NEW ORLEANS (BP)–Pastors and churches must learn to focus on their future and not their past if they are to have God-honoring ministries, Mississippi pastor Tony Lambert said in early November during a lecture series at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Too many ministers and church members, Lambert said, are “haunted” by the “Ghost of Ministry Past” — that is, a focus on the past that harms a ministry’s future.
“It’s not only in our churches and our ministries. It’s in our personal lives,” said Lambert who serves as pastor of Crossgates Baptist Church in Brandon, Miss., and spoke three times Nov. 7-9 during the seminary’s Layne Lecture Series, which brings notable speakers to the seminary each year to address issues of church leadership.
Lambert shared examples of some past-focused church members from his own ministry, reading portions of letters he recently received from some of them. In each case, the person referred to past times as the best times.
“It has never been God’s will for ministry to ever become a snapshot,” he said. “No, God wants it to be a continuing, streaming video.”
The Ghost of Ministry Past, Lambert said, creates spiritual immaturity in church members and leads to a superstar mentality in ministers.
During his second lecture Lambert spoke about “hardships” in the lives of believers. Sometimes, he said, those hardships are of God.
“I believe it’s true that God allows fire in our lives to burn away that which does not look like Christ,” he said. “I believe he uses it as a heavenly sandpaper in our lives.”
Looking to 2 Corinthians 12, Lambert examined Paul’s response to his “thorn in the flesh” to find reasons why God sometimes sends hardships.
“Could it be that God allows thorns in our flesh because, whether we’re aware of it or not, our heads are getting a little too big?” Lambert asked. “God loves us enough to take a little air out.”
Other reasons Lambert mentioned for God’s refining fire are to drive his people to Himself, to display His grace, to prove His calling on the minister and to display His power in a time of weakness. In each case of Paul’s life, God was “rearranging the furniture” in order for Paul to be a better minister of God, he said.
In his final lecture Lambert offered a survey of 1 and 2 Samuel and looked at different ways David modeled proper respect for leadership. Leaders, Lambert said, must be a positive example for others. Lambert pointed to 1 Samuel 26:9, where David had an easy opportunity to kill Saul yet chose not to harm him.
“David lived a life that had a respect for God’s anointed,” Lambert said.
Time and again, Lambert said, David showed respect for Saul, had patience for the hurting, forgave those who deserted him, modeled humbleness and recognized others for their own greatness. In that way, David taught his own followers how they should respond to his leadership.
“If the leader is not leading by example, then, I’m telling you, there’s going to be trouble all through the organization, whatever it is,” he said.
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Based on reporting by Michael McCormack
