Wednesday
Oct272004
Stuck
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 at 8:09AM
LT and I were chatting yesterday on how easy it is to stay stuck in our current situations, as intolerable as they may be. There are many of us who are not satisfied with the status quo. We know something needs to change in our churches and ministries, but it is hard, incredibly hard, to break away from the past and to move to something new. Richview is feeling a bit stuck right now. Our ministries are having a hard time recruiting workers. Finances are an issue. We have many new people, but we don't do a good job of getting connected to them. The old ways are not sustainable, and yet it's so tempting to continue trying the old ways in the hope that they might work again one day. There is a way forward. People are less excited about institutional and program maintenance. I'd love to move to our Sundays as a hub for our congregation, with relational connections taking place during the week, and - here's the big change - with the focus on ministry switching from programs and meetings to more of an outward focus: less institutional maintenance, more loving the world, engaging our neighbors, serving the community. Now that I could get excited about.
Reader Comments (10)
Any chance of shedding the building and you becoming a tentmaker?
Sure, anything is possible. The building is a bit complicated, because we're physically connected to two seniors buildings that we run. Shedding the building would be complicated, but we need to look at ways to make sure it's helping the mission rather than hurting it. I think every pastor needs to be open to tentmaking.
I heard a speaker recently say that most of us are not humble enough to make transitions well. His point was that risk requires the humility to find our identity somewhere other than in our circumstances.
Darryl, I think the biggest challenge for church leaders today is to motivate the people sitting in the pews to pursue a passionate relationship with God. It all starts with that. When we by God's grace, line ourselves up with His will, He will begin to work in our lives and we will experience His abundant blessings. As that begins to happen what will naturally follow is a passion to tell others about our awesome God who loves them so much and wants for them to come to repentance and a new life in Christ. I don't think the problem is the institution of church as we have it. The problem always begins with us and our own relationship to God. He wants to work powerfully through the church to reveal Himself to the world. I think the problem is the world in so many instances is not seeing God at work through the church. Its because of all the compromise that is going on, both in our lives individually and in how the church attempts to engage the world. God won't bless that when he sees it. The compromise that is. When the world sees God at work in His church the world will take notice and be drawn to it. When God begins to work in such a way that it is just so clear that only God could have done it, the world will notice. That has become so clear to me over the past while. These blogs have helped me to reaalize that. So many people with so many opinions but where is the fruit. All I hear is how the institutional church just can't be effective anymore. I truly beg to differ. I am so grateful to bee part of a church where God is clearly at work. Where lives are being transformed. We just had four baptisms again last week and to hear the testimonies is to hear that only God can make that kind of difference in a person's life. And you know what I see happening in our church? New Christians who are fired up and can't wait to tell others about the amazing relationship they have with God. Its contagious man and its great. I truly believe the biggest blockage to God's blessing and expeience is the compromise. What I see is so often in an attempt to be more inclusive the church compromises on God's truth and the result is stagnation or mediocre Christians who are just into it to get something out of it for themselves. There's no passion just some surface changes and a hope that they got it right. God is at work Darryl building His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
Just a PS to the above. I was at the Straight Up conference in Chicago last week and heard from Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship. He has an "institutional" church of 15,000 people and I loved what he had to say about how the church needs to communicate to the world. In a contemporary but without compromise way. I love that "contemporary without compromise" God will bless that and clearly has in his church. 60 percent of the people attending his church came to know Christ through his church. How did they all get there? Through people who were passionate about sharing their faith. Yea man, that's what it is all about.
"I don't think the problem is the institution of church as we have it." George, I agree. I'm not trying to bash the institution. I'm suggesting that we have a more outward focus, though, than we've had up to now. I also think it's important to take that "passion for God" you talk about and connect it to a passion for people. That doesn't seem to happen automatically.
Like this quote from Reggie McNeal: "For two more days they wrangled over the best way to devise lay ministry to produce enough leaders in their congregations to get church work done. At the end of our time together they had given not even five minutes of attention to an agenda that reached beyond their church program and real estate needs. This is what life in the church bubble can do to you. It shrink wraps your vision to the size of the church. It convinces leaders that people are paying rent for the rest of their lives just so they can do church work." http://www.jordoncooper.com/2004/10/people-live-to-serve-church.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.jordoncooper.com/2004/10/people-live-to-serve-church.html
"I also think it's important to take that "passion for God" you talk about and connect it to a passion for people. That doesn't seem to happen automatically" I would suggest that if that's not happening then there's a problem with the passion for God. The great commandment is all about that right? First loving God then our neighbours. We should pray as individuals and as church that God would give us a burden for the people that He has a burden for. We could change the world. Is that naive? I don't think so. Look at the Acts 2 church. They turned their world upside down. Lets pray for revival.
Darryl, You know I very rarely leave a comment on your Blog even though I check it regularily. I couldn't let this one pass, I'm in a mood today. Why don't we just do it? (sorry for the Nike reference-but it fits)If so many at Richview are tired of the institution let's get rid of our institutional hang ups. Let's stop being busy running programs and ministries. Free people up to get involved with their small group and to have some time left over to actually get to know the people they work with, play with, or live beside. I believe it really is that simple-let the institution die. What are we afraid of? If ours dies there are enough other institutions that would fill the void left behind.
Tim: I hear you: get on with it. The "it" though isn't letting the insitution die. The institution can come in handy. I think the "it" is to stop letting the institution get in the way. I had a lunch today that re-enforced this. I hope to post more about it later, but it was a good kick in the pants for me.