WHAT'S YOUR CHURCH'S
BUSINESS?
One of the most frequent
comments that I hear in my travels is the Church is a business and
therefore should be run like a business. Respectfully, I suggest
to you that statement is incorrect.
No less an authority than
respected business guru Peter Drucker states, the purpose of the
Church is to CHANGE people. The purpose of business corporations
is to SATISFY them. Thus, he continues, for the Church to give
people only what they want is incorrect. We must ask, he says,
what is our business? The answer is TRANSFORMATION. It would not
surprise us to see such a statement written by a Pastor or a
Christian scholar, but it has added power when a layman of such
stature as Drucker writes it.
I believe Drucker is right. Yet,
the sad reality is that increasingly I am witnessing pastors, who
are strong enough to state such a view, come under severe
criticism from members of their congregations. Rather than listen
to the merits of one who is striving to be faithful to the call of
the Master, some church members insist that their way of
administration is the only way that can be allowed. Such a stance
greatly inhibits the role of pastoral leadership and effectively
cuts off the prophetic voice of the pastor and the church.
God's call to us is to be
transformed. We err if we aim to only be accommodating or
satisfying. Paul put it this way. "I appeal to you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a
living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be
TRANSFORMED by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what
is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom.
12:1,2)
A blessed and transforming New
Year to you all.
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