Churchmanship
Churchmanship
The following is a paraphrase of many similar churchmanship stories I have heard over the years at Winkels and pastors conferences: St. So-and-so Lutheran Church has been in existent for x-number of years, and has seen its membership go down in recent times, and that means so have the Offerings. We’ll call the man in our story Simon (after Simon the Zealot!). Simon has been a member of St. So-and-so his entire life. He has an opinion about everything, but rarely speaks publicly until the annual Voters’ Budget meeting. His voice carries a lot of weight. The mood at the meeting is tense. Discussion has gone back and forth about how much to spend and on what to spend it. Finally, everyone looks at Simon, waiting for his input. He gives a short, but punctual plea. He thinks the congregation should vote “no”. Unlike the last 40-something meetings, however, this time the congregation votes, “YES!” Everyone including the pastor is concerned that this will cause Simon and his followers to leave the Church. But, to everyone’s amazement, Simon does something no one saw coming. He raises his hand, and says, “The voters’ have spoken. Now, let’s get to work!”
That’s churchmanship; when a person whose ideas, views, or desires get “voted down” at a meeting but is the first in line to lead the charge anyways. Churchmanship is being the ultimate team player. Churchmanship is really hard to practice especially if you think your way is the best, most faithful way. Churchmanship is what every church needs.
Over the years, I have observed essentially two philosophies of stewardship at Zion. I am going to call the one the “careful steward” and the other the “generous steward.” The names are pretty obvious. The “careful stewards” want to strategically plan for the future, using their sanctified reason and logic to ensure the congregation stays “open” for many decades to come. The “generous stewards”, while not unconcerned about the future, have a more front lines approach to the mission facing the church now. They use their cheerful, generous spirit to help those in need in the moment, trusting that God will bless their current efforts and faithfully provide in the future.
It can appear as if these are two opposing sides. As a congregation, though, we vote together. We decide. We collectively pass the budget. There is no “they” when we talk about matters within Zion’s walls. “They” is a straw-man. We are united as the Bride of Christ. We can have differing opinions and vote in different ways, but at the end of the day, we are on the same team. Our mission is unified.
My personal opinion is that the Church needs both philosophies, and for both to work together, because both have biblical principles behind them. The “careful steward” can cite the Parable of the Talents, where Jesus commends the stewards who were given two talents and five talents, having doubled their assets by investing them (see Mt 25:14-30). The “generous steward” can point to the example of the widow who gave the only two copper coins she had, whom Jesus commends for giving more than the rich did, who gave out of abundance, whereas she gave everything she had to live on (see Lk 21:1-4).
Churchmanship behooves us to listen to the cares and concerns of those who have differing opinions, and find a way to compromise. It makes swallowing a “lost vote” that much easier as well. We need to be cheerful in our giving, trusting the Lord to provide through increasingly generous hearts of the saints. We also need to be careful, wisely planning and investing for the future that only God knows. He ultimately opens and closes congregations. He also works through the means of the wisdom and generosity of His people. Let’s be generous. Let’s also be careful. Rarely in the church is something either/or. It’s usually a both/and. Wisdom requires both.
In Christ,
Pastor Hromowyk