The mission of the Church

Sam Metcalf, president of CRM, has caught my eye this morning as I'm catching up on some long needed reading. I have felt for many years that I really don't fit into the mold of the western church and ministry. I really don't have the gift for preaching or shepherding and I don't find much success in building large movements that are built around a weekly gathering, worship and preaching. What I do find is the going, creating, planting, and figuring out new areas to be my passion. I want to take the Gospel to all areas not just take care of those who already have it. But our church in the west tends to be built on the gifts of preaching, teaching, education and shepherding those who are already believers with the hopes that they will become missional and get out in their communities and the world. The reality is that few rarely ever get the missional bug and leave their lives of receiving great teaching, preaching and care.

Sam in The Supremacy of the Church article quotes Charles Mellis, "The leadership of nurture structures (congregations and linkage structures) on whom we largely depend for our Christian education have always tended to a mono-structural view of the Church. In fact, our theologians tend to define the Church in terms of this nurture structure." Read the whole post.

If we begin to see the need for the apostolic gifts, the missional training and flat out sending believers into the world along with the teaching, preaching and shepherding in the church we may see God's Kingdom grow like never before. A balanced approach to our training, ministry and lifestyle like found Eph 4:11 is what we need.

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

Categories: Leadership, Coaching, Evangelism, Church, Movements