Photo by Mr. Tom Lillis IV via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Here are things that I hear people use as growth limiters when they talk about the vision and day-to-day action of reaching a community with the Gospel.
Budgets - I would do x, y, or z if I had more. More often people talk about too much money in the church being allocated for one ministry while the thing they think will really reach people is under-funded.
Buildings – Either a ministry has too much building so they need to have programs that justify the building or a ministry has not enough/no building and they use that as an excuse to not do something.
Boards – The board is asking too many questions. Or the board doesn’t care. Or the board cares about the wrong things. Or the board doesn’t support your vision.
Butts – We don’t have enough people. Or, more likely, we don’t have the right people. Or maybe too many of the wrong people. But I never hear someone complain of having too many people, in general.
Boundaries – Some congregations are limited by physical boundaries while others are limited because they have no boundaries.
All of these are just excuses.
All of these imply that the spread of the Gospel in your community is somehow tied to the growth of your fiefdom.
All of these are just as much asset as they are liability.
All of these imply that church growth is about the organization and not the individuals leaning into their walk with Jesus.
All of these imply that its our job to grow the church and lead people to Jesus and not the other way around.
This I know to be true.
When you love your neighbors, when you meet practical needs, when you speak the truth in love, and when you lay aside your aspirations for the aspirations God has for your community… nothing can stop the spread of the Gospel message. It is too powerful.
The faith that Francis is talking about. This is the faith that will cause other people to look at you in horror and say, “That man is crazy enough to change this neighborhood.”
Don’t know about you. But that message was a like a dart to the gonads for me.
Stop talking, stop praying, stop studying. Do what you know you have to do.
I’ve noticed that many folks in ministry are cranky right now. No one seems to get along or agrees with anyone. (I had to say “many” because if I didn’t someone would get cranky about my use of generalization!) It’s all the rage to be a raging disagree-er.
Exhaustion from the launch of the Fall season probably is impacting this back-biting time. The fact that the economy is feeling scary probably isn’t helping, either. The guilt of unconfessed sins. The weight of working for money instead of passion. Too many carbs and not enough sleep. Forgetting to put the seat down. You know, big stuff that weighs us down.
Our tribe feels tired and cranky.
I just want to share what I’ve been saying to myself lately. (Guilty as charged, your honor.)
The world is already full of smart asses. I’d rather be known as an encourager than a smart ass. Something tells me my kids would be more proud of me for saying nice things about people instead of always trying to prove that I’m right or clever or funny or whatever.
That’s why I’ve been trying to lean into the wisdom of my wife. She’ll give me the look and say, “No one cares if you are right if you’re a jerk.” The woman is a prophetess, I tell you.
Prophe-tess.
I’ve been reminded that I need to be more conscious of encouraging the people in my life. Even the 45 seconds it takes me to send a text to a friend make a big difference. It’s not much, but it’s something.
As the recipient of some timely encouragement lately, let me say what everyone already knows.
