ReTool Leadership Part 5 - Leading People to be Scattered
If the church is going to expand and multiply on an ongoing basis, there are some issues that must be faced, admitted to, repented from and transformed to become more like Jesus. The cornerstone issue that faces the church today regarding stunting its growth is our understanding of leadership in the church. My next few posts will give some time to this topic and I would love engaging with you in a conversation about this very important issue.
When I was a young man, I attended a trade school for cabinet making during one semester. My family owned a cabinet manufacturing business and I wanted to have some knowledge of the construction of cabinets before I went to work for the family. In the trade school, I remember a couple of lectures on safety issues and why certain aspects of cabinetry were vital for making strong cabinets, but the lectures were rare. Most of our time was spent in short, five to ten minute demonstrations on one aspect of cabinet making and then we got to work to imitate what the instructor had demonstrated. Our ‘mentor’ would move around the room, watching what we were doing and correcting us on one aspect or another. After a few weeks, I was making cabinets. Our final project was to design a simple cabinet, produce a list of parts to manufacture and then assemble the cabinet to receive our final grade. If we passed one particular level of cabinet making, we could then advance to the next level.
When I gave my life to Jesus and attended a local church near my home, I noticed that mentoring or making disciples looked much different than at the trade school. In the trade school I was taught and shown something, imitated it, was coached to help me improve and then I was released to do it on my own. In the church, we were taught things via lecture but there were no hands on demonstrations or practical encouragement to put the things we learned into practice. There was no one to walk with me through the Christian life.
Instructors (leaders) in the church must be about equipping and scattering (releasing) the saints into the world of their families, neighborhoods and vocations to live out and pass on the love, light and lessons of Jesus. I believe that every church leader (pastor) does want to see this happen but there is very little time or investment in doing so. The leaders time is mostly centered around administration, putting out fires in peoples lives and preparing a talk and organizing the inner workings of those meetings (worship services). The following is a short two minute video that illustrates the correct understanding of what discipleship is to be and the cultural norm of what it actually is.
This is Discipling from The Foursquare Church on Vimeo.
The Church Scattered
Ok so the church does need to be gathered (Acts 2:46, Acts 20:20, Hebrews 10:24-25) but it needs to also move beyond our gatherings as we saw in the video. Church has been mostly relegated to gatherings. Church should be seen as who we are, not what we attend (another set of blog posts for the future :-). Let’s briefly learn about the church scattered from the Scriptures.
Eph. 1:22-23
“22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
These verses teaches us that Jesus’ body, the church, is the fullness of God on earth. How can the church be the fullness of God when it is gathered together? When believers are huddled together in church buildings, how can they fill the earth? This verse certainly points to the church when she is scattered, not gathered. The Church scattered (our whole lives except for 1.5 hours a week :-) is the fullness of God on earth. When we are separated in our places of work or in our neighborhoods, we then have opportunity to be the fullness of God all over the place.
Do we believe that God wants to use Christians who are greeters at Walmart or Police Officers or Civil Engineers to bring blessing, hope, light and integrity to their co-workers and the business they work for? Do we believe that God wants to use the ordinary woman to impact those she rubs shoulders with on a daily basis? Isn’t the best advertisement for Jesus one person who is being transformed by him in the presence of those who do not yet know Him? If you do believe the above statements, how are you practically equipping these people to live this out?
This is a powerful way to see the Kingdom of God impacting a whole city or region. The church scattered is a powerful thing once we can see it, embrace it and encourage it. The church scattered may be powerful, but how many of our people really think this way? Unless the church leaders equip them to think like this and to pass along this teaching, we will not experience life for Jesus with maximum impact in our communities.
Eph. 4:11-16
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming ; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Allow me to make a few brief comments on this passage as it relates to the church scattered.
Eph. 4:11-12 - This passage puts a lot of how church is done in its ear. These five gifts (made up of mature or seasoned leaders) are given to the body to equip all the other members to do the work of ministry...NOT to do ministry for them! As churches adopt this thinking, it will require a whole different way of being the church together. No longer would church be about high energy meetings but about sound practical equipping in the things of Christ and expecting those lessons to be lived out in the coming weeks.
Eph. 4:13 This equipping and releasing to do the work of the ministry is to go on for our whole lives - until we reach unity and maturity. This maturing is done communally; “...until we ALL attain to the unity of the faith...” (emphasis mine).
Eph. 4:14 When the body experiences stability in perseverance, doctrine and focus, we can be sure we are headed in a good direction with our equipping. This type of teach ing expects the common believer to be moving towards maturity and alertness in their faith as live out their faith.
Eph. 4:15 All believers are to grow up in all aspects as they directly connect to Jesus, the Head of the Church. The church leaders will work hard to take people’s dependence off of them and point them to rely upon Jesus as their rock and stability.
Eph. 4:16 Each joint, each individual is to properly work and supply what is necessary for healthy growth as they mature in Jesus. This is not a passive faith but a very action oriented faith. This requires the empowering, releasing and encouraging of ordinary believers to be active both when we are together and when we are scattered. Those who follow Jesus should do so in church settings, at home and at work. The proper working of every individual is to be properly working at all times in all places. Our faith should not, must not be compartmentalized.
That is an exciting journey to be on. Each person, equipped, maturing and directly connected to Jesus to bring health to the body. As the body is scattered, this type of maturity will only serve to bring greater brightness to the community mature saints live in. The church should be equipping people towards expansion/multiplication in their daily normal lives instead of working hard to keep them attending meetings. If we live this out as leaders, the people will keep coming because we are helping them to be fruitful in their daily lives and who doesn't want more of that?
