Douglas Young

Last week I wrote about the Bovina church’s bulletin board. If you remember, there was a devilish creature lecturing a set of bullet points on how to ensure a church doesn’t grow. The devil’s first bullet point was: “It’s not my job.”

First, let’s remember that church growth is a result, not a pursuit. God provides the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6), not us. He simply uses us to facilitate it. So, in a sense, it’s true: “It’s not my job.” Moreover, a “job” is probably not the best way to view one’s service to God to begin with.

Our commission is towards discipleship (Matthew 28:18-20). We accomplish this by living like Jesus, our Master Teacher, and teaching others to do the same. Discipleship is a heavenly mentoring program. Such was how Jesus’ approach, and such is our great calling. We sow the seed of the Living Word, water it, but God is the one responsible for the growth.

This being said, every disciple is called to a radical discipleship. No one is exempt. Disciples, by nature, make other disciples. Not all have the same gifts, but each of us are called to live out the Way of Jesus and teach others to do the same. To claim a disciple’s identity, yet not embrace the commission, is to deny the identity. It shows no love for Christ or for genuine disciples, yet love is the litmus test for discipleship (John 13:35).

Genuine discipleship produces natural growth, God derived growth; it doesn’t force it. Jesus adds to his church, not us (Acts 2:47). Our calling isn’t to grow the church, it’s to be the church. When the church is the church, the body grows and develops, naturally, by design (Ephesians 4:1-16). No, your job isn’t to grow the church, but your calling is to be loving channels through whom God works to expand his kingdom on the earth!

Bovina Bulletin Board

I’m going to be upfront here. I think if we are pursuing church growth, we’re pursuing the wrong thing. It’s the trap of the business model to which we’ve succumbed. Church growth stems from the need to grow an organization, which has a budget that must be met. The more members a church has, the more contributions it will receive. The more the more the contribution, the more that can be done.

The New Testament says nothing about growing churches. Jesus taught, repeatedly, that the kingdom will grow, but its growth would be the natural product of kingdom living. Churches grew because people were spreading the gospel (Acts 8:4). Growth was the effect, not the pursuit. God is the one who gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:6).

This being said, something is wrong if churches aren’t growing, including mine. I think many recognize this, so they pursue all sorts of gimmicks to fill pews. Sometimes the gimmicks work, but more often than not they don’t. Part of the problem, in my estimation, is that we’re pursuing the wrong things.

Nevertheless, there are some sure fire ways that churches are keeping themselves from growing. If God is the one who gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:6), and our churches aren’t growing, then I can’t help but think that God is looking at what we’re doing and holding back, as if to say, “Wake up!” The question is…Will we?

So this brings me to a bulletin board I saw Sunday at a small church in the rural community of Bovina, TX. They hosted a great youth rally on Sunday afternoon. We really enjoyed being there.

As we were registering, and kids were filing in, Tisha called me over to look at a bulletin board in the hallway of their foyer. On it was an overweight, devilish looking figure standing in front of hellish flames. The devilish figure is lecturing through a series of bullet points. The bullet points were:

• It’s not my job.
• Let the preacher do it.
• It never worked before.
• We might offend someone.
• We don’t have the resources.
• We’re fine the way we are.
• Let’s call a meeting.

At the bottom, in quotation marks, is “That concludes my presentation on time-tested, sure-fired statements that will stunt church growth. Any question?”

I’ve heard all of these statements before, interestingly enough, used in a number of different ways. I hope you’ll take some time to digest this bulletin board message. It speaks loudly and clearly about the mindsets of many Christians. Think about it. Over the next couple of weeks, I plan on writing about each of these bullet points.

I’ve been reading George Barna’s newest book, Master Leaders, to review for the Tyndale Blog Network. It’s a book, as the title indicates, about leadership. Barna tells a story to communicate the insights he’s gleaned from proven leaders. It’s been a great read. I’ll post a review in the upcoming weeks.

