In my ten
years as an ordained elder, eighteen years as an ordained minister, serving on
denominational and presbyterial boards and committees, not to mention numerous
meetings of the Presbytery and as many General Assembly meetings as I could
manage, one theme is recurring in the modern church. What’s that?
Our
discussions center so much on pastor salaries and building funds and expenses.
That’s part of the deal, right?
Yes, but it
should not be central. What then? These
two are always staring at us in the face.
How about
our mission? How about the very thing that every believer is commissioned to
do?
How about
taking the good news to the world, making disciples, baptizing, and the continuous
education of those who respond to God’s call to seek him through the Lord Jesus
Christ?
Most of this
narrative has been in the interrogative. Let’s jump headfirst into the indicative
mood.
Our mission
should be front and center of every congregation’s focus.
But what about funds for the building or the
pastor? Same answer.
Mission
should be front and center of every congregation’s focus.
Again, what about the building and
pastor?
Do we not
trust God to provide if we do the very thing that he commissioned us to do?
Are we too
comfortable with those who have already come? We got ours and we are comfortable
with that.
Come Lord
Jesus, come! We’ve got everyone we care
about.
We do VBS
and Sunday School and set up a table at the park for a community event, and
there is nothing wrong with those, unless they supplant the mission of going into
the world with the gospel.
Does that
mean we go door-to-door? Sometimes.
More often,
it’s greeting someone at Walmart or the Post Office or the people who moved in
the apartment next to yours. Oh, oh, oh, that would be uncomfortable. We would
be labeled those Jesus people.
Is that so
bad? At least your neighbors would know
where to turn when the weight of the world becomes too
much to handle on their own.
Our sin and
even death have been taken away from us-amen, hallelujah, and praise the Lord.
But how will
we respond to this incredible gift? Will
we live unchanged
lives hoping to blend in with the world? Are we not strangers
in the world?
Is “Well
done good and faithful servant” not worth more than our comfort in a world that
at best is an Airbnb in our promised eternity?
Our mission
must always be front and center in our lives. Always!
American
pastors, be ready for resistance. We have become a people of comfort, so much
so that we try to fit our primal mission into the comfort zones we love so
much.
Remember Jesus
telling the rich young ruler to sell everything that he had and give the
proceeds to the poor? But that wasn’t
for everyone!
Correct, but
it is very much for us if our comfort zones keep us from our mission.
Do I really
need to sell all that I have? Not if you can get out and stay out of your
comfort zone that keeps you from going into the world.
Get in a new
comfort zone labeled “Growing.” We share and it doesn’t go well. We will try
again. Maybe we learn as we go. If you want to please God, he
will grant you the wisdom you need to do what he has commissioned you to
do. Ask him. He is generous. You will grow as you go into the world.
What about
the money for buildings and pastors? Look at the congregations that reach out
to the community. They don’t seem to have this problem.
Connection?
I think so!
Our mission
and our
commission must govern. How many times must God tell us to quit being
afraid?
Why must the
leadership of the church be so anchored in
our own understanding? Where is our trust?
Stewardship
and integrity
of the funds entrusted to us are surely essentials but trust in the Lord must
prevail among the leadership or we should not expect to see such trust in those
looking to us for the example of faith. Remember the substance
of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen?
What about by
faith not sight?
The church
has experienced mission creep over the past several decades from evangelism to preserving
our comfort zones.
We are
blessed to have shepherds and buildings but they have encroached on our
mission. God will provide both is we are faithful to what he has called us to
do—go into the world with good news.
Trust him.
Focus on the
mission.
Stop worrying.
Be strong
and courageous.
Get out of
the pews and deliver good news.
Amen!
