by Tom Johnston
During the 1980’s there was the now-famous “Just Say No” campaign to teach teens and children that they could refuse the temptation of illicit drug use when such an opportunity was presented to them. The push for awareness did much to bring to the forefront the major issue we face with drug addiction in our country. Today, the Church in the West faces a similar scourge – we have an addiction of our own – and most of the pastors I know are enslaved to this poison.
What are we addicted to? Transfer growth. Yup, that’s it. We are driven by the need to see our churches “grow,” our “ministry expand” and our “community impact increase” (not to mention the desire to increase the church budget). We need the validation of more people attending our gatherings and services. Attendance at a service is the core metric of the church in our country, the one by which we measure success. This is how we “get high” as pastors. We get a “buzz” off our numbers, and we are addicted.
Rather than make our own disciples, which we validly do want more of, we are very content to let the wandering sheep from another flock nestle in with us. Think I’m crazy? With the hundreds of billions of dollars we are spending on ministry each year in the US, the evangelism growth rate of the Church is still at only about 5-7%, meaning that 93-95% of our growth comes from people who are already Christians!
Still think I’m crazy? Then ask yourself this question: When was the last time you sent someone packing? I mean, not some problem folks you are dealing with in church discipline, but rather, say, a healthy, spiritually mature, financially well-off couple with 2.5 kids who have been long-term members at the church down the street. These folks show up at your doorstep as “visitors” for a few weeks – and you’re hoping that they are going to make your church their new spiritual home – you need the “workers” and the cash. And this “hit” makes you feel good because they are coming to your place!
Ever stop to think why they are visiting? What happened at the last place? Was there a problem which needs to be resolved? Is their motive consumer-oriented, and they are “shopping” for a new church? Your place is nicer, better worship, more programs? Or are they “cruise-imatics” always moving from church to church?
Whatever the reason, if you receive them into fellowship, you have the potential of doing several (negative) things: first, you may enable their dysfunctional behavior – the root of the reason for transition; second, you receive that dysfunction into your church by receiving them, and third; you could mar the Body of Christ, leaving issues unresolved, and mostly, you allow attendance to be your core metric, displacing a call to devotion to Christ, His Church and His mission. The focus switches from disciple-making to vending spiritual goods and services so people attend, and you feed the transfer cycle of the consumer-driven church.
Please do not believe the lies, either. What lies? The ones the Enemy whispers in the ears of the addicted pastor: “Their last pastor didn’t really understand them.” “I can help them in a way he couldn’t.” “They need our church to take the next step in their spiritual growth” “Our church is better.” Now, none of us would admit to the last one, yet most of us believe it. The fact is that you – and the church you pastor – are probably no better than the last ones, and any potential issues will remain unresolved.
Granted, there are valid reasons for people coming to your church who are already Christians. Maybe they have moved into the area and are looking for a church. Fine and dandy, no problem here – folks need a church family to be part of. Maybe they have had a valid issue with the last church leadership which wasn’t able to be resolved. Not an issue either, once you check it out in order to determine the validity. Or maybe they are truly called alongside you and your church to work together. No problem – simply have them go back to their pastor and get their pastor’s blessing and release, and receive them in as gifts from God. The problem is, most of the times we don’t follow through like this. We are so glad simply to have someone come that we see no evil and hear no evil. We praise God that our core metric has increased and the budget too. (Yesssssss, my precioussss, we mustn’t forgetsss the budget!)
The problem with the pattern of transfer growth is that it puts our focus on the wrong thing – attendance - and keeps us from engaging the lost, making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ. If the church is growing by transfer, there is less of a motivation for evangelism. All the resources (time, energy, money) then turn inward to care for those already attending. This pattern also weakens the discipleship of the individual and the church as a whole, as no challenges are issued to the individual to address relational conflicts or issues with past pastoral leaders, and on the corporate level, there is not cost of discipleship – one only needs to attend to fulfill their obligation.
As pastors, we can address this temptation we face, and subvert the cycle of transfer growth, seeing healthy disciples made for Jesus. We can be freed from our addiction. By simply building relationship with other pastors in our areas and opening communication with them when someone from their church comes, we can strengthen the Body of Christ as a whole. In one area I pastored in, fourteen churches were networked together for prayer and ministry, and the relational bonds established allowed us to successfully address this exact issue. From there, all you need to do is engage those visiting Christians around receiving a blessing. If they are willing to pursue such a blessing, then they can come, if they are not, then you need to “just say no.”
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Just Say Yes
by Mike Chong Perkinson
The odd tension we face in serving our Lord within the sphere of pastoral ministry is the paradoxical nature of public ministry and our human state. You know the reality that while we seek to draw people’s attention to Jesus we do so by being visible, receiving attention ourselves. God seeks to display the wonder of His Son through human vessels. Complicating this paradoxical tension is the unfortunate reality that the mystery of the Kingdom is often lost within the confines of our understanding what makes a man or woman of God successful in ministry.
It is quite apparent that no matter how we slice it, what we score (attendance, buildings and cash) determines how we really define success and what we ultimately say “yes” to. The tension is that those who are called to this incredible privilege of shepherding God’s people struggle to make ends meet trying to obey the voice of their Father (saying “yes” to God) while trying to measure up to the human standards that tend to dominate our church world.
