Just another 'Merry-go-around' Ministry.

Do you have just another 'Merry-go-around' Ministry?

It was Wool Festival time!

The annual Wool Festival was the event of the year in my hometown! Hundreds of farmers and their talented wives ensured that none of the visitors left empty handed. The boys dragged their dads to the exhibits of tractors and harvesters while mothers and daughters enjoyed the crafts and delicate needle work. And not to even mention the delicious foods! 

But the absolute highlight of the show was when the amusement park was opened! As a child, together with my younger brother, we would patiently stand in the long lines with all the other people to purchase our tickets for the "merry-go-around". And then the two of us would join the screaming little voices that testified of the pure child-like joy of the rocking, swaying and spinning rides! Year after year it was our favorite weekend next to Christmas! Until one day...

Enthusiastically my brother (to whom I could no longer refer to as my ‘baby’ brother) and I stepped through the gates, and both of us looked at the scene with equal disappointment. The amusement park's "fun stuff" suddenly seemed so old? The once pleasant familiarity of the swings and the horses, the target shooting and the even the ‘merry-go-around’ had lost its attraction. A strange and annoying boredom overwhelmed us as we walked through the stalls. "Shall we go on the 'merry-go-around' ride?" I tried to encourage... But my brother turned around and simply said: "No! All the stuff here knows only one direction: around and around ...everything goes in circles ... its just so boring! 

Are you in favor of change? 

Have you as a leader of your church taken some time to stand back and analyze the ministry of your church? Is your ministry moving forward? Or is it still looking the same as twenty years ago? Forty years ago? We worry about the declining numbers of our congregations and the poor attendance of the outreach programs and conclude that is due to the "apostasy of the last days” ... but can it be that we are making use of obsolete methods? Are we adapting to the times and growing with the latest technology or are we clinging willfully to our outdated methods simply because we are too afraid or too stubborn to change? 

Do you have an effective ministry? 

How does your congregation move forward? Are they strong in faith? Are they united in God's love? Do they carry one another's burdens, and are words of encouragement and joy part of the greeting at the church door? In short, is your congregation showing a positive growth to spiritual maturity? How supportive are the programs of your church to guide new and 'old' members step by step to spiritual maturity? Or do the "church stuff" seem old and boring? I once heard a preacher ask, "Do you have twenty years' experience with the Lord or just one year of experience that you have been repeating twenty times?" What a troublesome thought! Is your ministry effectively guiding your members spiritual in such a way that it is noticeable in the fruits they bear? Or is your ministry just like the boring old obsolete amusement park rides.... Year after year but the same.... round and round ... round and round ... just another committee .... Just another meeting... 

Good news! 

This is good news for all those who feel they are prisoners of the monotonous merry-go-around ministry! Change is not always bad! Look at this interesting quote from EG White in the book Evangelism:

“Whatever may have been your former practice, it is not necessary to repeat it again and again in the same way. God would have new and untried methods followed. Break in upon the people – surprise them!” -- Manuscript 121, 1897 (Evangelism, p.125)

Wow! So to try something new in your ministry in order to tell the world of the love of God and the imminent coming of His Son Jesus Christ is encouraged! What a wonderful challenge. (And dare I say: what a relief!)

Two warnings for the bold and brave: 

1.    When my brother and I turned and walked away from that park, there were still many others who enjoyed the rides and who would return for years to come. Do not criticize those who still benefit from and are comfortable with the old methods. The Lord may impress some workers to find alternative approaches to feed the flock with the Bread of Life. But this is still all it is – just another avenue to guide people to the Living Waters. We are tasked to lead people to God – no matter what it takes. Go and use new, untested methods - surprise them! But do it without arrogance.

2.    And secondly, know and expect that there will be opposition. There will be many people who will not to be impressed with your sudden 'otherwise' way of doing things. Prepare yourself for confrontations. Some will be of opinion that the old methods still work - so why do you want to be so otherwise? Handle them gently and remind them that in Jesus' ministry He brought the old-old message in a brand new way and thousands responded!

 A final word of encouragement: 

Make sure that your ministry is God's ministry. Remove all arrogance and pride. Spend much time in silence with your Master. Learn from him, follow him, let him direct your paths and let all success be His success. 

 And remember loved ones... 

"There is only celebrity in the Church and that is Jesus Christ, we are co-workers of him and not co-stars. Do not let your ministry place more spotlight on yourself than on the Son of God. 

He alone is worthy to receive all honor and glory as the King of Kings!" 

May your faith grow stronger every day! 

Roné F.