June 29, 2006

Hello. Welcome to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. Thanks again to www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org for sponsoring us. Thanks again to you for joining us. Today we continue with our discussion of when God builds a church.

Jesus prayed for his followers to live harmoniously as one. It is ridiculous for the church to tell the world that we have the answer to strife when we are fighting among ourselves. A popular false teaching that is threatening church unity today is a liberal theology that disregards biblical principles. If false teachers aren’t confronted early, they will distort the truth and divide the flock.

 

The legalist often has a difficult time discerning between the method and the message. Any proposed change of method is perceived as liberalizing the message. The legalist imagines that he is standing for truth, when he usually is guarding his precious traditions. Paul asked his readers not to make too big a deal out of minor matters. Don’t insist that everyone see things just like you do.

 

Understand people’s natural resistance to change. Determine if the issue is scriptural or traditional. Change slowly but consistently. Implementing change takes time. Adopt a long range plan and be patient. Realistically count the cost of change.

 

One of the easiest ways to divide the body of Christ is to constantly be critical of the church’s leaders. Constant, vicious criticism is lethal. It dampens enthusiasm, stifles creativity, discourages the leadership, and quenches the spirit of the church. Conflict often develops because leaders pay too much attention to the criticisms. To keep the peace, a good leader must know when to confront criticism and when to ignore it.

 

In many churches, you have to endure a lot of hurdles to accomplish anything, so much so that by the time you implement a new program, it’s already obsolete. Often those red tape hurdles are put there to protect someone’s turf. Many country churches are stagnant because there are one or two families that have controlled the church for generations. Their influence in the church is a matter of pride and power for them. They resist any new idea or leader because it threatens their little empire.

 

Steps to harmony. Keep your ego under control. Be flexible. The older members need to be flexible and look to the next generation, passing the baton of faith to the younger people. Maintain a sense of humor. Growing, healthy churches are more likely to be churches that laugh together.

 

Respect the leaders. The church is supposed to be a Christocracy in which Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd. The elders lead the church according to what they believe to be the will of Christ. The elders must trust the staff’s leadership. Although the ministers should submit to the authority of the elders, a wise body of elders will trust the ministerial staff and give them as much room as possible to lead the congregation.

 

Avoid controversy if possible. Prevention is the best cure. Some issues are critical and have to be discussed, but stupid arguments and useless quarrels need to be avoided. Some controversies have no solution and only take up endless hours of unproductive time. Paul says that we need to avoid such controversies because the accomplish nothing and are potentially divisive. Confront divisive people when necessary.

 

Practice servanthood when ever possible. People who devote themselves to doing good don’t have time for criticism. One of the reasons that the elders don’t complain is that they are too busy serving. When people are busy serving, your chances of maintaining harmony are greatly increased. And be quick to forgive.

That's all for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more exciting thoughts on church growth. Please send me your thoughts at: [e-mail] . Thanks and God bless.

 

Pastor Bob Emery