It must be all the years I spent writing papers in college and seminary, but it seems like when I write, I always stick with a theme, a thesis, one big idea, until I have made my point and hammered home what I was trying to say. With that, I feel like I need to begin wrapping up this thematic element of Old and New (pastors, churches, styles, preferences, Young Lions and Seasoned Veterans,etc).

Here are few of the dangers and pitfalls that Young Lions can fall into, and areas that we need to be mindful of, because if we are being honest, we all have blindspots when it comes to how we live, what we do, and how we believe. I pray that this may make us aware of some of these that we may otherwise not see. (Seasoned Veterans, hang on, you are next).

DANGERS FOR THE YOUNG LIONS
1. Extreme Zeal - is this always bad? Not always, but it can lead to a stressed lifestyle where the church becomes a means to an end, i.e. building a successful church in youthful zeal makes you feel like a success. God builds His church with or without us. The goal is not success, it is faithfulness to the end.
2. Unrealistic Pace - ministry is a marathon, but Young Lions don’t understand that yet. They (we) treat it like a sprint, end up fatigued too early in the race to finish, and quit or disqualify themselves before the finish line.
3. Lack of Perspective - Young Lions have yet to make all the mistakes, meet all the people, listen to all the conversations, read all the books, reflect on all the mess-ups, and pay attention to all the warnings that they eventually will. Only time (year stacked upon year of hard ministry) can bring this.
4. Sense of Invincibility - To quote Travis Tritt, Young Lions sometimes feel “10 foot tall and bullet proof” without realizing that it takes 5 seconds to destroy with it took 20 years to build. Each of us is susceptible to any and all temptations without the grace of God and the protection of our brothers and sisters.
5. Theological Ignorance - I have heard this one so many times…”Don’t bore me with theology, let’s get busy reaching people for Jesus!” Sure. Sounds cute and epic. But that is the fastest way to build a really big church fast, and then watch it fall apart even faster. All that we do is based on theological beliefs. We must be as deep as we are wide.
6. Isolation - based on a fear of confrontation or being rejected by others, Young Lions often seal themselves off from the voices and opinions of others. We don’t need a committee for every decision, but we need clarity and wisdom. Proverbs says these come from wise counsel. We do not get that when we role solo.
7. Constant Comparison - with so many new churches sprouting up and so many nationally known pastors and ministries on the map, it becomes a struggle to not always look to them and ask why you are not as big, edgy, innovative, creative, post-modern, hip, or cool, or why you have not yet written a book on church planting or the emerging church. This type of comparison can possibly be a result of insecurity or a result of being too busy to get a clear word from God about the direction HE wants you to take your church. Model, don’t copy.
8. Strained Family - when a Young Lion does something, they do it full-tilt-boogie (all the way). This can many times put pressure on the wife and kids, especially if the lion is used to living a college lifestyle; up early, going hard all day, up late, making stuff happen, taking all the little jobs. In the early days of a church, the pastor usually does everything, and the family may suffer.
9. No Margin - everything is about building the new church, so exercise, reading, relaxing, dates with your spouse, close community with friends, and time with nothing planned become obsolete. Young Lions like to have every day packed with productive things to do so we can end the day and say “…that was a good day, look at all I accomplished.”
10. Losing The First Love - from personal experience, I can say that all of the creativity and energy that Young
Lions have penned up inside their hearts and heads can distract them from the main thing; staying connected to the Vine. In John 15, Jesus made it clear that if we remain in Him, we will bear much fruit, but apart from Him, we can do nothing. NOTHING. Young Lions must not forget that we are called first to Christ, not success or church planting or executive decision-making. He must always remain our first love.

Next time, we will look at 10 of the pitfalls for the Seasoned Veterans.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 9th, 2007 at 11:34 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.