Multiply

There is an urgent need for us to raise up gospel workers in the CRCA.   In a previous blog I clearly outlined the need that exists.  To put it simply, over the next ten years we need to raise up 40 men to pastor our churches and to plant new churches in Australia.   Currently we have 42 ministers serving our churches.   Given these statistics where will these ministers come from?   How can we effectively raise up in the next decade a number equal to the total of those serving our churches now?

These are the questions that the TRAIN Workgroup has been working on in the lead up to the next Synod (May 2021).   While there are no quick fixes we do believe that there is a clear Biblical strategy that we need to follow.   This strategy* includes six steps and it all begins with PRAYING.  This is where all Christian activity needs to begin.    When our Lord Jesus was on earth he went through all the town and villages.   Everywhere there were crowds of people.   Jesus knew that the opportunities for ministry were many, but he needed more gospel workers. He taught us:  "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.   Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."  (Matthew 9:37-38)  If we are ever to raise up the 40 pastors we need, there needs to be constant prayer for this, in the church, in small groups, by leaders individually, in our church meetings.   We should pray for specific people, for specific needs in the harvest field, and for God to lay this as a burden on many hearts. 

The next step is TEACHING.   Jesus reminds us in Matthew 28:19 that when we make disciples we need to teach them to obey everything he has taught.   There needs to be a constant focus in local church preaching and teaching on God’s global gospel plan to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28), to bring blessing to the ends of the earth (Genesis 12), and to gather a people from every tribe, nation, language and tongue (Revelation 7:9-10).   Every church leader, in their preaching and teaching, needs to cast a vision of what God is doing in our world and why it matters so much.   Our churches need a clear vision of the power of God’s Word to change lives, change communities, and change the world.

In addition to teaching, there must be TRAINING.  Our LORD God, through the apostle Paul, calls pastors and church leaders to equip the saints for ministry. (Ephesians 4:11-13)   Training needs to be a normal part of church life through which people are equipped for every task they are called to do:  Bible reading, leading in prayer, welcoming, leading a small group, sharing their faith, leading worship, etc.   Training is the engine that drives gospel ministry and needs to be central to the culture of every church.

While every member needs to receive training, there are a number of people we need to engage in MENTORING.   While we train many, we should mentor a few, as Paul did with Timothy and encouraged him to do for others:"Entrust the things you have heard to reliable people who will be qualified to teach others." (2 Timothy 2:2)   Pastors and other mature disciples ought to intentionally invest in one or two people each year, to help them grow in Christ, learn biblically and theologically, and be better equipped to serve the local church.   We ought particularly to mentor those with promise for future gospel ministry.

To raise up many gospel workers, people will need to see church leaders MODELLING positive models of ministry, even if that model involves enormous sacrifice. (See Paul's words to Timothy: 1 Timothy 4:10-17).  The apostle Paul writes to the church in Philippi:"Whatever you have learned or received or heard or seen in me- put it into practice."  (Philippians 4:9) Pastors need to model love, commitment, joy, passion, evangelism, enthusiasm.   If they model ministry as a life that makes you weary, cynical and study-bound, few others will aspire to it.   To this end pastors need to be encouraged and strengthened so that they are thriving in ministry. 

The last step is critical:  EMPOWERING.   After Jesus stresses the importance of praying for gospel workers, he then empowers his disciples and sends them out to preach and demonstrate the message of God's kingdom in this world.  (Matthew 10:7)   After the apostle Paul taught, trained, mentored, and modelled Christian ministry to young Timothy, he tells him:   "Do the work and discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5)  People will engage in ongoing ministry when they are empowered to do the work of ministry, which will include leading in their ministry roles, learning through correction, and being apprenticed by those in the church.  The cycle of raising gospel workers is not complete until people actually do the work for which they have been prayed for, taught, trained, mentored, and seen modelled in others.

Churches cannot pick and choose among these six tasks. They are all essential and they work as a package. They are not a quick fix. They need to be sustained for years. We need to do all six of them constantly so that they become a central part of the culture of each church. Then, by God’s grace, we may see in the future larger numbers wanting to engage in gospel ministry, some of them vocationally, and some of them in ordained pastoral ministry.

These are steps we must take as churches and as church leaders to "multiply the number of well-trained leaders (ordained, non-ordained, full time, part time, voluntary) who are actively involved in God's mission." (TRAIN STRATEGY)  What next step do you need to take?   As a church?   As a pastor?   As a church leader?

*This model was initially developed by Murray Capill and draws on ideas presented by Peter Adam at The Gospel Coalition Australia, Victoria, 2018. The TRAIN Workgroup expanded this model for the specific context of the CRCA.  Here is an article by Peter Adam: Raising Gospel Workers