Removing the ‘Cuffs
What ministry or project would you take on if you had just barely enough resources? Barely enough money, time, energy, people, support, etc… Its too cliche and easy to ask if you had “unlimited,” but if we set out to do something we really believed in and had passion for, we could probably muster up “just barely enough” to do just about anything ministry related.
My sister and her esposo wanted to start a local food pantry and after speaking with the church leadership, felt confident they could pursue the ministry. They spent quite a bit of time putting everything together, organizing, , vision-casting it, etc., only to hear the church inform them that it didn’t quite fit with the vision of the church for that particular season.
I have had a friend who has a heart for the homeless and we’ve talked numerous times about the lack of opportunity to serve the homeless within the churches he has attended.
I’ve had several ideas lacking only legs that i’ve rarely bothered to pursue because I knew it would be difficult without the church’s blessing.
I have come realize that something isn’t quite sitting right in the relationship between church member and church institution. The realization birthed the following mantra (which you’ve probably heard if you’ve known me long enough, and i’ve know i’ve said it at least once on this blog before):
Church should not be the fulfillment of ministry in your life, rather it should be an extension of your lifestyle of ministry.
We’re all given gifts from God that play out through our strengths within our personality, intelligence, and various abilities, yet in my experience we tend to save these gifts solely for use within the local church. If our church home does not provide us an avenue to serve how we feel lead to serve, we push the urge aside, ignore it, save it for later… We have allowed the church to handcuff us, to tell us when and where we can minister… we’ve allowed the church to dilute our passion… if there isn’t a program to meet the needs of our vision, we simply choose abeyance rather than obedience.
The relationship is out of whack… and it’s not solely (or even mostly) the institutions fault. I don’t want to downplay the importance of the local church. There are a lot of churches doing great things, but there are far too many churches who are just as handcuffed by our inactivity.
But… at the same time… I look at this vision in which ministry is not determined by the availability of a like-minded program that my church offers, rather is propelled by the Love of God within me… the more i chew, the more I see that we have placed too much of an emphasis on the local church, and not enough on the Body doing what it is designed to do.
As a parent, I want to be involved in my girls’ lives, converse with them, watch them grow, help them find their way in Christ… So I chose to be a soccer coach a few seasons back. This allowed me to impart some things in my daughter’s life about working with others, trying hard, accepting failure, and enjoying victory humbly. Coaching soccer did not fulfill my vision as a parent, it was simply an extension of my everyday parenting. How ridiculous would it be if I told my daughter “hon, you get all of me during anything related to soccer… the rest of the time i’m going to do my own thing.”
Isn’t that what many of us tell God? Inadvertantly, subtly, and in the words that are only audible through our actions and lack there of… God stirs our heart and says “i’ve given you the gifts… go do it.” Many of us respond “give me a way to do it at church, and i’ll do it!”…
I’m still trying to figure out how to shake the off the handcuffs that I’ve firmly locked into place on my own. This is grass-roots stuff… it’s not culturally relevant, its not seeker sensitive, and i dunno if its for everyone. But I’m tired…
Tired of words without action. Tired of hearts beating but not breaking. Tired of visions without casting. Tired of knowing what I should do and using the church as an excuse not to do it… We are the Church, so the excuse is no longer valid… And if we somehow get this concept working in our lives, we will see the local church relevant in the way it was intended to be.
(and this more or less is what I presented in my final of Foundations of Leadership)
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my husband, mother-in-law, and I were talking on this subject today (before I even read your post). There was a time when we actually left a church because we did not believe it was fulfilling our needs. We saw many areas/ministries that the church lacked, voiced our concerns to the pastor (who agreed with us and said he wanted those ministries, just lacked people dedicated to facilitating them), and then walked away saying, “well, we want those things, but we’re not the ones to start them.” - another excuse not to take full action, and placing the blame on the church for not already providing the ministry opportunity. Too
It does become too easy to place blame on the institution of church But, you hit it right on the head - We are the Church, so the excuse is no longer valid. People place too high of expectations on pastors and church leaders to do the ministries…when, really, we (the everyday people) are the ones who need to step up, and fulfill what God has called us to do…whether in the “church” or not.
I’ve failed at this (as mentioned above)…but I’ve come to act the other way as well. As my husband and I pursued full-time missions, we did not receive the anticipated support from our church that I hoped we would. We were often ignored and frowned upon. But, a close friend encouraged me by urging me “to hold on to the vision God has given, no matter how the church leaders respond. Only I know the true calling of God in my life.” Those words have helped me push forward and continue to act upon God’s calling. I did not need the church in order to fulfill this calling - just reliance on God to show me the way.
And, we leave for the mission field tomorrow!
[...] (part one: here) [...]