Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: February 8, 2009
CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ben Justice
[CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK]
The planning stages of congregational development must begin with the leadership. A people will never rise
above its leaders. If leaders fail here, then the congregation will not be what God would have it. Leaders
must sacrifice time and come together to discuss congregational development. Sadly, I have been in
meetings where everything in the world was discussed but the spiritual development of the congregation.
One brother related a typical business meeting:
“Thank you for reading the minutes of last meeting, brother Jones. John, did you have a chance to check our insurance premiums
on the building from other companies?”
“Well, I haven’t heard back from all the companies yet” (which is true because he only remembered to make the phone calls three
days before the meeting).
“That’s okay; bring them next month. Bill, did you find out how much it would cost to print up fliers for our gospel meeting?” A
fifteen minute discussion ensues on the price offered, after which one brother mentions that he has a third cousin who knows
somebody in a town 70 miles away who is quite economical (translate “cheap”).
“That’ll work. Well, now. Is there any new business? Okay. Looks like we’ll have a short meeting today. Oh, I nearly forgot. Sister
Smith says her classroom needs painting real bad.”
One of the men says he could do a bad job of painting it. After a few chuckles, about fifteen minutes is consumed trying to figure
out who has the best price on paint, who makes the best paint, and who has the most time available to pick up the paint. Since
there is no other new business, the meeting is concluded with prayer, in which God is thanked that we are so privileged to be a part
of the church and had this opportunity to discuss “the affairs of the kingdom.”
The above scenario is all too common in the church. No wonder many congregations have no future plans
for congregational development. It is sad beyond belief that only the here and now is taken care of in many
business meetings and there is little room or time to plan for the future development of the congregation.
As this same brother put it,
If congregations are not growing and serving God as they should, there is a bottleneck somewhere. As one
astute individual observed a few years ago, “Every bottleneck that I have ever seen was right at the top of
the bottle” (Gary Summers, Goal Setting In Leadership, “Leadership,” 1997 Bellview Lectures, Pg.
273-275).
Another author wrote this concerning spiritual planning as it relates to meetings:
The purpose of the meeting . . . should be spiritual as well as temporal. When we spend more time discussing buildings, song
books, and supplies than we do discussing souls, we have lost sight of our real purpose for meeting. I recently sat in a meeting
where we spent half an hour trying to decide whether or not to buy a shade to go over a window where the summer sun came in.
Then, because our time was up, we did not have time to talk about several recent converts whose names were introduced and who
needed encouragement. We were tired, and everyone was ready to go home” (James R. Wilburn, “Leadership For Christ,” Pg.
75).
There are many signs of failed leadership in local congregations. The rampant apostasy and digression in
local congregations are sure signs that many elders and leaders have utterly failed to shepherd the flock.
Another sign is that many local congregations have simply ceased to exist. There may be legitimate reasons
for this, but by in large, the usual reason is that elders and leaders have no plans and no vision for
congregational development. They expect people to come through the doors and jump into the baptistry.
Another sign is that many local congregations are shrinking and maybe on the verge of collapse. Again,
elders and leaders are ultimately responsible for the pathetic job they have been doing. The old adage of
“grow or die” certainly applies to the local church.
Another sign is that many members are spiritually weak and seemingly have no concern with being workers
in the church. There is a spiritual stink in many congregations. All the church does is assemble on Sunday
morning, with less than half coming back on Sunday night and Wednesday night, and elders and leaders
never see the need to get serious and address the problem.
Another sign of congregational lethargy are leaders who are covetous and stingy with the Lord’s money.
Brethren give upon the first day of the week and expect those funds to be put to good use. It is sad when
many are so money conscious that they sit on the Lord’s money instead of putting it to use, fearing that the
church will run out of money. Such shows a woeful lack of faith and trust in God to provide.
Months and years pass by and congregations continue to drag by without any self-evaluation of where they
currently stand, without setting any goals, and without ever realizing that there is actually something
worthwhile to accomplish and that is saving souls.
Planning and vision is crucial, for if there is no planning and no vision, then everything else will be lacking
and the church will suffer and not be what God would it to be.
COMMUNICATION
The late Brother Camp recalls a situation regarding elders and communication. He states:
I know of an instance where an elder thought the church had no right to know anything about the decisions of the elders. He
acted as though the eldership were a secret society. The problems that developed from that were tremendous. In fact, the church
is still suffering from it. People began to leave and go elsewhere. The root of the whole problem was a lack of communication
(Franklin Camp, “Principles & Perils of Leadership,” Pg. 24).
Brother Camp further said,
It is my conviction that the biggest problem of leadership is either the lack of understanding of how to communicate or a failure to
do so (Ibid., Pg. 23).
Communication is absolutely critical in congregational development. The members must know what’s going
on. What are some areas of communication that are vital to the spiritual vitality and growth of a
congregation? Lord willing next week, we will begin to examine this most crucial area.
[MORE NEXT WEEK]