06 Jul, 2020 Story – Miracle delivery where pastors declined

I thought I’d post a few stories from the recent Hope Project booklet delivery – as achieving a volunteer-based delivery to so many homes was a bit of a miracle.

My point in sharing each story is to raise a question about our unity and how it works – or to encourage faith.

MIRACLE COORDINATION IN ‘SILENT’ CITY

While deliveries were coordinated in most places through the city pastors’group, there were exceptions.

In one citythepastors somehow justdidn’t feel to engage with this – and we recognised that they were doing many other good things, so were not critical of this. No one had to help! But how could the delivery still be achieved?

A single lady from a conservativeand vibrantchurch contacted us and offered her help. When the need was explained, she had faith to believe it was possible and said, “I’ll make a start on that!”Then, as she took initiative, everything fell into place around her. God led her to people. She met a lady – who tookon delivery to a whole suburb on herdailywalks. Two friendscommitted to another area together.Thechurchshe attendsthen ralliedsome volunteers,as did another church theyregularly connect with.Also, quite incredibly, 3 of the first 6 people who called our Tauranga office to volunteer for the delivery came from that very city! And so, with mostchurches in that city not involved, Christians from across the city werestill united, and the homes received their booklets!

This raises an intriguing question:

Might God therefore have still seen a united Church in action in this city – even though very few churches were involved via their pastors?

What is the Church – and how does Church leadership work from God’s perspective? Consider: What were the leadership credentials of Gideon, Deborah, Jephthah, Ehud and Samson? Were they national leaders? Did they come from the establishment – or from the fringes of it? How did they become recognised and lead?

All human leadership structures in God’s Church are merely our best attempts at uniting together to do  good. None have  authority – as if they were in  charge of the Church (united) as a whole (unless you are part of the Catholic church, believing in the Papacy etc.).

  • This means that, while we respect those in recognised positions, what we do for Christ isn’t limited to what those people see or endorse. (If that were the case your ministry in your work place or among families in a community might be invalidated because pastors’ don’t have capacity to understand it’s purpose or dynamics).
  • The roles of the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist etc… weren’t about authority – but about empowering the saints for the work of the ministry.  In God’s scheme of things it’s about servant leadership.
  • I therefore suggest that  – from God’s perspective, the above city was united this effort, even though most of the pastors’ chose to remain unconnected to it.
    • God’s Church is ultimately Spirit-led. Different people are raised up for different things.
    • Those pastors are doing many good things.
    • Those who networked believers across the city to pray along every street while delivering the booklets to all possible homes (excluding ‘no circulars’ etc.) also did a good thing.
  • For this reason, I feel fine with the fact that the pastors’ didn’t engage with this effort – even though the pastors’ groups of most cities and towns nationally did. No one needs judging here. Our team isn’t in charge – and God’s Church, under the guidance of His Spirit, is awesome!

 

Application

What lenses do you wear when looking at the Church? It’s an important reflection.

 

Also – God uses normal people to achieve supernatural things.  What could you yet do for God in  your community?

 

 

 

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For other articles by Dave on the same topic of – CHURCH UNITY

2024 – The LID of our unity is in what we can SEE

2024 – To further unity there is a needed context

2024 – SLT Leadership statement – Nest areas we intend to innovate within

2024 – Attitudes that sustain unity

2024 – How is the strength of unity to be measured?

2024 – Application from the Bible Society’s new data

2023 – A unity reflection: What if we were more strategic in our PRAYER

2023 – Roy Crowne – A voice for unity – Unity finding its voice in the CITY

2023 – Fresh vision for local Church unity

2023 – Invercargill’s Community Service Day – a unity story

2023 – Family relationships – an under-utilised gateway

2023 – The election is over – so WHAT NOW? (A specific strategic proposal)

2023 – For a united Church – there are leaders we cannot see

2023 – “Mistaken” – An offensive comical parable? Why?

2023 – “Mistaken” – A comical parable about unity

2023 – Four characteristics of leaders who take city-wide unity from talk to action

2023 – The quiet before the storm (Perspectives that shape how we lead)

2023 – STORY: How Gisborne churches united to serve their flood-affected region

2023 – STORY: NZ churches can shine when it counts (Napier flood report)

2023 – To think differently in times of crisis – like during the floods (How to ‘let our light shine’)

2022 – One Church? FIVE factors that enable pastors’ groups to turn theory into practice

2022 – A SWOT Analysis of the NZ Church in relation to its outreach

2022 – Four national goals that can be easy ‘wins’ together

2022 – A vocabulary we can agree on (This one is a particularly important FOUNDATION if coherent national discussions on unity are to one day take place)

2022 – Principles for managing necessary agenda in pastors’ groups

2022 – Introducing ‘HeLP Project’ (for pastors’ groups) – the what and the why

2022 – Key pulpit themes in view of the global reset (Finding direction in changing times)

2020 – It’s time to take responsibility to educate our own children and youth again (On united direction and strategy – for city change)

2020 – Kingdom minded  – It’s more radical than many think

2020 – STORY – The Auckland delivery

2020 – STORY – Miracle delivery where pastors declined (raises an intriguing question about boundaries)

2020 – A need for new media platforms – not more voices (How do we address the increasingly left-leaning and also anti-faith bias of public media?)

2020 – A vision for national Church unity (What might REALISTICALLY be within our reach to achiEve – if we merely thought differently?)

2019 – ‘In One Spirit’ – The purpose of the book (Written at the time of the book launch and press release)

2019 ‘In One Spirit’ – full book FREE online

2019 – United we stand (A blog just prior to the release of the above book, ‘In One Spirit’)

2017 – Pastors’ groups – a home visitation idea (best suiting smaller towns)

2017 – The call to influence culture (It’s about the way we think)

 

Dave-director-smll
DAVE MANN. Dave is a creative communicator with a vision to see an understanding of the Christian faith continuing, and also being valued, in the public square in Aotearoa-New Zealand. He has innovated numerous conversational resources for churches, and recently coordinated a 5th nationwide multimedia Easter project purposed to help open conversation between church and non-church people about Christianity take place, including regarding the specifically Christian origins of many of our nation’s most treasured values. Dave is the author of various books and booklets including “Because we care”, “That Leaders might last”, “The Elephant in the Room”, and available for free on this site: “The What and How of Youth and Young Adult ministry”. Married  to Heather, they have four young boys and reside in Tauranga, New Zealand.  
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