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In the World's Image  Written by Rob Devens Page: | 1 | 2 | 3 | Not all is well in the kingdom. It is hard to put a finger on but I've had a nagging suspicion that something is wrong for quite some time. Several recent events have brought the problem into sharper focus. Two years ago my friend Don was forced out of his ministry position at a church. He had been successfully serving part-time for eight years and had been promised a full-time position "eventually." But the leadership of that church decided that they would not reward Don's faithfulness and success in his ministry. Nor would they deliver on their promises. The church was a growing church and this board of godly men decided that Don was not the man to take them to the next level in their growth. I am not using sarcasm when I use the term "godly" to describe this elder board. The fact is that I know these men--and every one of them is strong in their faith. I admire each of them individually and that is what creates the tension; what makes me think that something is out of sync. I have a hard time seeing how their actions portray the truth that the church is to be the family of God. It does not seem very "family-like" to discard one of your own. Some time later I was privy to a conversation between a seasoned pastor who was looking for a position and the chairman of the search committee for a medium-sized church that was seeking a pastor. The chairman not only has responsibilities in his home church but he is also a respected and influential officer in his denomination. This chairman told the pastor that he probably was not the kind of leader that they were looking for since his resume contained experience counseling people and working with them one-on-one. The kind of senior pastor they were looking for would not have time to do that. He would be casting vision, rallying the troops and working with other leaders so that their church could grow and realize their dream of building a much larger ministry facility. Again, the problem was not that the chairman was simply carnal and worldly. He is a man of deep faith. But it doesn't seem to me that Jesus would care more about construction and accomplishing goals than people. A few weeks ago my seventh-grade daughter was excited to go to the Junior High youth meeting. She is on the worship team and after practicing for weeks it was finally her turn to lead the worship that night. Afterward I asked her how it went; I could see that she was upset. She told me that the adult in charge of worship had decided to have someone else lead because he knew the songs better and because the worship would be higher quality with him leading. Is it really our purpose in the church to have "quality worship" and "quality programs?" Isn't it more important that we encourage people to use their gifts in a way that edifies and encourages the body? I would hesitate to use this incident with my daughter except that it is representative of what happens all the time on a much bigger scale in much larger adult and youth ministries--and often with much more devastating effects to the individual. My daughter has forgotten about the incident but pastors and youth pastors who are fired because the "quality" of their ministry does not meet the expectations of the church leadership don't soon get over it. Obviously, each of these incidents is quite complex. In one sense each can be seen as the clash of conflicting goals or purposes within the church. For instance, in the situation with my daughter the church's task of preparing people for service is in conflict with the task of providing programs that are attractive and appealing (the reasoning is that attractive programs will draw people to the church where they will be drawn to Christ). In the situation with the pastor and the chairman the desire to reach more people is in conflict with the desire to shepherd the people already present. Many tasks have been offered as the ultimate one for the church to accomplish. Some suggest reaching people for Christ--the great commission. Others would put it in terms of advancing the kingdom. Still others would say that establishing justice and standing up for the poor and oppressed are the most important. My church desires to be a disciple-making church. But I want to ask a more foundational question. Is it really true that the purpose of the Church is to accomplish some great task? Most of us who work in the church would quickly respond, "Of course!" But I suspect that the ease with which we answer that question betrays that we haven't given it enough thought. Consequently, I contend that we have accepted a view that is at best one-sided. And the consequence of accepting this idea wholeheartedly--that the church's reason-for-being is to accomplish some mighty work--is that churches act in a way that is incongruous with who they are supposed to be. The "problem in the kingdom" then is that churches have emphasized "doing" at the expense of "being." They have gotten so caught up in carrying out great and mighty plans that they have become something that denies what God created them to be. NEXT PAGE Page: | 1 | 2 | 3 |