LaRosa Johnson {dot} com

Tonight while I was eating dinner with my family, I had a thought. I started to have a thought about the future and possibilities that may come my way. In particular, I was thinking about the very real chance that I may be called by the Lord to pastor a church in another city or state. With that, I started to think about the very real possibility that the church may not be in a position to support me financially; what would I do? I immediately looked at my current job and wondered about the chances for me to maintain full-time (or part-time?) employment with WORDsearch Corp. working remotely while I pastor a church elsewhere. How would WORDsearch react if that were ever to become a reality? The thought isn’t so much about my job per se, because I know the Lord will provide regardless; but, I must admit that I love my job and what I do and would ever hate to leave it.

Anyway, the thought came to mind as I was looking through some old photos (back in my skinny days) of when Robin & I first met and when we were in our house in Jacksonville, NC. It brought back some nice memories and the very real thought of how much I enjoyed living there. Then I thought about when I found out about Jacksonville Bible Church a couple months ago, and wonder about the probability of God presenting me with a pastorate at that church. That would be wild and I wouldn’t put it past God, and that’s part of what made me think about working remotely. Why? Because I remember what the job market was like when I left, and I wouldn’t want to change jobs if it was a church that couldn’t pay me to be their pastor.

Another reason that all of this comes to mind is that I think about my own pastor and how he worked the night shift at the sheriff’s department during his first few years of pastoring our church until they finally came to the decision that they wanted him to solely focus on being a pastor & dedicating himself to studying the Word. I keep that in mind for myself. It’s definitely not something I’m opposed to because I realize that I’m definitely not in this for the money and am only worried about being where God wants me to be, paid or unpaid.

In talking with my friend, Antoine, tonight, I told him that I’d even be perfectly content if all that God ever had for me was Trailblazin Ministries. I look at other people I know who are ordained and have never pastored a church or had to wait for years for that opportunity. I don’t know what God has in store, but I do know that I’m going to remain diligent and focused whatever my ministry assignment is. All of this is just speculation on my end, as I have no clue what God has in store; all I know is that I will keep my prayers centered on keeping myself in His will. Amen.

Right now, I’m up to my eyeballs in the training of my pastor-teacher gift. In the process of training my gift, I’ve been doing a lot of study and have grown quite a bit. One of the things that I’ve been really getting firm on is my understanding of the Bible and keeping a literal hermeneutic when studying Scripture. This has really been beneficial and I’m grateful for all the studies I’ve undertaken thus far.

With all of this comes the temptation to get proud and go spouting off everything I’ve learned. To a point, I think we all get that way when we learn something new; but, I think it has helped me that I’m an introvert and not a very confrontational kind of person. It’s very tempting to get into debates and heated theological discussions, but I hate arguing, so it hasn’t become an issue. I mean, a lot of times I’ll get involved in a discussion and quickly bow out when it turns into debate mode.

To get to my point, I’m glad that being a pastor-teacher doesn’t mean that I have to be someone who constantly debates over theology and doctrine. I’m glad because that’s really not who I am, and I’d rather just spend my time teaching the Bible.

One of the things I’ve really noticed in the course of my studies is how averse some people are towards certain theological views. Sadly enough, a lot of this comes from a particular branch of theology and their seeming dislike for anyone that isn’t of their camp. For instance, I was watching a youtube video last night of a pastor answering a question about the beliefs of another theological system of interpretation and he was pretty harsh in his comments, and in many areas off in his assessment of them; in many ways, his comments weren’t fair to that view and were spun in such a way to make his beliefs look superior. What’s worse, it seemed as if he even questioned the salvation of some of the proponents of this theological view.

I hope that if the time ever comes for me to have to do the same that I can be more gracious, loving, & fair in my statements. I don’t ever want to come off as a know-it-all or someone who bashes others’ theological points of view. Although I believe that I have a better hermeneutic & understanding in some areas of Scripture because of my theological background, I pray that it never comes off rude or arrogant. I want to be fair to each side when I discuss an issue, which is something I’ve come to appreciate in reading Chafer’s Systematic Theology. So, if you could, keep that as a matter of prayer, as I press on in my studies, that I would remain humble & teachable as I search & study the Bible and firm up my theological beliefs.

As I’ve been working on a series of articles for Trailblazin Ministries, there’s a thought that has remained in the back of my mind that keeps tugging at me. In many ways, I think it’s part of the reason why I’m working on this current series of articles. I don’t want to give the article away, but I do want to share that thought that’s been in my mind.

It’s pretty obvious that I frequent message boards, especially those that are a part of the Christian hip-hop community. One of the things that I’ve noticed, at least that I’ve finally started noticing, is that people listen to a lot of Bible teaching online. They are watching YouTube clips of sermons, downloading sermon podcasts & listening to them, or purchasing them from all different kinds of ministries. I’m not going to knock that because it’s a great thing and I do it myself; I’m actually an advocate of taking advantage of technology in this way.

Here comes the disconnect: these preachers are typically the only ones that we ever hear about. “Did you check out this latest Paul Washer clip?!” “Have you heard that Mark Driscoll sermon?” “Man, that MacArthur sermon was on point!” And the comments go on. I’m glad that these people are getting fed by these ministries and great men of God; but, how often do they talk about the teaching that they’re getting from their local church & pastor? I don’t hear enough about that. I’d love to read and hear about what people are getting fed from their own pastor, instead of someone they’re simply listening to online. I think this should especially be the case if they’re at a church where people can get access to the teachings online to share it with others. Personally, I love sharing what I’m learning at my local church and would love it if other people took the opportunity to listen from time to time.

I can’t help but wonder if some of this is a form of “sanctified idol/star worship.” Because our pastors aren’t preaching to thousands a week, we think lesser of them, and would rather talk about the big name preachers that everyone knows about & follows. Of course, I can’t judge people’s motives & intents, nor do I want to; all I’m saying is that I’d like to see more balance and people giving their own pastors some love, instead of always talking about the “big names.”