Fitness Regimen Needed
OK, I'm overweight and I know it. I eat the wrong things and I don't get enough exercise. I have a treadmill in my bedroom, and yet I rarely use it. I lack motivation. I lack self-discipline. I need to start a new habit.
I think a lot of churches are this way. Sure, we could get out and stand up for an issue. Yes, we could volunteer at a homeless shelter. We could do a lot of things.
But our priorities lie in our own comfort and inertia:
Some churches don't have the money for mission and ministry because we are building a new building. Or buying new carpet. Or we're doing something else that makes the sanctuary more comfortable while we watch the big screen and the action on the stage...er, chancel.
Some churches have gotten lazy - and big. They have a lot of ministries or teams or groups to do all the things that the church has to do to keep being the church it is. These are the survival ministries: they make sure that what has been done is still done and that everything in the church appears as it has. These core ministries are sacred: to alter or lose one could threaten the life of the church.
Some churches are comfortable and risk-averse. But this is also unhealthy. These churches don't have the energy they once did, and a lot of that is due to their size (self-supporting ministries) and lack of exercise (not doing outward ministry).
There is a cure. Churches need to get up and start moving. Cut their diets of bureaucracy. Start doing work that serves others.
Like people, a church can't just go from being sedentary to being a triathlete. Small steps should be taken. Perhaps consolidate a couple of ministries or drop something that's not working rather than doing wholesale liposuction on its structure. And it's good to consult a physician (through prayer, in this case) before starting any fitness regimen.
But bloated, lethargic Western churches need to get healthy, and they need to start now.
As for me? I promise to run on the treadmill.
Tomorrow.
I think a lot of churches are this way. Sure, we could get out and stand up for an issue. Yes, we could volunteer at a homeless shelter. We could do a lot of things.
But our priorities lie in our own comfort and inertia:
Some churches don't have the money for mission and ministry because we are building a new building. Or buying new carpet. Or we're doing something else that makes the sanctuary more comfortable while we watch the big screen and the action on the stage...er, chancel.
Some churches have gotten lazy - and big. They have a lot of ministries or teams or groups to do all the things that the church has to do to keep being the church it is. These are the survival ministries: they make sure that what has been done is still done and that everything in the church appears as it has. These core ministries are sacred: to alter or lose one could threaten the life of the church.
Some churches are comfortable and risk-averse. But this is also unhealthy. These churches don't have the energy they once did, and a lot of that is due to their size (self-supporting ministries) and lack of exercise (not doing outward ministry).
There is a cure. Churches need to get up and start moving. Cut their diets of bureaucracy. Start doing work that serves others.
Like people, a church can't just go from being sedentary to being a triathlete. Small steps should be taken. Perhaps consolidate a couple of ministries or drop something that's not working rather than doing wholesale liposuction on its structure. And it's good to consult a physician (through prayer, in this case) before starting any fitness regimen.
But bloated, lethargic Western churches need to get healthy, and they need to start now.
As for me? I promise to run on the treadmill.
Tomorrow.
