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What is the Focus of Your Church?
by Jerry Kinard When I got out of the military in 1996 to plant our church. I thought that it would be a matter of time before our church would be growing with large crowds. I rested mostly on my ability to preach and teach the Word of God. I was wrong. It does not matter how gifted you are or how talented you may think you are in the end it's God's church and He is the only one who grows it. I've tried a variety of different approaches to reach our community for Christ all to no avail. It was not until a few years ago and reiterated again last spring through a Navigator conference that it became clear to me that my job as a pastor is to make disciples (See Matthew 28:18-20). One of our problems is that I think we get lost trying to compete with the church down the street. We are not in competition with one another. As a friend of mine Scott Lycan once said, there is no us and them. It's just us. There are so many people that are hurting in the world. I think our attempt to fix the problem is admirable at best. But many time it's a feeble attempt. We try to put Bandaids on bullet wounds. Instead of trying to fix the cause of the problem we try to fix symptoms. The problem in the world is sin. It's not just enough to get a person saved, but we must also follow them up and help them grow to spiritual maturity in Christ (See Colossians 1:28-29) to the point where they are loving Jesus with all that they got. I also think at times we are fighting the wrong battles. Our battle is not political but spiritual (Ephesian 6). I am a strong opponent of abortion. However, if we do not change the heart of the person than we are wasting our time. There is no amount of legislation that is going prevent a sinful heart from sinning. As pastors and leaders our fight is in the pulpit for the hearts and minds of those whom we are called to serve. When those who are in our congregation are hungering for God and His will then we will see some gains in the abortion issue. We cannot expect unsaved people to make godly choices. The reason our churches are not impacting our community for Christ is because we are not relevant. What the world is looking for is Christ shining brightly in our lives and the only way this happens is through a heart that is totally surrendered to Him. In order for us to make disciples we must first be a disciple. How's your walk with the Lord? What is your ministry focus? Is it maximizing your potential in Christ through discipleship or is it focused on something else? In closing, Mary and Martha were two sisters who loved Jesus. However, Mary, knew that intimacy and growing in Christ was far more important than her ministry (Luke 10:38-42). Let's stop trying to build our own empires and focus on what's important - being a disciple and making disciples of Jesus Christ. Jerry Kinard is the Pastor of Growth Minstries a house church network in Raleigh, NC. You can contact him at [email protected] or visit the church's website at http://www.raleighhousechurches.com. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |