Is ministry being squelched?
Here's your chance to tell me! Is ministry being squelched or hindered or controlled?
Are Christ followers in the American Church free or released and/or encouraged to serve wherever God is leading? Can church attenders choose to serve entirely in ministries outside the church without approval and without the blessing of the senior church leadership? Do we as leaders or have we insisted that people serve in the ministries we determine to be the ministries that support our local church mission/purpose mostly in the church? Have we or do we control what people do outside the church for fear they will mis-represent our church? If church attenders/members want to serve in outside ministries some of which they begin and do we insist that they get permission from us?
If any of the above is true - does it limit a fluid Holy Spirit led missional movement?
Choose your question and give me your honest feedback.
Maybe I will be surprised by your answers.
posted by Bob Carder @ 9:47 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Pastors who don't like people taking ministry into their own hands suffer from Pride and Greed.
Pride - because they want to "ordain" (control)it
Greed - because the ministry needs to add butts to pews and bling to the plate.
Promise Keepers could have shook this nation - but had little support because it was considered a threat to church controllers in my opinion (take it or leave it).
People are bypassing the church for this reason. Look at Home Makeover or Trick my Truck. People who would not be accepted in today's church doing more ministry and bearing more fruit than "official believers."
Biker Bob will probably never come to your church even with the new coffee shop and all, but Biker Bob will first in line to go with you to feed the homeless or ride for abused children.
Sorry, just have to say more.
One night while driving in the snow I saw a pregnant and barefooted young girl. My first thought was help her but then I remembered our church policy (That no staff member could be in a car alone with a woman). It only took a few minutes after driving away that my spirit said, "Forget the policy. You just left Jesus standing in the cold." I turned around, picked her up and we went to El Chico. She was a single mom, didn't even have a coat - but she was pregnant and hungry.
We ordered a big deal of Nachos, I called a man friend to come join us, and we got to sit with this precious young sister and hear her story. We dropped by the church, gave her a kids bible for her child, and dropped her off in a dangerous part of town.
I'm so glad Jesus didn't have such a policy when talking to the woman at the well who would start a revival in her home town.
I've found that for most people, the word "ministry" is defined by what is being done through the church. I'm not sure whether this definition is conditioned, spoken, or implied through manipulation, but it has an effect on attenders willingness to serve.
Look at the typical model for "church leadership." We involve goers in enough activities so that the church can "trust" their heart (i.e. their likeminded vision), and when we feel confident that everything fits, we send them into some form of equipping to do the same work.
The irony is that most of these "equipping" strategies often involve gift inventories or personality profiles, so that an attender can be aware of "how they can serve." Yet those who's inventories fall outside the structure already in place are lost in the shuffle...whereas, for example, those who can teach, preach, or sing are placed within previously defined positions.
I think if you asked most believers (even "ministers" for that matter) what the definition of ministry is, you would be surprised to find how narrow it is. The word carries an elitist connotation: "I cannot 'minister' without _______." And many (not all, but many) who can minister because they have _______, reinforce this elitism.
So I would say, yes, church attenders are silently given the right to minister in these ways...but in the name of priority, the church is doing nothing to correct the false notions that discourage this right.
Biker Bob is The Planter!
Mie that's right and you know who wouldn't let me serve in the ministries of the church with my crazy focus on the purposes of the Great Commission. (There's that sarcasm again.) Darn it!
I always use ancient Israel as an example of what happens today. The process a Christian will go through in life is as follows:
We are all born in Egypt, a life without the LORD in sin.
Like Israel, we have to call out to the LORD for help, in order for us to be saved from the life under the Pharaoh, the devil. We all have to understand that we cannot get out of Egypt without first realizing that we are there, and then understanding that only the LORD can take us out of Egypt.
We have to become part of Israel, His nation, by becoming part of the covenant, so we have to eat His flesh and drink His blood, we must share communion with Him. He will send you a Moses to take you out of Egypt and to teach you His commandments.
We have to come under the blood of the Lamb, in order not to die the life of a sinner.
We then have to leave Egypt, by being baptized like Israel in the sea.
The next step is to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, like Israel received at Mara.
