Change is inevitable, even if we stay the same. Therefore, no matter what we do, somebody will be dissatisfied. Somebody will leave church. We cannot keep everybody happy, and complete harmony is forever beyond our grasp. Therefore, the painful question every Board member faces is:
“Are we willing to lose a few so that we might reach the many�
The only solution is to develop criteria about who you want to keep and who you are willing to lose. What would Jesus do?
Jesus would keep the ones who are disciplined about worship, spiritual growth, and total outreach to the “least of his brothers and sistersâ€.
Christians are called to lead the mission, not be the mission. Those people “out there†(hurting and helpless) … they are the mission.
Tom Bandy in Roadrunner
I had a meeting with a young pastor yesterday who's church has been having some of these struggles lately.
Sometimes when people leave the local church, it's not a failure but can indicate church growth.
This is a sign of thinking about church on its head, isn't it? Church being a kind of club, to which people belong as long as they're having fun.
ReplyDeleteThe Church IS the people, isn't it - the body of Jesus here on Earth, the royal bride of Christ. It's not about going along to be blessed, but to be part of a living entity, worshiping, loving and serving. I have a nasty suspicion that when boards start getting involved it's already become a club, but maybe that's just my odd theology of church and grasp of semantics.
And sometimes as you say, churches need to grow from a bigger number to a smaller one.
:)
Yeah, or church as corporation vs. church as body, organism.
ReplyDeleteBut that's still big money out here in the colonies.
:)