Everything Old is New Again

The church where Sharon and I attend has recently had to make the difficult decision to cut back on the hours for some of the paid ministry staff. It is hard for those who have most benefited from the ministry of these staff people to not feel as though they are being discounted as a significant part of the Body of Christ.

What these people are about to learn, if they are willing, is that disciple-making is not really the work of paid staff. It is the work of the Body of Christ. Our 21st century, North American idea that we need to hire experts to do the work of ministry for us is a quite recent and, from a global perspective, quite small geographic and demographic phenomenon. In other words, for most believers in most places at most times in history, and today, the biblical model still holds. The leadership of churches, paid and unpaid, are there to equip the saints to do the work of ministry until we all come to maturity. (Ephesians 4)

Certainly the apostle Paul, himself, said that a laborer is worthy of his hire and that he and other leaders in the early church could and should be remunerated for their work. (1 Corinthians 9) But he also freely gave up that right and he encouraged others to do so and he was clear that the most impacting, long-term ministry would be done by what we have come to call the "lay" people in a church. When the early church leaders established churches, they didn't hire professionals. They discipled people who in turn could disciple others. When we get too far from this concept we run into problems.

Let me state my understanding of biblical teaching. Paid staff (leadership) is there to help equip the Body to do what it should be doing. Women's ministry leaders are there, primarily, to train women to minister to other women, not to minister to women in the place of other women. Youth pastors are there, primarily, to train people to work with youth, not to work with youth on behalf of (and, sadly, sometimes instead of) parents. The examples can be multiplied in the areas of worship, outreach, recovery, etc.

I freely acknowledge that much of the response to the loss of hours for the staff (and the loss of one staff person who simply cannot work part time for the church at this season in his life) is because of the connection with these staff members who have had a significant impact on the lives of people within my church. The staff is loved and appreciated. But what I hope further reflection will do for those who are hurting and who feel as though the church is "going backward" is help them to see that this new season in the life of this church really is about going backward. Back to the biblical model of ministry that is primarily done by the Body of Christ for the Body of Christ and the World.