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Pastors who would revitalize plateaued or dying churches are like the frontiersmen of old. They blaze trails others follow to new adventures and wonderful discoveries. For the plateaued church a culturally relevant outreach ministry that draws people to faith in Christ is that new adventure. The wonderful discovery is that Jesus will work through any church that joins his mission.
However, the pioneering life out on the frontier can be disorienting. Revitalization pastors don’t travel familiar roads. They cut new paths to places the church has never seen. Unfamiliar landmarks, unexplored territory and personal discomfort threaten to divert attention from the destination. We can get lost in the revitalization process.
Turnaround pastors often feel like the famous American frontiersman, Daniel Boone. When asked if he’d ever lost his way during his wilderness exploits, he summarized what it’s like to lead a plateaued church toward growth: “I can’t say as ever I was lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.”
The new year is upon us. Take a bit of time—a few hours for some, a day or two for others — to get your bearings. Look at the forest rather than being distracted by all the trees. Study the map, consult your compass and get back to the task at hand, doing what God called you to do as the pastor of that church.
Get your bearings
Look once again at the map to get your bearings. The daily demands of a church might have distracted or bewildered you. If so, get back on the path by organizing yourself around the definitive text on pastoral ministry in Ephesians 4:12.
He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry…
“For the equipping…” is the reason why Jesus gave pastors. “Equipping” (in the Greek, kartismos) has several fields of meaning. It is hard to say which meaning Paul intends here. Paul paints verses 13–16 in broad brushstrokes, inferring all of those meanings.
If so, the pastor is basically a trainer and a troubleshooter. Those are the two broad fields of meaning for the term “equipping.”
Troubleshooter
The dictionary defines a troubleshooter as “a skilled worker employed to locate trouble and make repairs….” The Bible pinpoints this as an essential meaning word “equipping.” Pastors must repair what’s broken and replace what’s missing.
1. Repair what is broken
The ancient physician Soranus used katartismos to describe “setting a [broken] bone.” The Bible uses it (Matthew 4:21, Mark 1:19) to describe mending broken fishing nets.
This requires knowledge of when and how to use starting knots, ending knots, half-mesh knots, double-left and -right side knots. Mends must start and end properly. Otherwise, they fail.
Plateaued churches are broken in predictable places. Each requires a different skill to repair it:
2. Replace what is missing
The term “equipping” also means “providing things that are missing.” One NT dictionary cites ancient manuscripts that mention “the things for the furnishing of the guest-chamber” and “preparation of woof and warp for a cloak…”[1]
When the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek, “equipping” was used to describe re-building the temple walls which the Babylonians destroyed (Ezekiel 4:12, 16; 5:3, 9, 11; 6:14).
Plateaued churches predictably lack several crucial components:
Trainer
This is the second broad field of meaning for “equipping.” A pastor trains believers to do ministry; he is not the hired religious functionary who does their work for them. This is evident in how the Bible uses “equipping” and related terms.
Luke 6:40 uses it for disciples who are “perfectly trained.” Unity and effective co-op ministry results from this training (1 Corinthians 1:10). As a result, believers are “prepared (or equipped) for every good work” (Hebrews 13:21 and 1 Peter 5:10).[2] The purpose of the pastor’s “equipping ministry” is “to make God’s people fully qualified for work in service.”[3]
The major formations
Scuba divers and hikers learn the art of natural navigation. This is the ability to find your way by keeping an eye on major formations, vegetation and wildlife. With experience, you learn to draw an internal map. You always know where you are and how to reach your destination.
Pastors blazing a trail for plateaued churches will always keep their bearings. They’ll always know what to do next by focusing on these two major formations in Ephesians 4:12—troubleshooting and training.
Learn to identify and fix whatever’s broken in your church. That’s what troubleshooters do. Learn to recruit and furnish believers with whatever they need to do the work of the ministry. That’s what trainers do.
Training and troubleshooting—master these skills, pastor, and you’ll be able to lead that church beyond a plateau.
Photo source: istock
 | Bud Brown is an experienced ministry leader, writer and educator. He is co-founder of Turnaround Pastors and co-author of the ground-breaking Pastor Unique: Becoming A Turnaround Leader. He brings special expertise to change leadership in the local church, mentoring pastors to become revitalization leaders, training churches how to find and recruit the best talent, and training leadership teams how to achieve their shared goals. Learn More » |
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