“An Out of the Box Church”

One year I bought the kids some bicycles from Academy.  I found the ones I wanted on the shelf and I asked the representative about these two bikes.  He asked me did I want it in the box, or did I want them to assemble them.  As I pondered what my next step was, I immediately decided that my time was valuable, and I didn’t have the time to put something together for my kids, so I decided to LET THEM DO IT!  I paid the extra money for them to assemble it, I took it home and presented them to my kids as though I put it some effort on the final product.  Well what does this have to do with anything?

I am not condemning anyone, nor do I think less of anyone that has done this.  Many people want a “Out of the Box Church that is already assembled.”  This revelation has come to me after pastoring a smaller church.  All my life I have been a member of large churches and so when I began pastoring a smaller church, I noticed that people would come and then they would leave.  They would tell me how much they enjoyed my preaching and teaching but I would later come to find out that they left because the church wasn’t offering the ministry they wanted.  I started thinking about the fact that there are many who come to pastors and / or leadership and have ideas for ministry.  They drop the idea off on their desk and then sit back with the expectation that the pastor and / or leader was responsible for doing ALL the work to get the ministry up and going.  There was no effort on their part.

I have always been taught or maybe it is hardwired in me that if I have an issue with something, I am going to do what I can to help fix the issue.  Too many of us are being unreasonable because we want a ministry that is out of the box…already assembled.  The music ministry needs to be assembled, the marriage and singles ministry needs to be assembled, the women’s and men’s ministry needs to be assembled.  At some point everything that has been assembled has had to come from a beginning of just being parts!  Every pastor would love to be called to a church where the members love each other and get along, where there is an abundance of finances in the treasury, where the edifice is large and prepared for growth and where the music ministry is nominated for a stellar award. This would be ideal, but many pastors would have to testify that they had to put in work to get the ministry where the Lord has led that ministry to be.

It is easy to take credit for something that has already been prayed over and worked on.  When I went home and took the bikes to my kids their faces lit up and they were so gracious towards me.  They treated me better than Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.  I was convicted though.  Yes, it was my money that bought the bikes, but I did not put any blood, sweat or tears in the project.  I took credit for something I didn’t do. 

My encouragement is this…

Before you run from church to church looking for the church to serve you, why not consider first serving in the church. 

Stick around and help cultivate the culture.  Hang in there to help the ministry get to where it needs to be.  Roll up your sleeves and get your elbows dirty with growth and Kingdom building.  When you stay long enough to see the finished product you can feel proud about what God was able to do through you!

Michael O. Oyedokun II