An intriguing story comes from Colleen Barrett, former president and corporate secretary for Southwest Airlines. If you’ve ever flown with Southwest, or at the bare minimum seen a few of their commercials, you’ll know that Southwest is about fun and humor. In fact, humor is considered one of Southwest’s “core values.” Barrett shares this story with Barna,

Years ago, somebody wrote to Southwest and said, “I’m a long-term customer, and I don’t like the fact that you make jokes during the safety part of the flight.” Now most companies would write back to say, “We value you as a customer, please trust that we care about your safety and we are good at that, but here’s a free flight coupon and we will talk to the gate agents.” And then they would make a call and tell their people that the humor thing is good but they need to tone it down…But not Southwest. No. They sent the customer a note that said, “We will miss you.”

Barna concludes, “That’s when you know its a core value.” And he’s right. Leadership isn’t exhibited through pandering to vocal minorities and majorities. Leadership admits when it’s wrong, but affirms truths and forms impressions built upon its values. Too often, though, leaders don’t lead; they acquiesce to the wishes of a few and the whole organization suffers as a whole. This is especially true with regard to churches.

Some churches are held hostage by vocal minorities who are fearful of everything and resistant to anything. Church leadership, lest they “ruffle the feathers” of some, refrain from implementing programs that might prove to be beneficial for the entire congregation. Pandering isn’t leadership.

Consider how Jesus handled one situation recorded in Matthew 19:16-22. On that occasion, a prominent rich, young man approached Him inquiring, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?” The young man was a commandment keeper. He didn’t murder, commit adultery, steal, or bear false witness. He was devoted to honoring his father and mother, as well as loving his neighbor as himself. Well, maybe not so much to that last one. Nevertheless, he vows to having kept all these commandments, so “What do I still lack?” Jesus seeks to see if he really loves his neighbor or not, challenging him to, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” Verse 22 supplies his reaction. “When the young man heard that command, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.

This story served as the basis for Jesus’ teaching on possession and the kingdom. But what is interesting to me, is that Jesus didn’t cave on one of his core values just to keep the rich young ruler in his camp. Jesus could have used a guy like this on his side, but he let him go. He wasn’t willing to give everything up to have Jesus, so he let him walk away. In so doing, He essentially said, “We will miss you.”

Not even Jesus pleased all. He didn’t grovel at the feet of some, to keep them from abandoning him. Neither did He refrain from doing what was good, like healing on the Sabbath, simply because people thought it was wrong. It wasn’t. They were the ones who were wrong about the matter. Consequently, neither did he refrain from doing it lest he offend them. They needed a reality check, so He gave them one!

This is a situation not a few find themselves in. What should they do? They should listen with an honest ear. If there ’s merit to an inquiry, then consider it and adjust accordingly. But if not, don’t acquiesce or pander. Do what Jesus essentially did in letting them go. Say, “We will miss you.”

Something utterly amazing was accomplished on Tuesday. Mainly through a blog site,  a minister in a fairly small community ( 7500 population) at the base of the Texas panhandle raised over $10,000 to feed the impoverished of Honduras. To me, that’s utterly amazing.

Trey and Lea Morgan are the parents of four boys. I met him last year when he invited me to come to a Rangers game with him. Trey is engaging, thoughtful and concerned about the church and its image. Trey offers material and thoughts that are culturally relevant, addressing issues that affect husband, wife, children and church that are often, too easily, ignored. People from all over the world converge at his site and what they find is hope. I know I have. Others have told me they have as well.

Trey, may God continue to bless you, Lea, the boys, and the Childress Church of Christ! God is working mightily through your family!

Last week I became ill, not terribly by any means, but enough to not want to go anywhere or do anything. For so many reasons, being ill carries with it such terrible feelings.

I hate the sense of feeling like a bum. I hate lying in bed, not getting dressed, and not wanting to do anything for myself. Moreover, I hate the sense in which I feel like a burden to both my wife and kids. Being sick stinks.

The thing about stomach bugs though is that a person knows they’ve got one. It’s impossible to miss that awful feeling in your gut. What’s going on inside is often externalized through appearances. It’s hard for sicknesses to go undetected, even by those around us.

The same is true of spiritual illnesses. They are generally very detectable, and yet people will often try to deny that anything is even wrong. This is so terrible. It’s hard to be sick and not know it, but it’s unfathomable to be sick and know it, have others know it too, and yet deny it!

Trey Morgan is putting together an effort to help raise money to feed the impoverished of Honduras. A recent announcement by Trey can be read here. The big day is May 5. Please consider helping.

Thanks.