He climbed a mountain and invited those he wanted with him. They climbed together. He settled on twelve, and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be with him, and he would send them out to proclaim the Word and give them authority to banish demons. (Mark 3:13)
a Book thought...
In my conversations with those in their early twenties who have left the church, I often hear that they felt church leaders or people in the church had judgmental attitudes and critical spirits. (p108 Kimball)
a Dave thought...
The man on the left is Steve Bucknor, and for those totally oblivious to the world of cricket he used to be known as one of the worlds greatest umpires. Well yesterday he was dropped for the third test after making five big mistakes in the second test match at the SCG. Even though he used to be one of the best in his field, and even though he was already contracted to umpire the third test, the ICC made a decision to remove him based on his recent dismal performance.
It begs me to ask the question, at what point do we remove people or ask them to stand down from ministry leadership in the church today? Do we have high standards and keep our officers and lay leaders accountable to the positions they have been entrusted to fulfil, or because we like to keep everyone happy, do we just leave them there regardless till they finish their term of appointment? After a senior officer, or leader makes five mistakes even though they may have been one of the best do we ask them to step aside for someone younger who can perhaps fulfill the role with more effectiveness?
I believe society in general expects far more from people placed in positions of authority than we do in the church today. Somehow grace has seemed to have gotten confused with accountability and making sure our best in-form people are serving in the most influential positions. Maybe a bit of the ICC willingness to make tough calls on people that once deserved their positions is needed in our movement, as I'm sure there is a kingdom way to be dropped with grace.Just a thought.
Posts
3 comments:
great word captain.
I fully agree with you. And its not just cricket, look at many secular companies and see that they have people in their 30s-50s in charge and if theyre not performing theyre told to move on.
I pray we will be able to make the hard decisions in the future...
An interesting take. One large reason for ministerial dis-ease that I observe these days arises because there are those who keep telling officers/ministers that they must fulfill functions that are not part of their true vocational calling. We are told that we must be technologically literate, that we must see ourselves as managers, that the growth of the congregation depends upon their charisma, that following procedures will enable us to be successful. The recommendations carry within them a subtle accusation that officers/leaders who reject such advice are not ‘successful’ because they are not ‘effective’. (“Success is the sacrament of the world”). The inherent accusations are an astute way in which powers function to derail us from following our call. As a consequence, officers become CEOs instead of pastors, devoted to entertaining spectacle instead of the Word and prayer and God’s people. Why do we not really, deep down, live by the theologically indisputable aphorism that God does not call us to success, but to faithfulness? Why are we not ever satisfied with the processes of our labor, but always need to see results? As close study of 2 Corinthians would prove helpful to us all. Particularly the idea that “we have this treasure in jars of clay” and the ministry we have is “by the mercy of God”. WJE
My concern with this way of thinking is who judges if a mistake has been made or not? We in our movement do not have the insight of technology that exists in the sporting world, we therefore rely on our people to judge the mistakes of their leaders. The problem with this is that people make their judgements based on their own biases.
Post a Comment