It is certainly easier to come up with good questions than good answers.  I will have been at Grace Fellowship 9 years as Lead Pastor in July.  Over the course of that time, there have been certain things that have come up over and over and I have been forced to wrestle with certain questions as a result.  Here are some of those questions I have and am continuing to ponder:

• What role does the local church play in creating and cultivating relationships?  Should a church leader be focused on creating a church where people find and make their best friends?
• How are church leaders to respond with what we see on social media?  Social media often reveals thoughts, behaviors, and lifestyles that do not line up with the teachings of the Bible.  Any given person has put this stuff out there for the world to see.  So should we confront it?  Ignore it?  Mobilize someone else to address it?  Just remind ourselves that although public, in some weird way the person does not feel accountable to it and even me noticing it is seen as creeping.
• What role do church leaders play in confronting parents?  (I know I am not a perfect parent and want help.)  One of the most common idols in suburbia is our children.  There are so many helicopter parents who live through and for their kids.  We worship sports and performance.  And all of this is damaging to our kids.  Look at the data in real time.  Teen suicide and depression are at an all time high.  Should I and other church leaders be more direct?  Or is it none of our business?
• Why has commitment to church become so rare?  What it means to be a regular attender over the last 40 years has changed so much.  I am not only speaking of prioritizing gathering together, but to giving, serving, caring and sharing life together.
• Why are many people so afraid to tell their story of what God has done in their lives?  I am always amazed at people who are unwilling to communicate their story of transformation and brokenness to others. If there is one place it should be safe to share what kind of jerk you were or how you still are a jerk and God is changing you, it should be with the church.  Your stories of pain do not paint you or those involved with you in a bad light.  They tell a story of God’s grace, provision, mercy and hope.  Be brave and share.
• Is one local church responsible to tell another local church about the truth of a person who is transferring churches.  If one church knows thats the person heading to another church is divisive, has a lifestyle of sin, is unrepentant about a sin or situation or has left a situation that is just hard to deal with is there a responsibility for the one church to talk to the other church?