Masaka, Uganda

There will be no posts on my main blog for a couple of weeks now. I'm leaving today for another trip to Uganda. I'll be spending some time with our adopted children there, and attending to some business related to them. I'll also be teaching at a conference in Masaka, Uganda. If you'd like to know more about Masaka - read on.

Masaka is a town of about 70,000 people situated in Uganda about 80 miles south of the capital city, Kampala. It is about 30miles south of the Equator.

Masaka Town is the regional capital for the 4 districts of Masaka, Rakai, Sembabule and Kalangala. It’s population is about 70,000 and most of them are children.

This region has been the worst hit area in the whole of Uganda by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For a long time it was the area with the highest percentage of sufferers in Uganda.

In addition the district of Masaka suffered more than any other during the 1979 Civil War to remove Iddi Amin from the presidency of Uganda and again in the second Civil War to remove president Milton Obote from power (1985/86). The result of all this is that many bread winners have died leaving many orphans.

It is said that hopelessness and apathy rule many of the people in Masaka. But there are now sure signs of development. Roads are being repaired and new buildings are springing up. Religiously, there are about 30 independent Christian churches in Masaka, together with Church of Uganda an off-shoot of the Church of England and the Episcopal church in America) and Roman Catholic churches.

Restored Pastor?

I've talked before about the dilemma of "fallen pastors" and the fact that their calling from God to lead in ministry is not revocable. This is true because if God's purpose in them truly was ministry in the first place --- then their sin would not change their purpose. So, how do you know if the someone is ready to re-engage as a pastor or ministry leader?

First of all, we must recognize that the goal of fallen individuals is not to get them well enough so that they can get on with the real business of the church. They are the real business of the church. But as someone's brokenness heals, his or her potential for leadership rises.

Knowing when a broken person is ready to lead can be difficult. Here are five (5) things I look for though. They are important measures of when someone is ready.

1. Are they honest with themselves? I can work with broken people who realize that they are broken. People who can't admit their sin though, make me nervous. To be honest, I am flat out convinced that God-honoring leaders must be adept at owning their brokenness.

2. Are they in community? If you're going to help people, you have to be in relationship with them. Otherwise you'll never convince them that you're just an ordinary guy working for an extraordinary God. Community is essential to biblical leadership. If a person can't build deep friendships that include accountability, he or she is not ready to lead in the church.

3. Are they willing to labor in obscurity? In the context of servant leadership, I don't think a person is ready to lead until he or she is willing to disappear. Are they willing to find their ministry fulfillment in unseen roles? Or are they only willing to be on stage in the spotlight. I once talked to a pastor about whether he was called to be the senior preacher - or the senior shepherd. There is an important difference. Few churches would have much use for a senior preacher.

4. Are they flexible? Leaders who are defensive, make excuses and lay blame on others make me nervous. Servant leaders never get to have things their own way, or even one specific way. They must accept what's around the next curve with as much grace as if they'd expected it all along. If they can't, they aren't ready to lead - because they are still trying to manage things themselves. Godly leaders are willing to do things God's way. Unfortunately, God is never very good about sharing much of the future with His chosen leaders!

5. Are they faithful in little? Jesus said, "If you've been faithful in little, then you will be made master of much." Readiness to lead in ministry is a process. It begins months or even years earlier when people are asked to do something little. Once they've been found faithful doing that, they are ready to move on to something more demanding. Eagerness to take on the invisible tasks is a sure sign of a ready leader.

If you're in ministry leadership, you don't have to fall to meet these qualifications. In fact, it would be darned good if you would meet them now! But if you have burned out in ministry leadership, get on your knees before God, humble yourself with someone who is trustworthy, and get to work on these five things. Once you master them and are known by them, God's call in your life, His anointing on you for ministry and your ordination as a leader are indeed irrevocable!

Fried Pastors

In my ministry work, I often receive referrals from churches and related organizations to assist individuals who are lovingly described as “fried pastors.” They are pastors, ministering on the front lines – who somehow get to the “crispy critter” stage and need help. One church refers to them as “fallen pastors.” Often they have fallen, into sin, into some other failure. At times, it seems that the frying of these pastors would disqualify them and move them out of ministry. Often it does. They go sell insurance or work in call centers. Satan wins.

The statistics are staggering. Pastors leave the ministry in massive numbers every month. Seminaries crank them out. Ministry chews them up and spits them out. Satan wins. Working with guys like this, I’ve become a student of this so-called fallen state of pastors. I want to understand what’s really true here. Does Satan have to win, every time? Isn’t the divine calling from God to ministry irrevocable? (Yes, it is.) So what should we make of “fried pastors” and their ministry failures?

I recently read a book that provided a glimpse of what one of those pastors described as a revelation from God Himself. Look at what he had to say.

Because I’d been operating in my own strength for months, I was physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. My spiritual eyesight had grown dim and my hearing dull. Pride had sprung up in my heart like a choking weed. Instead of obeying God’s voice, I reasoned with human logic and based my decisions on my own wisdom. … I wasn’t waiting on the Lord with a pure heart. This was the root of my failure. I was tired, overworked and backslidden in my heart.

Ministry had become an idol. Working for God had taken the place of loving God. I hid my condition from those who prayed for me and carried on in my own strength. …. I was still getting up every morning at five o’clock and praying with other church leaders, and I was still reading my Bible every day, but I was doing these things out of obligation and habit, and not from a willing heart flowing from my relationship with Jesus.

If you are a servant of the Lord, let me encourage you to please, please, humbly watch that you don’t slip into the same error I did. The Lord God jealously desires us for himself. He is the lover of our souls. If we ever put anything before our relationship with Jesus – even our work for Jesus – then we will be ensnared. If you are burned out, stop! Rest! Your lamp needs a constant filling of the Lord’s oil or your light will be snuffed out. Remember that, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it … Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you, he rises to show compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are those who wait for him.” – Isaiah 30:15, 18

So there you have it. As I read these words I realize that this pastor has hit the nail on the head. I wonder what it would take for all of the other “fried pastors” to see themselves in his story. My prayer is that they will.