As I read every chapter carefully and every word with deep thought - I get more and more convicted. With 5 1/2 years of church planting and lead pastoring under my belt I am more vulnerable to the insights of Chuck Swindoll than ever before. "Thank you Lord for giving me this guide to leading your church."
Though there are many nuggets of truths in this chapter. And by the way, I need to read this book once a year b/c there is way too much insights for me to digest. I come to this quote from Swindoll - "When considering church growth, we must think strategically, we must preach creatively and worship must connect. Absolutely. But we must also be careful. A marketing mentality and a consumer mind-set have no business in the church of Jesus Christ. By that I mean Jesus is not a brand...human thinking does not guide God's work...and the church is not a corporation. The church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual entity, guided by the Lord through the precepts of His Word. If we sacrifice the essentials of teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread (worship) and prayer on the altar of strategy, creativity, entertainment, and "relevancy," we have abandoned the main reasons the church exists. We should build on those essentials, not attempt to replace them."
It is so easy for me and church leadership in general to sacrifice the "essentials" for a better way to attract the crowd. I have been more and more convicted and convinced through the last few months that I'm not here to appease the consumer Christians. Which comes down to 2 types of consumers: 7/11 consumer and the football fan consumer. 7/11 consumers: Go into the convenience store and pick what ever they need and then they are out of there. We have a lot of church folk like that. The football fan consumer: goes to "watch" the worship and the 10% do all the work. The football fans are the ones that will criticize the refs, the players, coaches moves and cheer from the stands but will never get into the game.
I really believe that my role as a disciple of Christ and pastor is to equip, train, and nurture people who are willing to grow to be mature disciples of Christ. Christ declared through Peter's confession that, "Jesus will build HIS church..." and my job is to obey and execute the great commandment and great commission. I'm not here to appease the consumer Christian.
Lastly, Swindoll, throughout the chapter indicates that we need to be in the right "context" to teach, fellowship, worship and pray. For example, a pastor can have the best prepared and the most eloquent delivery of the sermon but if he is not in the right "context" it will go south. So we as followers of Christ need to create the right environment of transformation. Focusing on the heart/soul of every individual rather than marketing strategies. Creating a place where people feel welcomed, safe and challenged. A place for people to heal and experience the fullness of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This can only be done with people who are willing to defend the gospel, live out the gospel and ultimately die for the gospel. So will you join me? Will you help the kingdom of God expand through your love, joy, struggles and ultimately by suffering well?
For the King of all Kings - Jesus!
Charlton
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