The Expendable Congregation.

Have you ever been thrown under the bus? Not literally but metaphorically? This is precisely what is happening in many Christian congregations in North America and elsewhere. The way churches used to behave is radically different from the way churches are acting in the twenty first century. With the population growth and growth in congregations, the pastors in some churches feel overwhelmed and unable to pastor the congregation, so what many churches have done is limiting the ministry roles of pastors and delegating more responsibility to lay leaders and lay ministers.

At first this seems exciting to the laity because it gives us more of a responsibility within the church, and we feel more empowered as to the direction of our faith. However, what is the result of putting less pastoral responsibility on the pastor and more responsibility on the laity? I argue that when this happens in a church, the laity actually becomes expendable. When our pastors are overwhelmed with the responsibility of actually pastoring a large congregation, there should be additional pastoral support given to the pastors by the church government. Yes, as laity, we are all called to serve, but like the pastors who take on too much responsibility, the same can happen to the laity. However, when the laity becomes overwhelmed, we usually burn out too quick and end up quitting our ministry roles.

This church growth paradigm usually ends up throwing many regular people under the bus because the leadership overpowers the laity in this direction. Jesus warned leaders not to Lord it over their flock, (Matthew 20:25-28) 25But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” This verse is not an excuse for pastors to wrongly convince their flock that they are worthless if they do not serve, it’s a warning for Pastors to precisely not to take this attitude towards their flock.

True ministry leaders and pastors are servants, and in a good church there will be an equal balance between the pastoral ministry roles and responsibilities, and the laity doing their roles of service in the church. This is Mike.

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The Parable of the Ten Virgins.

Matthew 25:1-13 I have discovered a remarkable interpretation of this parable that I would like to share with you. The story in the Bible goes like this: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy som...

Age of Brokenness.

We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Biblical Meaning of “Life in the Spirit.”

“Life in the Spirit” is an example that the Apostle Paul gives in the book of Romans starting in chapter 5 and going through to chapter 8. He begins by telling us we are justified by faith (5:1), and have gained access by faith into the grace of God (5:2). We have been delivered from God’s wrath (5:9) and we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (5:10). He goes on to explain that through Adam all die (5:12), and that the free Gift of God brings justification and righteousness to the believing sinner (5:15-17). Through our conversion we are baptized into Christ and into his death, which frees us from the law and makes us dead to sin (6:2-4). He explains that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we are given new life in Christ (6:4). Our old unregenerate self was crucified with Christ so that our body of sin might be done away with (6:5-6). Because we have died to sin, we now submit ourselves to God being that we are now under grace, not the law (6:8-1...

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