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Equip
for
Ministry
January/Feburary 1998
Volume 4, Number 1
A Vision
for Equipping
How far do you see?
by
T.M.
Moore
During a course on the Church and its ministry not long ago, several
students began to express their frustration with what they perceived to be
a lack of productivity on the part of pastors in ministry.
Their experience, readings, and study had led them to see that the
Church was becoming increasingly marginal in society.
Discipleship had become just one option among many for church
members, Christian orthodoxy was being subjected to all manner of modern
and postmodern “refinements,” and a distinctively Christian culture
had not yet begun to appear.
The students were expressing the feeling that this situation was in
no small part the fault of pastors who simply did not motivate, equip, and
send their people for vital Christian living.
The Importance of Vision
One student asked me whether I thought that most pastors were
working up to the level of their ability.
“Is this just the best they can do?” he wanted to know.
I paused for a moment and then replied, “No, I think pastors on
the whole are much more capable than they are sometimes given credit for
being. I
don’t think it’s a matter of whether they are working up to the level
of their ability.
Rather I think that most pastors are simply working up to the level
of their vision, and, for many of them, their vision just doesn’t go far
enough.”
We have been hearing much about vision lately from many sectors of
our society.
Not that long ago in the political arena there was talk about a
vision of a “new world order.
Businesses have been reworking their corporate vision statements to
enable them to capitalize on the opportunities of a growing worldwide
market and an environment becoming more and more adjusted to rapid
technological advance.
Educators, it seems, are forever debating which vision for the
schools ought to guide us into the future.
And Steven Covey—among many others—has encouraged millions of
readers to refine their own personal visions.
But what about the Church?
What vision motivates and guides the Church as it prepares for the
future and pursues its mission in the present?
More specifically, what vision guides the pastors of those churches
as they lead their officers and members in the worship, work and life of
Christ.
Leighton Ford has written of the powerful potential of vision.
Specifically, he described the vision of our Lord Jesus Christ by
which He led and equipped His disciples to carry on and advance the work
He began.
Ford writes, Jesus “was able to create, articulate and
communicate a compelling vision; to change what people talk about and
dream of; to make His followers transcend self-interest; to enable us to
see ourselves and our world in a new way; to provide prophetic insight
into the very heart of things; and to bring about the highest order of
change.”1
If Christ cultivated and sustained such vision for His own
ministry, ought not those shepherds to whom He has entrusted the care of
His flocks do the same?
What vision motivates and guides the pastors of our churches as
they lead the people under their care in fulfilling the vision assigned to
them? I believe that, unless that vision includes a large measure of
equipping for ministry, the church will never get beyond the status quo of
increasing marginality in a postmodern world, outward appearances to the
contrary notwithstanding.
Vision Options
What “vision options” guide today’s pastors as they pursue
the work of building Christ’s Church?
Let me suggest a few.
There is first the vision of the pastor as prophet/preacher.
In this scenario the pastor understands his primary responsibility
to be the proclamation of the Word of God on Sunday mornings.
This priority ranks so high above all others that often such
pastors will spend as much as one-third or more of their time each week in
sermon preparation.
All their reading and other study is intended to feed their
preaching.
Meetings with staff or officers are kept to a minimum, and
prophet/preachers only reluctantly accept any additional responsibilities
as follow-up to those times.
Other ministry time is given to such counseling and visitation as
is required, but there is little preparation or follow-up, so as not to
distract from the study of God’s Word.
These men tend to be faithful, even powerful expositors, and their
churches will often have two (or more) morning services to accommodate the
growing congregation.
A second option is what we might call the pastor as
community-builder.
In this scenario preaching is important, but primarily as a means
of drawing people into the church. Sermons tend to be non-technical,
winsome, conversational, and non-confrontational.
The pastor spends a lot of his time visiting with people,
especially visitors and those considering membership.
His time with church officers and other leaders tends to be mainly
motivational and encouraging.
He sees himself as presiding over a growing community of friends
and neighbors, and he invests a great deal of his energy into making
certain that the ambiance on Sunday morning, including his preaching, is
such as will make people feel welcome, loved, at-home.
