March 17, 2015
Redesigning
A church whose mission field
has changed is now looking to redirect their focus and they are considering
reaching out to bikers — Hells Angels type. When I visited this church there
was at least one biker in the group of about 25 people. I understand when
planting a church that organizers need to have some idea in mind about who they
expect to reach with the Gospel. However, once a church is already established
the idea that leadership can just change the focus is curious. It seem to me that
the ministry of an established church should be on the demographics of the people
who are already attending. I have an image in my mind of a shepherd looking
over the fence of his sheepfold and thinking maybe some of the sheep in the pasture
need his attention more than the sheep in his own pen. Jesus told Peter, “Feed
my lambs …Take care of my sheep …Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17 NIV).
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----How would this work? The janitors of Ford Motor Company decide Ford starts manufacturing lawnmowers instead of vehicles. The bus boys of Denny’s replace pancakes on the menu with ramen. The Whitehouse maids decide Barrack Obama never was Constitutionally eligible to be President and run him out of Washington throwing skillets and pans at him. Actually, that last scenario is a bit closer to what the Lord meant for church leaders to be than the previous two. What is it that our church elitists can not understand about Jesus’ simple description of leaders being servants, not rulers? What is so hard to understand about “the least”?
-----How many analogies does the New Testament make of the church being an army? A company? A body? A temple? His gifts were to equip the saints for works of ministry, not to direct them in what ministry to work. Where in the New Testament do we see the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, or the teachers insisting the saints minister only to gladiators? What part of, “But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors,” (James 2:9) is so beyond the capable grasp of human intelligence that not even the elite church leaders can fathom it? I thought it was ingenious of Jesus to call the simple working man into the ministry of sparking His church. For simple lives fathom simple principles. And all the church leaders needed to do to direct the church effectively was teach the Word and equip the saints.
-----Armies have structures of domineering authority. The general is given companies of men to achieve his planned objectives. No wonder you never see an army used to analogize the church. That Ephesians 6:11-17 analogizes the equipped saint as a dressed soldier, that Paul refers to the undivided devotion of a soldier to illustrate Christ as the singularity of purpose in the saint’s life, and such other military metaphors doesn’t mean God set His Kid’s church up to be a brigade for marching by the preacher’s orders (rubber stamped by the elders, of course.) That’s a laughable thing to me. Jesus taught inward change of heart and the direction of its life from therein, then the church leaders tell those hearts what to do from thereout! It’s like which had a headful of bologna, church leaders or Jesus?
-----Peter tells church leaders not to be domineering, but to lead by example. This doesn’t mean they go show everyone how to only minister to bikers either, because Paul tells them not to go beyond what is written, and nowhere is it written that the fellowship of saints should focus attention upon any social category. Paul well analogized the church by a body, with all its members being different parts. Nowhere does the Word insinuate that one part is to have directive authority over any other parts. Nowhere did Paul ever insinuate that any church leader was a “head” of the church. For he clearly sets Christ forth as the Head of the church by which all of the stones come together into a holy temple. God’s Holy Spirit is quite capable of directing His saints to the next person He needs presented with the gospel. Then it is the leaders’ turn to come and actually serve the new disciple, from whatever walk of life he has come.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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