this post. Truly, as the Lord is my witness, this post is in the spirit of Paul’s loving, gospel-defending challenge to Peter and those under his influence not in Milan but in Antioch who “walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel” with their inconsistent and artificial separation (Ga. 2:11-14). If my dearest ministry friends, new or old alike, choose to start/continue with me in this necessary journey, simply message me something to the effect of “Moving Out of Milan” through my various online channels and I will pray for you.

Quote from Edison, Edmond Morris, p. 21.

Photo by Jake Leonard on Unsplash