12 Jul So Who Is Driving Your Church?

Years ago, Denny Miller, Bob Bruce and I traveled together to attend seminary at Evangelical School of Theology in Myerstown, Pa. Denny and Bob would pick me up along the way and from my home we would alternate driving so we shared the gas expense. It became apparent after a while that there was a clear difference in how quickly we arrived at the school depending on who was driving. I won’t elaborate the difference, but it was clear. Keep that thought in mind.

Now picture your church as a car. There are four people, or entities, in the car. One is vision. One is relationships. One is management. And the final one is programs. There are two main drivers in the car: vision and management. The progression of the journey will be dependent upon who is driving.

When vision is driving the church, relationships are up front riding shotgun and they work closely together. Management and programs are along for the ride but the focus is on how vision is setting the pace and relationships assist the vision. It is exciting, focused, fun, and enjoyable. The journey “feels” exciting and breeds anticipation. You always wonder what the Lord is going to bring around the corner.

But when ministry in a church gets sidetracked, and vision is not clearly communicated or existent, suddenly management moves into the driver’s seat and programs hop up front with it. The high priority becomes preserving what is as opposed to seeking and driving toward what God desires. Policies, procedures, processes and programs become the focal point now. Vision sinks into the background and relationships along with it. The atmosphere becomes strained, deliberate, slow, and discouraging. The machine may even seem to be running well, but the vehicle is slowly moving nowhere.

This can be further defined using two other words: fruitfulness and faithfulness. We can be faithful to having the same few people attend, giving money, and showing some level of care to each other and never be fruitful at all. We are simply “managing” those who are already there. Our focus is inward. And there is no fruit.

But Jesus in John 15 said that we would (and should) produce lasting fruit. Fruitfulness is reproduction. Reproduction is seeing new people come to know Christ and eventually assisting in multiplying new congregations. Faithfulness is important and necessary. But faithfulness without fruitfulness is death.

So who is driving your church? Is a clear, outward-focused vision driving, enhancing and encouraging growing relationships? Or is the major focus managing and programming your church, with vision and relationship taking a back seat?

Whoever is driving will determine where, how and when you will arrive at a destination. They will also determine what your destination is. There is a way that seems right to a man, but it leads to death.

28 Jun How Big is Your County?

I performed an informal assessment with a church. I asked them what (if any) threats there were that would keep the church from moving forward. One man responded that he thought the larger churches in their area were a “threat.”

First, I acknowledged that it is true that larger churches can provide some services and ministries that a smaller church is not at the point of doing. For example, in my first church, we had families come that had teenagers. We were a small church plant whose oldest children were in fourth grade at the time. We concluded that we were not going to be able to reach or retain families with teens until our children grew to be teens. I helped those families that visited us who had teens to get into a good church down the street. In this way, that church was a partner, not a threat. We kept those folks for the Kingdom, just not in our building.

But I also asked the group the question, “How many people are there in your county?”

The answer for that group was over 350,000. Studies suggest that over 50% of them probably do not have a meaningful relationship to Jesus Christ. That means that there are perhaps 180,000 people near this church who are pre-Christian and need the Gospel. It is also true that there are likely a significant number of people out of that 180,000 who are similar to the people currently in the church (stage of life, age, background, etc) and would be drawn to become part of their church, if it was clear they could meet the Lord in that place. Therefore, you could fill all the large or mega-churches in that area numerous times and still have tens of thousands of people yet to be reached. Other churches are our teammates, not our competition.

How many people are in YOUR county? Perhaps not as many as in that one, but enough that you have an ample group to reach. The greater question is whether or not your church is a place where the presence of the Lord is evident. A second question: What is your church intentionally doing to reach those who are already connected to you through relationships at work, home, etc.?

27 Jun Blessing Not Condemnation

I am currently in San Francisco at a conference. We attended church at First Baptist Church of San Francisco, which is located directly across the street from the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Community Center. It also strategically sits on the confluence of five different San Francisco neighborhoods or districts.

I thought of the Revelation where the Lord says to the church at Pergamum:

I know where you live–where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city–where Satan lives (Rev. 2:13, 14).

Ministry in this city is tough.

