A Review of The Present Future

Cover Photo of The Present Future: 
Six Tough Questions for the Church, from Amazon.com

Reggie McNeal’s book, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church, addresses the need for the church to move from program driven buildings and bureaucracy back to missional service and disciple making.

In this book, McNeal looks at how the church has been inwardly focused and more like a “club” with a “club mentality”, seeking its own good and interests above the mission of reaching the unsaved and those who are “outside the club.” The local church has become something that is antiquated and far removed from its life giving vitality of mission and service toward dead ritualistic programs and facilities.

It has been said that the church is the only organization that exists for its non-members. McNeal asserts, in so many words, that this is no longer the case concerning the church in North America. We, the church, have become more inwardly focused and have done less and less for those who we should be reaching out to in selfless service, evangelism and discipleship. As the church, we must move away from the “country club” mindset and move back toward our mission—people.

The future of the church lies in the present. The old ways no longer work for a new generation with a differing culture and a diversity of need. Old models of ministry and church are ceasing to function and work as they once did. New methods of relationships and decentralization must be put into action. Disciples must be made and leadership must be developed and sent out.

The church is not something we go to, the church is who we are in the world. We must move from an attractional model of church buildings and programs, with the idea of “if we build it, they will come” and move toward being a people who integrate our faith into our work and into every area of our lives. We must be the church in “the present future.”

In The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church, Reggie McNeal addresses six serious topics, which include the following: The church culture, as we know it, is over; we must move from church growth models to kingdom growth thinking and initiative; a new reformation will begin once the church releases equipped people into the world for mission; spiritual formation and development must be at the heartbeat of the church; church leaders must move from planning to preparation so they will be equipped for every good work; and finally, church leaders need to be trained and equipped, not to do programing, but to do mission, and to be missional, as sent people into the world.

The Present Future is an excellent book for anyone in church and ministry leadership. This book is relevant in addressing real concerns with the current state of the church and is motivational and inspirational in addressing real issues with real solutions of mission and focus.

Bibliography

McNeal, Reggie. The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church. Jossey-Bass, 2003.

I Am A Follower, A Book Review

I Am A Follower, book cover from Amazon.com

I Am A Follower is a solid book on following Jesus in a world of "leaders".

Leadership is as much, if not more, about following than it is about "leading". We do not need more leaders we need more followers.

Sweet does a comprehensive job addressing following verses leading in this work, I Am A Follower, and refocuses our attention away from leadership and towards following Jesus, our true and ultimate leader, who models and exemplifies servant and selfless sacrificial leadership.

This is an important leadership book for all leaders who are leading in this self-promoting and self-absorbed culture of being first and "in charge". We would do well to get back to the roots of leading through following. I highly recommend I Am A Follower to anyone interested in learning more about leadership and discipleship.

Get your copy of I Am A Follower fromAmazon.com here.

Motivation for Leadership

Leadership photo from Dannysweb.com, 
February 22, 2013

"For they loved praise from men more than praise from God." -John 12:43

In our culture celebrity and fame are highly esteemed. With social media, blogging, webcams, self-publishing, YouTube, smartphones, and the like, everyone can be a star. Fifteen minutes of fame has turned into camping out on life’s stage.

William Shakespeare would be proud of what we have become. It has validated what he asserted long ago, “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages” (Brainy Quote).

When it comes to our positions in leadership and our motivations for leading, we should not be overly concerned with the praises of people. Caring too much about what other people think can hinder our mission and keep us from doing what is necessary. Worst of all, our concern to please others and do the popular thing can hinder the Gospel. We should concern ourselves with pleasing and serving God and others. Our job as Christian leaders is to make God famous, not ourselves.

Jesus addressed this in John 12:43 when He talked about how the religious leaders were thinking more about what other people thought about them, rather than thinking about pleasing God. Their motivation for leadership was wrong. The religious leaders were more concerned for receiving the praises of people and not about bringing praises and worship to God. When we seek to serve God and others, He is pleased with our leadership and He gets the glory and the spotlight.

Prayer: God help us to lead well, not as the religious leaders of Jesus' day "For they loved praise from men more than praise from God" (John 12:43). Help us to serve you in humility. Help us to not pursue the empty praises of people, which can inflate our egos, distort our motivations, and hinder our effectiveness. Would we seek you, your glory and your praises in our leadership. Help us to be motivated by your great love in service to you. Amen.

Delegating Discipleship

Discipleship Compass image from BlogSpot here

This article is adapted from “Outsourcing Discipleship and Ministry” from Preaching.com.  You can read the article in its entirety here.

Service based businesses that focus on the delegation and outsourcing of ministry related management and administration are emerging. These organizations serve the church as well as non-profits. These businesses provide outsourcing services of administrative duties so churches, non-profits and other organizations can focus on their mission, unencumbered by managerial tasks. In theory, these services provide the church more time to do ministry and to keep the main thing the main thing.

Outsourcing and the church is an interesting concept, and it can be challenging to think about and to consider all the dynamics. At first glance, this seems like a good idea, but there are many facets to this, negative implications, and complications, with outsourcing church work. Some implications could be becoming detached from the organizational structure and people and over-dependence on outside resources rather than the church body and the power of God through His Holy Spirit.

In 1 Peter 5:2-4, Peter says, "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away." Our motivation in ministry and discipleship is serving Jesus, the good shepherd, in His example as shepherds.

Paul warns us in Ephesians 4:1-3 "to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Obedience to a sometimes difficult and demanding call to make disciples can leave us tired and wanting to delegate or outsource to someone else. We must resist this temptation and walk worthy of our call by the power of the Holy Spirit, with lowliness, gentleness and longsuffering as we bear with one another in love.

Here are some questions to think about as disciplers when we are considering delegating or outsourcing:

1. Is this outsourcing ministry or discipleship for which I am responsible?
2. Does delegating this task neglect what God has specifically called me to do?
3. Is this outsourcing or delegation best for the church, for the community and for making disciples in the world?
4. Am I passing this task off to avoid a hard but necessary conversation or interaction?
5. Is outsourcing this helping me to avoid a difficult person or situation I know God has given as my ministry responsibility?
6. Am I being lazy by delegating?
7. Is outsourcing this ministry good stewardship?
8. Does outsourcing or delegating this task glorify God?
9. Is outsourcing this responsibility the best possible solution?
10. By delegating, am I abdicating what is clearly in my job description?

As disciplers, we should be intentional and prayerful about how we minister to others and make disciples. We should seek to honor God in all we do and do everything with excellence to God's glory. Let’s do this. Let’s live up to our callings and not forsake them by outsourcing them, selling them out or giving them away.

Would we make disciples of Jesus boldly and powerfully, reaching the world for Jesus, acknowledging His own promise to us in Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

This article is adapted from “Outsourcing Discipleship and Ministry” from Preaching.com.  You can read the article in its entirety here.