An agency that does church?
Tonight, my family and I celebrated the one week anniversary of our arrival in our new town. So, far it has been quite a roller coaster ride.
I must say that I am eternally grateful for all that was done by the officers who preceded us. They have done much to turn a large ship. Any thoughts I struggle with within the remainder of this post are not meant negatively toward them. The currents I sensed were, I am sure, a source of frustration for them as well.
I had to travel to a luncheon with one of our key staff members late in the week. Having just arrived at the office on Wednesday, I guess it could be considered early in the week.
Regardless, I decided to inquire about a document I had discovered in my digging through all that was left behind. It was a strategic plan for The Salvation Army of our county. It started with a mission statement that went like this: "Our mission is to meet human need without discrimination all for the love of God."
It seemed to me that this was something I wanted to know more about since we are scheduled to have a meeting about this document this week. I started be asking why half of The Army's mission statement was left off. The conversation quickly deteriorated from there. It ended with a couple of statements that shook me up. They didn't get to me because of their novelty, but because I couldn't believe I was actually hearing them from a key member of my staff.
The first was, "If you are going to see yourself as a pastor first, then you are never going to make it here." Later in the conversation, it became clear to me that what he and others may be looking for from the Army is to be a Social Service Agency that happens to do church. Obviously, I think this is horribly backwards.
It cannot be enough to help people just because we are nice people as a result of what Christ has done for us. If we discovered the cure to cancer and vowed to only live as healthy as we could without ever letting people know of the source of our cure, we would soon be disclosed as selfish egomaniacs.
It has been a while since I have served in a big city command, so I wondered if maybe I had missed something in the way we have to present the efforts of The Army to the community in light of funding. However, after much prayer and time in the Word, it has never been more clear to me that "God-given gifts are for the building of God's Kingdom, not mine." This is a wonderful truth learned from a friend of mine who was Promoted to Glory this weekend. Thank you for the perspective, Reverend G. Rod Taylor.
Having said all of this, after more time with this staff member, it seems to me that he loves the Lord. He may just be seeing things through a glass darkly. Please pray for him, and me, as God reveals to us both what He is up to here.
posted by Jim @ 10:05 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I tend to come a little from your staff member's viewpoint - that it's as a social welfare agency that God often works through the SA to bring His light into people's lives. BUT... obviously... unless we're living in His will, all the social work in the world won't help bring people to Him.
Hmmm... I guess what I'm trying to say is, maybe your staff member is looking at the same truth you're looking at, but from a different angle - so that he sounds more opposed to your viewpoint than is actually the case. I guess talking to each other with humility and honesty is going to be the only way you work this out?
Evangeline, thanks so much for your perspective. That is actually, exactly what I said to him by the end of the day. His difficulty seems to be with religion without integrity rather than with Christ. However, aren't the programs we do supposed to be tools that enable us to reach a place with folks where we can ultimately introduce them to the Savior? Isn't there a difference between being Christian (kind and compassionate) in what we do and seeking to make disciples? Wouldn't "living in His will," include making it our mission to preach the good news?
Hmmmm... take note, I don't claim to have all the answers :-)
I guess the best way I can answer your question, Jim, is to say... go read through the gospels (yet again, yeah?) to find out what Jesus did, and how he did it. I know he preached. I know he healed people and fed people. Ummmm... I think you and I would probably read the same gospel and come out with different insights, so I'm not trying to tell you anything specific. (lol)
If the above makes NO sense, my apologies. Occasionally my brain short-circuits and confuses multitudes :-)
PS. I have no beef with preaching. I suspect it's more useful when a person has an insight into what someone needs to hear?
Oh - yet another stray thought.
I'm not a huge fan of the social work we do today. It seems we've diluted what we do in order to get funding/approval/help from govt, etc. But I don't like to criticise without offering a solution, and in this case, I dunno.
And I think that is the key. I don't want to get caught up in the busyness of our programs without keeping an ear to the pavement for what God would have me say and when. It must be at His leading, or it will just be noise. Christ helped many. Some he led into a conversation about their soul and others he didn't. This is interesting to me.
