Call To Action (Part I)

One of the hot button topics in our nation today is education, and rightfully so. If we do not educate our children, we can no longer grow as a people. We can no longer innovate or discover. We would be destined to relive the dark ages. I realize that is a bit extreme, but you get my point. In Washington State, my chosen home, education is a constitutional mandate. There has been talk about tying student achievement to teacher performance evaluations, compensation, and tenure. That is an interesting thought process that I believe needs much discussion. Don’t worry; I’m not publishing a politically charged one sided argument for or against education or the politicos on either side of that debate. What I am doing is pondering, "What if we applied the same discussion to the church?"

It is no secret that the American church is by in large pretty sedentary. We are, in general, the poster child for Consumer Christianity. Many of the people who fill our seats on Sunday mornings don’t have any inkling to get up and do something for Christ. They want to sit and strap on the spiritual feedbag and gorge themselves. We want to receive and receive, but we are unwilling to freely give what we have received. We end up getting spiritually fat and not worth much when it comes time to do something like answer God’s call. When we get too uncomfortable with the little bit of a challenge we get from the pulpit we complain we aren’t being fed and we go looking for another spiritual buffet to belly up to.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, shares a great truth. This is found in Ephesians 4:11-16. We read that God has given us gifts, and some of those gifts are actually people with a special call on their life. We all have a call on our life, and God has gifts and talents for each and every one of us. However verse 11 tells us that God has given some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some shepherds (pastors), and some teachers. He tells us there are two purposes for these individuals and the special giftings and talents they have been given. They are to equip the church for the work of the ministry and to edify the body of Christ. The result of these people as gifts is that the church will not be tossed about by the trials and tribulations that face this world. The church will not be like little children being deceived by false teachings and deceitful plotting. We would be that shining city on a hill that all want to be in.

Equipping the church for the work of the ministry can be a pretty tall order and people, both church leaders and congregations lose sight of this often. In this one statement Paul is describing the functional relationship between church leadership and congregation. When you equip something or someone, you prepare it for a purpose. Military basic training (boot camp) does this for young soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. The police academy prepares young men and women to perform their duties on the street to keep us safe. Schools help parents educate and prepare our children so they can be productive members of society. Church leaders are supposed to train and prepare people for the work God has called them to. The church is charged with spreading the gospel of Christ, of going and making disciples, and being a witness to the world of a risen Christ. The church can only do that if they are prepared appropriately and that falls on the leaders that God has gifted the church with.

If we applied the same thought process some are applying to public school teachers to our church leadership, I wonder how many church leaders would realize they aren’t making the grade. Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe that if a church is not experiencing steady numerical growth, it’s entirely the church leadership’s fault. What I am saying is a serious discussion needs to be had about how they are equipping the church body for that work. I am a pastor and have the heart of a pastor. I have a passion for God’s people and seeing them live up to all of the potential that God created them with. I have been given a charge to help guide them and equip them for all that God has created them for. If I don’t do that, I am failing and will have to answer to God for it. If I do that, and they do not hold up their end, by learning and using the tools that are taught and demonstrated, they are failing and will have to answer to God for that.

If we are to live up to the instructions that Jesus gave us, we as the church body are going to have to realize that church leaders have been given to us by God to equip us so we can perform the work of the ministry. The pastors of a church are not the hired guns to go and clean up the town like a new sheriff. They are the ones to equip the church so the church can get the town saved. If we as church leaders are going to live up to the gift that God has given us, we need to take our calling and election seriously and start equipping the church! If the church is strolling in on Sunday to get a feel good, pick-me-up, warm and fuzzy message so they can start their week on a good note, we are not doing what we’ve been called to do. Fellow ministers (credentialed and lay ministers), let’s face up to the awesome responsibility we’ve been given and start equipping the church!

The other purpose God has given these positions of leadership is to edify the body of Christ. I’ll save that discussion for part two of Call to Action.