Pastors Edge

There are more ministry models out there than I can count. I have personally witnessed the Purpose-Driven Model, the Cell Church Model, the Home Church Model, the Church Growth Model, the Seeker-Sensitive Model, the Natural Church Model, and the list rolls on! But, what we often fail to realize is that a particular model has a track record of success because it has been implemented in a particular environment, in a particular community with particular participants at a particular time.

Now you may be struck by the obvious nature of that statement, but there is a deeper, often overlooked truth that hides just beneath its surface: Because the success of a specific ministry model has been attained in specific circumstances, it may or may not be optimal or even effective for you. In other words, just because the Purpose-Driven Model blew Saddelback Church up like a carnival balloon doesn't mean that it will work in your community, in your environment, with your participants and at this time.

If someone tries to sell you on the theory that there is one definitve ministry model out there, kindly send them to me. I have a some wonderful, ocean-front property in Kansas I would like to sell them.

Joseph Myers, in his book Organic Order: creating a place where people naturally connect, oberves the following: "We see or experience a pattern that 'works,' and then we assume that if we repeat the pattern exactly, we can manufacture the same result." He goes on to say that this confuses the "descriptive" with the "prescriptive." He concludes, "there are many patterns that we can use to connect to God and others."

This serves as a reminder to all of us that we have not been called to a ministry model, but to the Gospel ministry. As long as you are moving people toward maturity in Christ and effectively reaching the unchurched in your community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter what ministry model you are using or if you are using any model at all. So long as we are all pursuing this one common goal, the means for getting there matters little.

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Also, here are a couple of highly recommended books from my summer reading:

Confessions of a Reformation Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church by Mark Driscoll

The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary by Mark Sanborn

Coach Wooden One-On-One by John Wooden and Jay Carty

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies