One of the hardest things I have had to deal with as a church planter is the pressure I put on myself to be successful. The problem is how ambiguous it is to define ‘success’. What does success look like? Numbers in the pews? Money in the plate? What is it? But perhaps the more insidious aspect of this burden is that we begin to see the people we serve as a project.
It is easy to unconsciously create hoops that we expect God’s people to jump through so that our ‘project’ looks good; or more honestly, so that the pastor looks good. So instead of seeing God’s flock as venerable, wounded, and lost creatures in need of the direction of the Lord, we can begin to treat people as pieces on a chess board, instead of as God’s children, who need to be touched by the Great Shepherd in very specific ways. They are people who need to be met right where they are at, not where I want them to be.
It is this reality that has shifted much of our focus of ministry. We continue to focus on God-honoring worship, consistent outreach, and various bible studies throughout the church and city, but I have been convicted by the truth that there are many folks on the fringes of our church who are simply not able to get into the life of our church yet, who still need the healing touch of Jesus to bring them to His feet.
For instance, a young woman of 22 years, who had been a foster child since she was 2 weeks old, has been on her own since she was 16, and is currently homeless. Or, the 34 year old father of 4, husband, and who is going to college, working full-time, and continually battles with the effects of Bi-Polar disorder. Both of these folks carry around wounds in their soul which makes trusting and becoming a part of ‘the group’ very difficult. There are no quick fixes for these folks. Instead, by the presence of Christ, working through the members of the church, they are touched by the gospel and ‘Inch’ their way to deeper communion with Him through His Body.
It is easy to unconsciously create hoops that we expect God’s people to jump through so that our ‘project’ looks good; or more honestly, so that the pastor looks good. So instead of seeing God’s flock as venerable, wounded, and lost creatures in need of the direction of the Lord, we can begin to treat people as pieces on a chess board, instead of as God’s children, who need to be touched by the Great Shepherd in very specific ways. They are people who need to be met right where they are at, not where I want them to be.
It is this reality that has shifted much of our focus of ministry. We continue to focus on God-honoring worship, consistent outreach, and various bible studies throughout the church and city, but I have been convicted by the truth that there are many folks on the fringes of our church who are simply not able to get into the life of our church yet, who still need the healing touch of Jesus to bring them to His feet.
For instance, a young woman of 22 years, who had been a foster child since she was 2 weeks old, has been on her own since she was 16, and is currently homeless. Or, the 34 year old father of 4, husband, and who is going to college, working full-time, and continually battles with the effects of Bi-Polar disorder. Both of these folks carry around wounds in their soul which makes trusting and becoming a part of ‘the group’ very difficult. There are no quick fixes for these folks. Instead, by the presence of Christ, working through the members of the church, they are touched by the gospel and ‘Inch’ their way to deeper communion with Him through His Body.