Why We Do Them Matters as Much as What We Do
Unfortunately, while those lists are what we say we want for our church, too many church leaders have a (not so) hidden agenda behind them. I know, because I’ve had that agenda myself.
We don’t say it out loud. Many of us haven’t admitted it to ourselves, so we may not even realize we’re doing it. But right now, perhaps for the first time anywhere, I will restate this list and show you the hidden agenda I have often seen behind each of these points:
- Worship—so the church will get bigger
- Discipleship—so the church will get bigger
- Fellowship—so the church will get bigger
- Ministry—so the church will get bigger
- Evangelism—so the church will get bigger
Any church that does those elements with that agenda behind them will not be a healthy church. No matter how well they do them.
But why is that agenda a problem? After all, we want the church to grow, right? Right.
It’s a problem because why we do things matters—a lot.
For example, why do we worship? So there are more people sitting in my church building this Sunday? Or should there be a deeper purpose than that? And if we’re not doing it for the right reason, can we really call it worship?
It’s important, especially in church leadership, to do the right things for the right reasons. Because the wrong reasons can turn right things very wrong, very easily.
Do the Right Things for the Right Reasons
So, what are the right reasons to do the five elements on the Purpose Driven Church list? Or the eight elements on the Natural Church Development list? Or however many elements are on the model you use?
The reasons need to look something like this:
- Worship—to tell Jesus how much we love him
- Discipleship—to help us become more like Jesus
- Fellowship—to love each other more
- Ministry—to meet people’s needs
- Evangelism—to bring people to Jesus
Doing the right things for the right reasons will always produce a healthy church, even if it doesn’t always build a big one—although there have been many big churches built on the right reasons.
If we lead the church God’s way for God’s purposes, sometimes that will result in the numerical growth of our congregation. Sometimes it won’t. But it will always result in the growth of the kingdom of God—and that’s all that really matters.
So what do you think? Have you ever found yourself doing the right things for the wrong reasons?
