Do Something
As a church leader, a church staff member, a pastor’s daughter, and a follower of Jesus, there’s one thing I know for sure about the local church: it’s full of beautiful and broken people. I love my job. In fact, often, I’m struck by how it’s my job to point people to Jesus. And the thing about people? They’re so beautiful. Truly, even in the mess, I see the most beautiful people that God created- and once you get to know people- you see how God gifted them, what their passions are and their enthusiasm about something in particular. As church leaders, we become like parents who are proud of their children but secretly (or not-so-secretly) hope their passions inspire them to do something and do it in a way that reflects Jesus. Though, what I often see is people feeling a little hesitant- and with hesitancy comes projecting onto the church. “The church needs to do something about ______.” The question becomes, when the 1,000 people that make up your local church, down the road become passionate but motionless about 1,000 different social causes; what is the role of the church? Are we supposed to talk about everyone’s social cause they’re most passionate about? If we do that, is there time for Bible teaching too? Where is the balance?
“Entitlement” is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as, “a belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges.”* Entitlement can be a common issue in the church among everyone. But there is a particular issue that arises when we talk about tithing. There seems to come some entitlement among people who tithe that that should give them say into how the church staff uses their time as well as the agenda of the sermon series, order of service, etc. Though the church staff should never have a hidden agenda, and should be held accountable, there seems to be a level of entitlement that they face in push back among congregants. I believe that most of the time this is done with the best of intentions, but the avenue is poor. Your tithe, no matter what church you call home, is the Lord’s money and is used (or is meant to be used) to continue to further the Kingdom. It’s not a wage to buy influence. Deuteronomy 16:17 says, “Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.”** If tithing bought influence, then it would not be fair to those who cannot give as much as others. So tithing cannot be about influence, it needs to be about obedience to the Lord. That being said, most people who speak up about what the church should and should not be doing feel entitled to do so because they give. But we, as the church, need to work together to come to a better agreement about what the Church’s role is, because money and entitlement gets some people places, but it doesn’t work that way in the church.
That being said, what can we do to encourage others to still be passionate about their social cause and do something about it? How can the church empower them? As a larger formal organization, the church needs structure to be able to grow and not burn its leaders out. This would look different from church to church depending on the funds, staffing, and size of the church. Ideally though, I see the role of the staff as the role of the coaches. They aren’t any holier than anyone attending the church- and they are not solely responsible for covering every task needed to be done, social cause to be fought for, and Bible story to be shared. Their role is to help shepherd a flock and, ideally, help them know how to live with Jesus, love like Jesus and lead others to do the same. And part of that “leading others to do the same” is helping them to decide how they want to take steps into helping a social cause. I do think it’s the church’s job to help people learn how to do this, but I don’t think it’s their job to do it for them. We teach a child to feed themselves, we don’t feed them ourselves forever; but there is definitely a time where we have to feed them while they’re too young to. Similarly, there will be a time where we must “do for you” then we will “show you how” and then we will “empower you to do yourself” and I think that’s a piece of being a healthy church. We want to help people take next steps outside of the church, because if the only church they know is one that does it all for them, they aren’t really growing. Paul writes to the church of Corinth: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” 1 Corinthians 13:11** Like Paul, we need to eventually get to the point where we take ownership like that of a grown individual.
So let’s stop pointing fingers at the Church. Let’s stop pointing fingers at leaders who we think should be fighting for all the social causes. And instead, let’s start asking questions. Let’s start working together to figure out how much more we can do for the Kingdom if we all tap into what we each are individually passionate for and gifted to do. How much more could we accomplish this way anyway!
Think about what the church could be known for.
What if the church was known for helping people learn how to live with Jesus? And what if, from there, there was a natural overflow of people to want to love others like Jesus? And what if that inspired them to help those people do the same- to live with Jesus so they can love like Jesus? What if the church was known for helping people become adults that “put the ways of childhood behind them” and produce people who are ready to serve their neighborhoods and local causes? How much more Church could it get than that? And how beautiful might that be!
What if instead of looking to the Church to make us move; we got up and did something?
”Entitlement.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
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Grunlan, Stephen A. Christian Perspectives on Sociology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1982. Print. /.latest_citation_text
** Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.
“How Can We Equip Our People for God’s Work in the World?” How Can We Equip Our People for God’s Work in the World? — Theology of Work. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
MatthewWestVEVO. “Matthew West — Do Something.” YouTube. YouTube, 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
