Great thoughts from David Wells, The Courage to Be Protestant, page 247.
Letting God be God over his church, seeing him as its center and
glory, its source and its life, is a truly liberating experience. It liberates
us from thinking that we have to do, in ourselves, what we are entirely
incapable of doing. That is, growing the church. We cannot do the work
that only God can do. We can work in the church, preach and teach,
spread the gospel, encourage and urge each other on, but we cannot
impart new life. Nor can we ever sanctify the church. Indeed, we cannot
even feed the church. It is God who supplies the food; we are simply
called upon to serve it (1 Cor. 3:5). This, however, is precisely why Paul
says, a little later, that “we do not lose heart” (2 Cor. 4:1, 16) but are “confident”
(3:4; cf. 5:6).
While all of this is conventional enough, it is not common enough
in evangelical churches. Lip service is paid to these ideas, but when we
get really serious about “doing church” we turn to what we know best.
We turn to structures and programs, appearances and management,
advertising and marketing. Our preoccupation is with what we do
and therefore with what we control.
This is what animates the conversation
among evangelical leaders, what fills the pages of magazines like Leadership,
and what attracts pastors to the really big, important conferences.
This is what they are willing to pay serious money to hear.
Alas! It is missing the point, if I may say so. What is of primary interest
in a technological world is technique, for that, after all, is how we
manage everything else. In the kingdom of God things are different. It
is not that we do not do things, but that our doing is rooted in our being.
Who we are is more fundamental than what we do.
Character is more basic than action. Being mastered by God is infinitely more important
than having the know-how to manage the church.
Pastor Travis Peterson 