COMPARE & CONTRAST (Part 2)
[Review from Part 1]
For the modern-day church to operate in a New Testament administration, there has to be a new mindset. Let's create a clear comparison between the man-made pastoral church and the Christ-ordained apostolic (5-fold) church; they are two COMPLETELY different "operating systems". Trying to get a pastoral church to operate in a 5-fold administration is like trying to run Apple software on a Windows PC ... they are simply not compatible!
In order to compare and contrast, I want to outline three (3) basic components of ministry:
I. The Goal of Ministry
II. The Role of The Saints
III. The Role of Leadership
Last month, I wrote about I & II. This month ...
THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP
In the pastoral church, the role of the "pastor" is to shepherd [care for, nurture] the saints. Few will admit it, but pastors are not highly motivated to train & equip. Their job descriptions state that THEY are the "educated & qualified" ministers, and that the saints should come to them for ministry.
The result?
People become dependent upon "the pastors"! Many Christians have been taught & trained to rely upon their pastors for spiritual life & growth.
I'm NOT an "end-times" teacher/preacher. Years ago, when I was serving as an associate pastor in a local church, a man in the church came to me asking questions about certain passages within the Book of Revelation. I had never really studied, and certainly never TAUGHT on the passages in question, so I humbly suggested that he study the book for himself in an effort to find the answers he was seeking. I may of well have suggested that he build a rocket ship! The idea of "studying" The Bible to find your own answers was a completely foreign concept. I was "reported" to the Sr. Pastor, and reprimanded for not knowing the answer to the man's question.
My spirit as a young minister was crushed, but my heart for the man was grieved. In a less amount of time than it took for him to schedule a day/time to meet with the Sr. Pastor to "tattle" on me, he could've researched and ordered an entire set of audio teachings on his question! Worse yet, in less time than he would've spent listened to the those teachings, I believe that he could've studied the passages himself, asking Holy Spirit for revelation, and he could've experienced the joy of realizing that God can speak & reveal to every believer! All he knew ... and had been trained to do ... was to depend upon the pastor for the answers to questions about The Bible!
Please understand ... this testimony is not an effort to criticize or shame. It's simply a personal illustration of what I see to be the predominant church mindset today. No one in the churches this man had ever attended had ever suggested that studying The Bible was a skill that every born-again saint can, and SHOULD learn! He'd obviously been led to believe that such questions are to be submitted to an educated & "qualified" pastor.
In comparison, the Apostolic Church is focused upon equipping every saint to be a confident student of The Word. In the Apostolic Church, the mark of a successful leader is that he/she knows how to raise up a congregation of saints who know how to seek out and discern the ways of God, and to be effective in ministry to self AND others.
In the New Wineskin Church, our worst possible NIGHTMARE is to have a crowd of people who are completely spiritually dependent upon "hired" ministers. Our greatest JOY is to train & equip the saints to be completely confident in their own ability to do the work of ministry!
For the modern-day church to operate in a New Testament administration, there has to be a new mindset. Let's create a clear comparison between the man-made pastoral church and the Christ-ordained apostolic (5-fold) church; they are two COMPLETELY different "operating systems". Trying to get a pastoral church to operate in a 5-fold administration is like trying to run Apple software on a Windows PC ... they are simply not compatible!
In order to compare and contrast, I want to outline three (3) basic components of ministry:
I. The Goal of Ministry
II. The Role of The Saints
III. The Role of Leadership
Last month, I wrote about I & II. This month ...
THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP
In the pastoral church, the role of the "pastor" is to shepherd [care for, nurture] the saints. Few will admit it, but pastors are not highly motivated to train & equip. Their job descriptions state that THEY are the "educated & qualified" ministers, and that the saints should come to them for ministry.
The result?
People become dependent upon "the pastors"! Many Christians have been taught & trained to rely upon their pastors for spiritual life & growth.
I'm NOT an "end-times" teacher/preacher. Years ago, when I was serving as an associate pastor in a local church, a man in the church came to me asking questions about certain passages within the Book of Revelation. I had never really studied, and certainly never TAUGHT on the passages in question, so I humbly suggested that he study the book for himself in an effort to find the answers he was seeking. I may of well have suggested that he build a rocket ship! The idea of "studying" The Bible to find your own answers was a completely foreign concept. I was "reported" to the Sr. Pastor, and reprimanded for not knowing the answer to the man's question.
My spirit as a young minister was crushed, but my heart for the man was grieved. In a less amount of time than it took for him to schedule a day/time to meet with the Sr. Pastor to "tattle" on me, he could've researched and ordered an entire set of audio teachings on his question! Worse yet, in less time than he would've spent listened to the those teachings, I believe that he could've studied the passages himself, asking Holy Spirit for revelation, and he could've experienced the joy of realizing that God can speak & reveal to every believer! All he knew ... and had been trained to do ... was to depend upon the pastor for the answers to questions about The Bible!
Please understand ... this testimony is not an effort to criticize or shame. It's simply a personal illustration of what I see to be the predominant church mindset today. No one in the churches this man had ever attended had ever suggested that studying The Bible was a skill that every born-again saint can, and SHOULD learn! He'd obviously been led to believe that such questions are to be submitted to an educated & "qualified" pastor.
In comparison, the Apostolic Church is focused upon equipping every saint to be a confident student of The Word. In the Apostolic Church, the mark of a successful leader is that he/she knows how to raise up a congregation of saints who know how to seek out and discern the ways of God, and to be effective in ministry to self AND others.
In the New Wineskin Church, our worst possible NIGHTMARE is to have a crowd of people who are completely spiritually dependent upon "hired" ministers. Our greatest JOY is to train & equip the saints to be completely confident in their own ability to do the work of ministry!
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