The need to step off the treadmill

Sometimes when you are involved in ministry you never have chance to stop and evaluate how things are going.  When we start something, be it a youth group, or coffee morning, or Sunday school class, or even a church, we are full of energy we have a clear goal in mind, a clear way of getting there and often a team where everyone is on board with the same ideals and there is lots of energy.  But then you start and work and work and work and keep on going and the danger is that the goal and the clear way of getting there gets forgotten in the simple effort of sustaining that ministry.  As people come and ago the vision gets diluted until we can find ourselves just doing what we do because we do it, and as people come who we haven't shared the vision with effectively purpose gets diluted.  As new people join with different gifts the danger is we slot them into existing ministries to keep them going rather than where they are uniquely gifted, often a recipe for joyless slog.

That is why it is helpful and absolutely vital to have time to stop and evaluate what we do, to weigh up whether a ministry is achieving the purpose it was created for.  If not why not?  What then; do we relaunch the ministry or do we cull it in favour of something else?  If it is working well, could it be done more effectively and if so how, what does it need to sustain it or build on it further?  We also need to ask as we evaluate ministries is everyone clear on the goal, aim and method and if not how can we ensure that they are?

I am not advocating packing up within 6 months of starting something because it is hard work, but I do think that after 5 years its worth asking and praying through these kind of review questions.  The key is finding time to step of the treadmill of sustaining ministry in order to be able to step back and evaluate ministries.  But it is something we must learn to set aside time to do as leaders and as churches for the sake of the gospel.

The battle with the pragmatist within

Its one of the first questions people ask about anything isn't it; does it work? We are always looking for the quick fix, or if not the quick fix for something that definitely yields results and behind the question is the unspoken mantra that if it works it must be right.

But how do we take apply that to the church? Is it fair to ask if it works? And if it does, is it fair to then assume that if it works it is right?

I think it is always worth asking if it works. In fact I think its a necessary of church ministry. When the Apostles can't heal the boy in Matt 17, they want to know why. When in Acts 6 the churches ministry is off balance they ask whether it works and take the step of appointing the 7 to ensure that it does what it should do and they can do what they should be doing - praying and being witnesses. So asking if something works, evaluating it is always worth doing.

But we also need to always evaluate on the basis of what the Bible says. Are our evangelistic events being attended by peoples friends and family? What changes can we make, well we can change venue, we can change activity, we can adjust our overall strategy and look to build bridges and show the relevance of the gospel. But what we cannot do is change the gospel!!! And it can seem subtly attractive to do so, to leave out judgement, to soft soap sin, to talk of forgiveness and love, not why you need forgiveness and the danger of opposing God.

When we evaluate what we do we must not given in to the inner pragmatist who wants numbers at any cost. And its not just in evangelism. What about what we teach about divorce or any other moral issue, the Bibles teaching is not populist. Evaluation is good, in fact it is right but only as we sit under the authority of God's word as it evaluates us and our actions.