The church is an organism before it is an organization
They post title is mine but the thought that follow are not. It does seem often that we spend our time and money on the institution of the church more than on the mission of the church and we cant always tie the activities of the organization to the mission of the organization. Also, it is often true that we take gifted shepherds and make them administrators. Then we place organizational types over them to make them "more efficient."
This comes from a great piece by Dan Kimbal posted on Out of Ur.
Human beings are the vessels of his Spirit, not organizations or institutions. This would mean asking new questions when the church (the community of believers) seeks to advance the mission of the Gospel:
Not: How do we grow the institution?
But: How do we grow people?
Not: How do we motivate people to serve in the church/institution?
But: How do we equip people and release them to serve outside the church/institution?
Not: How do we convince more people to come?
But: How do we inspire more people to go?
Not: How many programs can the church start?
But: How many programs have other churches started that we can help support?
Not: How many people have a committed relationship with our institution?
But: How many people have a committed relationship with another brother or sister in Christ?
Not: How do we make people dependent on the institution for their growth?
But: How do we equip people to grow independent of the institution?
Not: How much revenue can the institution generate?
But: How much revenue can the institution give away?
Not: How many buildings, pastors, and programs are necessary for the institution to have maximum exposure in the community?
But: How few buildings, pastors, and programs are necessary for God’s people to have time and energy to engage the community?
How these questions are answered will vary from place to place and church to church. How the Spirit of God leads one community of believer to engage the mission will look different than another. I’m not attempting to prescribe a single institutional model as normative for all. What I’m trying to do is challenge the assumptions behind the pervasive belief that sees institutions rather than people as the vessels and instruments of God’s power in the world. Learning to think “man-max, institution-min” may be the first step toward becoming a truly missional, rather than institutional, community.
This comes from a great piece by Dan Kimbal posted on Out of Ur.
Human beings are the vessels of his Spirit, not organizations or institutions. This would mean asking new questions when the church (the community of believers) seeks to advance the mission of the Gospel:
Not: How do we grow the institution?
But: How do we grow people?
Not: How do we motivate people to serve in the church/institution?
But: How do we equip people and release them to serve outside the church/institution?
Not: How do we convince more people to come?
But: How do we inspire more people to go?
Not: How many programs can the church start?
But: How many programs have other churches started that we can help support?
Not: How many people have a committed relationship with our institution?
But: How many people have a committed relationship with another brother or sister in Christ?
Not: How do we make people dependent on the institution for their growth?
But: How do we equip people to grow independent of the institution?
Not: How much revenue can the institution generate?
But: How much revenue can the institution give away?
Not: How many buildings, pastors, and programs are necessary for the institution to have maximum exposure in the community?
But: How few buildings, pastors, and programs are necessary for God’s people to have time and energy to engage the community?
How these questions are answered will vary from place to place and church to church. How the Spirit of God leads one community of believer to engage the mission will look different than another. I’m not attempting to prescribe a single institutional model as normative for all. What I’m trying to do is challenge the assumptions behind the pervasive belief that sees institutions rather than people as the vessels and instruments of God’s power in the world. Learning to think “man-max, institution-min” may be the first step toward becoming a truly missional, rather than institutional, community.
Labels: authority, church, leadership
