Someone today asked me a question.

One of the mantras that I love to use when taking pot shots at church leadership, is that God’s heartbeat is for PEOPLE. In other words, when people are asked to serve in ANY capacity in ministry – even if it is dedicated towards the noblest of causes – when it burns people out, it is a BAD thing. And so one of my primary beef is always that when church leadership is asking people to serve, the primary motivation for ever approaching someone is to plug a gap. Of course, being in the God business long enough teaches you to throw in some sweeteners.

“Serving God helps you grow, it challenges you to use the talents that God has given you.”

“You’re not responding to me, nor serving me. You’re responding to God, and serving Him.” (Implicitly suggesting that if you reject the appeal to plug that gap, you’re actually committing the heinous sin of having betrayed God in an act of abject disobedience.)

“I strongly believe that if you take the step of faith to give to God, you will see how He rewards your obedience and sacrifice.”

Now, all statements such as these are not wrong. And when a pastor or a lay leader of the ministry uses it on you, there will be a certain degree of truth to it. The problem is – I truly believe that at the CORE of their beings, the instinctive preoccupation in their minds when challenging others to serve – their primary concern is still with plugging gaps.

Don’t believe me? List out now the top 5 things we look out for when we’re asking people to serve in any ministry. Some of the criterias will include a disciplined spiritual life, having the right gifts to serve in the ministry (e.g., worship, teaching… etc), leadership qualities, personal character and integrity… etc.

How often does the issue of “how will that person be able to grow in the ministry” come up? I’ll bet that it hardly ever does. Sure, we assume the same statements as those above, that God rewards the obedient and the faithful. But we don’t really apply any due diligence towards ensuring the well-being of our sheep. We simply are happy enough when someone says yes to helping plug the gaps, presumptuously throwing the full burden of the person’s growth in the hands of God.

Of course, the other Great Tendency is to “manage” the sheep as if the church were a corporation. People are “deployed”, and treated as abstract entities where their issues are discussed and resolved. The administrative approach to ministry is one of the greatest get-out-of-jail free card that the church has even invented for itself.

And so we sit back and scratch our heads 18 months down the road when people leave the ministry burnt out and bitter, wondering what went wrong. And even then, what we tend to see are the ruins of the sparkling dreams we had for our ministry, instead of the trail of shattered lives we leave behind.

And my point is that I believe it is this cavalier attitude we have towards people that ranks amongst the top of God’s list for what breaks His heart. God’s heart is for people, and He made it so abundantly clear throughout scripture.

He says when we serve the least of them, we serve Him. The greatest commandment is to love God, and love our neighbor. It is better for us to tie a millstone round our necks and throw ourselves into the sea, than to cause someone to stumble (if we ever practiced this, the church would have no leadership left. Everyone would be out at sea).

God’s Heart Is for People.

Period.

So getting back to the question I was asked today. Someone asked me “So if I really am not a people person, then how?” In other words, if by nature you are not a person who is quick to show compassion and love for people, where does that leave you?

My take? I think it’s a no-brainer question. God also calls us to be holy. Who goes around asking “So if I really am not a holy person, then how?” Of course the answer is that you need to change, and develop what is lacking. I’m not making this about the person who asked this question, but I know many who hide behind the excuse that “I’m not like that”, and think they can get away with abusing that which God holds most dear.

Whether it be the authoritarian who is always very quick to tear down more than to build up, to the nonchalant leader who is a parable of the missing dad (doesn’t see the sheep as being worth their time, and so feeds them only the spare scraps of time dished out), people hide behind the excuse “I’m not like that” and think they are therefore exonerated from blame for failing to treat people as people.

It also means that you cannot hide behind the excuse that by nature you prefer be alone, and that you're not good with people.

To those out there who ask such questions – if you’re not a people person, you have no other option than to force yourself to be one, making each day a learnig exercise until you master the art of being one whose heart beats with God’s.

In other words, fake it till you make it.

Seeing Rather Dimly

WOW.

