Northern New England District -- Superintedent Dennis Marquardt's Page

Everything about the Christmas story can be summed up in one word: “surprise!” Mary was surprised when an angel visited her and announced she was going to have a baby – impregnated supernaturally - the Messiah. Joseph was surprised when Mary told him that her pregnancy was because of God’s doing, not some man. Joseph was later surprised in a dream by an angel who told him it was all true; he didn’t believe Mary at first! The Roman Empire was surprised to hear of a “king of kings” born among them … Herod thought no one could rival him. The Magi were surprised to see a star in the heaven’s announcing Christ’s birth, and they marveled at it! The shepherds were certainly surprised, they were “sore afraid” when the angels showed up and made the announcement. In Jewish custom angels showing up at night usually meant a sign of disaster, hence their great fear. When the shepherds left Mary after seeing Jesus and after spreading the word around, the Bible says that all those who heard them were “amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” They were all surprised! Elizabeth, who was Mary’s relative, was “surprised” when Mary came and visited her, and so was the baby in Elizabeth’s womb. “The baby leaped in her womb” upon the greeting of Mary!

Interestingly enough, there were two people at the time who were NOT surprised! Their names are recorded in Luke’s gospel as Simeon and Anna. Simeon was an old man, described simply as a righteous and devout man. He had been waiting for many years for the promised Messiah to come, and the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen Christ born. So, he was waiting … thus no surprise for him! He was already very old and knew that it had to happen any day now. He was living in expectation. So was woman named Anna. She is described as a prophetess, very old, a widow, who never left the temple … worshipping God night and day by fasting and prayer. She walked right up to Mary and Joseph when they entered the temple, for it is recorded like this: “Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38) She had no problem telling everyone that this baby Jesus was NO surprise! He was the answer to all those who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. This implies that there were people looking for Jesus’ coming! Some people expected Messiah’s coming. For them God’s plan was no surprise!

How about today? We keep hearing that Christ is coming again, yet how many will be surprised when it really happens? (Notice I did not say “if it happens.”) But how many of us are REALLY expecting it? How different would our actions be today if we thought Jesus was coming tonight? Who would we be sure to call or visit before Jesus showed up? What issues would we take care of or straighten out before the moment came for Jesus’ coming? If none of these statements moves us to think differently or act differently then maybe we will be surprised!

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP!

By Dennis Marquardt

In the business world you cannot spend capital you don’t have, at least not without serious consequences. In the ministry this is also true. So often pastors don’t understand authority and leadership. They move into a new church and immediately begin to exercise authority and then wonder why they get a backlash of anger and resentment to their leadership. You cannot lead people in the ministry that you have not EARNED their respect and trust first. This is the capital you have to “earn” before you can “spend” it.

Pastoral ministry is a lot like a bank account. When you first open an account your balance is almost $0. You haven’t made any real deposits yet so any attempt to spend will prove to be empty or bankrupt. As time goes by, with each demonstration of servanthood and trustworthiness as a leader you make more and more deposits into your account. As your account builds you can draw on it as needed. You cannot spend more than you have. If your account is still fairly low and you have to spend a large amount of your capital on a single moment you might find yourself bankrupt. This is by the way why ministers who have stayed a very long time in one place have such powerful ministries. They have built up huge bank accounts by their long proven record of sacrifices, trust, and selflessness. They can draw on their capital in large measures and get things done because of their large account. BUT … it takes the RIGHT kinds of investments over time to build up this kind of capital to have this kind of power or authority.

Jesus taught that these are the right kind of “investments” to make in one’s leadership account: “selfless love, servant-hood example, laying down one’s own life for the sheep, feeding, listening, caring, valuing others over self, not lording over others, sacrificial giving, not demanding one’s own way, honesty, trustworthy, etc.” When a leader exhibits these qualities his authority bank account builds quickly, and when he needs to draw on the capital to exercise authority it will be there. New deposits will quickly replace that capital and he/she will continue to build up that account. However, when a pastor demands his own way, lords over others, fails to engender trust in his leadership by being honest or gives the impression of manipulating events toward his own plans he fails to have any capital to work with. This type of pastor resorts to exercising authority based on position or title, “I’m the pastor” rather than authority garnered from respect. By the way, this applies to all areas of leadership, not just pastors.

Real power to lead comes gradually, it does not come instantly. This is why it is such a mistake when a leader tries to make major changes at first, they have not yet been at a place long enough to have “earned” capital for their bank accounts. They may spend capital before they have actually gotten it and the results can be tragic. Even if they get by their early decisions and make the major changes they may have bankrupted their accounts for some time to come and they will find the next several years difficult at best. They won’t be trusted and may find a congregation that refuses to follow their leadership. By the way, this is why many ministers never make it past a few years at any one place. They become so frustrated and realize that things aren’t going to change where they are and so they move on, often repeating this same process at each new church they go to.

The first couple of years at a new place of ministry should be devoted to one thing, proving the minister. It is interesting that when Paul wrote to a young pastor named Timothy about defending his ministry he did not exhort Timothy to prove his calling by the Apostolic laying on of hands, or by Paul’s letter of confirmation on him, but by Timothy’s behavior. 1 Tim 4:12 “Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” Timothy would prove his qualification by his behavior, not his credentials!

The Senior pastor of my home church gave me good advice when I left for Bible college many years ago, he said, “Dennis, God builds a man before he builds a man’s ministry,” and I’ve never forgotten those words. Build capital before you spend it!

Superintendent's Corner