No matter what endeavor you are in, some people will question your methods. Nowhere is this truer than in church work. It doesn’t matter what you do, or how you do it, someone will be there to question it or challenge it.
I remember having a meeting a couple of years ago with a guy in our church (who at the time served here). He believed in predestination (i.e., that God selected some people to be saved and all others were damned no matter what, so it would be pointless for the church to make any effort). Because of that belief he said that PCC’s efforts at evangelism were “plastic” and “pre-packaged” (his exact words). That didn’t set very well with me and things went south in a hurry.
People questioned Jesus and His methods too. For instance, He didn’t expect His disciples to wash themselves for ceremonial cleansing before they ate corn. The Pharisees thought it was a sin. Jesus healed people on Sabbath Day, which the Pharisees also thought was a sin. Think about that for a moment. Some people got bent out of shape because Jesus healed sick people on the Sabbath instead of waiting until tomorrow! No matter how much good He did, He was always being criticized by “do nothings.”
There is simply no way you can please every person who walks through the church doors. The people are too diverse and the opinions too many. Instead, what pastors and church leaders need to do is figure out the call of God on their life, what the mandate of the church is, and then set a course to fulfill that mission and DO IT with NO APOLOGIES. Let the chips fall where they may.
Peter was called to the Jews. Paul was called to the Gentiles. Therefore their ministries looked different. They had the same message but used different methods because the group of people that each was targeting for evangelism was different.
If you are trying to please everyone, you will succeed in pleasing no one.
I remember having a meeting a couple of years ago with a guy in our church (who at the time served here). He believed in predestination (i.e., that God selected some people to be saved and all others were damned no matter what, so it would be pointless for the church to make any effort). Because of that belief he said that PCC’s efforts at evangelism were “plastic” and “pre-packaged” (his exact words). That didn’t set very well with me and things went south in a hurry.
People questioned Jesus and His methods too. For instance, He didn’t expect His disciples to wash themselves for ceremonial cleansing before they ate corn. The Pharisees thought it was a sin. Jesus healed people on Sabbath Day, which the Pharisees also thought was a sin. Think about that for a moment. Some people got bent out of shape because Jesus healed sick people on the Sabbath instead of waiting until tomorrow! No matter how much good He did, He was always being criticized by “do nothings.”
There is simply no way you can please every person who walks through the church doors. The people are too diverse and the opinions too many. Instead, what pastors and church leaders need to do is figure out the call of God on their life, what the mandate of the church is, and then set a course to fulfill that mission and DO IT with NO APOLOGIES. Let the chips fall where they may.
Peter was called to the Jews. Paul was called to the Gentiles. Therefore their ministries looked different. They had the same message but used different methods because the group of people that each was targeting for evangelism was different.
If you are trying to please everyone, you will succeed in pleasing no one.
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