Radical
Many are the counselors for young pastors who say, "Do not make any changes in the first six months of being a pastor. Just get to know the people. Take it easy. Wait."
My advice is quite counter to the above: "As a new pastor, you will have influence that is ascribed to you. In time you will only have achieved influence. In the first few months of being a pastor in a new assignment, be radical: make every decision you can that is God-centered."
Improve facilities, change ministries, change administration, innovate new ministries, and in every way possible move the congregation into the harvest.
Jesus was radical. He walked through cornfields on a Sabbath, healed on the Sabbath, talked to women, visited homes of sinners, treated children as people, and showed love to Romans and Samaritans.
The Early Church was radical. Revival was taken to the streets and to homes. When synagogues were closed to Christians, Christians met in caves, open areas, or wherever they could gather. They invented secret symbols to communicate in public places. They sold their goods to promote evangelism. They sang in jail, defied accusers, took beatings and kept on preaching.
Every church needs good administration. Lack of administration is a great hindrance to the work of the Lord. Gifted persons are needed to system think and develop strategic plans for the church body to work toward common goals. Many failures of local church ministries are a result of poor planning and poor administration. Well-intentioned plans can have poor endings if administrators do not orchestrate the work and workers.
The caveat is that a well-developed administration can be the death of an organization. Smooth operation comes to be the objective. New ideas are rejected in the interest of keeping everything running smoothly. The greatest goal is smooth administration. Higher objectives are lost in the immediate goal of keeping all the present people working together. Thus, radical ideas are rejected.
Swiss were the world-renowned watchmakers. Along came the idea of a watch that did not need all the intricate parts of the Swiss watch. Swiss watchmakers rejected the new invention, disdaining it in comparison to their genius. Until today the Swiss are trying to catch up with the watch market.
Kodak thought new ideas about cameras and film were no match for their genius and world prestige. Fuji and other inventors took a market share that cost Kodak millions of dollars. IBM waited too long to be radical, and paid a price.
Of this I am sure; God is looking for radical people. Whether you are a teacher, brick mason, carpenter, doctor, nurse, business person, etc., God wants you to be radical.
If you accept that God is the Creator of all things, then it is an easy step to accept that God knows more about everything than we can ever know about anything. Whatever our area of work, God knows more about it than we do. He is the wisest doctor, lawyer, real estate agent, teacher, carpenter, horticulturalist, and whatever that exists in all creation.
Now imagine that you in your humble place in all creation decide to partner with God. Imagine that you go to God and say: "Heavenly Father, I approach you to ask for your favor. All that you have loaned me is yours. All that you have put into my hands I will use for your glory. I pledge to be honest in tithes and offerings. Give me radical ideas about how to be successful. Give me courage and boldness to try new things. Give me wisdom to see what is not obvious. Give me strength to succeed for your glory."
Ah, yes, the radical God, will hear you and partner with you to do radical works for his glory.
Radically for Jesus,
Pastor Bare
Matthew 10