Filling
in the Gaps:
The
greatest dilemma of pastoring paper people, is that
there seems to be no way to plug up the gaps they
slip through. Jim Hayford told me one day, "People
join the church one person at a time, and people
leave the church one person at a time."
Oh, how quickly they slip away! Dissatisfaction
with the church, a sinful lifestyle, unforgiveness
toward another church member, a growing feeling
that somehow they are "not being fed,"
an inability to develop friendships in the church,
or to find a place of fulfilling ministry - what
is it that causes these paper people to stop fellowshipping
with us? Sometimes we may discover the answer through
a phone call. Often they leave without a goodbye.
Occasionally we learn the reason for their departure
through the grapevine of gossip. A few may have
the boldness to tell us the reason before they depart,
but this is rare for paper people to do - they do
not have the same level of attachment to us as people
who have become real.
As
a result of the exodus of paper people, we have
determined, that to keep a viable running church,
we need to make sure that the "front door"
of the church (the ways in which people join us)
is larger than the "back door" of the
church (the avenues through which they leave). Although
this is an important principle to establish in the
dynamics of church life, when we focus all our attention
in this direction, we may be increasing the percentage
of paper people within the membership of our congregation.
Thus, we develop a rotating membership, being able
only to ensure that the numbers who join are always
greater than the numbers who leave.
We
may honestly desire to see our people pastored in
a more personal, and effective manner. So, we develop
programs which meet the needs of our paper people.
Twelve step groups, and Sunday school classes focusing
on felt-needs, counseling classes, and seminars
dealing with past hurts: These are just a few of
the programs we attempt to develop, in order to
keep people in the church, and minister to their
personal needs.
When
the apostles in the book of Acts were faced with
the problem of the Grecian widows being neglected,
they responded in a manner which is a model for
church life today. After going to God in prayer,
they asked the church to appoint seven men to handle
this problem.
The
answer to their problem was not to assume that this
was a few disgruntled troublemakers, and to allow
the Grecian widows, and their friends to leave the
church, figuring that more new people would wander
in the front door, and make up for the fall in attendance.
They
did not develop a new program to minister to the
felt-needs of these Grecian widows. Saturday mornings
were not set aside for food distribution. A helps
ministry was not organized to visit these widows.
These would have been nice responses, and good things
to do, but the apostles responded in a simpler,
and more intimate manner. They solved this people
problem with other people.
Seven
men filled the spot. Seven men filled in the gaping
hole found in the church's back door. Seven men
was the program which the apostles offered to the
church, and results were nothing less than miraculous.
This
is the simple, yet profound lesson from this story:
People problems are solved by people. Programs can
not offer the personal contact which pastoring requires.
When we are faced with the need to fill in the gaps
through which people begin to fall, other people
are the answer. Finding leaders who are able and
willing, to take a pastoral role in other's lives
is the solution for turning paper people into real
people, and making them attached, committed members
of the local church.
Am
I saying that there is no place for programs in
the life of the church? No. But I am offering a
new paradigm of ministry which is a reversal from
the model we have come to expect.
God's
Model for Ministry
Sitting
at my computer late on Saturday night, just before
Christmas, I considered this question, "How
does the gift of God's Son model God's method of
ministry?"
In
the manger, I see the newborn King. As He grows
up, I see the Man Christ Jesus, and His unfailing
allegiance to His Father. At the cross, I see a
weak Man - broken, yet offering Himself for the
sins of all humanity. In the empty tomb, I see my
victorious Redeemer, Who conquered death to lead
the way for my eternal life. At the right hand of
the Father, I see my Mediator, the Man Christ Jesus,
Who to this day sits as the Intermediary between
myself and the Father.
When
I look at all that God has given us, I see one thing:
A Person by the name of Jesus.
It
appears, that this model of gift giving is still
in effect today. God is giving people as gifts to
the church. (Ephesians 4:8-12) People were the answer
for the Grecian widows in the book of Acts. Prophets
were the answer for wayward Israel. People proclaiming
the Gospel are the hope God hands out to a dying
world. People in ministerial office are the answer
for the spiritual growth of the church. God is still
giving the gift of people.
Jesus
is the ultimate Person, and the ultimate gift, but
God has not stopped giving people. He has given
you to me, and me to you. If someday we meet here
on earth, it will be as a gift for the mutual benefit
of us both. There is something you have that I need,
and something I have that you need.
Paul
understood this dynamic resource of gifts God has
given to the church. He saw every man and woman
as a gift to himself. This is why he could say to
Romans, "For I long to impart to you some spiritual
gift, to the end ye may be established; That is,
that I may be comforted together with you, by the
mutual faith both of you and me." Besides a
check, I wonder what most ministers really get from
the people they minister to today? Have they heard
the people? Have they had their own faith strengthened
by the influence of their church members?
Apparently
something is missing in the relationship between
the leadership and the congregation, if the learning
and the edification only flows in one direction.
That's not how it worked for Paul, and it won't
work well for us either.
Perhaps
this is one of the best ways of discovering whether
our people are just paper people: Do we get as much
out of them as they do from us? or are they just
a salary and health benefits?
