I sit on the Ministry Council at our church. A bit like the Jedi Council. Mostly like every church board that exists. 10 guys, sitting around, trying to make decisions on the best way to “do church” where little actually gets accomplished and what does get accomplished, takes years to develop and come to fruition. Our pastor, who has a background in serving very traditional conservative churches, remarks that our church is the least accommodating to change that he’s ever been at. Nice.
I struggle with what our role as a church should be. It shouldn’t be this hard! I’m trying to read the book Simple Church to help me get my head on straight about it all. What about the Great Commission? And, when “doing church”, how much do we let culture reflect what we do? when in the band, we always justified doing rock music as that is the language of the youth, our primary target. SO, how much do we let external things determine how we do church? One of the factors in deciding to quit the band was that I saw churches spending lots of cash on bringing us into town and I thought that they could be spending their money on things that could have more impact. Maybe Sunday school curriculum? In retrospect, I see that attitude as actually being pious. How dare me to determine how and what a church should act/do in reaching the lost. And to think I was actually biased AGAINST myself, the thing I loved to do more than anything! I’m digresssing…
I am turning in a $20+ thousand budget for the TechTeam at our church. For stuff like lighting, facility improvements, sound equipment. DO we need this stuff to reach the lost? We are conducting church in our present facility just “fine”. Do we need more stuff in order to worship God more effectively? Can we not worhship Him however and wherever we are? If so, why then am I turning in this budget? Am I not allowing God to do His good work?
But what if God IS doing His good work THRU me? He has gifted me and people on my team in certain ways. If we are a church with many members,many different functions, why wouldn’t I turn the budget in? Why wouldn’t I make recommendations based on the viewpoint that God has enlisted IN me? I know others will see things differently. They will say (and have already), “why invest in our current facility when we are in the beginning stages of a capital building campaign?” So, I will need to be confident in my position and be open minded and willing to calmly discuss options for our future. Should be interesting!
Perhaps I should listen to “The Call” and see what revelation that brings me…