A third vision option is what I call the pastor as handyman.
He can do everything, and he does.
He is involved with every committee of the church.
He attends every meeting, offers to do whatever is needed, is
available for any and every call or emergency, even opens and closes the
church when the congregations gathers.
He sees himself as the primary focus of the work of ministry and
considers that he must be ready and willing to do whatever the
congregation requires.
His preaching is adequate, but not great, but the congregation is
willing to overlook that since they know that he works so hard in so many
other areas.
A fourth vision option is that of the pastor an entrepreneur.
This pastor sees his responsibility as that of challenging people
to take on some exciting work, giving them the initial vision and
encouragement for it, helping them to get started, and then checking in
from time to time to see if they are doing all right.
Such pastors thrive in an environment of new and successful
programs.
They love to see all kinds of outside ministries become attached to
their church, and they especially thrill when a “home-grown” ministry
takes off and becomes a model for other churches to follow.
Their preaching tends to focus on needs and opportunities where
members of the church might “plug in” to make a difference.
Most of their time spent with people involved in ministry is in
trying to help them work through obstacles or challenges or encouraging
them in some vision they believe the Lord has given them.
Certainly none of these vision models exists in pure or unmixed
form. And,
while pastors need a measure of each of these visions in their own
approach to ministry, none of these, nor all of them together, fulfills
the vision for ministry that Christ demonstrated in His relationship with
His disciples.
His was a vision of equipping others for the work of ministry.
He preached and taught; He cared for the needs of others; He
evangelized; and He worked to instill a vision of a new community before
the Lord.
But most of His energies were devoted to equipping a small band of
followers, who, He believed, would then turn to equip others, who would
equip others also, until all the members of His earthly Body would be
involved in the work of ministry—caring for and serving others—and His
Church would grow in unity and maturity to the glory of God.
Christ’s Equipping Vision
What were the distinctive aspects of Christ’s equipping vision?
I can identify at least four.
First, it was centered on the Kingdom of God.
Jesus came to announce a new reality, a new power, to the world.
He declared an end to the old order of sin and rebellion and went
about to call into being a new people who would serve God gladly,
faithfully, and with great power as the Spirit of God taught, led, and
filled them.
In this context all extant protocols, beliefs, and realities were
called into question.
Old institutions were forced to justify their existence in the
light of God’s new program.
Old opinions mattered not at all if they ran contrary to the
teaching of God’s Word.
Little people could expect to take on big responsibilities and
succeed in grand style, while big people might find that their priorities
were not as important as they once considered.
In the Kingdom that Christ came to proclaim all things were being
made new, the holdings of Satan were being plundered and
re-deployed for the service of God’s glory, and a new energy for making
all the nations disciples was being unleashed upon the world.
The followers of Christ needed to be equipped to see things the way
He did, to order their priorities accordingly, and to invest themselves
heart, soul, mind, and strength in working to realize the progress of that
Kingdom in their personal lives and in the society of which they were a
part.
Do pastors today have such a commitment to the Kingdom of God at
the heart of their vision for ministry?
Do they understand the radical demands that such a vision requires
of them and of the people they are called to shepherd?
And are they working with people in their congregations to help
them realize the transforming power and presence of that Kingdom in their
everyday lives?
The starting point for an equipping vision is in a clear
understanding of the Kingdom of God and a dedication to making the
objectives and priorities of that Kingdom the objectives and priorities of
one’s own ministry as well.
Secondly, Jesus’ vision focused on people.
He concentrated on maintaining servant relationships with people,
and that at a variety of levels.
He could not possibly have had the kind of relationship with the
masses that He had, say, with the Apostle John.
But not all His relationships could have been of the “masses”
sort, either, where everyone enjoyed a nodding acquaintance with Jesus,
but no one was given an concentrated time or attention.
In particular, Jesus invested in relationships with twelve men to
whom He entrusted the care and nurture of the Church after His ascension.
