Building a church is easy. The hard work begins after the church has grown, when you’re faced with people who tend to become complacent. (MacArthur, The Master Plan for the Church, p.19)
The first sentence is a typical MacArthurian overstatement, but the second sentence caught my attention. This is not a pastoral rant against complacent people, because (as I noted here) pastors are as prone to complacency as anyone else. In our church right now we have quite a few people who need to get off the sideline and into the game – yet I see clear areas in my life where I need to get off the sideline and into the game. Pastor MacArthur is right that complacency, both in the pulpit and the pew, creates a major challenge in a maturing church.
What is the solution? Surely there are scores of answers to that question, but a recent study of Luke 17:5-6 has my mind spinning on the role of faith. True faith involves knowledge + assent + trust. I’m afraid that in my own heart I often change the equation to knowledge + assent + the motions. I really believe, in a theoretical sense, that God could work and do great things to glorify Himself by making disciples. I keep doing the right things. But am I doing the right things by faith, or are they just religious motions?
How do I add trust to my knowledge and assent and motions? First, dependent prayer, as exemplified in Mark 9:23-24 and exhorted in Mark 9:29. No matter how much knowledge and assent I have, my faith is weak if it does not turn to dependent prayer. Second, courageous action, as prayed for in Ephesians 6:19-20 and exemplified in Hebrews 11:8, 27. Again, I may be a “perfect 10″ in knowledge and assent, but if that does not lead to courageous action in light of the unseen realities (II Cor. 5:7-8) the faith is weak.
As a pastor, and as a church, we need to move beyond “Yes, God could do something.” No matter how much we believe that, knoweldge and assent alone are not sufficient. We must act upon it by actually praying for God to do something and then stepping out in dependent courageous action.
