Jump Start # 1808

Colossians 4:7-8 “As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in te Lord will bring you information. For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you ay know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.”

I have a young preacher friend who is thinking about moving. He is thinking about moving to work with another congregation. It will mean selling his house, moving his family to another state and starting fresh with people that he doesn’t know very well. It’s hard and often scary knowing what to do. All of us who have preached have had to think about this. Standing before the final decision is that one special Sunday service, that we now call “the try-out.” In times past, and many congregations still operate this way, after a couple of phone calls and dates settled, the preacher and his family show up bright and early on “Try-Out” Sunday. It’s often the first time anyone in the congregation has met him or talked with him at any length. Everything rides on that “Try-out” Sunday. The preacher must give thought to what he will wear. Too flashy, gives the wrong impression. Too drab, leaves another impression. His wife worries about what she will wear. The kids are threatened to be on their best behavior on “Try-out” Sunday. The preacher tries to find what sermons will show what he can do. Nothing too controversial. Biblical, but applicable. Smile a lot. Connect. Shake a million hands. Try to remember at least one person’s name. PRESSURE, PRESSURE, PRESSURE. While the preacher is doing his best, realizing he may nor may not “get the job” based upon how well he does on “TRY-OUT” Sunday, the congregation is running his entire family through the gauntlet of critical eyes. Is he preaching too long? Is he too loud? Is he good looking? Where is his family sitting? Who are they sitting next to? You’d think, the church was buying a horse. One of these days, I’d expect some to raise the lips of the preacher and look at his teeth, like folks do when they are looking at a horse. I wonder how many of us would like to have our entire family at the interview process when we got our jobs? Somehow, we just don’t think about and what we put the preacher through.

All the while this is going on, the preacher and his family are looking at the congregation. How many are paying attention? How many are zoned out? How many are in and out of the auditorium? How many come back Sunday evening? How interested are these people? Why should I move my family here?

The idea of “Try-out” Sunday is not found in the Bible. Most today would not like what was done in the days of the apostles. As with our verse today, the apostles sent preachers to work with congregations. Paul was sending Tychicus to the Colossian church not only to report about what he was doing but to teach, encourage and help them. What if the Colossians didn’t want Tychicus? What if they didn’t like his style of preaching? What if they thought he was too tall? Tychicus was coming and that was it. Paul knew what was best for the church. Today, we don’t have apostles, nor, thankfully a board of directors that move preachers around. The relationship is determined between the preacher and the congregation.

Here are a few suggestions:

First, BEFORE “Try-out” Sunday, the shepherds of a congregation ought to have some face to face time with the preacher that they are interested in. Lots of sermons can be listened to even before he shows up with our modern websites. A relationship and an understanding is formed. Let the preacher have a detailed tour of the church building. Let him get a feel for what is being done. Show him what the church is doing. Talk. Talk. Talk.

Second, have an understanding of what the finances are going to be. Don’t waste each other’s time by going through the dreaded “Try-out” if you are not even close in what the financial package is going to be. This may mean another visit by the preacher to talk about details.

Third, by the time the “TRY-OUT” Sunday comes, and it is important for the congregation to have input in the process, the elders have met so many times already and have had so many phone calls and emails that they feel very comfortable, confident and good about the future preacher. He will be more relaxed because he has already developed a relationship with several by his many visits.

Fourth, prepare the church by understanding their role. We are not buying a horse. We are looking at this person being one piece of a giant puzzle that will help all of us get closer to the Lord, grow in faith, and become Christ-like. His job is not to solve all of our problems. Some won’t ever be solved, because the people involved don’t want to solve them. His job is not to do our job. He doesn’t represent us. He is not our ambassador. His job is to preach and teach God’s word. We are to work with him. We will bring friends to services, and he will teach them. We will have questions, and he will help us find the answers. Together, we will strengthen the kingdom in this area. He is not working for us, but WITH us. He will be one of us.

Many have grown up in a congregation and they continued to be a part of that congregation. Your parents, grandparents are all there. It’s the only place you have really known. It’s not that way for most of us preachers. Our kids are moved away from their grandparents. We don’t know all the histories and stories that everyone knows. Street names, community names, school names, all so familiar to us, are not to the new preacher. I still experience this. Where I live, there are three communities, Jeffersonville, New Albany and Clarksville. They touch each other. It’s hard to know one from the other. In conversations I sometimes will say something about New Albany, and the person I’m talking to will correct me, “That’s Clarksville.” They say it in such a way, that it leaves the impression, ‘You are really an idiot for not knowing the difference.” It’s as if you spit on their mother’s grave. For those who have lived here forever, it’s very clear that New Albany is not Clarksville. From an outsider, they are two communities side by side. No need to get huffy because you misspoke about one. Folks need to realize things like this for someone who has moved in and does not know the history.

TRY-OUT Sunday, it’s part of what we do. I’m not sure a better way around it. It is necessary. But it could be a lot less tense and a lot less pressure if folks put some effort into it and looked at it as a good thing. Having leaders that you trust is important. If they have done their homework, taken time and have had multiple meetings already, that ought to put the congregation at ease. Our shepherds are looking out for our best interests. They have a proven record. They wouldn’t do anything to hurt us.

Years ago, at a place I was “Trying-out” after the Sunday sermon and the pot-luck, we were taken back to the building. A chair was placed in front of the Lord’s Supper table for me to sit in. All the men filled the auditorium and started firing questions. While this was going on, my dear wife was taken to the basement, and the women were doing the same thing with her. It was painful. It was an exercise in stump the preacher. After it was over, I told someone that I didn’t know that the church was hiring my wife. I asked how much she was going to be paid. He looked puzzled. I don’t think he got what I was driving at. I passed on that place. Wasn’t a good fit from the very beginning. And that’s what you want. A good fit. Like a hand in a glove. Natural. Obvious. Good. Healthy. Everyone glad for it. When that happens, God will be glorified and great things are about to take place.

Paul sent Tychicus. One wonders, with all the preachers out there today, who would be sent where if the apostles were still doing this. The preacher and the congregation. When it’s right, it’s healthy. When it’s not, it smells.

My advice for those trying out—be yourself. Do your best. Pray. Listen to your wife. Breathe!

Roger