Back to the older unwilling to change church goers for a minute...

Jesus took time out for Nicodemus (the Pharisaical religious elite), if He didn't we wouldn't have everybody's favourite verse in Scripture John 3:16. And Nicodemus went on to embalm Jesus' body for burial and probably (only speculation though) had impact amongst the sect of the Pharisees in terms of the evangelism of the early church.

I am not saying to "waste your precious time" I am saying that someone needs to reach these people with the gospel and the call to mission, as a pastor I am called to feed God's sheep, care for God's sheep, shepherd God's sheep. I would say that preaching the gospel to them and calling them to mission is part of that... should I ignore the call God has on my life and the people He has called me to for the sake of "my own precious time". This is not about me, it is about God, His mission field, His sheep and His servants and how they all fit together.

Planting churches is not the ultimate goal of Christian ministry and mission, making disciples is! If those disciples are made from the backrow of a church or the backrow of a Powderfinger concert who cares!

The pastor who lovingly leads, shepherds and feeds the sheep God has given him patiently calling them to repentance, faith and mission will, in God's time, reap a church that is passionate for Jesus and reaching the people around them. All I was saying is that instead of shouting out a self-pious call to mission in an offensive way to older church goers, (my way or the highway sort of stuff), this pastor should use the wealth of his contextualizing skills to call out to his church in the way that they will hear and respond to. This is not a waste of time!

Just could Rick Warren says "raising a baby is easier than raising the dead" does not mean God wants us to do the easier over the harder. Someone has to roll up their sleeves and do the dirty work, I am not talking about pandering to the needs of selfish Christians I am talking about consistent and steady challenge to these Christians to move them to a tipping point of passion for God's name that overflows out of them into ministry and mission. Anyway my God is in the business of "raising the dead" cause He is the resurrection and the life!