As Your New Pastor…
This past Sunday I preached my first sermon in London as lead pastor for Reality Church London. In that sermon I shared my greatest hope for my new role, as well as for our church family: that I would be a pastor, that we would be a church, helping people to see Jesus Christ.
There are a few other ideas I wanted to share that didn’t make their way into the sermon. And so: Reality Church London, as your new pastor…
I need the grace of Jesus, too. As your new pastor, what I need more than anything is to see and experience Jesus myself. In fact, more than compelling preaching or wise leadership, the best gift I can give you is my own closeness to Jesus. The 19th century Scottish pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne once remarked that what his church needed from him most was his own personal holiness. What is holiness if not closeness to Jesus?
My commitment to you is to do my best, every Sunday and throughout each week, to help you encounter Jesus in the pages of Scripture and through our church community. Jesus is the ultimate leader of our church, Jesus is the true foundation of our church. To borrow the words of John the Baptist: Jesus must increase, and I must decrease.
But please know that even as I do my best to help you see Jesus, I also need your prayers and your encouragement to see and experience the grace of Jesus myself. I’ll tell you right now: there will be moments in which I don’t lead you as well, or preach as well, or care for you as well as I should. Those will be painful moments. If I build my identity on being a good pastor, I’ll be crushed under the weight of those burdens. But if I build my identity on the grace of Jesus, then I can confess and repent, rejoice in grace, and try again to love and serve you well.
Not long after I was ordained as a pastor I received a note from a much wiser, experienced pastor. I’ve had this note close by ever since:
When Peter saw the glory of Jesus he asked him to go away. He knew that his vision of Jesus was much too small — as is yours — as is mine. Jesus knew this too. But notice — Jesus did not leave. Nor will he leave you. He forgives you and always will. Even more amazing, he will use you despite the fact that you will get things badly wrong lots of times — and despite the fact that you will get something wrong every time. For this is the glory of Jesus.
Even on my very best days, I’ll get something wrong. My words could be clearer. My motivations could be purer. My care could be more focused. I will always need grace, and it’s precisely in those moments of my weakness that the strength of Christ’s grace is made perfect. It’ll be my aim to live out the grace I proclaim to you each Sunday.
I am pressing on, but patiently. The pandemic has interrupted everyone’s routines, and for many people has changed short- and long-term plans. Certainly, that has been the case for me and for our church as we’ve navigated this lead pastor transition through the pandemic. Let me articulate one specific way the pandemic is impacting me.
My strongest instinct is to want to spend time with and get to know you, the members of our congregation. I want to meet for coffee or take walks or chat after church on Sunday and begin getting to know you and your story. But I can’t! At least not in-person, anyway. It’s a strange thing to be a new pastor and to feel mostly like my interactions with you are limited to the possibilities of Zoom.
So I’ve had to remind myself: be patient. The pandemic and lockdown are lasting longer than I want, but they won’t last forever. Whatever other changes have come into our world, what I believe won’t change is the fact that as people we long for in-person connection and interaction. Sure, we might work from home more in the future than we did a year ago. But for most of us, seeing someone face-to-face, sitting down with someone for coffee or tea will always be much preferable than anything Zoom offers.
Till that day comes, let’s love our neighbors by honoring the guidance and requirements of our government leaders. And as a church, please join me in asking God to help us be patient but to not grow complacent. Even while we look forward to a return to normalcy, there is still incredibly important work God has given us to do right now in helping our friends, our neighbors, and our families know Jesus Christ. Let’s press on together, patiently.
Michelle, Esmé, and I are grateful for your prayers as we begin this new season of life and ministry. With hope and joy, we look forward to what God will do. Onward we go!
