Love God, Love People, Make Disciples – Everything Else Is Scaffolding

When a building is being repaired or erected, scaffolding is the temporary structure that is built around or inside it to give workers access to the construction site. But when the building is completed, the scaffolding is removed. Every church program, building, denomination and extra-biblical tradition is scaffolding. We put them in place to help us do what Jesus called us to do – The Great Commandment and The Great Commission. And as long as our buildings, programs, services and traditions are helping us stay obedient to the call of Christ they should stay in place. But, like construction scaffolding, we need to be willing to remove or replace them when they stop being effective. Unfortunately, we all have a tendency to get emotionally attached to the scaffolding we’ve grown accustomed to. After years of working on it and living in it, it’s easy to mistake the scaffolding for the main project. When we do that, our scaffolding has become our idol.

April 6, 2018

by Karl Vaters

Every church program, building, denomination and extra-biblical tradition is scaffolding. We put them in place to help us do what Jesus called us to do – The Great Commandment and The Great Commission.

And as long as our buildings, programs, services and traditions are helping us stay obedient to the call of Christ they should stay in place. But, like construction scaffolding, we need to be willing to remove or replace them when they stop being effective.

Unfortunately, we all have a tendency to get emotionally attached to the scaffolding we’ve grown accustomed to. After years of working on it and living in it, it’s easy to mistake the scaffolding for the main project.

When we do that, our scaffolding has become our idol.

Author

Karl Vaters

Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.
He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.
Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast,The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.

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