Core values — Skillfully Resource
By George O. Wood
Excerpts from General Superintendent George O. Wood’s book, Core Values, will be featured in The Council Today. The complete book is available from GPH.
Visit any AG church during a missions convention and you will hear story after story of how a missionary’s effectiveness on the field is directly proportionate to the resources he or she receives from the network of supporting churches at home. The ill-equipped missionary will struggle to establish a ministry. The well-equipped missionary mobilizes local believers and, over time, sees a chain of churches and Bible schools take shape. Getting the right gospel tools on-site in a timely fashion contributes to a bountiful spiritual harvest.
The same principle works domestically. In fact, I would say the success of AG World Missions is not so much about churches underwriting missions projects around the world, but rather it is dependent on how those churches are established and built up so those congregations in turn can share the investment made in them.
OUR WORSHIP MUST CONNECT US WITH GOD
The most visible point of the local church is when the church meets for worship. I see some challenges our Fellowship needs to address in this very important aspect of church life. Much of what is called “worship” does little to connect the person in the pew with the Heavenly Father.
Since worship truly is to be our heartfelt communion with our God, it must reflect the best He has created within us. I am not saying we become so regimented that we do not let the Spirit move or give opportunity for His spontaneous gifts. But there must be excellence in what we do in concerted worship regardless of the size or makeup of our church.
THE WORD MUST BE COMMUNICATED WITH LIFE
The pastor who connects with his or her congregation must offer the Word with integrity and excellence. Just grabbing stuff off the Internet or lifting someone else’s sermon from a commentary does not constitute resourcing the local church. To skillfully resource our people we must filter our studying through our life experience and what the Spirit is saying to us.
When I look at skillfully resourcing this Fellowship, the national office can do all the glitz stuff in the world to help the local church. But if that church is not skillfully resourced by its leadership, what the national offices do is irrelevant. Christian education, discipleship and evangelism primarily take place at the local level.
THE PASTOR MUST UNDERSTAND THE CONGREGATION’S NEED
Dr. Robert Frost, a leader in the charismatic renewal, once prayed this prayer over me, “Lord, help them to lay foundations that are strong enough to bear the weight You will later place on them.” That is part of skillfully resourcing the local church. We lay strong foundations. Whatever we do, we do with quality.
A church is really a lot of people with different needs. But the Holy Spirit is able to take one message and distribute it in two hundred thousand different directions. That is the beauty of relying on God and committing ourselves to diligently prepare His Word to meet the needs of the flock He has entrusted to us.
NATIONAL OFFICE DEPARTMENTS MUST REMAIN CUTTING-EDGE
If national-level resourcing is to be effective, it must rest on a foundation of local church resourcing and district resourcing. But the fact remains that the AG national office has a responsibility to this Fellowship.
We must be on the cutting edge not only of print resources but also of Internet and electronic resources. We are translating as many materials into major language groups as we can economically develop.
We’re skillfully resourcing the body of Christ through ministries like Teen Challenge, MAPS RVers, institutional and military chaplains and specialized ministries for youth, men, women and children. And no matter how carefully I delineate our Fellowship’s resourcing offices, I am sure to miss one. God has blessed us with an array of targeted resources any church would find useful.
LEADERSHIP MUST LISTEN IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY SERVE
The weeks leading up to the 2007 General Council saw a lot of Internet traffic on FutureAG.blogspot.com. I’m sure some of our older ministers looked a little askance at that, but when I looked at it, I had a positive reaction. This kind of forum is great.
Our young people want to be part of this church. They are concerned about its future direction, and they want to have a hand in shaping it. In 10 to 30 years, we older guys are going to be off the scene. The young ministers will be shaping the church in a way that textures it to where the Spirit is leading them.
Relationship building and communication are vital to the current health and future vitality of this Fellowship. Will we be able to do everything everyone suggests we do? I would like to say yes, but I’ve already realized in this short time there are many different theories afloat as to which direction the AG is going and what we should do next. But as our churches and ministers are encouraged to communicate, and as our leadership commits to maintaining a listening ear, we are going to be able to do a lot if we listen carefully and evaluate wisely.
If we’re going to know how to skillfully resource this Fellowship, we must skillfully listen first. As we listen, we must remember that two-thirds of the churches in this Movement are fewer than 100 in attendance. We need to be paying close attention as to how best to serve the small churches as well as the large churches.
ETHNIC REPRESENTATION MUST CONTINUE TO EXPAND
We must pay attention to how well we serve the 19 and growing ethnic fellowships of the AG. We know that 34 percent of our 2.8 million people in the U.S. Assemblies of God are from ethnic minorities. These groups are from around the world and represent another key aspect of our future.
How can we skillfully resource every group represented in our Fellowship? These ethnic and foreign language groups are a vital part of this Movement. We need to do whatever we can to skillfully resource them.
Then, as they bring their gifts alongside ours, the AG will move into a new day of growth and effective ministry across this nation. And, yes, as this nation’s churches are resources, we will count on many years to come of fruitful missions outreach around the world until our Lord returns.