Bovina Bulletin Board
Well, this is the final bullet point from a great bulletin board found at the Bovina Church of Christ. This last bullet point is a frustrating one. It is a virtual microcosm of congregational struggles across the land. It might reflect the degree to which the modern church has slipped its moorings from God’s original intent, and as a result impeded the church’s effectiveness in the world.
I’ve both seen and heard of church’s that have struggled to help even it’s own members because it was believed that a meeting needed to be called before responding. How unfortunate it is that churches have hobbled themselves to this degree! I’m not against meetings. Believe me, they are quite expedient. But matters as pressing as the mission of God can’t, and shouldn’t, always wait for the last Sunday evening of the month.
I suppose the New Testament church had some kind of “business” meetings. It seems logical. The New Testament, though, is relatively, if not completely, silent about them. In Acts 15 a gathering of Christians from various congregations and areas was conducted at Jerusalem to hash out matters pertaining to Jewish Christian and Gentile Christian relations and implications of Gentile acceptance of Jesus as Lord. But the issues they tackled were of a more doctrinal nature, and not so much about how one church carried out the mission of God. In fact, it is relatively clear that this “conference” actually transcended common church autonomy.
What compounds the frustration is that often, not always but often nonetheless, calling a meeting doesn’t guarantee things get done. One reason congregational business meetings are so poorly attended is because so little seemingly is accomplished by them. Church business meetings, across the board, don’t have the reputations they do because they are adored. In my almost ten years of local work, in churches both with and without elders, church business meetings are the subject of jokes, cynicism, and a ton of sarcasm. The almost universal consensus opinion about them should speak loudly and clearly to us.
My utmost prayer from having considered these bullet points is that we’ll quit making excuses for why things don’t get done in our churches. After all, excuses are all those bullet points are. God is ready to use us, but will we answer His call?
