Cause and Effect

Cause and Effect — [kawz-uh nd-i-fekt] adjective — noting a relationship between actions or events such that one or more are the result of the other or others.

Kids learn about cause and effect every year in elementary school. The learning is deemed critical because understanding cause and effect helps children make wise choices. Doctors utilize the principles of cause and effect every day as they encourage patients to be involved in improving their health. If you eat healthy, you feel better. If you eat more calories than you burn, you get fat. If you get plenty of sleep, you are more likely to fight off sickness. Our bodies are impacted daily by cause and effect. And according to Ephesians 4:11-13, the body of Christ is affected deeply by a very significant cause. Let me explain. When it comes to the Church in the US, there are two prominent problems we know to be true:

1. Churches struggle to train leaders. In fact, we recently discovered that less than 25% of all church leaders have a plan to train their people for ministry.
2. As a whole, we know that the Church in America is not healthy and is declining in influence.

Are these two problems related? Does one cause the other?

In the research field, researchers are very hesitant to assert causation but much more comfortable inferring that there is a strong correlation. In other words, a researcher would more likely say that there is a significant relationship between a church not being healthy and the leaders of the church not training people for ministry. The apostle Paul states the case much stronger:

“And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.” (Ephesians 4:11-13, HCSB)

According to this text, the body of Christ is built up when church leaders train people for ministry. There is a simple and holy cause and effect found in the passage. When pastors stop merely doing ministry and start training others for ministry, the body of Christ is healthier—even measured by Christ’s fullness.

Typically, churches hire a pastor to do ministry. Biblically, pastors train people to do ministry. The Lord personally gives His church pastors - teachers to prepare His people for ministry so that the body of Christ is unified and healthy.

In the typical view, if there are more kids in the kids ministry, more people in the hospital, or more couples that need counseling, the automatic, default response is to “hire someone to do ministry.” Some church leaders enjoy the typical view. It can cause us to feel more necessary, even indispensable. The typical view can cause us to preach the “priesthood of believers” for personal connection to the Lord but forsake that sacred doctrine for ministry and service.

The typical view hampers the movement of a church in a local community because ministry is confined to a few “professionals.” God’s people are relegated to the bleachers to live vicariously through those who are “really called.” And those who serve as the professional ministers are crushed with a burden they were not called to carry. The clergification of ministry deeply hampers the growth and mission of a church, stifles the maturation of Christians, and overwhelms pastors. Everyone loses when churches operate from the typical view.

Churches and leaders that operate from the Biblical view constantly seek to hand ministry over to God’s people because they realize that all of God’s people are gifted and called, and they know God placed them in their roles to equip others to live as servants and missionaries.

In recent years, God has used a financial meltdown to help some churches stop the foolish practice of hiring the ministry away. Perhaps He is using a financial crisis to bring us back to Ephesians 4:11-13 type of ministry. In Geneva, before the Reformation, an estimated 200 clergy ministered to 5,000 people. After the Reformation, when ministry was handed back to the people, seven clergy prepared God’s people to serve those living in Geneva. The church won when ministry was given back to the people.

I am excited about a new tool LifeWay is providing that will help churches more intentionally invest in leaders. Ministry Grid will launch 11-12-13 and give you a framework for leadership development. It will help you facilitate training and discussion with your leaders.

If you are a pastor, your role is not to do all the ministry. Your role, your job is to prepare others for ministry.