My heart was deeply stirred by the pastor, Phil Busbee. His has been a difficult road since being in the city. But he has chosen before God to be committed to the vision of speaking blessing to the people in the city and not cursing.

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22 Jun Are you Tired? Consider This

1 Kings 19:3–Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

I’m sure many of you have preached this before. Threat, high-energy encounter, physical exhaustion–together, they add up to depression or even worse, despair. Perhaps a better summary is this: Ministry today is hard. And the further we travel toward the end of time it will increase in its challenges.

I hear this sometimes in the voices of our pastors. Cluster meetings turn into gripe sessions–no joy, no victory, no God-sightings. Gossip, critical spirits, and defensiveness seem to reign. Where is God in this? Where is a sovereign view that says that even if everything is falling down around me, yet I will praise Him (Habakkuk 3:16-19)? Where is the rejoicing when the way is rough because of the spiritual character that is produced at such times (James 1)? Where is the focus on the “audience of one” concept that says even if everyone in my church is against me, I will take my stand because I know the Lord will cause me to stand (Ephesians 6:10ff; Ezekiel)?

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21 Jun Deer Are Doing Fine on the Ranch!

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
I have just returned from a brief vacation. My wife EJ and I flew to San Antonio, Texas with our daughter and her family. We spent about a day and a half touring the Alamo and the River Walk. We ate in some fine establishments and I was able to locate several excellent ice cream shops, which is always a priority for me.
We then rented a car and drove northwest of San Antonio to Whitetail Junction Ranch. We spent several days with my nephew, niece, their spouses, plus two great-nieces and one great-nephew and their spouses. We had a nice little family reunion.
Now the reason I’m telling you all of this is to say that the deer are doing wonderfully on the ranch. After purchasing a ranch populated with sickly deer, my nephew intentionally bred strong young bucks to improve the DNA of the herd. Last year one of them topped out at about 280 pounds. I don’t know exactly what the B & C score was, but it was high. So the DNA change is working. As I drove my little four-wheel cart around to look at the animals, I was again amazed at how much has been accomplished in such a short time.
If you are wondering what I am talking about, I talked about “the DNA of the herd” in my post on March 29:

We are in need of locating a few, really sharp young pastors who can help us change our leadership DNA. Do you know any student that is currently in a seminary anywhere? Could you give me the person’s name and where he is attending school? I really want to begin building a list of strong potential “young bucks” to change the genetic DNA of our herd. You can send directly to me by email.

Or you can listen to the Podcast of my talk to the youth pastors earlier this year from Daytona Beach, Fla. Many have already heard me tell the story of the ranch and changing the DNA of the herd.
The moral of the story is this: I believe that just like a sickly herd of deer is changed by bringing in new bucks, in the same way we must change the DNA of our leadership. Many of you have heard me say this before. Nothing new. But I wanted you to be aware that after my latest trip to the ranch, I am as firmly dedicated to this task as ever.
Will there be opposition? I would be greatly surprised if there wasn’t. Will many desire that we just let well enough alone? I imagine that will be true. But my question is, are we “good enough”? When it comes to our leadership, I’d say no! Now don’t get me wrong. We have some excellent leaders who are doing an effective job leading. My point is that we just need more of them. I want to find more new leaders while at the same time try to create a desire in many of our churches for something more, something better when it comes to ministry, so that when we find the “bucks with new DNA” we will have situations in which they can reproduce.
I would imagine that we have some churches that really don’t want to change, or don’t want to see growth if it means change. Maybe only a few will really have the “stomach” to make the necessary changes to become effective again. I say “again” because most churches at one time in their history were probably somewhat effective. Some may want to be effective again and some may not. But I will say this to our churches: if there are any out there who really want to become effective in their ministry and are willing to make the necessary changes, call me!
“Effectiveness” can mean different things to different people. What it means to me is a church that will do whatever is necessary to fulfill the Great Commission by seeing everyone become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. I suppose a church could be “effective” doing a lot of different things. But if people aren’t becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, then all the effectiveness is just so much busyness. If people aren’t becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we almost forfeit the right to have the name “Church” on our sign. Without that happening, whatever else we do is just a social club of good works.
So, the deer are still growing on the ranch in Texas, and my dream for a new DNA within the “ranch” of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ is still burning hot in my soul.