Church Growth - Get Organized for Great Things to Happen
The life of the apostle Paul spans several decades in Scripture with a couple of extended silent periods.
From Acts 15, when Paul first meets Timothy until he writes Timothy a letter, many years pass.
Timothy grows up from being a young sprout to leading the church at Ephesus as her Pastor.
As I've read through 1 Timothy in preparation for teaching a lesson on Paul's life, I've become keenly aware of the difference between the church in Jerusalem in the earliest chapters of Acts and the church represented in this pastoral epistle.
In a phrase, the church was growing up.
On the day of Pentecost, everything was ablaze with excitement.
The apostles were preaching, baptizing, and discipling new believers daily - and thousands of them at that.
Exciting! This is the side of church we like: the preaching, the miracles, the dynamic worship and the celebration of changed lives.
Out of this era there arose a need for leadership to sort out some personal division within the church and so "the seven" were elected in Acts chapter 6 to sort out the issues.
It was an early church step toward some kind of systematized ministry.
By the time Paul writes 1 Timothy, he details a full-scaled staff of leadership for the church with a multiplicity of elders and deacons.
What changed? Growth, which is exciting, made necessary an organized system, which is boring.
On the basis of this observation, here are some rather simple principles for church leaders today to be aware of...
1.
If you're going to grow, things will get complicated, and not growing isn't an option in light of the great commission.
2.
If things get complicated, you're going to need people and therefore you're going to have to become a real leader and lead leaders instead of just doing lots of things.
3.
When things get complicated, systems help tremendously, so they're not unwise or unbiblical.
Systems are necessary.
4.
The church's systems of organization need to be based on a New Testament pattern even though it may make little sense in light of modern business approaches.
5.
Organizing systems for a growing church isn't fun for most leaders (who would rather be with people), but its worth it in light of all the changed lives! So get organized.
Be productive.
And know that I'm writing this from the perspective of one who is often the world's worst systems organizer.
But I also really want to see the church grow, don't you?
From Acts 15, when Paul first meets Timothy until he writes Timothy a letter, many years pass.
Timothy grows up from being a young sprout to leading the church at Ephesus as her Pastor.
As I've read through 1 Timothy in preparation for teaching a lesson on Paul's life, I've become keenly aware of the difference between the church in Jerusalem in the earliest chapters of Acts and the church represented in this pastoral epistle.
In a phrase, the church was growing up.
On the day of Pentecost, everything was ablaze with excitement.
The apostles were preaching, baptizing, and discipling new believers daily - and thousands of them at that.
Exciting! This is the side of church we like: the preaching, the miracles, the dynamic worship and the celebration of changed lives.
Out of this era there arose a need for leadership to sort out some personal division within the church and so "the seven" were elected in Acts chapter 6 to sort out the issues.
It was an early church step toward some kind of systematized ministry.
By the time Paul writes 1 Timothy, he details a full-scaled staff of leadership for the church with a multiplicity of elders and deacons.
What changed? Growth, which is exciting, made necessary an organized system, which is boring.
On the basis of this observation, here are some rather simple principles for church leaders today to be aware of...
1.
If you're going to grow, things will get complicated, and not growing isn't an option in light of the great commission.
2.
If things get complicated, you're going to need people and therefore you're going to have to become a real leader and lead leaders instead of just doing lots of things.
3.
When things get complicated, systems help tremendously, so they're not unwise or unbiblical.
Systems are necessary.
4.
The church's systems of organization need to be based on a New Testament pattern even though it may make little sense in light of modern business approaches.
5.
Organizing systems for a growing church isn't fun for most leaders (who would rather be with people), but its worth it in light of all the changed lives! So get organized.
Be productive.
And know that I'm writing this from the perspective of one who is often the world's worst systems organizer.
But I also really want to see the church grow, don't you?