We then have to spend time receiving training. This requires us to receive the LORD’s commandments in our hearts. We have to receive the Tabernacle in our hearts. This is the training part of our lives where we find out what is right and what is wrong. This is what happened to Israel while encamped at Sinai and this is what your local congregation should do. During this time you might even be chosen as an elder or deacon in your local congregation while receiving instruction from your pastor, your Moses.
Once our training is complete, we are supposed to be confronted by our pastor to enter into our own ministry, that calling we have all received from the LORD. This happens when the LORD with His promise of Canaan for us, confronts us with our own ministry. Some will accept his promise and enter into Canaan, while others will die in the dessert.
Those that enter into Canaan will serve either alone in their own ministry like the time of Israel before the kings, or under their pastor or decide to become part of a ministry and get “under the covering” of a king. (A king is someone who rules over you and could be ministry, a church grouping, or a spiritual father).
Most of the people that enter into Canaan will die while serving this king, while a remnant will be called to go into exile.
Once we have served our term in exile, this remnant will be returned to Israel(the real church) and work amongst the people in Jerusalem, the real church, to rebuild the temple of the LORD. Once here, we do not need a king to work for, as we will only do that which we are called to do.
So to summarize: We find that we can serve as elders, while in the dessert, we can serve in Canaan under a king, or we can eventually serve in Jerusalem, depending on where you are in your own spiritual life.
Let's see...the answers in the order in which you asked are:
No
No
Yes
No
No
YES!
"Ministry" has become defined as something that can be controlled, manipulated and scheduled and tied to meeting the needs of the organization.
I see ministry in scripture as being quite the opposite...spontaneous, selfless and completely Spirit-led.
I believe also that "ministry" has been "glorified" (i.e., hijacked) to the point where only those who have been "educated and qualified" can accomplish "it."
I've told my sons that what is seen in "churches" today is not "ministry" but rather resembles what the United Way or Red Cross does, which is help people meet physical needs.
Ministry, to me, is purely centered on others without a thought of what it means to the channel through which the Spirit moves. It is precious, effective and timely.
louwrens said:
"We then have to spend time receiving training. This requires us to receive the LORD’s commandments in our hearts. We have to receive the Tabernacle in our hearts. This is the training part of our lives where we find out what is right and what is wrong. This is what happened to Israel while encamped at Sinai and this is what your local congregation should do. During this time you might even be chosen as an elder or deacon in your local congregation while receiving instruction from your pastor, your Moses."
Sorry, lou, but your analogy is very wrong. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the so-called "leaders" in the American church still operate, as apparently you do, out of an Old Testament mentality which is structure-heavy.
In light of your understanding, both Jesus and Paul would be disqualified in ministry as would Apollos and others in the NEW Testament.
avm said:
"The irony is that most of these "equipping" strategies often involve gift inventories or personality profiles, so that an attender can be aware of "how they can serve." Yet those who's inventories fall outside the structure already in place are lost in the shuffle...whereas, for example, those who can teach, preach, or sing are placed within previously defined positions."
Quite right.
In my previous organization, those who desired to be involved in "ministry," at least as defined by the organization, was required to undergo the personality test (DISC) to determine where they would "fit" within the services of the organization.
I found it repulsive to think that those who scored high in the controlling personality were those best considered as "leaders," whereas those who scored higher in the more loving and serving personalities were seen as "support ministry" to the controllers.
All of this hoopla has been designed by those "leaders" who wish to keep the less than qualified congregants feeling that while they have a "place in ministry," it is NOT as a supposed five-fold minister but rather as one who can support the more "pure" ministries of the "leaders."
This is nothing more than an attempt to placate the Godly urge to reach out to others in the Name of Christ that every believer has. It is a counterfeit and nothing else.
What is needed is the teaching of the truth regarding Ephesians 4 and the fact that EVERY believer is either an "apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher" as the Spirit leads and gifts.
It is ministry by the Elect not the Select.
It's a sad commentary that today validation of someone gifts is centered around whether a person is on the payroll of an organization.
Thank God, literally, that I have never had a church experience like some of you are describing. I have always felt free to minister within, and without, the church as I feel led and as my gifts and the HS lead.
Sounds like you're in the right place.
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