Dr. Meredith Griffin | The Flourishing Life™

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Christian Television

The Decade of Service

The second decade of the twenty-first century has officially begun. What a wonder it would be if, a decade from now, we looked back upon the next ten years as the “decade of service”. We, individual believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord as well as the Church catholic, have an opportunity to show that the previous decades of me-ism and decadent opulence within Western Christianity were an anomaly. We have an opportunity to return the servant and service to others first dynamic that has been a hallmark of the Church for centuries.

Listen, I am not naive enough to believe that the history of the Church hasn’t before been marred by TBN style self-indulgence, or that similar forays into prosperity focused gospel ramblings will not occur in the future. What I am saying is that the overwhelming intrusion of such teachings into the mainstream of the Church in recent history is alarming, and the tide must be stemmed.

Is the gospel message inward-focused? No. Is the gospel me-focused? No. The gospel calls me to deny my desires in order to be used to fulfill God’s ultimate desire, the redemption of his creation. The gospel compels me to think of myself after I have considered the needs of those around me, to love (actively) whenever the opportunity avails itself. Our Lord Jesus was the penultimate example of a servant and leader in action. We are called Christians because of our desire to emulate his faith and actions, and fulfill his mission. If these statements are true, and I believe them to be, then we should move to make ourselves stellar examples of what it means to “serve and not be served.”

Not Really Seeing a Lot of Servants in Ministry

I’ve pretty much sworn off of “Christian” television. The various networks seemed to be filled with individuals and couples alike, bent on flaunting varying forms of selfishness, self-exaltation, and idolatry. The little doctrinally sound or orthodox ministry that is televised is far outweighed by the fluff and heresy that appears. Where is the widespread outrage from ministers and ministries that believe that orthodoxy has died a slow death on television and in local church ministry? Where are the servants?

I’m in the process of writing my doctoral dissertation that seeks to address the dearth of servants, and in particular servant leaders, in the local church. My passion for this topic stems from the steady decline of servants in ministry leadership that I have watched occur over nearly twenty years in local church ministry leadership. We, the Church, have reached the point where the drought of servants in ministry leadership must decline or the fulfillment of our mission is in extreme jeopardy. Let me explain that last statement a bit more…God’s use of us in the fulfillment of his mission is in extreme jeopardy. I have no doubt that God’s will be done and his mission in the earth fulfilled, with or without us.

I just needed to rant for a moment about what I’m seeing in the local church and in the Church worldwide. Where are the servants? Where are those who serve because it needs to be done, not so that they can make a name for themselves? Where are those who served regardless of who sees, without a banner or camera present? I know that there are some out there, my fear is that there are far too few? What do you think?

A Formula for Leadership Success

We clearly live in a day and time where leadership is both cherished and scorned. It is cherished because we understand its value to the fulfilment of our corporate values, missions, visions, goals, and objectives. It is scorned because far too many claim the mantle of leader or leadership guru without the attendant understanding or calling. We literally elevate anyone who desires to be a leader to leadership positions, often with less than stellar consequences.

I believe that, in the arena of contemporary Christendom (as least as it is expressed in the Western church), these leadership failings are in part due to our fascination with media and the cult of personality. This fact is even more glaring as we observe the neo-Pentecostal, Apostolic, and charismatic movements in the West. We need only tune in to the plethora of “Christian” television networks to see that our “ideal” for contemporay Christian ministry is dominated by glitz, gloss, and glamour. It would appear that the bigger the stage, and the gaudier the set design, the more populated and popular the ministry.

The size of the stage is, in some cases, surpassed only by the flaws in theology and biblical interpretation that are espoused with regularity. The “felt needs” of the hurting, broken, and in need of salvation masses are pandered to with a rash of proof texts and “have it your way” platitudes. In many of these sad scenarios Jesus is cast as some sort of cosmic Santa Claus or genie in a bottle, ready to fulfill the desires and wishes of whoever believes and asks.

What is missing is the Christ that bids all who are weary and heavy laden to take His yoke upon themeselves. Missing is the Christ that calls men and women who would follow Him to consider the cost of discipleship. Where is the call to forsake all or to take up one’s own cross and deny self daily?

The current cult of personality has, in my opinion, exalted one element of successful leadership above the other. In fact, I would submit that they have made this one element the only one necessary for successful ministry leadership. The element that seems to matter most to the cadre of pulpiteers that litter our contemporary Christian landscape is inspiration.

Let me say that I believe that inspiration is indeed an important element to leadership success. A leader must be called and inspired by the Lord in order to successful accomplish the mission set before him or her. But we must know that inspiration is only one part of the formula for successful ministry leadership. The formula for successful ministry leadership should be written in this manner:

Inspiration + Formation + Operation = Leadership Success

In the next several posts, I will discuss the several elements of this formula for ministry leadership success. There has to be a change in the way we are selecting and preparing men and women for ministry leadership, if the current tide is going to be stemmed.

Some reading this may see no need to stem the current tide. You may say that churches are filling, networks are burgeoning, and the gospel is going forth. I would rebut that a crowd and a church are not the same thing. Everyone in the crowd that followed Christ was not a disciple. As I understand the Great Commission, we are called to make disciples of all nations. Our call isn’t to draw crowds. Additionally, I believe that Jesus was disappointed with the crowds that simply followed Him in order to receive more of the fishes and loaves. These failings do not rest upon the people in the pews ultimatley, but upon the people in the pulpit.