Recently I responded to a post from my friend Kyle who is leading the church plant team at the Open House. I’ve been reflecting on what I wrote regarding what I am calling the missional people challenge:

Welcome back Kyle. I hope the camping was awesome. After twelve years I find that city ministry is always changing. Change is a constant. In fact I have had seasons were I felt like I was pastoring the “incredible shrinking church.” The feeling of being in a perpetual state of church-planting, or of always “starting over,” seems to have stayed close to us. In our setting it seems that God anchors some ministry around called leaders. Over time, everything or everyone else around the leader changes–but the leader stays put, so that the ministry is anchored. One danger I have discovered in this reality for anchored leaders is the temptation to be rooted and stale. The anchored leader must be a growing leader–constantly moving into seasonal of renewal. I am learning to build those patterns of renewal into my life. But, I am also praying that God will anchor some leaders in our congregation in Vancouver for seasons of fruitful influence in our communities. Please Lord! We can’t always be rushing relationships. We do desire rooted relationships. So I am caught in praying, “Lord raise up labours for your harvest in this community.” But when they are raised up here, they
become responsive to the Spirit’s wind that may take them to other harvests. And that too is something I desire because of the Spirit’s work in my own heart. This tension between staying and going, rootedness to place and following every gentle wind of the Spirit, must be managed by one passion–the passion to be with Jesus.

There is another tension in being a missionary people by lifestyle: how do we plan for prayers to become reality without our plans becoming subtle or not-so subtle attempts at manipulating God or even manipulating people? Hybles points out that being church requires that we give consideration to three aspects of church: the community, the co-mission, and the coorporation. Now I now The Corporation is a particular scary aspect because most pastors did not respond to God’s call so that “we could run things well.” But every church has to give attention to administrative details at some point in its life: even the Church in Jerusalem did–See Acts 6. Plans and prayers go together in each of these segments of being church. I pray about the quality of our community life at Cityview. I help make plans as we aim at being a loving and loyal fellowship intent on following Jesus together and being like Him. I pray about the fruitfulness of our co-mission together. I help make plans so that we make the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ known and experienced by an increasing number of people. And in an area of growth I am praying about the administrative–corporate work of our congregation. And so I am also having to be a part of making plans to do this well. Leadership requires that I engage people for these tasks according to their giftedness and the need in our congregation. As I reflect on this people challenge I am so blessed that Cityview has a group of people made up of staff and members of the congregation called the Stategic Leadership Team. I see that God is raising up others who share the load and the vision.

So I pray, we pray, we plan and I plan. I am seeking God to set our agenda. I am planning on Him accomplishing His purposes. And I will work with all his energy in me by the grace of Christ to see it accomplished. Therein is another missional challenge: God’s work and my work.