If you are working in full-time Christian ministry then expect to be sorely tested with trials and hardship.
That’s the harsh reality that Wayne Cordeiro wants to focus on in Sifted. But his encouragement is that pastors should expect to gain much from such times. Hardship in ministry is an opportunity to grow in Christian maturity and capability as servants of Jesus Christ. Notice: not just in the hard times; particularly in the hard times. “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste” the author claims, and the aim of this book is that its readers would never waste one. In fact, the stakes are higher than that, for as he cautions: “Your future will largely be determined by how you choose to respond to the seasons of sifting that God brings into your life.”
The image of sifting comes from Luke 22 where Jesus assured Peter that, whilst Satan would ‘sift’ and test him, his faith would not fail. Jesus also says that after his time of struggle Peter is to strengthen his brothers. Cordeiro uses Peter’s lapse and renewal as an image of the struggles that all pastors will go through. He argues that this is the necessary process God puts pastors through in order to build their faith. This in turn authorises them to strengthen others and produces long-term results in ministry.
This is not another ‘how-to’ book. Nor can its message be distilled to “this worked for me and therefore it will work for you too” (a message way too prevalent in church leadership literature!). It’s really a book to be used for self-assessment by those in pastoral ministry or church planting, particularly by those who are struggling. Cordeiro’s experience in pastoral ministry and church-planting has involved tremendous struggle, and well qualifies him to write on the subject. Francis Chan and Larry Osborne also add their own anecdotes and reflections here and there, which infuses the book with experiences of navigating seasons of sifting in more situations than simply that of one author.
Sifted is arranged into three areas that need to be navigated in times of sifting: heart work, home work, and hard work.
- Heart work is about our own selves. Hardship affords us the opportunity to repent of our self-reliance and realise that we must be utterly dependent on God for strength in his service.
- Home work recognises that difficult seasons dramatically affect our family lives. Cordeiro discusses the need to vary our distribution of time between family and church according to the needs of the season we find ourselves in. He also offers good and practical advice on getting rest and refreshment in our personal and married lives. (I found this the most helpful section of the book).
- Hard work is about being prepared for just that: becoming the servant of all people, battling all the sin in our lives, and using everything we have for the sake of the kingdom.
Sifted is easy to read, yet simultaneously worthy of proper reflection. One of its most helpful features is the integration of reflection questions mid-chapter with space to write answers, which forces the reader to think through the principles discussed in relation to their own lives and ministries.
Despite the many positive things to be gained from this book, there are at least a couple of areas of substantial criticism that are worth pointing out.
First, Cordeiro doesn’t always handle the Bible carefully. He allegorises or spiritualises various texts in order to make direct applications to contemporary ministry in a way that isn’t legitimate, and the reader ought to keep their eyes open for this kind of move.
Secondly, Cordeiro holds to a mystical understanding of God’s guidance and calling. This runs like a thread through the whole book. He views calling as the specific thing a person was ‘made for’; the unique vision and task that God individually gives a person. Although he explicitly claims that Scripture is the only place God promises to speak, when it comes to the particular issue of God’s guidance he doesn’t maintain this in practice. Instead he encourages people to discern God’s voice in their experience or in their hearts. Rightly discerning God’s specific call becomes very important in this view, as it is then a matter of personal obedience to God’s will for our lives. The problem is that Cordeiro’s biblical justification for treating calling in this way consists of examples where the calling was in fact audible and explicit, and didn’t finally involve discernment of feelings at all (Acts 16:9; 1 Samuel 3). Worse is his appeal to 2 Peter 1:10, a passage about gaining certainty of God’s calling us to salvation. Cordeiro extends this to being about having certainty about our particular purpose in ministry. Logically this ties assurance of salvation to the feeling that we are doing the particular work God wants us to do – surely a dangerous suggestion!
The effect of all this is that Jesus’ actual call to ministry is marginalised (read Mark 8:34), and the book gives the overall impression that it isn’t right for Christians to plant churches unless they are convinced that God has specifically told them to do it. I was left wishing that Cordeiro had more space for using our God-given wisdom to work out where we can best serve Christ in mission. It seems to me that, if the Spirit renews our minds, then human beings taking prayerful responsibility for working out how to best serve Christ and his mission in the world is a sufficient strategy, and doesn’t require an additional sense of divine calling.
Providing the reader comes with a critical eye to these issues, I believe there is a great deal to gain from the book. It is a good book to pick-up for those wanting refreshment and the opportunity to refocus in the midst of struggle.
Matthew is Associate Pastor at NewLife Anglican Church, a new church starting in Sydney’s south-west.
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