Government and Ministry

All of the discussion about the recent health care bill reminds me that Christian ministry and government often operate the same way: leaders plan things to fix problems.

For both entities, this top-down system works to varying degrees. Sometimes people are actually helped through the resulting programs, and sometimes expanding, bureaucratic operations exacerbate the very problems they aim to fix. Here are a few examples of how church ministry follows this pattern:

Problem: People feel unnoticed because their church congregation is so large.
Solution: We will put greeters at the door to say hello to people when they enter the building.
Resulting Problem: The responsibility to show kindness shifts from all believers to a designated person with an assigned task.

Problem: Many Christians feel lonely or depressed.
Solution: We will offer professional counseling services through our staff.
Resulting Problem: The Christian’s responsibility to help bear the burdens of his brothers and sisters moves to a professional with an assigned task.

Problem: Children are not being nurtured in the gospel by their parents and families.
Solution: We will build a solid children’s ministry where kids receive the nurturing care and instruction in the faith that they do not receive at home.
Resulting problem: Family life is further segmented by adding to the schedule another night away from home. Christian parents have the opportunity to easily pass their responsibility of modeling Christ-like faith off to children’s ministers.

Problem: Christian singles feel lonely and misplaced.
Solution: We will start a singles ministry with a singles pastor who can take concern for their spiritual well-being and plan activities for them.
Resulting Problem: Singles are further misplaced and turned into their own group because the believing community is not encouraged to show love by inviting them into their own families. 

Problem: There are poor people in our community.
Solution: We will start a benevolence ministry.
Resulting Problem: Many people donate to the ministry and feel justified, but the responsibility of actually helping and being with needy people shifts to a few volunteers or staff. Furthermore, recipients of this ministry will most likely feel that they have been given sympathy, not love.  

In all these ways, people in Christian ministry, just like people in government, plan things to fix problems. As the “answers” are being carried out, we centralize character qualities that all Christians should embody, and we formalize responsibilities that all Christians should share. The end result is a church of Christians (or a nation of citizens) who are convinced that something better is needed but don’t seem capable of living their own lives according to the principles that would bring that change about.

In the end, people do not look to a plan or program for help, encouragement, and love; they look to other people. It is the duty of the whole church, therefore, to ensure that before there are programs, there are people in whom Christ and his truth dwell richly. The work starts small, as a saint lays down his life for one son or daughter of God at a time. And the foundation of this work must be Christ-like love, not a desire to fix problems.