Doing Justice and Loving Mercy: Compassion Ministries, Mentor's Guide, MG16

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D O I N G J U S T I C E A N D L O V I N G M E R C Y : C O M P A S S I O N M I N I S T R I E S

Following the Leader versus Following the Spirit

Often times, much of what is allowed in terms of ministry outreach in many churches is determined by the core of leadership whose responsibility it is to manage the affairs of the body. Elders, pastors, boards, priests, business committees, or congregational votes are among the many ways in which the task of ministry management occurs in many thousands of congregations. While this may be highly efficient and streamlined, it tends to limit the outreach of the congregation to the imagination and initiative of its leadership. What are members of a congregation to do if they feel a deep leading of the Holy Spirit to initiate or begin a new ministry outreach, and they are not able to get any members of the leadership team to either be interested in it, or willing to provide oversight to it? Should churches encourage new initiatives of ministry which are neither recognized nor sanctioned by the leadership team of the church? Explain your answer. In one urban church, the elders sought the Lord’s face once a year to determine as best as they could what God wanted them to do for the upcoming year. Although they did not want to limit the Lord on what he might suggest to them throughout the year, they believed that in order to be good stewards they ought to set the broad direction for the church on an annual basis. The members would then be informed of this general direction, and the church would set goals and strategies based on this annual vision. Members at any time could come and suggest ways of outreach or ministry based on their observation and burden, and the elders would do their best to accommodate these new directions as the Lord led. What do you think of this particular approach to ministry management? What are its strengths, and its weaknesses? How might they have improved this strategy to do what they wanted most–to have a general plan to give direction for ministry while at the same time being open to the Lord’s movement in the body as the Spirit led? The Nicene Creed provides two critical insights that underlie our understanding of serving in the world: God as creator and Jesus Christ as Lord of all. The Church of Jesus Christ responds to his lordship serving both as the locus (place) of God’s working as well as his agent (ambassador) through whom he works. Throughout Church history, the Church has responded in four classic ways to its relationship to the world: to withdraw from the world and its affairs, to transform the world A Strategy for Living Out the Gospel

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Restatement of the Lesson’s Thesis