Life's been full to say the least.
Recently I was presented with a statistic I've heard a thousand times: "20% of the church does 80% of the work." I contested the statement, but I think my objections fell short to a statistic that, within our current popular church culture, is as good as gold.
To me, this statistic is complete nonsense. It didn't use to be. When I was the pastor of a large church & much of our time was devoted to in house administration work within the church, I understood the stat very well; & in this context it might be true. However, as my theology has been rocked by my current theological context my understanding of "church" & "work" have been greatly renewed. Not only does this stat no longer hold its weight, I would argue it does much damage to those within the church who don't feel called or led to take up a role within the church, but are being used by God in their daily lives.
In light of this, my stat is: "100% of the church is doing 100% of the work God intends it to do 100% of the time." This statement lays a heavy load on God & takes much of the weight off of us. God is constantly at work in & through his church.
Some questions to wrestle with: What exactly is the work of the church? Who are the people doing the work? Are certain forms of work more valid than others? Do we esteem some work over others? Is being a small group leader more important to God than being an outstanding baker (or brewer)? What's the difference, in God's eyes, between an Usher & a construction worker who are both born-again?
Let me expand on this question: Is preaching more important than being a stay at home mom? Most "ministry" minded women who become mothers wrestle with this & by ministry I mean in house (church) work. Let me create a short story:
Let's look at the short life of Brenda who is a shining star within the church. Brenda came to church with a friend, loved the music, connected with the Timothy Hybels (or Bill Keller) style preaching, & gave her life to Christ. She brought her husband the next week & he too got saved. They immediately joined a small group & shortly after, Brenda & Jim became interns & then leaders. Brenda then got pregnant with her first child vowing to keep her church schedule. After the birth of Tyler, Brenda soon found out what all parents know: A child changes everything. Because Tyler didn't sleep well, neither did Brenda. She was exhausted all day & night. Too, her relationship with Jim was becoming stressed due to the new baby. Just maintaining a normal relationship with her husband was now very tiring. She tried to maintain her roles within church: Sunday service, & small group leadership, but Tyler, like most babies, wasn't created to sit quietly. Tired & worn out by the normal issues associated with motherhood Brenda had to stop "ministry" & focus on her new child & family.
When exactly did Brenda stop doing ministry? This is a very important question. When did ministry start & when did ministry stop for Brenda? The answer is very simple: Ministry started the moment she became alive in Christ & it hasn't ended.
I think all of this stems from a dearly loved western theology: Dualism. God is in heaven I am on earth. Preaching is spiritual, baking bread is normal. Small group leadership is glorifying to God, being a salesman is not. Being a missions leader is important to God, being a stay at home mom isn't. Is our definition of the 20% God's definition? No.
Communion is one of the biggest slaps in the face to dualism. Simple everyday items demonstrate the promise of God to us here & now: Bread & Wine, not transformed into otherworldly items, but enjoyed as they are in their daily context as they we're meant to be enjoyed. Simple, everyday items. Simple, everyday use. Simply found anywhere & everywhere. Simple everyday items displaying the glory of God. This is the sign of God's everlasting promise to us. Please read: Alexander Schmennan "For the life of the world"
Ministry is us simply doing what it is we do as transformed people.
Have you ever noticed Paul never asked anyone in his churches to abandon their job for the ministry? Baptism is ordination. The people of the church are ministry.
"100% of the church is doing 100% of the work God intends it to do 100% the time."
This is a work in progress; but could you imagine what could happen if we all understood that our daily lives lived in simple ways are exactly how God intends to share redemption with mankind? What would that look like:
Church.
9 comments:
Amen! Tis a good word!
Love it.
Although it has recently become a common enough answer from me that it is approaching trite, I recently wrote a paper on this.
I think we are all called to be who we are, where we are, when we are for God. This is the essence of making disciples as we go.
There is nothing intrinsically more valuable about preaching than parenting. I would offer that it is actually the opposite as God seems to have a lot more to say about parenting than he does preaching.
I would push back a little on the 100% number agreeing that while God can be at work 100% of the time in and through his church, there are times we are either not cooperating or even opposing the work He intends to do. And while that is a huge can of theological worms to open, I would offer that His will was very likely not being done on those occasions I have surfed the internet for porn.
That said, and I think this is a mainstay of a kingdom perspective that God is active in and through his church for a much larger percentage of the time than we regularly expect him to be based on our recognition of geography (are we at the church building?) or activity (am I doing one of the things Paul listed in his letters?)
~reposted with better editing~
Good word Chris. 100% minus sin.
Dude,
what are you drinking out there? All that talk sounds like it would be deeply destructive to the established order of church as we know it... good thing your ideas are so crazy and far-fetched that no one will ever actually put them into practice. Otherwise that would be the end of the church as we currently know it!
Come on 'brewing' is just as godly as preaching? What's next? ...will you try to convince us that Jesus wasn't a white, middle-class, republican?
I appreciate this. The sacred vs. secular paradigm has been quite unhelpful. Maybe there is a different conversations to be had about what are Kingdom of God activities? Obviously looking at porn, as mentioned above, not a Kingdom activity. What does God's creative goodness look like? What does God's Kingdom look like manifested here on earth? When Jesus cast out a demon in front of the Pharisees he commented that the Kingdom of God had come upon them. I read this and realize that His Kingdim looks like something. Like eating breakfast with my kids and like seeing the dead raised.
The people who believe that statistic are probably part of that 20% who are doing 80% of a work load that will mostly be the straw that goes up in flames...
What will truly remain?
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