"A Call to Restoration" (Part 2)

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. (Jude 17-23 NASB).

Yesterday I pointed out the call to restoration as a need to return our focus to people rather than programs. I hope that you have not misunderstood. It is not that programs are intrinsically bad. There are many things that we do within the ministries of the church that are helpful in bringing healing and restoration to those around us. However, when the “tools” we use become more important than the people we seek to serve, we have committed a critical error. We have moved from that which is spiritual to that which is natural. I’m not sure anyone intentionally commits this error, However, it is has been and continues to be a mighty weapon in the hands of our enemy. It causes our distraction and we fail to recognize the danger before us.

It is true that churches may grow faster by launching more programs, which naturally attract more people. Leadership certainly has more control over what happens which protects the church from bad doctrine being seeded into the fellowship. It is certainly easier. There is a great difference between the long, tedious work of cultivating relationship and the work of building a machine! And, people love programs. In fact, they will complain if you don’t have them. Programs aren’t messy. By their nature they’re organized and cleanly defined. Unfortunately people are often messy with deep problems that need to be dealt with personally.

A program oriented ministry (an oxymoron if ever I saw one) tends to foster consumerism in church members. People end up thinking the job of the church is to launch programs that “meet my needs” since the church has communicated that it is a spiritual shopping mall by its program structure. If the store I need isn’t there, the mall isn’t doing its job. It also prolongs spiritual infancy; personal discipleship becomes a casualty of this approach. While it is good at attracting people, it also tends to lose them after a few years. People get overused and burned out easily. As more programs are launched, more volunteer staff is required and more nights of the week are taken up. And, perhaps worst of all, people are often used to accomplish ministry instead of ministry being used to “accomplish” people.

So, what do we do? Jude gives us the clear call in the last verses of this short letter: Be merciful to others. He is calling for a change in perspective. That’s the call to restoration. It is indeed about people! Make that commitment today! Extend love and mercy as it has been extended to you! Do not settle for a machine. Use the tools, but keep your eye on the finished product instead of the process.