Its been so long since I’ve been back. Yet, with all that’s been going on around me, I’ve felt compelled to once again return to this haven and pen my thoughts, in the hope that it might help me to better sort out the conflicting thoughts that have been circling in my mind.

Ever since the IDMC conference, I’ve once again felt something in my heart that I feared had died a long time ago – a burden for the church. Sure, I still serve in ministry, and do my fair bit like most in church… but its been so long since I would feel a pain that eats at me when I see how much the church is under-achieving, and the way with which it seems doomed to perpetually live in the shadow of its history, never learning from the mistakes of the past.

Yes – the church in so many ways, reminds me of myself.

Maybe it’s a mixture of the IDMC conference and the “power” of Edmund Chan, as well as the fact that I seem to once more be taking more pro-active steps to finally get my life back in order (for the 6261365213623765th time, it needs to be pointed out), but looking at the condition of my church today, what had become just a numbed acceptance of the situation has slowly been replaced once again by a deep sorrow and inner lament.

Each altar that we’ve built as a congregation to remind us of the milestones that God had led us through, now serves as a reminder of the mockery we’ve made of His grace and providence. Like the Israelites that wandered in the desert for 40 years, never seeming to come to grips with the mighty God who showed such patience with them, they lived in the shadows of their mistakes until they all passed away in the wilderness.

I wonder – is that also going to be our fate, doomed to never reach the promised land? Maybe our job is really to let the next generation find us faithful, leaving behind a legacy for them that outlives every one of us who started out on this journey. Or perhaps that’s just my faithlessness once again rearing its ugly head.

I look at my Life Group, made up of really nice people, whose relationship with each other resembles a classroom of friends more than that of a community that’s focused on impacting lives for Christ. I look at the whole church that seems more intent on infrastructures and what Edmund Chan calls “superstructures” (outward appearances of accomplishments), than on building the inner lives of its members. I look at my own powerless and lifeless existence, and ask myself who do I think I am, that I should be even saying such things. Yet there is such an overwhelming emotion welling up inside of me, that all of this is WRONG.

Everyone tells me that the grass inevitably looks greener on the other side, and that as long as we dig deep into the “success stories” of other churches, we’ll always find the same banal humanity that lives in our church. “Its really not that different, you’ll see”, they tell me. And I understand what they’re saying. As long as the church is made up of creatures who live a life of “total depravity”, things will never be perfect in a church. But to hide behind the excuse of the imperfection of man, and to therefore cease the fighting the good fight, that’s not a solution either. Why should we be afraid of examining the shortfalls of our church, and learn from the principles of other churches who are strong in those areas?

Part of the confusion stems from the fact that the “sheep” can’t seem to be able to make up their minds about the state and condition of their spiritual lives, and the condition of the church. Its as if a veil has been placed over their eyes, that they see rather dimly. We seem unable to differentiate between what is really apathy towards the condition that is plaguing our church, and showing grace towards the limitations of the church. So when we should speak up in order to change things for the better, we withhold whatever sounds like criticism, and allow the status quo to continue.

So we deceive ourselves into a comfortable rhythm of a life that requires no sacrifice nor commitment from our church, in exchange for the promise that they in turn will demand nothing from us. Even those in leadership positions are not spared. We cannot distinguish between empathy for the pastors, and what genuine support for them should look like, and the general apathy that keeps us from genuine change. Instead of sacrificing our own time and effort on lasting change, we also do what we accuse our pastors of doing – we fight fires. We spend our time fighting the fires in ministry, instead of sitting down with our pastors and working through with them the causes of these fires.

Maybe its because that hat would take too much effort, and we feel we lack the wisdom to start. Maybe its because we're too hurt to care for our pastors, or to even care. Maybe its because we feel its a hopeless fight, and we should either move to another church like so many have done, or just stay and "do the best we can" with the present system.

I’m praying that this would change. I ask myself if I should do anything, since I seem to be the one who sees the problem. But I come up against the same excuse as all those who have walked this path before me – I don’t think anyone would listen, and I really have no idea where to start and what to do.

Lord, give me wisdom and help me to see how I can start. Show me how to pray for the church, and what I can start doing.