Meeting people’s needs is a big part of the church’s mandate. Tasks like feeding the poor, caring for children and widows, and helping addicts find freedom is essential to loving our neighbors as Christ has loved us. But meeting people’s “felt” needs has always been a slippery slope because people tend to feel their most …
Whatever Happened To Churches Meeting Felt Needs? – And What Should Replace It? Read More »
As pastors, we have a solemn obligation to equip church members to do ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). Instead, too many pastors burn out because the pastor and the church members expect the pastor to do most or all of the ministry for them. Making the transition from the doer of ministry to the equipper of ministers …
How To Start Training Your Church Leaders To Become Equippers, Not Just Doers Read More »
We’re always told to pursue excellence. To accomplish great things. To be world-changers. Okay. I agree. But life isn’t made up of one moment of excellence after another. It’s made up of one ordinary action after another. It’s about simple, consistent, sometimes boring faithfulness.
One of the airtight principles of church leadership is that you can tell what a church’s priorities are by looking at where they allocate their funds. That is true in some churches, but not in all. Maybe not in most. Here’s why. The vast majority of churches are small, and small church budgets are far …
No, A Church’s Budget Is Not Always A Reflection Of Their Priorities Read More »
There’s a scandal going on in the church today.
It is one of the biggest scandals in church history, yet it remains invisible to most of us.
No, it’s not the sexual sins of some of our leaders. It’s not the physical, emotional and spiritual abuse of church members, or the cover-up of those sins. It’s not the self-righteous legalism on one side, or the moral compromise on the other. It’s not even our tendency to quarrel and back-stab each other.
Those scandals are horrifying, for sure. Many of them have been well-documented and need to be exposed to the light of day even more.
The scandal I’m talking about has flown under the radar for a long time – centuries, actually. It’s so common we seldom think of it as the sin it is, or how badly it hurts people and tarnishes the reputation of the church in the eyes of those affected by it.
The most widespread sin of the modern-day church is poor stewardship.
There’s a scandal going on in the church today.
It is one of the biggest scandals in church history, yet it remains invisible to most of us.
No, it’s not the sexual sins of some of our leaders. It’s not the physical, emotional and spiritual abuse of church members, or the cover-up of those sins. It’s not the self-righteous legalism on one side, or the moral compromise on the other. It’s not even our tendency to quarrel and back-stab each other.
Those scandals are horrifying, for sure. Many of them have been well-documented and need to be exposed to the light of day even more.
The scandal I’m talking about has flown under the radar for a long time – centuries, actually. It’s so common we seldom think of it as the sin it is, or how badly it hurts people and tarnishes the reputation of the church in the eyes of those affected by it.
The most widespread sin of the modern-day church is poor stewardship.
Churches have to do more ministry with less money.
That’s becoming truer with every passing year, and it will increase for at least another generation.
For example, 15 years ago, the church I serve was smaller and less healthy than it is right now. By every indication of growth, health and effective ministry, we are doing better today. Except in one way. It’s harder to pay the bills now than it was then.
Some of that is because the average age of our church members has dropped, and younger people have less money to give. But mostly, it’s because that’s the trend in churches across the board.
So, how do we fix this trend so we can keep doing all the ministry we need to do?
Do we hire a firm to help us raise funds? Preach more about discipleship? Do more fundraising? More bake sales? Sell property?
No. The absolute best way to solve our church’s financial problems is so simple, so biblical, it almost seems redundant to state it.
Discipleship.
The Bible has never been more popular.
It’s everywhere. From our bookshelves, to our laptops, phones, e-readers and audio books.
Virtually anyone can gain instant access to the Bible in multiples languages and translations, including the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
There are also a lot of Bible studies available. Through books, podcasts, blogs and apps, you can read, hear and study an endless variety of ideas about the Bible and its meaning.
The biggest reason for biblical ignorance and misunderstanding in previous generations was lack of access to the Bible and/or good Bible study materials. Today, the problem may be the exact opposite. There are so many voices, it’s hard for most people to distinguish valid Bible teaching from fluff or outright heresy.
As pastors, we have a great responsibility to teach our church members, not just what the Bible says and how to apply it, but how to read it for themselves, so they can distinguish good biblical teaching from shallow or bad biblical teaching.
In short, it’s no longer enough just to preach and teach from the Bible, we need to teach about the Bible, too.
The Bible has never been more popular.
It’s everywhere. From our bookshelves, to our laptops, phones, e-readers and audio books.
Virtually anyone can gain instant access to the Bible in multiples languages and translations, including the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
There are also a lot of Bible studies available. Through books, podcasts, blogs and apps, you can read, hear and study an endless variety of ideas about the Bible and its meaning.
The biggest reason for biblical ignorance and misunderstanding in previous generations was lack of access to the Bible and/or good Bible study materials. Today, the problem may be the exact opposite. There are so many voices, it’s hard for most people to distinguish valid Bible teaching from fluff or outright heresy.
As pastors, we have a great responsibility to teach our church members, not just what the Bible says and how to apply it, but how to read it for themselves, so they can distinguish good biblical teaching from shallow or bad biblical teaching.
In short, it’s no longer enough just to preach and teach from the Bible, we need to teach about the Bible, too.
Some of the strongest statements are made in the simplest ways.
This is true of leadership. Especially Christian leadership. People will learn more from what we do than what we say.
For instance, if we are going to teach and preach against greed and pride, we need to live a life that demonstrates generosity and humility. Sometimes that’s done in big ways, through benevolence projects and sacrificial giving. But it needs to be lived out in smaller ways as well. The people closest to us are watching to see if our everyday lives are matching up to those big, visible efforts.
Here are five simple practices that serve as a starting point as we think about the example we are setting for the people who see us in everyday church leadership.
