Only what needs to be done

In M. Night Shyamalan’s movie The Village, one of the characters, Lucius Hunt, is asked by another why he is so fearless. His reply is remarkable: “I don’t worry about what will happen, only what needs to be done.”

While here and there one finds notable exceptions, the Church-at-large in our culture seems to be of quite the opposite mind: “Don’t worry about what needs to be done, only what will happen if you do it.” In other words, look out for yourself, your interests, your investments, your future. Choose selfishly, not sacrificially. If it comes to a choice, better to look good (image) than be right (character), better popular than prophetic, better culturally successful than fearlessly faithful!

God’s call to Ezekiel stands in stark contrast to such thinking. The Lord’s first words to him were: “I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day” (2:3). Okay, not quite the comfortable little position to ride out until retirement. Read more

Where are we going … and who’s really driving?

I read somewhere recently, “Evangelicalism is dying for the discovery of the value of good theology, while managerial pragmatism is all but killing the soul of our enterprise.” It stopped me dead in my reading tracks. The unnameable distraction, that gnawing anxiety that something wasn’t quite right, suddenly stood before me bald-faced. It’s so easy to slip over into “ad-ministering” in the place of “ministering,” and to think (or at least assume) that the cause of church and Kingdom is won on the field of management technique and organizational structure. Not to say, mind you, that good management and proper organization are unimportant and can be ignored. But there is no secret formula to the life and ministry of the church, as if finding and wording a perfect mission statement, and then crafting a compelling vision statement, and then devising a great strategy is necessarily going to accomplish our well-documented goals within our time-bound schedule.

I’m just a little uncomfortable with that. It’s too mechanical, too mathematical. Besides, all of our “mission/vision/strategy/purpose-driven” stuff can easily mask a thorough-going pragmatism that is far removed from the biblical emphases of faithfulness, love, service, patience, suffering, and perseverance. I, for one, want to slow the “drive” down a bit and reconsider the destination.

Journeys

Let me make a quick book recommendation:

The book is available from Missional Press. And as a special pre-publication offer, Missional Press is offering the book for just $12.99, $2.00 off the retail price of $14.99. Check Amazon.com and other book retailers for the book as well. Read more

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