“I am the true vine and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit” (I John 15:1-2).

When the Master Gardener arrives at His vineyard, everyone sits up and takes notice. What follows might be painful. The branches which accomplish nothing are about to be lopped off, and the branches which bear good fruit can expect to be pruned.

None of this is without pain.

Yesterday, I went through the cuties–those little mandarin oranges we buy in a pack of two dozen or so at the grocery–and threw out several.  We had gotten behind in eating them and one had gone bad, then was affecting (and infecting) those around it. To preserve ten, I threw out five.

In urging friends and family to eat more fruit, I remind them they should go into it knowing that sometimes they will have to throw out good fruit they allowed to spoil. It’s part of the price of keeping apples and pears, oranges and strawberries, bananas and blueberries in the house.

When I was a teenager, my dad set out several grape vines and pear trees in the small field behind our farmhouse. Even though he was a lifelong coal miner–who came from a long line of coal miners–Dad  had married into a farm family and took to the life of a farmer with zest. Dad loved the farm, enjoyed working in the field and growing things, and was dead-set on making sure his six children grew up with an appreciation for the farm life. We did.

It was puzzling the first few times Dad took his shears and cut back the vines after the grape season had ended. It looked to this kid as though he had killed them. Sure enough, next year, there they would be–green and lush and loaded with delicious grapes.

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“Prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you appear as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15)

The worst time to preach on money is when you need some, pastor. The second worst time is when the church needs some.

The best time to preach on money is all the other times.

That said, here are a number of cautions for you to consider before walking into that lions’ den to tame the monster called greed.

1) Get your own house in order. Now, it’s possible to preach on prayer while knowing you have a long way to go in that respect. You can preach on good works and witnessing even if your record is spotty. You can do so because everyone has room for improvement in these areas. But when it comes to giving/stewardship, you can know when you are doing well.

The Christian is to be a giver. That means a hefty portion of his/her income will go into the church offering (whether you call it a tithe or something else), and believers will also be generous to the poor, to the needy around them, even to their enemies (Luke 6:30-35).

So, unless you are faithful in giving to your church, kind to the beggars you meet on the street, and generous in your tips to waiters and waitresses, hold off about preaching on stewardship. You have a bit of catching up to do.

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“Beware of preaching on money.”

That’s not in the Bible, but it ought to be.

And somewhere in the Proverbs we could insert this one:

“He who preaches on money to a new congregation should expect the honeymoon to end abruptly.”

Few subjects are as fraught with danger for the unsuspecting pastor than preaching on stewardship (money, giving, tithing, contributions to the Lord’s work, greed, materialism, however you want to put it).

As a new pastor of a church that had broken ground for a $5 million sanctuary just before I arrived, I found we were running behind the budget and were facing some hard financial decisions quickly. So, I did what I had always done in previous churches with a fair amount of success: I preached on giving.

It seemed the logical thing to do.

In fairness to myself, I wasn’t harsh or demanding, legalistic or judgmental. I thought my approach was balanced and scriptural.

Almost immediately, I began receiving anonymous notes from longtime members, all saying pretty much the same: “We are not used to our pastor preaching on money all the time. Please stop.”

I got the message.

There is no use in doing something the congregation is rejecting.

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“In a multitude of counselors there is victory.” (Proverbs 11:14 and 24:6)

I said to Pastor Marion, “I’m glad to exchange notes with you like this. But you need a couple of mentors–older guys with long histories in the ministry–whom you can sit across the table from and talk about these things.”

He named two such, a seminary professor and someone else.

Good.

It’s tough knowing what to do in certain situations pastors find themselves in.  Right now, Pastor Marion is leading his church in a massive building campaign, and working night and day to minister to his growing flock.  In the five years he has been at his church, they have doubled or more in attendance. And then, this happens….

A deacon who is used to getting his way in the church calls a meeting of the key leadership. He is upset about some of the sermons Marion has been preaching, he says. Furthermore–it will not surprise you if you have ever been the target of this kind of abuse–“many others in the church feel the same way.”

He threatened Pastor Marion that steps may be taken to remove him from the pulpit.

What is a pastor to do?

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“For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” (Psalm 103:14)

So, pastor, you have been feeling inadequate for the work given you by the Lord? You feel unable to measure up to the expectations of the Lord’s people toward you? You wonder what the Lord was thinking when He called you into such a strategic ministry?

Good. Welcome to the human race.

You were not chosen by HIm and called into this sacred work because you were good enough, smart enough, mature enough, or godly enough.

You are not patient enough, focused enough, or sufficiently spiritual.

It’s not about you.

Unless you can get that through your skull and imbedded in your soul, you will be forever frustrated in this work.

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“And so, we built the walls.” –Nehemiah.

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” — Robert Frost

A family I know has been having a difficult time getting into church. It’s not their name, but let’s call them the Carlson family.

Now, early on Mr. and Mrs. Carlson established themselves as not at all interested in spiritual things (for reasons that will become apparent). However, a favorite relative–we’ll call him Uncle Ted–who lived several states away, saw them as they were: two parents in critical need of the Lord and three precious children who would so enjoy the nurturing of a healthy church family.

One day, while visiting in their city, Uncle Ted walked down the street with the three Carlson children to a nearby Baptist church. Inside, they met the pastor and his associate. Uncle Ted told them about this young family living three blocks away who needed to be in church. The children were excited.

Later, from home, Uncle Ted wrote letters and emails to the ministers with more information on the Carlson family. He encouraged the church to reach out to these precious people living down the street.

Ted’s letters went unanswered and no one ever called at the Carlson home.

When the parents divorced and it came out that Mr. Carlson had been abusing the children in the worst way imaginable, he went to prison. Meanwhile, no church family was there to minister to them.

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Today I’m inviting you to read over my shoulder as we open Book 48 of the 56 Journals I kept from 1990 into the year 2000. Today’s excerpt comes from Tuesday, May 9, 2000….(Oh, so you’ll know, the comments in italics are today’s observations on the journal entries.)

This lady came up to me in the store this week and said, “We’ve met before. Ten years ago when you preached your first sermon at First Baptist Church (of Kenner, LA) we were there. And we heard you twice more after that. But, we haven’t been back since then.”

What I said to the lady is not what I was thinking. What I thought was, “Well, it’s obvious you didn’t care for my preaching.” But, I said some pleasantry and let it pass.

Five minutes later, she sought me out and said, “I just realized how that sounded. I know you think we must not have liked your preaching, but that’s not it at all. We liked you just fine. We just backslid.”

Backslid.

A vivid and quaint verb meaning to fall out of  fellowship with the Lord, almost always accompanied by a slacking off or cessation of church attendance, Bible reading, meaningful prayer, and tithing.

(Backsliding is generally preceded by a growing love for the pleasures of the world–lots of weekend trips, Sunday football games, membership in a Mardi Gras krewe, etc–activities which are incompatible with solid biblical discipleship. The decision to “backslide” is almost never a well-thought-out choice. It just “happens.” We drift into it. One day, we look up and realize it’s been weeks, even months, since we have been to church or opened our Bibles. We are now bonafide residents in the Land of the Backslidden.)

Last night while washing my car I reflected on what she had said and what it meant.

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