KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Consensus
I WAS TOLD last week by an acquaintance that we needed to study the "church growth principles" of the mega churches in certain cities that he specified...
The "old" (whatever that means) church of Christ "will never grow," he warned, unless we do. We should begin by polling those members of our fellowship who have left.
A politician who has his ear constantly to the ground is not a leader, and neither is a church that emphasizes the need to "meet the needs" (selfish desires) of its community. Worldly people do not express spiritual, Godly thoughts; at best they grope and ache for something they cannot define. "Men," the Apostle Paul declared, "would seek (God) and find him, though he is not far from each one of us" ( Acts 17:27).
Sixth-grade math students do not get to choose their curriculum; nor do basketball teams get to dictate to their coach what training regimen they prefer (at least, not the ones that win).
A central Biblical theme is that man does not know what's best for him, that he needs God to guide, teach, and command him! "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death" ( Proverbs 14:12).
"A good leader," Martin Luther King once said, "is not a searcher of consensus, but a molder of consensus."
Are we leading our community, or following it? Do we compromise in our desire to grow at any cost? Do we proclaim or pander?
The funny thing is that the big-time church my friend attends ... has diminished about 40% in the last five years. There have been divisions and departures. By seeking consensus, they have not grown.
May I suggest that instead of polling members who get mad and leave the church, we poll the Master? (Stan Mitchell)
KneEmail: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death" ( Proverbs 14:12).