When the Lord called us to go and plant a church in NYC, we knew it was ultimately going to become an indigenous church. Christine and I may be the ones to give oversight for a season, but the long term success would have to come from local people embracing the responsibilities and opportunities that come with being part of a church. Gratefully, many of those we have ministered to have "stepped up," but more are needed.
Churches are not McDonald's. You do not simply buy franchising rights, a cookie-cutter business and advertising model, and open up shop. Instead, you need to work within the culture context of the church and its location to develop the right method and mindset that the Lord will use to save and reform people into a new and godly entity. The culture of NYC is dynamic and involves a lot of dependency on others. It's not that they people are lazy or incapable, but rather that they have been taught to look to others.
In NYC, the government runs everything and often businesses and landlords impose a mentality of "them and us." There is a HUGE divide between worker and employer, landlord and leasee. In short, people are not likely to take initiative or ownership of much, but rather let the "professionals" or those in charge do the work. It's really sad and destructive. So many people are being hindered from achieving all that they could because of this belittling mindset and culture. And this is especially true inside of the local Christian church.
Getting people to take ownership and initiative of the ministries inside the church is difficult, but they must. We've appointed, trained and encouraged many over the years, but the culture of "ineptness" is very strong. Bringing in outsiders only makes things worse and encourages the mindset that it takes a professional to do the work. We studied other models and read lots of books to no avail. This past summer we spent three months studying the early church of Acts 1-2 and reminding all of the Holy Spirit's power to make all "ministers and priests" (I Peter 3). Yet, five years later and only a few are sharing in the ministries of teaching, administration, janitorial, evangelist, and discipleship. The only thing we haven't tried is getting out of the way completely...until now.
After much prayer and counsel, Christine and I will begin stepping out completely from the local church in Forest Hills. This is not to say that "we quit," but rather that we endorse those inside the church to do the ministry of the church. It has already been five-weeks since making this transition and the results are positive. Small groups are forming and new people are coming into the church. We are still giving oversight to the "big picture," but we are leaving the day to day operations to the locals. Our ministry has gone from pouring into the community, to now pouring into the new leadership. In many ways this is a more difficult and demanding task than before, but it is so worth it! Again, new people are being saved and Christians are being empowered to trust the Holy Spirit even more.
Maybe sometimes we just need to get out of the way...
