Mission in Action

“The effectiveness of pastoral leadership is dependent on a proper response to pastoral leadership”

I’ve taken this quote from a podcast by CJ Mahaney of Sovereign Grace Ministries fame.

The question of how integral the response of the congregation is to the effectiveness? of a ministry sounds almost obvious, but it seems that so often the onus is on the leadership team to “get it right” so that the congregation becomes responsive.? If Mahaney is right there is every chance that we have gotten it the wrong way round.? Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in how many evangelicals view preaching.
At college a lot of time was spent and ink spilled reminding me of the importance of good bible teaching. Not as an end in itself, but rather because it was the means by which the congregation would grow and mature.? No problems so far.

But as I look around I find myself in somewhat of a quandary. If good biblical teaching is as effective as evangelical ministry and bible training centres say it is, why in general is there not an obvious and qualitative difference in the lives of the people who sit under such ministries, compared with the lives of those people who sit under so called “bad” or “poor” teaching? Why, if the teaching is exponentially better, is the giving not exponentially better? Why is the level of individualism and self-interest not palpably lower where the teaching is biblically and theologically on the money, than in places where it may be of a lesser quality?? Why is the level of holiness not demonstrably higher in churches that present Jesus from the bible to the congregation clearly and faithfully each week?
Now for some who read this perhaps your view of the Bible or of preaching is not as high a view as others. You may be of the opinion that Biblical preaching is pretty much a waste of time, or at least it has had its day and its time to move on.? But for those of who with both a high view of Scripture and a high view of preaching I want you to ask yourselves that question.

I’d love some responses to this.? Of course I have my own views and they tie in somewhat to the quote by Mahaney.? But before I go there it would be good to hear from some of you as to how you view the effectiveness of preaching in the churches you are familiar with.? ? How do you think we can close the gap between the quality of the word preached and the quality of the lives lived by the congregation?
Over to you

written by Steve

Just getting a bit of feedback around the traps about Steve and Tim’s book Total Church making it to these shores and is available at all good Christian book-stores in WA (Are there any good Christian book-stores in WA? – Ed).? Several people have phoned me up or come and chatted to me about it.? Stay tuned for some Oz comments about it.

written by Steve

Life has been a trifle busy, work and new baby have kept things ticking along.? We’re just getting ourselves into a routine so it’s getting better.

We had our first meal with congregation members and some others on Wednesday night.? It seemed a little strange – so low-key, yet we are hoping that this is the start of something that God is going to be gracious enough to work through.? I remember Steve Timmis saying it wasn’t worth visiting The Crowded House for a month because you wouldn’t see anything and you’d be bored.? I guess that’s how we feel about how we started this past week.? But hey, I’ll take boring every time if it does mission in a way that is effective.

It was a strange day today – a real mix of ministry styles.? I was preaching at one of the largest Baptist churches in WA where a good friend of mine is the senior pastor.? It was Britney-style microphone and several hundred people.? Then it was off to a Forge meeting to speak to a bunch of young and youngish people looking at ways of doing mission in the 21st century.? I spoke on our experiences at The Crowded House and was surprised by how passionately I felt about the whole thing. ? There were some good questions and responses.? It made me realise just how much God did for us during our time in the UK – and gave me the by-now-familiar grief pangs we’ve both been experiencing since coming back.? We really do miss it.

The challenge for me now in my work setting is not to despise what it is to work in the so-called “everyday world”. My theology of work is certainly being tested and after days like today, where I get to preach to a large group, then spend time doing small-group work with a missional bunch, I start to miss doing the “ministry” thing.? However if we are serious about seeing work as an important part of God’s creation then my job is something that God is both interested in and working through to bring about his purposes.? I’ll keep you posted on that one.

written by Steve