Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Thomas Blackaby on pastors and churches...
"Instead of leading their people to find the heart and mind of God for their own congregations, some pastors seek to copy other “more successful” congregations that have blown past the norm, set new standards, and developed innovative approaches for reaching their communities. These churches have successfully marketed their strategies, and multiple thousands of other churches around the world have bought into their techniques and methodologies. We love to buy other people’s techniques because it means we don’t actually have to come up with our own. We don’t have to do the hard work of going before the Lord on bended knee or going without to fast and pray to seek the heart and mind of our Master. We can open a book or watch a DVD and, poof! There it is already prepared for us!"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
I don't know that this is just for pastors and churches. It definitely fits for that category, but I think at this point in the world it is a quote for anyone that breathes...
Holy crap. Never heard of this guy before, and two times in one day is he in front of me. I like what he says. It's just weird.
Nate--His dad is Henry Blackaby, who wrote the "Experiencing God" stuff. I've only recently heard of him myself...I just kind of stumbled onto him.
This really spoke to me, because I've just been through one of those "buying other people's techniques" fiascos at my church where our former (thank God) pastor was putting together bits and pieces of other people's programs, in the guise of "hearing from God" the direction our church should be taking with some whacked-out visitation program...I'll just stop there before I get too colorful in my description. ;-)
Jules--I completely agree. I think this excerpt is from something that he wrote specifically for pastors to caution them. I lifted it from somewhere else, so I haven't read the quote in context. I'd like to, though.
I will NEVER be able to say "church" and "marketing strategy" in the same breath without wanting to vomit. Period.
Post a Comment