The challenges of 'every member ministry'

The other day I outlined the 14 blessings that Mark Dever talked about at a conference last year. Today we outline the 7 challenges, dangers or cautions of every member ministry' that Mark Dever put before us.

1. It is difficult to manage: there is a unorganised nature to it.

2. Divisiveness

3. Reductionist: can simply reduce Christian life to ministry. New members need to attend first and then do ministry later

4. Busyness: lose all our time in church

5. Narcissism: wrong type of individualism in it

6. Be a steward of your gift/talent/desires but remember you are also called to minister in a way in which the local church needs it.

7. Rebelliousness: authority needs not to be oppressive

I think No 5 & 6 are interesting.

No 5 because there is a sentiment and feeling out there that 'everything is important'. Every announcement or piece of information is THE one to listen to and we then have lost perspective on the big picture. And everything is important then it communicates the nothing is important, everything just flat lines as being REALLY important and nothing stands out. The other consequence is that we are busy doing the wrong things that actually don't produce any Christian fruit (by which I mean Christian growth or new conversions). Churches are already busy and complex beasts to manage at times which can sap people from spending time in relationships with other people with the result being, 'I'm too busy to spend time with non-Christians (or in other valuable relationships) because I have too much church stuff to do'. When we have achieved this attitude then I think we have failed.

No 6 was particularly challenging for me. I am a big believer in people using their specific gifts in service of the saints. The question that remains is, for example;

'What if there is no one who desires/gifted/talented to read the Bible at church, should we not do it?'

Or should someone 'have a go' because the church needs it to happen? This relates across all our ministries that we do - how far do we keep stretching people who are not gifted to fulfill particular ministry roles but do it because it is an area of need? Dever's thoughts were definitely challenging for me.