August 28, 2014
Controlling Interest
It wasn’t long after a Baptist
Church in the metro area hired a new minister that the makeup of the leadership
switched from being deacon led, to elder led. I suspect that the new pastor
couldn’t control a board of deacons and decided a small group of elders would
be more manageable. Today the five elders consist of the preacher (head elder),
two staff personnel and two men from the congregation at-large. Unfortunately
the three paid staff personnel are the majority rule. To address the dysfunction
and bring membership together, the church has now hired a facilitator. I can’t
imagine the power struggle going on in this body of believers that they have
opted for outside counseling. Jesus said, “Can a blind man lead a blind man?
Will they not both fall into a pit” (Luke 6:39 NIV)?
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----The “leaders” of this church are obviously “leading” by the world’s standards. Read the entire Bible carefully. Nowhere in it is the control of men or church the objective it gives to leaders. It appears to me that the church not only ape’s the world’s standard of making sure someone is in control of everyone else’s objectives, but it also seems to have taken on some sort of militaristic flavor about that control. I don’t mean “leaders” run around giving out orders in general, as if the flock were a troop. But the certainly visible, Biblically defined characteristics of the church, like generosity and evangelism, are turned into programs rather than characterizing traits of its people. So, for evangelism, Company B does the ten mile, full field-gear run. For generosity, Company A crawls through the razor wire. Outside of presenting an occasional sermon on the topics now and then, that’s how the church does generosity and evangelism. Anyone who seeks to feel generous towards their neighbor can have that feeling by dropping a couple bucks into the offering plate of a church with a bucket in the foyer labeled “Food Pantry” containing a few cans of black beans and a box of Cheerios, complete with a committee to determine who gets the beans and how to keep weevils out of the cereal.
-----That isn’t what the Bible presents as leading. Leading is into attitudes and concepts producing behaviors and inclinations. It is about instilling godly traits into the individuals of the church by influence and training, such that they go about their lives being evangelical and generous (if those be their Spirit given gifts.) There shouldn’t be a food pantry program run by church leaders. Like a dolled up, chrome plated hot rod, that bucket of beans and Cheerios is all show and no go. The real Route 66 of church work is performed by individuals led into being full of the Spirit for doing such things. And if the people of the church perceive their efforts would be more effective pooled, planned, and objectified, then they will do so, even joining talents with individuals of other churches.
-----There always seems to be a giant gap between how God’s Word explains something and how His kids do it. But then His mercy and grace are the conduits for the joy He takes in those mites they do get plopped down for Him, in spite of all the chrome and show. At least they do things towards the right, general direction, if not specifically well. He’ll comb out the rest of it when He gets back.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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