Pastor's Circle - Gil McKee

Gil McKee, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa, joined the Pastor's Circle today to discuss giving at Christmas. Here are the "CliffsNotes" of his segment.

What is a new insight God has given you into Christmas this year?

That's easy, and I'm glad you asked. Most people listening are aware of what we went through in April with the tornado.

I think what God has done in our church through that has been amazing. I've seen my church give and give and roll their sleeves up and work and work.

Even at Christmas, I'm seeing my church question what we really need.

Where do you see giving in the Christmas story?

Obviously, just go to the gift of God. For God so loved the world that he gave. This is about giving. God's love for us was so great that he gave the most valuable gift he could give.

And then of course, there are those who came presenting gifts to the Christ Child, but I think the whole theme of the story is God's Gift.

If I want to love as God loves, then I'm not caught up in getting; I'm caught up in giving. I think God has just reminded us of that in a very graphic way this year.

How do you keep that attitude stoked throughout the year?

I think you hit the nail on the head. One of the responsibilities pastors have is to keep that vision in front of people. For me, it just has to be a day-by-day, week-by-week thing.

I think for us, God is just birthing some new ideas and visions for our church family of how we can be a part of that ongoing ministry.

Why do we tend to become "takers"?

I think none of us are immune to the culture around us. Unfortunately, I think some of it has crept into the church.

In the church movement back in the 70s and 80s, there was an emphasis on meeting needs. Unfortunately, it became meeting the needs of those in the church.

You know as well as I do that there are many people out there who come to church only to have their needs met. We've got an entire mindset that we are going to have to work hard to change.

In many ways, we've become no different in our mindset than those outside the church.

Why is that so easy to get away from?

Most of us, when we think about ministry and our church time, spend the vast majority of our time inside the walls of the church.

Jesus did the exact opposite. He spent the vast majority of his time outside of the walls of the synagogues.

I think the good news is that there is a renewal and a revival of that vision. I think that churches realize that they have strayed a little bit from that vision.

We have to remember, it is still the Lord's church. He will do anything in us, to us, through us to get us back inside his will.