Pastor Tim

Looong post alert:

So, I was asked about my “change”. Actually the question was, “Pastor Tim, why does it seem you’re changing? It seems like your focus has shifted from the faith.”

If you know me, you have to know I was (honestly) somewhat offended. But, I course corrected and realized the question may not have been as offensive as much as uninformed. Therefore, here is my swing at a teachable moment to share my comfort and confidence in living out of the box.

BOX…OUT!

There comes a point in your life when you have to stop asking permission to become who God called you to be.

BOX…OUT!

That’s where I am.

NOT because I have abandoned the pastorate.
NOT because I have lost my passion for the Church.
NOT because ministry has become irrelevant.

But because I understand that the God who called me to pastor NEVER called me to live inside a box. (Which has been costly in both relationship and revenue 🤷🏾‍♂️)

For nearly four decades, I have preached, taught, led, built, organized, communicated, coached, challenged, and—at times—confounded the traditional expectations of what a preacher was supposed to be.

I have never been particularly interested in following the trail simply because somebody else walked it.

I’ve always been more interested in asking:

“What if there is another way?”

What if ministry can be innovative without becoming irreverent?

What if business can be Kingdom-minded without becoming exploitative?

What if leadership can be spiritual and strategic?

What if the pulpit can produce more than sermons?

What if the pastor can also be a builder, strategist, entrepreneur, communicator, consultant, developer, educator, and catalyst?

What if the Church doesn’t have to choose between faith and innovation?

What if we can preach Jesus and build something?

What if we can save souls and solve problems?

What if we can disciple people spiritually and develop them economically?

What if we can be committed to the Kingdom without being confined by somebody else’s definition of ministry?

BOX…OUT!

I’ve never been a trend follower.

I’ve been a trend challenger.

And sometimes, before you can become a trendsetter, you have to be willing to be misunderstood.

I’ve learned that unconventional people are often called unreasonable before they’re called revolutionary.

They’ll question your methods because they don’t understand your mission.

They’ll criticize your movement because they can’t see your destination.

They’ll call you different because they were comfortable with you being predictable.

But I’ve discovered something:

Different isn’t always dangerous.
Different can be divine.

Look at Jesus.

Jesus was BOX…OUT!

He didn’t fit the religious mold of His day.

He touched people religion had labeled untouchable.

He talked to people respectable society had rejected.

He ate with sinners.

He healed on days when tradition said don’t.

He challenged religious systems that had become more committed to rules than relationships.

He selected fishermen instead of religious scholars.

He elevated women in a culture that marginalized them.

He welcomed children when adults considered them insignificant.

He walked through Samaria when others walked around it.

He ministered outside the temple.

He preached from boats.

He talked theology at wells.

He turned ordinary places into sacred spaces.

And when religion said, “That’s not how we’ve always done it,”

Jesus essentially responded:

“That’s precisely the problem.”

Jesus wasn’t rebellious for rebellion’s sake.

He was revolutionary because His assignment required Him to refuse the limitations imposed by tradition.

He wasn’t trying to be different.

He was determined to be faithful.

And sometimes, faithfulness will make you look different.

That’s what I’ve learned about my own evolution.

Pastorpreneur isn’t a departure from my calling.

It’s an expansion of my expression.

The pastor in me wants to shepherd people.

The entrepreneur in me wants to build solutions.

The strategist in me wants to solve problems.

The educator in me wants to transfer knowledge.

The leader in me wants to develop people.

The visionary in me wants to see what doesn’t yet exist.

And the believer in me keeps hearing that ancient declaration:

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

So, no…

I am not abandoning the church.

I’m taking the Church’s influence beyond the four walls.

I’m not leaving ministry.

I’m broadening the ministry.

I’m not becoming less spiritual.

I’m learning how to make spirituality practical.

Because what good is a sermon about stewardship if nobody understands money?

What good is a message about purpose if people don’t know how to build anything with it?

What good is preaching prosperity if we never teach people productivity?

What good is telling people to have faith if we never teach them how to put faith to work?

