Kevin DeYoung is Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church (RCA) in East Lansing, Michigan, near Michigan State University. In an article entitled “Should I start a Grassroots Movement to Change my Church?” he writes:
At a recent conference the three of us on the panel (all pastors) were asked the question, “As a layperson, should I start a grassroots movement to change my church?” All three of us basically said, “No.” Following the conference I got a long and heated email from someone who was very upset with my answer. He thought I was guilty of clericalism and gave no place for the laity to know anything, do anything, or ever question the pastor. That was certainly not what I said, nor, so far as I can tell, what most people thought we were communicating. But his concerns got my blogging juices flowing. The initial question about forming a grassroots movement to change a local church is one I’ve gotten in one form or another several times in the past five years. So perhaps it would be helpful to spell out my answer in a little more detail.
The Situation
Here’s the kind of situation I’ve been presented with many times. It’s what I assumed was behind the question at this recent conference.
You are at a church that doesn’t share your theology or seems to be heading in the wrong theological direction. Naturally, you are concerned and want to do something about it. You are sad to see your church change for the worse or sad to see your church less than what it should be. You wonder what you can do to help get things on track. Continue reading
Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
To be a Christian is to be part of God’s family. It involves having a relationship with God and with His people. In fact, the New Testament does not know of a Christian who is not part of a local assembly of believers, in other words, a local Church. When the Holy Spirit inspired letters for God’s people, they were addressed not to individual members in their homes but to local Churches. It was simply assumed that when the letter was read to the gathered Church, the people of God would be there to hear it. Christianity is not just all about you; nor is it just about you and Jesus; its about you, Jesus and all of God’s people.