RevWrites - June 7

You would have enjoyed the discussion at the Parish Leadership Team meeting on Tuesday morning. Should we have a Mission Director? Or two – one local and one overseas?

One argument was that this is the Senior Minister’s job. It was argued that all ministers should be about mission, Christ’s mission of connecting with lost people.

Now there’s no doubt in the minds of NACers that the Bible teaches this. All Christians are to share in Christ’s mission. Ministers are to enable people and lead people in this mission. The Bible colleges our people attend all teach this and train ministers in this.

So, why are most churches not doing it, or not doing it well? Why are we not all that good at it? After all, we are a church that has been taught the Bible well. We have developed effective programme from cradle to grave. We have good and godly ministers who serve and lead well. So, why are we not better at mission?

I ran an argument that went something like this:

Ministers run churches. We develop groups and programmes that teach and encourage and enable our members. Our adults help one another in small groups to live godly lives. Our children’s and teenage ministries grow increasingly godly young people. So much, if not all, of what we do is internal. We are building the Kingdom of God by growing Christians towards maturity in Christ. And the better you do that the more time and energy and resources it consumes. And then that’s what you do.

Of course, occasionally we run an event that we all invite our friends to. Then we run out of friends to invite so we run another event (let’s call it Connect09) and go visit our neighbours or invite them some to something. And then things return to normal as we spend our time and energy and resources on growing each other towards maturity in Christ.

I know my argument is simplistic but it seems to me to have some truth about it. We are good at being a church. I love NAC and the people here who encourage and rebuke and genuinely love me. I love the way we are Bible-focussed. I love the way we are willing to do things in a way that helps newcomers integrate into the body of Christ.

But so many of us long to see lost people saved. We pray for our lost friends and relatives and neighbours. But we have lost connection with our community and many of us have really limited friendship with any lost people.

So our discussion moved towards having a Director of Connections. Do we need someone who spends time and energy and resources helping us all to reconnect with our lost neighbours and friends? Will having someone to help us grow in mission to lost people actually help us?

Or do we really need a heart transplant?

Talk it over with your mates. Let’s know what you think.

Neil