Amen and amen:
Most Christians have bought into the idea that the church is about a few people who are paid to make disciples. But that’s not what Jesus envisioned for his church, said one church planter.
Addressing thousands of fellow church planters and pastors at Verge: Missional Community Conference, Jeff Vanderstelt lamented how many churches are serving “almost like containers” and holding people in rather than sending them out to spread the Gospel.
“It’s almost as if we’re extracting people from the world instead of equipping them and sending them into the world,” he said Friday.
The job of pastors, teachers and apostles is to “equip the saints for works of ministry, not to do the ministry for the saints,” said Vanderstelt, a pastor at Soma Communities, a multi-expression church planting church.
Pastors Challenged to ‘Ordain’ Every Christian, Not Do Ministry for Them | Christianpost.com.
Joel Landon Watts is a Masters of Theological Studies student with a focus in Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific ideals of the past century. Currently, he is a TA for Old Testament at United Theological Seminary under Dr. Vivian Johnson, Associate Professor of Old Testament. His first book, Rhetorical Strategies of the Evangelist: Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark, is expected to be published by Wipf and Stock early next year. He is currently co-editing a book on moving from Fear to Faith (Energion, 2013).
He must have ‘bugged’ my telephone, I was saying these very words ie: “churches are holding people in rather than sending them out…….” to a friend only last week. I agree wholeheartedly with his observations.
He must have ‘bugged’ my telephone, I was saying these very words ie: “churches are holding people in rather than sending them out…….” to a friend only last week. I agree wholeheartedly with his observations.