It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist
Not long ago, during the morning commute, the radio news caught my attention as a merger—one company was buying another—was broadcast. As I listened, my mind raced around the economics of the deal and it didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I am a novice when it comes to economics, so I tried to forget about it. That didn’t work. A minute later I found myself thinking about the labor force, stock market, government regulations, capital reinvestment, world trade, taxes, and the GNP—dangerous territory for someone who is not even a beginner in the field. But the details of this particular merger seemed to defy common sense and I couldn't help but wonder why it had to be that way.
Maybe that has happened to you. For instance, you hear about attempts to make improvements in education through new teaching methods and curricula and you begin to consider what was wrong with the way they used to approach education. You may not be an educator, but you think about the circumstances nonetheless. Or it might be recent findings that children are more overweight than those a generation earlier and everyone is trying to determine why. You comment to your friend, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist; it’s the video games, fast food, and television. If those kids would eat better and play outside, they’d be fine.” You can say those kinds of things without being a doctor or having a PhD in nutrition because it’s basic knowledge and it just makes sense.
What about the church? Are there some fundamentals—some things that just make common sense—that everyone should be doing? I mean the kinds of things that the average Christian (and maybe even the average non-Christian) would suggest because they are so straight forward. These are the things that you wouldn’t have to ask a theologian or a church-growth consultant about. They are the basics.
I decided to ask some Christians, none of whom were ministers, what they would list as the five basics of church. Here is what they said (I grouped similar items on one line and listed duplicate ideas only once):
-preach Jesus’ messages; preach & teach the Word; the Bible
-make disciples; personal growth
-take care of people’s needs; love; minister to the poor; be a servant to others
-evangelism; seek and save the lost; outreach; missions
-fellowship; relationship building; friendliness
Essentially, everyone listed the same fundamentals, but they used different language to do so. My polling methods were by no means professional, but they served their purpose. It seems that the people I spoke to generally agreed as to the fundamentals of the church. Maybe you can try a similar survey.
The point is that being the Church isn’t rocket science. I want to take this month to encourage you to consider getting back to the basics of ministry. Sometimes it is easy to get overwhelmed with issues that are really not that important—sideline items that do little more than consume your time and energy. I pray that with God’s help, you will be able to focus on that which matters the most as you seek to fulfill His calling on your life.
Have a great May!
Eric Schroeter