NAVIGATING SLOGANS AND SELF DESCRIPTIONS
In my job as a Pastor for Missions I receive a fairly consistent stream of requests for support. There are many worthy ministries, and minsters, who sincerely want to serve Jesus and reach lost people for the kingdom. It is fairly easy to “weed out” requests from those who aren’t compatible with our faith and doctrine. As with most churches we have a functioning grid to help us decide who we will, or won’t support. Sometimes those choices are hard to make when all things being equal in qualification come up against the reality of limited funds.
Part of our discernment is trying to understand what prospective missionaries and church planters mean when they use certain catch phrases and slogans. One that is sometimes used is, “ordinary means of grace church.” This usually means an emphasis on preaching the Word and the proper and faithful observation of the sacraments. Who in the Reformed world of theology and congregations could argue with that? Well, it depends on what one is actually implying with that phrase. As opposed to what? Might be a follow-up question for clarification.
ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU ARE NOT EVANGELIZING?
“We don’t use gimmicks, and we don’t focus on programs,” I have heard. These could be code words for all kinds of things, such as…1. We don’t do evangelism, 2. I study for my sermons, preach and organize worship services. 3. I expect my preaching to equip the saints and for them to do the work of ministry – but I don’t teach them by example how to do it.
This could also be translated as, “I’m too lazy, scared, or incompetent to do the work of an evangelist” (that thing the Apostle Paul instructed Pastor Timothy to do). This could be translated as, “We are anti-missional since that seems to be too activist, seeker sensitive, etc.”
WHAT DID JESUS AND THE APOSTLES “ORDINARILY” DO?
I suppose I can’t object to someone holding the line on the “ordinary means of grace” but I can’t be too excited to give them any support, especially if they are in the task of church planting and that is the only thing they are doing. Who are you going to give the means of grace to, who is the recipient of this grace, if there is no one in the congregation? If you call yourself a missionary, or a church planter, and you ask me for help I am going to want to know what you are doing to meet new people, especially unsaved people. What are you doing to invite people to come hear you preach the Word of God? Then I will want to know if what you are doing is effective or ineffective, and if you are adaptable and flexible so you can actually “reach” people. To me this was one of the “ordinary” things about the Apostles and the early church.
One of my concerns is that people who come from an American context of transfer growth, or Covenant children growth, and of institutional legacy churches that have enough resources to provide for pastors who have no missional vision, are not very well equipped to be effective in a world of not only lost, but resistant, people to the Gospel.
I think it “ordinary” for God’s people, but especially those who are called to leadership in preaching and teaching, to be praying for lost people, and for the Lord to send more laborers into the harvest of souls. I think it should be ordinary for pastors, especially missionaries and church planters, to think of how they can preach the gospel in season and out of season, in the building and out of it, in a safe or unsafe place. I think it should be ordinary for us to seek and to save the lost. The saving only Jesus can do, but it should be ordinary for us to be caught up in his mission, and to become fishers of men.