I had a very interesting chat with wise man over the weekend and a young man that showed wisdom last night.
Why do I preface this post with that?? Because I have seen that there is a great group of guys planting a church in Sydney, which might not be the best thing.
The Wise Man’s Wisdom
The wise man spoke to me about the impact of a particular reformed evangelical group of churches that have planted some great churches but in the process have ripped out of the existing churches the switched on Christians. Leaving behind struggling churches and in turn diminish the work of the kingdom.
The Young Man Who Showed Wisdom
Interestingly this young man is normally known for the stupid things he says or does but he loves the Lord. The other night I saw the true him that has and continues to impress me. It reminded me that in spite of his youthful foolishness at times he is unlike most GenY’s – he is committed to the things that he does and sacrifice his desires for what is best for others and what is true. He raised with me that some of the uni students go to particular churches because they are more attractive – they have good music, their fun and hip, etc. The thing he loves about our church is the community and commitment to the Word of God. He expressed that he would love the music at church to be better but that there are more important things.
I love Sovereign Grace Ministries the work they do is fantastic and they hold theological doctrine and ministry philosophy, which are very similar to myself. I do hold grave fears though for them and Sydney. The reason for this is that they will steal people from other churches in Sydney to build their church both in the way of establishing a core and young Christians going to a church that has it “all together”. In addition to this I am surprised that they have chosen a non- Australian to lead the church. Australians have a specific culture and I do not see it helpful to bring a culturally unaware but ministry experienced Pastor.
I would love to hear your thoughts??
There was another wise man last night who suggested that the best way to solve the problem of people leaving churches to plant new churches is to convert more people.
ReplyDeleteI'm more and more convinced that I may have been wrong in the past - and it should be a case of the "more the merrier" - sure, some new churches take people from old churches - the old church must then move on. Reassess. And try to convert new people. Transfer growth is not kingdom growth.