4. When the preaching centers on escape rather than engagement.
Pastors who focus their preaching mostly on heaven and escaping the earth will greatly limit the vision and capacity of their members called to influence and engage the earth. After all, the Bible is not a book about heaven but the most practical book ever written regarding the stewardship of the earth.
5. When the view of the kingdom is mystical.
Many in full-time church ministry have a dualistic view regarding life: that God only values spiritual things and the physical world is not as important. This goes against the fact that Jesus is both Creator of the material universe as well as the Redeemer of our souls (John 1:3-4; John 12-13).
Consequently, pastors with a dualistic view will only focus their preaching and ministry on prayer, healing, and the spiritual disciplines and gifts. Their view of the kingdom is limited to things spiritual. Marketplace leaders find such myopic focus mystical and not practical. (Of course, they see the importance of the spiritual disciplines, gifts and prayer, but integrate it into their function in the secular arena.)
Marketplace leaders are used to mapping out business strategies; they utilize budgets and have practical goals and objectives. Hence, mystical leadership that does not connect to practical living frustrates and limits their participation. In the Kingdom of God we are called to be “spiritual” instead of “mystical.”
Spirituality does not mean non-engagement with the material world, but the ability to function in every aspect of life while walking in the fruit and power of the Spirit (the Spirit-controlled life as shown in Acts 1:8 and Galatians 5:22-23).
6. When young people are not matured into disciples.
When a local church merely has a vision for youth that involves entertaining them with games, concerts and fellowship, they greatly limit their vast potential and pigeonhole them into a straightjacket. Young people need to be challenged, trained, and given a sense of purpose and not just entertained. Youth groups that do not disciple and preach a strong word can easily become havens for sex and drugs.
Youth groups should not go for large crowds at the expense of compromising the primary call of the church, which is to make disciples.
7. When leaders are not nurtured and sent out.
When a local church only has a vision for itself and not for church multiplication and cultural engagement, high-capacity leaders will feel limited and bored. The only healthy churches are the ones who continually recognize the potential of new members and harness and harvest their potential for the glory of God.
8. When the pastor is a micromanager.
Marketplace leaders and young professionals are often critical thinkers who value creative freedom. Pastors who have to be involved with the entire minutia in tasks they assign to their leaders will frustrate and alienate them. Conversely, kingdom-minded pastors would usually lay out the framework for tasks assigned to these leaders and give them the opportunity to improvise and exhibit freedom to operate within the framework.
