Time
I saw this quote from Andrew Jones a few months ago and it has really stuck with me:
What we need to remember that we are not called to gather a crowd, but to make disciples. That quote above from Hans Peter Pache is spot on. We are not supposed to build a mega church, we are supposed to build a cathedral. Now before you think I'm speaking out of both sides on my mouth, let me explain. A cathedral is big, so big that they are noticeable in the community, they tend to dominate the landscape. In many towns, the cathedral gives that town a sense of identity. As disciples of Jesus, we are supposed to be making a difference in our community. We are supposed to be salt and light. We should be an intrical part of the community, a part of the community's identity - it's DNA. That doesn't happen overnight. That takes time. It is not because of a large gathering, it is because there has been a "transformation of the mind" (Romans 12:2). The cathedral is not about building a big building, a big budget or big numbers. It is about building people, disciplining people, transforming them into "Gospel Planters" that will in turn transform those around them. It's about being salt and light and that takes time.
We had a planning meeting for the church last Sunday that we opened up to the entire church. Our goal was simple, we wanted to get some stuff on the calendar for the next few months (at least until Easter). I didn't know what was going to happen, but I gave them all some guidelines. First, I felt that we needed to focus on five things - prayer, small groups, discipleship, outreach and community. Secondly, there was no budget, whatever we were going to do would have to be done on the cheep. I was hoping for some discussion in each area, but I feared that we would only plan "community" things. I wasn't prepared for what actually happened. Prayer started first. They wanted to bring back the prayer labyrinth and they wanted to do another 24/7 prayer but with multiple churches involved. Someone actually suggested that we do a Daniel fast in January (and the group approved of it.) I was in shock - I hadn't seen this much interest in prayer in a long time. Small groups then multiplied (from one to three) and there was an excitement about doing more discipleship groups. Our youth want to go and scrub toilets for a servant evangelism outreach (as suggested from a youth) and people want to go downtown once a month and pray for people. The one thing we didn't figure out was the community side - but since we are going to be doing all this praying, and discipling and ministering, I guess we will have to do it as a community!
This is what I mean by transformation. Amazingly, the only thing that I have to do is talk to the other churches about praying with us. Everyone else is doing the rest of the ministry. This would not have happened twelve months ago. Twelve months ago it would ave been all one me.
Here is the interesting thing: there were only 17 people in this meeting, about half the church. What difference can 17 people make? Well, the way I look at it, we've planted an Oak Grove with these 17 people. Give it time. We should have enough to build a cathedral in a couple of decades. It's the way God does things - once person at a time. I'm willing to wait, are you?
A lot of new church plants wait until they can run a good worship service before they open up to the public. There is little talk about whether the community has the spiritual depth to receive and disciple newcomers.I think that we as pastors need to put stuff into a little context. We tend to feel that success means numbers and growth. I agree that we need to be fruitful, that we need to do something with the talents that Jesus has given us, but I think we miss the concept of time. It doesn't take much time to gather a crowd but it takes time to make disciples. We look at our churches and begin to question ourselves with unrealistic expectations. I remember speaking to a pastor of a new church plant last summer who was apologizing to me that they had only grown to 120 in the past year. I was shocked - only 120? It took Jesus three years to get to 120 and I figure he was probably a bit more gifted then we are! (Heck, one of my favorite passages in the bible is when Jesus preaches a hard message and everyone except the twelve leave (John 6:60-71) - I can relate to that!)
It reminded me of some other voices in my life:
One is Bobby Clinton who taught Leadership Theory and Change Dynamics at Fuller Seminary. He said that if you want to figure out how long it will take to bring change in your community, you take your estimate and then double it. And double it again. And that's how long it takes.
Another is my German friend Hans Peter Pache who asks how to build a cathedral. The answer is that you plant an oak grove and in a hundred years you have enough wood to build your cathedral. The rest is simple.
What we need to remember that we are not called to gather a crowd, but to make disciples. That quote above from Hans Peter Pache is spot on. We are not supposed to build a mega church, we are supposed to build a cathedral. Now before you think I'm speaking out of both sides on my mouth, let me explain. A cathedral is big, so big that they are noticeable in the community, they tend to dominate the landscape. In many towns, the cathedral gives that town a sense of identity. As disciples of Jesus, we are supposed to be making a difference in our community. We are supposed to be salt and light. We should be an intrical part of the community, a part of the community's identity - it's DNA. That doesn't happen overnight. That takes time. It is not because of a large gathering, it is because there has been a "transformation of the mind" (Romans 12:2). The cathedral is not about building a big building, a big budget or big numbers. It is about building people, disciplining people, transforming them into "Gospel Planters" that will in turn transform those around them. It's about being salt and light and that takes time.
We had a planning meeting for the church last Sunday that we opened up to the entire church. Our goal was simple, we wanted to get some stuff on the calendar for the next few months (at least until Easter). I didn't know what was going to happen, but I gave them all some guidelines. First, I felt that we needed to focus on five things - prayer, small groups, discipleship, outreach and community. Secondly, there was no budget, whatever we were going to do would have to be done on the cheep. I was hoping for some discussion in each area, but I feared that we would only plan "community" things. I wasn't prepared for what actually happened. Prayer started first. They wanted to bring back the prayer labyrinth and they wanted to do another 24/7 prayer but with multiple churches involved. Someone actually suggested that we do a Daniel fast in January (and the group approved of it.) I was in shock - I hadn't seen this much interest in prayer in a long time. Small groups then multiplied (from one to three) and there was an excitement about doing more discipleship groups. Our youth want to go and scrub toilets for a servant evangelism outreach (as suggested from a youth) and people want to go downtown once a month and pray for people. The one thing we didn't figure out was the community side - but since we are going to be doing all this praying, and discipling and ministering, I guess we will have to do it as a community!
This is what I mean by transformation. Amazingly, the only thing that I have to do is talk to the other churches about praying with us. Everyone else is doing the rest of the ministry. This would not have happened twelve months ago. Twelve months ago it would ave been all one me.
Here is the interesting thing: there were only 17 people in this meeting, about half the church. What difference can 17 people make? Well, the way I look at it, we've planted an Oak Grove with these 17 people. Give it time. We should have enough to build a cathedral in a couple of decades. It's the way God does things - once person at a time. I'm willing to wait, are you?
