The church that Warren describes at the beginning of this chapter is all too believable. Whilst I don't think it's necessarily descriptive of our church all the time, it's certainly how we have been at times. Conflicting interests, with different ideas of how things should go - and only limited resources, so you simply can't follow through with every idea that gets presented, no matter how worthy it may be.
This is a fairly short chapter, so what we'll do is go through the different drives that Warren sees in various churches.
* Tradition: "We've always done it this way." Change is a negative, and the church seeks stability.
* Personality: "What does the leader want?" The church tends to follow the agenda of a particular person rather than necessarily what God wants, and if that person leaves or dies it may come to a screeching halt.
* Finances: "How much will it cost?" Most heated debate is over the budget. Needs to be reminded that the church doesn't exist to turn a profit.
* Programs: All the church's energy is put into sustaining programs, and there is a temptation to shift from developing people to just filling positions.
* Buildings (This one isn't us, anyway!): A congregation is so anxious to have a nice building that they spend more than they can afford, and resources have to go into paying for/maintaining the building. Tail wagging the dog.
* Events: As soon as one big event is completed, work begins on the next one. Lots of activity, but not necessarily productivity. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE BEHIND OUR EVENTS?
* Seekers: "What do the unchurched want?" Needs of unbelievers are paramount. This is tricky because God's purposes include evangelism - but not to the exclusion of all else! A church should be seeker sensitive rather than seeker driven.
(If pushed to describe where Sanctuary would fall here, I'd say somewhere between program driven and event driven. However, there is some awareness of a need for an overarching purpose).
Warren then goes on to describe what he sees as the Biblical paradigm - Purpose-driven churches (not surprisingly, given that that's the title of his book!).
He says that strong churches are built on purpose. This requires two things:
1) A new perspective. Everything the church does should be looked at through the lens of the five New Testament purposes for churches, which should be in balance with each other.
2) A new process. A process is needed for fulfilling each of these purposes.
The starting point for every church should be the question "Why do we exist?" This is the foundation for your ministry.
Warren adds a paragraph that is relevant to us, and I shall reproduce it verbatim: "If you serve in an existing church that has plateaued, is declining or is simply discouraged, your most important task is to redefine your purpose. Forget everything else until you have established it in the minds of your members. Recapture a clear vision of what God wants you to do in and through your church family. Absolutely nothing will revitalize a discouraged church faster than rediscovering its purpose."
I have a good idea of the purpose for our church. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's a vague idea, and one which I am not sure represents what we're doing. So maybe we need to spend some time on that very issue - deciding does the old statement of purpose still represent us? If not, then what should change; should we realign to that old purpose, or should we construct a new one?
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