Pastors Stand on the Bridge 3

The call to be a pastor in the post-Christianized West is a call to stand on a bridge between two worlds.

The great need of the hour is to know the present, see the potential, and call church planters to move to a possible future.

The great need of the hour is to equip such teams to cross from our world and enter into that other world, one in which you and I are unable to enter due to our traditions, educations, giftings, and callings. And this is not necessarily a bad thing. It is one of the means by which the four billion will be reached.

The great need of the hour is for pastors to take a stand on the bridge and call their church members to this other world to multiply disciples and churches–across the globe and across the street among the upgs. The great need of the hour is not for them to do this in our world (where the shadow of the steeple is far and wide), for if they do they have not crossed the bridge.

Such pastors do not stand on the bridge because they are lazy or fearful (standing on the bridge is hard work), but because they are called. They know that standing on the bridge means that those who can’t, teach. And they are okay with this.

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David Garrison was my guest on last Friday’s episode of Strike the Match. Check out our conversation about the amazing work of the Spirit in the Muslim world and subscribe at iTunes or through RSS.