It’s that odd curiosity that surfaces when you are attending a pastor’s gathering - curiosity that wants to know just how big the other pastor’s church is. Of course we like people asking us how our church is doing when large numbers are getting saved, attendance is increasing, disciples are being made, and money is flowing in – ask away. However, when numbers are not increasing we tend to shy away from the question and when asked we oddly default to a biblical description. It might sound something like this, “Mike how’s your church doing?” Translated means how many are you running?
If my church is not growing numerically, I might answer with, “Well, we are growing deep in our love for God and each other, people’s lives are really changing and our hearts are breaking for the lost.” Isn’t that strange, we tend to default to a biblical response in the midst of perceived failure. Maybe that should be the response in every case?
A good friend of mine who pastors a great church once said to me, “It will be rather embarrassing when I get to heaven and talk with the apostle Paul and have to tell him that I could not grow the church or do what the Father wanted because I did not have an adequate parking lot.” Now please know that I am all for speaking our culture’s language and providing adequate parking and the like for people. However, my friend caught the essence of his struggle in ministry. He realized he was looking to external realities and the humanistic definition of success to drive him rather than what the Father had called him to do.
As the Church we tend to over-react to our problems and swing the pendulum to the opposite extreme. We often react by dealing with the wineskin (our form and structure) rather than taking a hard look at the wine. Is the life, love and grace of Jesus manifested in our lives, our families, our leadership community, our church, etc? Reaction is not the issue here but response, more specifically our response to God.
In my pastoral experience I have met many leaders who have dreams and aspirations that are from God Himself and yet are not living out that dream. Instead they find themselves caught in the machinery of church, serving the demands of the form and structure while seeking (often well intentioned) to bring people to Christ. Our scorecards only make this more difficult as the core matrix of success still hovers around attendance, buildings and cash. As my pastor said years ago, “Just because you have a lot of people does not mean you have a church. It just means you have a lot of people.”
And so, just say yes to the voice of our Father who called you and still desires to pour His life, love and grace in you and through you for the expressed purpose of extending His Kingdom in your life and the lives of those you are privileged to lead. Say yes to God!
The odd tension we face in serving our Lord within the sphere of pastoral ministry is the paradoxical nature of public ministry and our human state. You know the reality that while we seek to draw people’s attention to Jesus we do so by being visible, receiving attention ourselves. God seeks to display the wonder of His Son through human vessels. Complicating this paradoxical tension is the unfortunate reality that the mystery of the Kingdom is often lost within the confines of our understanding what makes a man or woman of God successful in ministry.
It is quite apparent that no matter how we slice it, what we score (attendance, buildings and cash) determines how we really define success and what we ultimately say “yes” to. The tension is that those who are called to this incredible privilege of shepherding God’s people struggle to make ends meet trying to obey the voice of their Father (saying “yes” to God) while trying to measure up to the human standards that tend to dominate our church world.
It’s that odd curiosity that surfaces when you are attending a pastor’s gathering - curiosity that wants to know just how big the other pastor’s church is. Of course we like people asking us how our church is doing when large numbers are getting saved, attendance is increasing, disciples are being made, and money is flowing in – ask away. However, when numbers are not increasing we tend to shy away from the question and when asked we oddly default to a biblical description. It might sound something like this, “Mike how’s your church doing?” Translated means how many are you running?
If my church is not growing numerically, I might answer with, “Well, we are growing deep in our love for God and each other, people’s lives are really changing and our hearts are breaking for the lost.” Isn’t that strange, we tend to default to a biblical response in the midst of perceived failure. Maybe that should be the response in every case?
A good friend of mine who pastors a great church once said to me, “It will be rather embarrassing when I get to heaven and talk with the apostle Paul and have to tell him that I could not grow the church or do what the Father wanted because I did not have an adequate parking lot.” Now please know that I am all for speaking our culture’s language and providing adequate parking and the like for people. However, my friend caught the essence of his struggle in ministry. He realized he was looking to external realities and the humanistic definition of success to drive him rather than what the Father had called him to do.
As the Church we tend to over-react to our problems and swing the pendulum to the opposite extreme. We often react by dealing with the wineskin (our form and structure) rather than taking a hard look at the wine. Is the life, love and grace of Jesus manifested in our lives, our families, our leadership community, our church, etc? Reaction is not the issue here but response, more specifically our response to God.
In my pastoral experience I have met many leaders who have dreams and aspirations that are from God Himself and yet are not living out that dream. Instead they find themselves caught in the machinery of church, serving the demands of the form and structure while seeking (often well intentioned) to bring people to Christ. Our scorecards only make this more difficult as the core matrix of success still hovers around attendance, buildings and cash. As my pastor said years ago, “Just because you have a lot of people does not mean you have a church. It just means you have a lot of people.”
And so, just say yes to the voice of our Father who called you and still desires to pour His life, love and grace in you and through you for the expressed purpose of extending His Kingdom in your life and the lives of those you are privileged to lead. Say yes to God!
Success and failure is not the issue in the Kingdom of God. God is not interested in how many we have or how effective we are as He is how obedient we have been, how faithful we have been as sons/daughters, servants, and stewards of the Kingdom. The issue for us as sons and daughters of the King is obedience and only doing what we see the Father doing. Success is best defined as obedience.
- Are you doing what the Father is asking of you?
- Are you waking up each day feeling like its Christmas because you get to partner with the King of Kings?
- Are you more in love with Jesus today?
- Are people pressing you and asking you about the hope that is within you? (1 Peter 3:15)
Just say yes to God, submit to His call and purpose in your life and be the son/daughter He has made you to be and seek out a mentor or coach to help you grow in your spirituality as well as grow in your ministry skill sets.
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