I came across a two legged dog a few years back and the image will be permanently imbedded in my mind. It was while I was on a mission trip in Kentucky and the dog belonged to a relative of the family we were helping. I don’t know if you have ever had the experience of seeing a two legged dog, but it has to be one of the most disturbing sites on the planet. I’m not talking about a dog that has been helped through the miracles of modern technology. This dog had no prosthetic replacements, no wheeled assistance. It had only its front two legs to drag the rest of its body around. The animal looked to be in terrible pain and several of the gentlemen on the trip were talking of putting the dog down. The locals warned us against such action as it would be a source of conflict between us and the dog’s owner. So we were left to watch this pitiful creature struggle to drag itself around the yard and into the shade, across the gravel road and over to get water, writhing in pain the whole way.
As I think back on that trip it occurs to me that the church is a lot like that dog. It is said that in the church 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Having worked in the church for the last 10 years I would have to say these figures are accurate. Most of the people filling chairs and pews out there on a weekly basis see no reason to engage their faith beyond their present efforts (or lack thereof). In clearer terms, they are consumers of the gospel, of Jesus and His church. This is in stark contrast to what is told of in the New Testament Church. There seems to be among the people of the first century church a strong sense of responsibility toward one another. These early believers meet and pray together daily, they share with anyone who has need, and they all feel a sense of calling to the mission of God’s people. The glaring question in light of this contrast is, “why don’t we look like that?”
I believe the church is in the state it’s in not just because her people will not engage their faith, but because of the way her leaders engage her people. We have created in the American church, a dependency upon leadership for the most basic of Christian life. We rely upon our pastors and teachers to rightly interpret the scriptures for us, instead of allowing room for God’s people to discover Christ in the journey. We depend upon a few to guide, pray, study, listen and then tell all the rest of us what we should be doing. It is as though we are in a time machine, and we have found ourselves stuck in the middle of the Exodus story, and all of us look to Moses to go and talk to God for us instead of climbing the mountain and seeing Him face to face.
If you don’t believe me just look at some of the examples of the few we have raised up to drag the rest of us along in the wilderness. We put them on television and radio, and pick up their books to read instead of picking up the scriptures. For most churches we rely upon them so heavily that without them our churches would quickly dry up and blow away. The reality of this is seen when one of these men falls to sin and leaves the church in the wake of such poor example. Often it becomes impossible to see Christ through the veil of their “success” in the church. Humanity casts a shadow on the divine and we are dragged into the mire of their mistakes. While not all of our leaders end in this type of tragic fall, these circumstances help us to see the real health of our churches.
We cannot simply blame the leadership for the current predicament we find ourselves in. After all, they are the two legs that have taken it upon themselves to carry us forward, even though this task is a difficult one to say the least. While they haven’t led us to engage our faith properly, most have laid down their lives in many ways and brought the heart of Christ in their service and teachings, but in order for the church to get back up on all fours, we are going to have to set aside some bad misconceptions we have about faith and life and leadership in the church.
The first issue deals with faith: faith in a Christ who wants to walk with you and work through life’s ups and downs. Faith and life must walk hand and hand if we want to see improvement in either one. If faith is left to the Sunday sermon and your worldview, then you are missing out on the Kingdom that Jesus said is at hand. We all need to shut of the TV preachers, audio sermons and put down the latest Christian best seller and pick up the Words of Life. Stop reading about the adventures that others are having in their spiritual journey and jump into the journey with Christ today!
After we have set aside all the religious goods and services, we have to take serious the call that Jesus has placed on our lives. I’m not talking about the call to hand out bulletins, serve as a greeter or a children’s ministry volunteer. I’m not even talking about going on that next mission trip to South America. We need to take serious Jesus’ call for us to come and die. To deny ourselves and take up are cross is to adhere to the very basics of Jesus’ teachings. Our faith is not about improving our lives; it’s about losing our lives! This is contrary to the tone of most of our teaching today. While this is not the nicest teaching to hear, Christ is clear that it is through dying daily that we will find life.
After you have taken on a theology of death, you are ready to serve the people of God. It is clear in the teachings of Paul and the example in the New Testament that God gives gifts to His people for the growth and equipping of everyone in the church. We see that each of these servant leaders bring something for the benefit of the rest. Early on in the church men like Stephen are appointed to hand out food to widows, but God gifts him in evangelism and uses his execution to scatter the church throughout the world. We see everyone leading the rest on toward maturity and no one claiming authority over the rest. Christ is seen as the ultimate authority in the church and all are willing to subject themselves to the rest out of love. Just like the first century church, God has given us gifts for the growth and equipping of His church today. We cannot wait for men to ordain us, but we must engage in the ways in which we are convicted. The spirit orchestrates the body, the body doesn’t orchestrate itself. It’s time to engage. This may mean stepping outside of any known job descriptions. It may mean being outside of the box. It looks more like the example of Becky Covert with www.agapeart.org. She is a young graduate from Bethel, working at Starbucks. She has been hesitant to enter a career because she is afraid it would restrict her ability to follow through with what she feels called to. Becky has felt a conviction to help an orphanage in the Philippines through art. She and several other artists auction their photos, paintings and sculptures to help support the orphanage. They also travel to the Philippines regularly to minister to the children and teach them art classes. They return to the states with the art that the children have crafted and they auction off these peices to people who view compassion as the most beautiful art form off all.
When I look at lives around me, I am amazed at our inability to see the potential of what God could do in our lives. It’s time for this dog to jump to its feet and run towards the finish line. The Kingdom is at hand. Will you be dragged across the finish line?
wow. well put. Lets get up and run.