In September, our church began a sermon series about progressive sanctification called Renovate. The pastor of our church, Steve Matson, is a strong leader and a challenging preacher. This series has been excellent so far—calling people to do the hard, Spirit-led work of real change. (.mp3 files of the sermons are available on the church website).
As part of the series, the pastor is assigning written homework. Each week the bulletin comes with a blue sheet of paper with some scripture for the service, and three or four homework questions. The paper has three holes punched in it, which are there to encourage us to put them in the blue folders the pastor makes available in the foyer after the service.
The homework has really good stuff on it. And I see people in the congregation responding to it. However, from the standpoint of my desire to equip myself and other Christians to do kingdom work, I worry that many people don’t have systems in place to keep track of a handout like this, much less for seeing the homework to completion. I think the blue 3-holed folders are there in the foyer to help people with this level of organization, but I wonder if that’s enough. Where people are putting these folders when they get home? Are any of them ending up on a pile of mail and other miscellaneous pieces of paper? Is the homework on a to-do list? If so, will that list lead to action before next Sunday?
I’d have to ask around, but my suspicion is that many people do not have systems for managing in-flow coming from church--whether it’s a verbal suggestion from the pulpit, a prompting of the Spirit in response to the Word, or more formal homework like Pastor Steve has been assigning. How many times have you heard a pastor make a wise exhortation that you plan to follow, but don’t? (“Just one time this week, try to….” “Next time you’re with your teenage son, ask him….”) I think what happens is this:
- People feel and sense the wisdom of the exhortation.
- The Spirit convicts them that it is the right thing to do.
- They agree in their hearts they’re going to act.
- The service ends, other inputs continue, the plan languishes.
These failed plans are not just unfortunate, they are dangerous: "If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin." (Duet 23:21)
Sometimes our plans fail because we don't have a true heart to act. However, often it’s because we’re just not equipped to keep track of things! That doesn’t take our hearts out of the equation, of course, but rather stands as a call for greater diligence and planning. If we fail to pursue such diligence it is very much a heart issue--in a sense we neglect our great salvation (Heb 2). Likewise, the church and its leadership fails the body if it does not “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph 4:11-12).
I am eager to think more about how to better equip myself and my brothers and sisters in
this way. What would it take to have a
church full of people who knew exactly how to handle a homework sheet offered by
their beloved Pastor—how to get the paper home, store it in a place they’d easily
find it, have a plan to complete it, work on it diligently, and have it ready to
bring to church the following Sunday? What would it mean to our Pastor to see 300 people walk in the door with
the previous week’s little blue sheet all scribbled on and ready to share with
others?! Talk about encouraging!
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