Faith ought to produce fruit.

And sometimes that fruit looks like a sermon.

Sometimes it looks like a business.

Sometimes it looks like a book.

Sometimes it looks like a classroom.

Sometimes it looks like a corporation.

Sometimes it looks like a community initiative.

Sometimes it looks like a financial strategy.

Sometimes it looks like an idea nobody has thought of yet.

Kingdom work doesn’t always look like church work.

That’s the evolution.

From pastor to pastorpreneur.

Not a change of calling.

A change of capacity.

Not less ministry.

More ministry.

Not less Kingdom.

More Kingdom.

Not smaller vision.

BIGGER VISION.

I’ve spent enough years learning how to preach to people.

Now I want to help build things for people, with people, and through people.

I’ve spent enough years telling people what they can become.

Now I want to create environments where they can become it.

I’ve spent enough time occupying platforms.

Now I’m interested in building platforms for others.

And if that makes me unconventional—

So be it.

If that makes me non-traditional—

So be it.

If that makes me difficult to categorize—

So be it.

I’ve never believed that God gave me an assignment that required me to become somebody else in order to fulfill it.

I don’t need to fit in a box. Point blank. Period.

I don’t need to fit the traditional pastor’s box.

I don’t need to fit the entrepreneur’s box.

I don’t need to fit the preacher’s box.

I don’t need to fit the consultant’s box.

I don’t need to fit the strategist’s box.

Because perhaps the greatest lesson I’ve learned through my journey is this:

When God gives you a purpose, sometimes the first thing He has to deliver you from is the box other people built around you, and remember it’s NOT a pedestal, but a platform from which we are to work and serve.

Simply put, I’m not breaking out of the box to be rebellious.

I’m breaking out because there’s more to build.

More to teach.

More to develop.

More to influence.

More to serve.

More to create.

More to give.

More to become.

And after 38 years of preaching this Gospel, I’m not trying to reinvent Jesus.

I’m trying to imitate Him.

And Jesus was never confined by the expectations of people who had already decided what God was supposed to look like.

He came to earth unconventional.

He lived unconventional.

He loved unconventional.

He led unconventional.

He ministered unconventional.

He died unconventional.

And He rose unconventional.

And that’s why I’m not afraid of being unconventional.

Because the greatest revolutionary who ever walked the earth…

was Jesus Christ.

So if my journey from pastor to pastorpreneur looks different—

BOX…OUT!

If my methodology doesn’t look like everybody else’s—

BOX…OUT!

If my vision stretches beyond what traditional ministry has permitted—

BOX…OUT!

If my assignment requires me to preach on Sunday, build on Monday, strategize on Tuesday, teach on Wednesday, develop on Thursday, execute on Friday, and dream on Saturday—

BOX…OUT!

I’m not confused.

I’m called.

I’m not lost.

I’m evolving.

I’m not leaving my lane.

I’m discovering that my lane was never as narrow as somebody else thought it was.

Because when God gives you a vision bigger than your box…

the box has to go.

And when the box goes…

possibility begins.

So here’s my declaration (you should make one too):

I will not spend my life apologizing for the way God wired me.

I will not shrink my vision to make traditional people comfortable.

I will not confuse familiarity with faithfulness.

I will not mistake convention for conviction.

I will not follow trends when God has given me a trail to blaze.

I WILL continue to preach.

I WILL continue to pastor.

I WILL continue to serve.

But I will also build.

I will create.

I will develop.

I will innovate.

I will teach.

I will lead.

I will invest.

I will multiply.

Because the Kingdom deserves more than spectators.

It needs builders.

And after all these years…

I’m still building.

Still believing.

Still becoming.

Still moving.

Still answering the call.

Only now, I understand the assignment a little better.

The box was never my destination.

It was only my limitation.

BOX…OUT!

Pastorpreneur.
Kingdom Builder.
Trend Challenger.
Still Called.
Still Committed.
Still Christ.
Still Me.

…and I’m just getting started. Stay tuned!

-RTM