So what are your thoughts about leadership practically equipping the church to be the church, even when she is scattered?
When I was a young man, I attended a trade school for cabinet making during one semester. My family owned a cabinet manufacturing business and I wanted to have some knowledge of the construction of cabinets before I went to work for the family. In the trade school, I remember a couple of lectures on safety issues and why certain aspects of cabinetry were vital for making strong cabinets, but the lectures were rare. Most of our time was spent in short, five to ten minute demonstrations on one aspect of cabinet making and then we got to work to imitate what the instructor had demonstrated. Our ‘mentor’ would move around the room, watching what we were doing and correcting us on one aspect or another. After a few weeks, I was making cabinets. Our final project was to design a simple cabinet, produce a list of parts to manufacture and then assemble the cabinet to receive our final grade. If we passed one particular level of cabinet making, we could then advance to the next level.
When I gave my life to Jesus and attended a local church near my home, I noticed that mentoring or making disciples looked much different than at the trade school. In the trade school I was taught and shown something, imitated it, was coached to help me improve and then I was released to do it on my own. In the church, we were taught things via lecture but there were no hands on demonstrations or practical encouragement to put the things we learned into practice. There was no one to walk with me through the Christian life.
Instructors (leaders) in the church must be about equipping and scattering (releasing) the saints into the world of their families, neighborhoods and vocations to live out and pass on the love, light and lessons of Jesus. I believe that every church leader (pastor) does want to see this happen but there is very little time or investment in doing so. The leaders time is mostly centered around administration, putting out fires in peoples lives and preparing a talk and organizing the inner workings of those meetings (worship services). The following is a short two minute video that illustrates the correct understanding of what discipleship is to be and the cultural norm of what it actually is.
This is Discipling from The Foursquare Church on Vimeo.
The Church Scattered
Ok so the church does need to be gathered (Acts 2:46, Acts 20:20, Hebrews 10:24-25) but it needs to also move beyond our gatherings as we saw in the video. Church has been mostly relegated to gatherings. Church should be seen as who we are, not what we attend (another set of blog posts for the future :-). Let’s briefly learn about the church scattered from the Scriptures.
Eph. 1:22-23
“22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
These verses teaches us that Jesus’ body, the church, is the fullness of God on earth. How can the church be the fullness of God when it is gathered together? When believers are huddled together in church buildings, how can they fill the earth? This verse certainly points to the church when she is scattered, not gathered. The Church scattered (our whole lives except for 1.5 hours a week :-) is the fullness of God on earth. When we are separated in our places of work or in our neighborhoods, we then have opportunity to be the fullness of God all over the place.
Do we believe that God wants to use Christians who are greeters at Walmart or Police Officers or Civil Engineers to bring blessing, hope, light and integrity to their co-workers and the business they work for? Do we believe that God wants to use the ordinary woman to impact those she rubs shoulders with on a daily basis? Isn’t the best advertisement for Jesus one person who is being transformed by him in the presence of those who do not yet know Him? If you do believe the above statements, how are you practically equipping these people to live this out?
This is a powerful way to see the Kingdom of God impacting a whole city or region. The church scattered is a powerful thing once we can see it, embrace it and encourage it. The church scattered may be powerful, but how many of our people really think this way? Unless the church leaders equip them to think like this and to pass along this teaching, we will not experience life for Jesus with maximum impact in our communities.
Eph. 4:11-16
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming ; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Allow me to make a few brief comments on this passage as it relates to the church scattered.
Eph. 4:11-12 - This passage puts a lot of how church is done in its ear. These five gifts (made up of mature or seasoned leaders) are given to the body to equip all the other members to do the work of ministry...NOT to do ministry for them! As churches adopt this thinking, it will require a whole different way of being the church together. No longer would church be about high energy meetings but about sound practical equipping in the things of Christ and expecting those lessons to be lived out in the coming weeks.
Eph. 4:13 This equipping and releasing to do the work of the ministry is to go on for our whole lives - until we reach unity and maturity. This maturing is done communally; “...until we ALL attain to the unity of the faith...” (emphasis mine).
Eph. 4:14 When the body experiences stability in perseverance, doctrine and focus, we can be sure we are headed in a good direction with our equipping. This type of teach ing expects the common believer to be moving towards maturity and alertness in their faith as live out their faith.
Eph. 4:15 All believers are to grow up in all aspects as they directly connect to Jesus, the Head of the Church. The church leaders will work hard to take people’s dependence off of them and point them to rely upon Jesus as their rock and stability.
Eph. 4:16 Each joint, each individual is to properly work and supply what is necessary for healthy growth as they mature in Jesus. This is not a passive faith but a very action oriented faith. This requires the empowering, releasing and encouraging of ordinary believers to be active both when we are together and when we are scattered. Those who follow Jesus should do so in church settings, at home and at work. The proper working of every individual is to be properly working at all times in all places. Our faith should not, must not be compartmentalized.
That is an exciting journey to be on. Each person, equipped, maturing and directly connected to Jesus to bring health to the body. As the body is scattered, this type of maturity will only serve to bring greater brightness to the community mature saints live in. The church should be equipping people towards expansion/multiplication in their daily normal lives instead of working hard to keep them attending meetings. If we live this out as leaders, the people will keep coming because we are helping them to be fruitful in their daily lives and who doesn't want more of that?
So what are your thoughts about leadership practically equipping the church to be the church, even when she is scattered?
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