by Richard Shin
Since the announcement of the San Jose church plant in January 2009, there has been a deluge of questions raised towards the pastoral staff. The “Why” questions (“Why San Jose?”, “Why now?”, “Why you, Pastor John?”) have been beaten to death, and the questions asked here attempt to answer none of that. But as part of bringing 1 Timothy 5:17 and Hebrews 13:17 to life, here we make an attempt to understand and hopefully serve our pastors a little better.
I had the privilege of interviewing the three pastors regarding the church plant, and the ensuing transitions that are happening this year. But more than the factual details, I wanted to know how they felt and what they thought; I wanted to make this a little more personal. What you see is essentially verbatim how the interviews went, and the arrangement in order is simply chronological. You will see some overlap in questions, but the answers I got were very different, yet all aimed towards the glory of God and enjoyment of Him. It is my sincere hope that this would stir you to really understand and love our pastors.
The first one was with Pastor JR. As we met over some Flame Broiler meat bowls, we were able to talk about a variety of topics. As he shares his experience and his thoughts, the youth group (his “baby”, he calls it) and the future, you will get to see and understand different shades of JR you might not have known before. You’ll see his passion, his hopes, his fears, his love, and much more, all working intimately together for the glory of God. And still, I imagine this interview barely scratches the surface of who JR Cuevas is. Yet, I hope you are encouraged and stirred reading the interview as much as I was conducting it.
What will your role be at LBCSJ? What activities specifically (what books, seminary classes, Bible studies, etc.) are helping you towards fulfilling that role?
Well right now I’m on the administrative team (the A-Team) which is kind of like the leadership team. And everybody has their own role. I’m in the leadership team so I provide the overall structure under Pastor John. In seminary, I took a seminary class on church planting anticipating around this time, there would be a church plant. I mean everything I learned, I will put to use any way. I’m going to read some books on missions. The basic thing is getting my feet wet. There’s only so much you can do with reading books and stuff.
Pastor John was thinking about having me help out with the youth and children again. So one thing he had me do was two months ago he had me take over LKC because he wanted me to gain some experience. When any church starts, they’ll typically need a children’s ministry. That’s when the young families will come. The youth can sit with their parents. In terms of the youth, there’s Pastor John’s family. So, we’ll have at least two youth and one child. We’ll see what happens with Kathy and me. And then there’s Peter and Joyce. And you know… who knows?
More generally speaking, what have you been doing, or will be doing, to help you prepare yourself emotionally, physically, and spiritually for the church plant?
Spiritually, it’s a lot of prayer. I’ve been praying a long time for this. It’s not something I can say I’m spiritually ready for. I don’t have the mentality that says “I’m going to be great!” It’s not like I’m pessimistic, but I think I’m a little more sober. If anything, I’m pessimistic about my own abilities because every time I try to do something for the Lord, there has always been some resistance and a lot of trials involved. So I’m anticipating that. Spiritually, I’m just trying to stay close to God and make sure I’m walking intimately with Him. So quiet times and prayer, those things are key. I’m trying to encourage myself that it’s not what I’m capable of doing, but what He’s capable of doing through me.
And emotionally, I’m not trying to detach myself from San Diego, but really trying to keep my eyes on San Jose because it’s easy to become attached to the ministries here; it makes it harder to leave. I’m just trying to be mindful of San Jose.
Physically, I’m trying to get into shape. I used to work as a trainer a couple years ago so I’m kind of familiar with that. I’m setting a New Year resolution to do a triathlon in February and possibly a marathon in May. Because I figured, especially in the beginning, there’s going to be a lot of lifting. And I have a pretty weak upper body so I need to build up my strength. So I’m doing a lot of pushups and a lot of pull-ups and getting a lot of endurance so I don’t fall apart when I’m up there. Making sure the body’s in top condition. That’s what I got from Jim Elliot too. When he was a student, he took care of his body so he could minister. But the spiritual aspects, that’s the most important thing.
Are you scared?
Satan likes to attack strong leaders and strong families. Not that I’m afraid of him, but anticipating the struggles and the resistances. It’s going to be hard and demanding; I’ll probably lose a lot of sleep. It’s going to be hard on the family. It’s hard when there’s so much time being taken away, and you can’t have date nights every night. If anything it’ll be the opposite. So I’m anticipating a lot of struggles for Kathy and the strain that’s going to be put on her and the strain on me. There’s going to a lot of criticism from other people and the trials that are going to come because it’s not always a clean thing and when you try to do things right in pastoral ministry. People who are on board will be with you and those who are half hearted, they’ll criticize you. Even from well-meaning Christians. I’ve never planted a church but I know as long as I follow Christ, persecutions will come. When I went into ministry, I thought the same thing, that trials would come… and they did! So I’m anticipating that. Conflict in the team, that’s going to happen. That’s always stressful. I’m not hopeless; I’m just preparing myself for those things.
What has been a significant concern/challenge so far? Significant blessing (if different)?
There hasn’t been a lot practical development right now. So getting the team mobilized. Getting everyone passionate and getting the teams to develop good relationships. Scheduling has been difficult. When you’re in the A-Team, you have to take into consideration that others might not, and a lot of these things are beyond me. The scope and wisdom. So I’m learning a lot on the spot. So that’s been hard for me because practically it’s hard for me; I’ve never been an elder or anything that this position is called to do. Emotionally and spiritually it’s hard as I’m trying to trust God understanding the ramifications of a lot of these things like what they are and how to deal with them. So that’s been hard.
Significant blessing is just being with the team, just getting to know them. I have Kevin Chan in my accountability group so just getting to know him has been good. The A-Team guys, developing relationships with them. In the practical sense, nothing has happened, but just getting to know everyone has been a tremendous blessing. I’ve always been excited about church planting in spite of the many struggles that come with it. It’s something I always wanted to do. Even in my seminary application, I wrote I wanted to help Lighthouse carry out its vision. And the fact that I get to be part of it regardless of my role is really exciting and a huge blessing. And the fact that Kathy and I can be a part of it together, and the fact that we can work together. She’s been really supportive too. So that’s been good.
to be continued…