Pastor of the Universe

Pastors like power. It would be absurd to pretend that pastors are immune to the allure of power. We are not. In the name of “influence” and “expanding the Kingdom”, some pastors say yes to interviews they shouldn’t have, accept roles they cannot truly fill, and answer complex issues with a certainty that no human possesses. Why? I suspect it’s because we want to be bigger than we are.

It’s this subtle monster, hidden in the caverns of a pastor’s heart, that Rob Stennett addresses so well in his satirical The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher. It’s the story of a realtor in Denver who gives his business a second life thanks to the Christian Business Directory. Even though Ryan is not a Christian, he poses as one after discovering that Christians tend to give their business to other Christians without much due diligence. Eventually, Ryan realizes that his people skills and winsome charm would make him a great senior pastor. Besides, pastors are loved by the people they seem to help. So, Ryan and his wife Katherine—who is a wonderfully complex character—move to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to plant a church. With fake credentials and a winning church growth plan, the church thrives. Fisher’s rise to becoming the America’s Most Loved Pastor is unlikely as it is unnerving.

Stennett’s prose is intentionally clumsy at points, giving the story all the charm and awkwardness of an average suburban couple who makes the move to rural America. Full of impossibly long sentences and run-away thoughts, a reader will feel like he’s listening more than learning. There were definitely sections where I laughed out loud.

But the humor and the quirky narrative style are disarming. The book, at its heart, is a cautionary tale. It warns of what can happen when a person stops being a carrier of God’s presence and message and begins to become a God-like figure. In the book’s most poignant scene, Ryan, countering his wife’s rebuke that he is trying to play God and help people with problems only God can solve, retorts:

“I’m better than God. God can’t help them…I can change their lives.”

Stennett holds the reader’s hand at just the right moment, helping them see the point:

“At that moment Ryan seemed less human than Katherine had ever seen him. His face was hollow and his eyes were clear. The last few months had stretched his soul so thin that it looked as if it were paper dipped in bacon grease. It was suddenly clear to Katherine. The problem wasn’t that he didn’t believe in God. The problem was that he believed he was God.” (Stennett, pg. 281, emphasis mine)

I must confess that the latter portions of the book were eerily familiar. Because I know Rob, I know his intent was not to defame or be opportunistic. In fact, the bulk of the book was written before the events at our church unfolded almost two years ago. But his familiarity with the context only helps his message. Rob nails church life, church growth techniques, challenges and strategies with the kind of clarity and precision that only comes from being a pastor’s kid and from having worked in a large church. If you can pretend that “any resemblance to real people is incidental and unintentional”, you can get to the heart of this book: we are too easily in love with power. 

In a sense, the temptation to have power to be God-like was the first temptation in the Garden of Eden. Eat this fruit and you will be like God. It was the last temptation offered to Jesus. Bow down to me and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world. Adam and Eve chose the path of power in the hopes of being God-like; Jesus showed us that to be truly God-like you must choose the path of service and humility.

So, what then? Should a pastor turn down media interviews or decline the opportunity to grow or become influential? There is no easy answer to this. But that is the point. Its seems like up until this point, every pastor that gets a chance has answered these questions all too easily, by simply saying “Yes”. I heard an interviewer ask Rob Bell why he hadn’t planted more satellite locations for his church. With over 40,000 downloads each week of his sermons and “only” 10,000 attending, there was certainly room for him to open up campuses all over the country. His reply was honest and beautiful and rare. He said that for him, that reeked a little of empire-building.

If we were honest with ourselves, with our ambitions, with our pride, with our desire for “success” as the world defines success—as more and more and more—then we would be slower to answer with a "Yes". Maybe once in a while, we would say, “No” to a satellite campus or to an interview or to anything that for us might be an empire-building endeavor. If we become more suspicious of our thirst for power and more willing to serve and sacrifice, we just might see a generation of pastors that are truly serving the Body of Christ. And this could be the lasting contribution of The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher.

Comments

[David Thomas LaChance]

Great! As a worship leader I face the same temptations. (Lucifer was the worship leader and he was the first to fall; I never let that thought go too far) But if I truly trust God and I know that I am in His will then there is no such thing as self-promotion. In fact, I'm learning it's just the opposite; God opens doors through others promoting us. (See Joseph)

One of the largest problems in the American church today is that there are too many leaders and not enough servants, as you pointed out in your article in Worship Leader. It's not "servant leadership" it's "servant servantship". Christ said that the greatest love is to lay down your life for your friends. We are wrong to picture literal death, that's too easy, to lay down all of our dreams, ambitions, desires to serve God's local church, our neighbors... is laying down our lives. I agree, too many servants of God want their cake and eat it too. There's a reason God delights in a broken and contrite spirit.