Robert Coleman has correctly stated that Jesus’ means of building
the Church focused on men, men whom He could teach, show, shape, and send
to do the work that was needed in making all the nations disciples.2
A vision for equipping must include a ministry of intensive
training, modeling, and overseeing of a handful of select individuals, who
will, in turn, provide discipling leadership for the rest of the church.
Yes, pastors must at times be available to all the members of their
church, and there will be times when they cannot turn away from the needs
of any. They
must preach powerfully and teach consistently to all who will sit at their
feet. But
they must make a point of developing to deeper levels of ability those few
leaders—especially the elders of the church—on whom the bulk of
pastoral care and discipling will necessarily fall.
This will require regular time, a carefully developed training
regimen and ongoing accountability.
Thirdly, a vision for equipping will have as its larger objective
that all the members of the church should become involved in ministry at
some level.
Pastors and teachers are to equip the saints, who, in turn, will do
the work of ministry that results in the building up of the Body of Christ
(Eph. 4:11-16).
Merely spending time with elders or taking them through some study
program is not the final objective we seek.
Rather, seeing them take what they gain from the pastor and begin
to use it in discipling others, who will then express their growing
relationship with the Lord in terms of loving ministry as a way of life:
That is the larger goal an equipping pastor must own.
Lesser goals can be more easily attained:
A well preached sermon, a successful building campaign, a large new
members’ class.
But building up a congregation in which all the members are growing
as disciples of Christ and ministering His grace in the normal contexts of
their everyday lives takes a different vision, a more concentrated
approach to the work of ministry, and a commitment for the long haul.
A Kingdom Vision
To a Kingdom perspective, intensive discipling relationships, and
an overarching goal of a ministering church must be added a well planned
and carefully evaluated approach to ministry.
Equipping pastors must set goals—for themselves, the men they are
discipling, and the churches that are served by their ministries.
And they must be careful to observe any progress they are able to
achieve in those goals.
Goals should be specified in terms of personal growth, ministry
skills development, ministry activities and impact, and leadership
development and growth.
The pastor must develop these goals in conjunction with ministry
leaders and with a view to how the goals will contribute to the twin
objectives of making disciples and nurturing a healthy, growing church
(Eph. 4:11-16).
Moreover, time must be given throughout the course of a ministry to
monitor progress toward those goals.
Are people growing?
Becoming involved in ministry to the people around them?
Is the church becoming more of a ministering community?
Is the Gospel being proclaimed in the surrounding community?
Are we reaching the goals we set for our equipping activities?
In our church we spend the entire summer working to set our
ministry goals for the coming year.
Elders work with ministry team leaders to articulate objectives
designed to encourage personal and congregational growth.
We then share these goals with the congregation in September.
Then, three times during the year, the ministry team joins the
officers to review progress and examine areas of needed change.
We believe that, over time, such careful planning and
accountability is much more likely to enable us to realize our overall
church vision of a congregation growing in unity and maturity and making a
significant impact on the surrounding community.
Certainly ministers of the Gospel need to be faithful in preaching
and teaching; in working to build a community of caring, serving men and
women; in being available to meet whatever needs may arise; and in
encouraging lay men and women to take leadership roles in ministry
activities.
But unless these activities are incorporated into a larger vision
for equipping the saints, such as we have outlined above, these valuable
ministry assets may cease to exist in the church once the pastor who
embodies them has moved on.
The starting point for a ministry that sees strength, creativity,
initiative, and long-term stability built into the congregation at every
level is in a pastor who holds to an equipping vision for his own work.
May God be pleased to raise up such individuals in our day.
1 Leighton Ford, Transforming
Leadership (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 1991), p. 102
2
Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan
of Evangelism (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell
Company, 1987), p. 21ff.
Some
things to discuss
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How
would we rate our pastor’s vision for training and equipping based
on his activities?
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How
would we rate our church’s vision for those things?
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What
is the vision in our church for equipping the saints and what does it
look like being done?
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What
things are we doing to underscore the importance of equipping and the
ministry of multiplication?
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If
we were evaluating our church, how would we see ministry being done?
By pastor/staff, a few core people, or members at large?
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