John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them . . .”
Many years ago when I was a young minister who had only recently arrived in San Francisco to take up my first pastoral assignment, I went to a state wide meeting of Baptists that was being held in Southern California. This meeting attracted me because I hoped to gain information and insight on pastoral ministry from the people I met in the workshops and conferences. In particular I felt the need to learn all I could about church leadership.
I remember sitting in a diner in Oxnard where the meeting was being held. It was breakfast time, and many pastors were gathering at this diner. In walked one of the more prominent ministers. He sat down beside me at the counter. I took the opportunity to introduce myself and to ask him how he had been successful in leading his church to grow so large. He looked at me with what I took to be a measure of disdain, and he said, “I suppose we pray a lot.”
His remark ended our conversation, and at the time I felt rebuked, but I wasn’t sure why. I had asked in all innocence and sincerity for his insight, but I felt I had said something wrong and that I had offended him. Looking back, now, after many years in the ministry I understand better his “disdain” if that’s what he meant to communicate; his abrupt answer made me think, and it helped me to reflect on what I was asking. It came to me that, perhaps, I was approaching the subject of leadership and church growth in the wrong way. I was asking the wrong question.
In the passage from John 6 the people who followed Jesus to the other side of the lake after the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 were, like me, asking the wrong question. In their case the wrong question led them to grumble among themselves and eventually to complain about Jesus and to depart the circle of discipleship. The miracle attracted them to Jesus. They liked the easy access to food and drink and the possibility that such a miracle worker could lead their nation as a king who would insure prosperity for the people. However, as Jesus pointed out to them, the most important attraction was not prosperity but the pull of God’s Spirit into relationship with the Father and Son.
New pastors, or at least new pastors like me, are often caught up in the desire to see the institution of the church expand. That desire is understandable. Numerical growth for a church, like food and water for an individual, is necessary. If a church never replaces its membership then the institution of the church will die. However, putting emphasis on institutional survival is the same mistake that the people in John 6 made; it is the mistake that brought a rebuke from Jesus. It is the mistake that caused me to earn the pastor’s disdain in that Oxnard cafe.
When we put our mission first then institutional growth will come as it should. Even if a church does not grow numerically it can still be used of God for purposes that we may not see. Prayer, faithful witness to the Gospel as revealed in Scripture, worship, giving and service will produce the food that lasts forever. The churches Paul served no longer exist institutionally, but their witness continues. God still draws people to himself through the witness of these churches. No church faithful to God ever dies. Individually and as churches we live in Christ, and our witness continues beyond our historical moment and brief life on earth because the work--the true work of the Gospel--belongs to God. He is the one who draws people to himself.
*******
Grandchildren. This week has been momentous--the birth of a third child to our son and daughter-in-law. Sweetie Pie and Mr. Happy have given the new addition his nickname (which he will no doubt insist on changing as he gets older.) The temporary nickname is “Squeaker.” He is a healthy boy of more than eight pounds, but he does squeak to signal his needs and wants. For the Fiona and Freddy stories the new addition will go by the name, Frazer; however, Fiona and Freddy have decided that Frazer does not get to go on any adventures until he is old enough to sit in Pal’s lap and listen to the stories. Until then he is “Squeaker.”
No comments:
Post a Comment