It's the Joseph principle. Be faithful where you are, with no selfish ambition... just Kingdom mindedness and God gives the increase. If Joseph had only been seeking promotion for his own glory he would have sinned with Potophar's wife.

I asked Matt Redman if there is any room for self-promotion as a worship leader and he answered, "No". He said, "That way you look back and know it was God." I believe the doors will be opened for increase apart from our doing... if we are in the good works that God laid out for us. If we try to open them (the doors) for the sake of our own glory (or even for good intentions) we run the risk of getting what we wish for. God knows when we're ready; just gotta trust Him... it's really a faith issue and it's really that simple. But then again, God may say to us what was said to Maxwell Smart in the movie Get Smart when he was looking for a promotion, "I'm proud of you, but I need you where you are." And we'll know if our heart is in the right place by how we respond.

P.S. Realized just the other day you co-wrote "Your Name"... brings me right into the throne room. Just purchased the multi-track; will be introducing it to my congregation soon. God bless.

[Brett G]

I'm curious as to the timing of this post being a day before theMill satellite service begins... perhaps this was written and posted as a reminder more for yourself to be always looking toward God?

[Rob Stennett]

I’d argue that Ryan was searching for significance (and even nobler pursuit on the surface) rather then power but irregardless you hit it right on the head saying it’s the “subtle monster.” This is exactly right. We see downfalls with drugs or sex or money or whatever. And when we see someone fall we say, “Thank God I don’t struggle with that” and move on. Where the real problem often lies in pride at the end of the day. It's what Lewis calls the great sin. It's what causes our souls to be stretched thin as wax paper in bacon grease.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts on "The Almost True Story Of Ryan Fisher" and for your consistently interesting blog. You've tackled Obama and "The Shack". Now I'm just waiting for a Sarah Palin blog.

[Glenn Packiam]

@ david: love your thoughts. the joseph principle is a good one to live by...and you even worked in a "Get Smart" quote! :)

@ brett: the timing was not intentional, but God knows I could use more reminders to look to Him! To be honest, Aaron and I wrestled for awhile about this and have run it by several in authority over theMILL to make sure it is a Kingdom endeavor. Furthermore, the partnership with Northern Hills Church helps any one entity from laying claim to this.

@ Rob: you're a wise man. pride is the demon in all of us.

[Marcia Alverson]

One of things we as Christians should really think about is what God really considers "influential" I sometimes fear that man's idea of influence for God is measured more by success of programs, church growth, etc, when really both success AND influence are a mere by-product of a true relationship with God – but as we learn from Solomon, can become a distraction to the purpose of life/ministry. Where we get into trouble is when we begin to only dig as deep as the next opportunity to find more success, rather than returning to the anchor of our calling to a life surrendered to Christ.
It would be wise for a “pastor” to gauge how much of what is birthed by human demand/need, and what is actually birthed by the Spirit of God.
Big churches such as ours have a great opportunity to be influential through man-made options and resources, but how does God wish for us to be influential? How is he directing us? We cannot be foolish to think we are accomplishing much when the influential methods we discover are not God-breathed, even if they are really good ideas! We do not exist to attract people to our programs. We exist to bring people closer to Christ. Whatever God puts his hand on is what will truly be influential for him and His kingdom.
Thoughts to ponder for all leaders: If you think your program is successful, look deeper at the products (of people) you are producing. Are they more connected with God? Do they really practice what is being preached? If you’re just “gathering the masses” but no internal change is taking place in those gathering, there’s something missing. Then would be a good indicator that its time to re-evaluate their idea of influence.
I hate to say it, but the numbers of our youth turning away from God… now down to 4% actually being Christian, speaks loud and clear of our true “influence” on people God is calling us to touch. This is a slam to not just big churches, but all churches! Ouch!

When I read the book of Acts, I see influential leaders. I read about people that primarily had a passion for Jesus, resultantly overflowed with signs, wonders, miracles that pointed to Jesus, and subsequently saw their influence grow. People, families were saved! Many were healed, delivered, became followers of Christ by the mere testimony of those who’d been with Jesus.
The Apostle Paul said himself, "I come not with mere words, but by the power (demonstration) of the Spirit" (very paraphrased)
Bottom line is we don’t really need MORE programs or opportunities to build the Kingdom- we desperately need God’s power to empower us so that the world can truly believe and follow the One Who is worthy.

[Justin Steinhart]

Thanks Glenn for the good reminder about purpose, pride, and what happens when we start to believe more in ourselves and not in God.

[Jimmy Shaw]

Glenn, good stuff as always. It is for these reasons, and also because I really enjoyed Rob's book that I am offering it as extra credit reading for my Church Growth and Planting class that I am teaching at ORU. You can check out my review of The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher here:

http://missionalthinking.blogspot.com/2008/07/almost-true-story-of-ryan-fisher_3253.html

God bless.