Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Jesus, Justin Bieber and Bubba Watson

Jesus, Justin Bieber and Bubba Watson

I don’t want to insult anybody by saying it like this, but I think my dad was the best at this. Twenty years ago, he first started the church that I now pastor, and he would simply state with one look that there is a God and you’re not Him and neither am I, meaning we can’t save anybody.

I think the bottom line is that there is a God. There is a Holy Spirit. He is God. He really is the God of the whole earth and the Lord of the harvest. He is sovereign. He is in control. He desires all men to be saved. We are not saviors, but we are sowers. We’re seed sowers.

As leaders, we have to recognize that we should do everything we can by the grace of God, but there is going to be a bit of a mess. Letting people work through the beauty of Jesus and the love of Jesus and the grace of God is a risk … no matter what our emphasis is in terms of discipleship, people are going to struggle. They’re going to mess up. They’re going to sin. There’s going to be carnage. And that’s the beauty of the Gospel to me.

The Gospel is always there. Jesus is always there. Righteousness is not earned. It is extended. We are who we are by the grace of God. I think the only way it’s going to be sustainable is not instituting more rules or more conduct codes, but really keeping the main thing the main thing, and that is Jesus Christ and Him crucified and His total supremacy and complete sufficiency. To me, that’s always been the answer, always will be the answer, and I think it elevates the church to the most beautiful place to be in the world.

Through your ministry you’ve pastored and developed friendships with people like Master’s winner Bubba Watson and pop icon Justin Bieber — who recently posted an instagram of your new book. Is it tricky trying to pastor these high-profile people?