Slaves to Survival

Being Moderator provides the opportunity to witness the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. One of my priorities this year is to visit and celebrate a variety of churches and missions that have taken the risk to carve out a different future for themselves. We hear so much about church decline and we cannot stick our heads in the sand pretending such statistics do not exist. But there are many congregations large and small that are listening to the Spirit and are bravely going forward to do God’s calling in a new way. They have tried new ministries, additional staff, reconstructed worship services, amalgamations and even closures to ensure that Christ’s ministry lives on.

The danger in any collective institution is that it can become an end in itself. Churches are no different. We become too focused on the survival of what we have known and cherished. Instead we need to use our specific and unique gifts to minister to the hurts and hopes of others. By doing so we will honour Christ, grow spiritually and often grow numerically as well.

Too often we want all the guarantees of success before we take the first step, but that’s not how God works. Jesus called his disciples to take a leap of faith, leaving their secure livelihood of fishing to work for the gospel in a very different way. They had no idea how it would all turn out. Too often we say, “We can’t afford it,” when in actual fact we can’t afford not to.

I have repeatedly watched congregations come alive and grow financially and spiritually as they have risked taking a leap. In one congregation, we decided to raise the funds to provide eight cows for a village in Guatemala after all the appropriate partnership conversations. We set out to do a major educational piece and we set the goal to raise the funds in six months. Well, the money poured in in a couple of weeks. We hadn’t even started our educational program yet! God taught us then to be much braver and in the end a school was built for 500 children. We got so wrapped up in learning about Guatemala and proper development principles and being playful in fundraising, we didn’t even realize that a number of people had started to attend because we were a church that was “looking out for others not ourselves.” Of course, more than a few said we shouldn’t do this. The church was struggling financially. People will “rob Peter to pay Paul” but none of that was true. In fact, financially it was one of our best years all around. Generosity breeds generosity. Money follows mission. People participate and give generously when they see the meaningful purpose to which it is directed.

Over and over again, I have experienced growth, excitement, plenty of funds and a new vitality in church life when the congregation starts focusing on the needs of others that they can uniquely and capably address. Whether it’s a ministry with alcoholics or neighbourhood children or those who are grieving or struggling seniors (the list goes on and on), our calling is not to keep our buildings open but rather to give ourselves away for others. Ironically, as we do, people join us in our cause and they naturally help with our church life. If we hear Christ’s call to reach out and minister in his name, then the rest is also in God’s hands. Whether we are to survive or not is not the fundamental question. Whether we are honouring the call of Christ is. Let’s risk doing a fresh new ministry, and, to borrow the title of a great book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!