Breaking the Cycle
Another urgent plea for a return to biblical normalcy.
Question: If two men begin driving from the same starting point and head for the same destination on the same highway at exactly the same speed, is it a given that they will arrive at exactly the same time?
Answer: No! The man who wanders in his lane will actually lose more ground, use more fuel, and take more time to reach his goal. Both men have the same goal, but one may not stay tuned to his ultimate purpose (2 Tim. 3:10).
Two churches may have the same goal, to glorify Christ through the salvation of the lost and the edification of believers. Given time, however, one church may wander so far in the lane of ministry that it may even lose sight of its goal. Let’s apply this in real life.
This pastor has spent decades in ministry and has traveled and communed with hundreds of other pastors and godly leaders. We have all had the same goal, the salvation of souls and the edification of believers. Though imperfect in ourselves, we have a God of grace who works through us in spite of our failures. However, while we all shared the same goal, some of us have shifted our focus.
The shift in focus follows these phases:
1. The Blessing Phase.
God uniquely raises up a church, school, or mission agency. He miraculously provides us with good leaders, resources, and even land and buildings. Stories of how God did this become the means by which we even encourage others in their steps of faith.
2. The Rooting Phase.
A subtle change takes place. We begin wandering in our lane. We now become locked into our miracle and the vision God gave us (our founders.) If God gave us this property in such a miraculous way, how could we possibly sell it? If God raised up this church, He must want it to succeed! Before long, keeping and protecting what was meant to be a blessing and a tool along the way, has now become our primary focus. We reason the same way regarding our loyalties to church fellowships and associations.
3. The Institutional Phase.
Because we live in a culture which is still primarily modernistic we often carry this even further. We measure our success in the growth of our church and the acquisition of even more buildings and equipment. The survival and growth of the institution has now become the goal because, after all, a growing church is all the evidence we need that “God is doing something special here!”
4. The Empty Shell Phase
Breaking the Cycle. The foremost duty of the pastor and elder is to feed and teach the flock (1 Peter 5:1-4). God will honor that in His way, not according to modernistic success standards. When an organization comes alongside and offers to help cast a new vision and suggests that what you really need is a new business model in order to inspire and rally your people and breathe new life into your organization, don’t believe them! The way forward is to return to our first love.
Paraphrasing Spurgeon, the Bible is a lion that needs no defense. It only needs to be let loose. Pastors and teachers must preach the Word with authority, letting the consequences fall where God intends. What is seen by some as lack of vision is a spiritual issue. We dare not invest time and resources into the kind of institutional management which goes beyond simple stewardship and good planning. We may just be creating that empty shell which will live on long after the Holy Spirit has departed from our institutions.
The pastor who is not preaching and teaching and equipping your saints to minister the Word, should be prayerfully admonished (Titus 5:1, Eph. 4:11-16). Such a pastor does not need to artificially construct a unique vision for his assembly, a practice never hinted at in the Bible. God’s unique purposes for our churches will surface through the healthy application of the spiritual gifts of our sheep and a return to our first love and works. (1 Cor. 12, Rev. 2 & 3). When we deal with internal issues biblically, we can leave the institutional visionaries in our rear view mirrors. There is a final phase to guard against:
Beware! A New Reactionary Movement is Fast Forming!
There is another enemy of Christ, rallying forces against Christ even as this is being penned. It is the organic or New Apostolic Reformation. Its deconstructive perspective is calling us to do away with all of our tools, our church buildings and organization and leadership as we know it them without providing biblical alternatives. It will hit your church and your community if Christ tarries. It promises to make a major impact on evangelical churches
It thrives because many of God’s people are fed up with those empty shell churches which carry on a life of their own with little or any dependence on the Holy Spirit or personal nurturing of the individual. They are fed up with overpaid pastors and staff, over-building and over-furnishing our churches, and all that comes with it. Such folks are sitting ducks for this new movement unless we as pastors and leaders, think these issues through now, and return to the basic principles of biblically driven ministries.
Let the Word of God, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the body of Christ define your individual ministries and corporate identity. Christ’s sheep are always the end goal, not the tools He has graciously given in order to better care for them.
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