Hi Jim , I've been off into other worlds for a short time and haven't caught up with blogs lately, let alone read some of my old entries .... so I just found your comment to me....
I think there's some type of alarm system that tells you if a new comment was added to your blog..... but I don't know how to set that up .......
.....never-the-less,...........
Here's a few thoughts and quotes that might help your processing...
I tend to agree with concept that Evangeline listed on your blog comments.... continue to talk with that key staff member, hopefully you will find that you have much more in common than you have in differences....... the conversation level should be that of a Christian employer to a Christian employee. You do not have to justify the motivation of the Army.
"Preach the Gospel always, use words when necessary"
the Kelly version of St Francis of Assisi
Our service to others is without discrimination....Our motive for serving is without compromise..
Funders and the community that support us have the right to question WHAT we do, (including the question, if we preach to our clients); but not the right to edit, or negate WHY we do what we do...
I have to agree that the picture you will paint of your role at Akron should not be that of a "Pastor-first".
I have always worked to accept the role of being a servant to those we serve....whether in my corps congregation or client-based relationships.
We will serve everyone we can, but we will let all know that the reason we serve is because we are Christians. Our service is part of our faith in doing the types of things Jesus did when He was here.
The invitation to Worship, Bible Study Groups,and Church programs ...etc....is extended at our Area Services by way of attending one of our local corps and its ministry programs..... it is there, where the "Formal" preaching of the Gospel takes place and properly so.....
some of my concepts of an Area Services relates to our purposes and mission as an Area Service:
1. We are to relieve the city corps officers of the case management burden of client-based social work and social service delivery system. This is done in order to free them to focus more on ministry and evangelism..... including follow-up to those who come through our doors for assistance....
CO's may refer all they want to our services , we provide the casework etc.... for them, with notice to the corps of what was done etc.....
2. We also should do the bookeeping and accounting. Allowing the corps officer(s) to focus on how to best set up their budget and use what resources they have for the Kingdom building activities they conduct in the corps.... Telling us in the budget process , how and why they want to use the funds/resources they have their corps operations.... They retain control over how their money is spent day to day, week to month in regards to all corps operations ....etc..... we simply provide them the picture of where they are financially and budget wise,,,,
You have also wisely reflected the fact that you must respect the past... all the hard work and the frame of mind that your predecessors had....or you are doomed to repeat the mistakes and mis-steps in order to learn all over for yourself.....
Henri Matisse said , "As for myself, I have never avoided the influence of others , believing it to be an act of cowardice of the soul"
You have a wise and experienced DC, who has fought this same battle with the toughest of critics in the city of New York..... he will have some excellent directions for you .
Finally, (this is more than I wanted to write …but you may be able to find a simple concept or sentence that will help you along …..)
Remember this ………. Mary didn’t follow Jesus because of His preaching, she followed because he cast demons out of her, Philip brought Peter to Jesus and Peter followed because of what Jesus DID and said to him ….. Judas hung himself after betraying the Christ, not so much because he was convicted of sin, but because Jesus LOVED him so much ……
More later perhaps…. Its getting too late for me to keep going ….
Wow. Thank you so much for taking the time to offer these thoughts! I really mean that. Time is one of our most valuable resources in today's culture and you have given me a great deal, for which I am grateful.
I wonder if part of my struggle has to do with the dual role of Corps Officer/Area Coordinator. I recognize the need for the Area Coordinator to be doing all he can to facilitate the administration of the systems in order to free up the Corps Officers to do the ministry. I guess my challenge is recognizing my settings without denying my call. If that makes any sense.
how can we move from the dualism that it is either social service or it is ministry? Can all we do be integrated in a living out of the gospel? Not an easy task, especially when we must keep in mind the source of the resources we use to support a corps ministry.
As someone with a passion for church conflict transformation I am watching this fascinated! I hope you are blessed in finding transformative pathways! :o)
Warmest blessings from Penzance,
Eleanor Burne-Jones
Hey Jim,
Where did you disappear to ????
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