Article by Heidi Piersall
“Don’t put all the cookies on the bottom shelf!” What does this exclamation have to do with church health? At first glance, it seems like the purpose of this advice is to prevent little ones from eating all the cookies. However, this week I heard a podcast from Michael Brodeur, where he used this sentence with a completely different meaning, in the context of church as a family. Yes, it has to do with children but, in this particular illustration, the cookies (or tasty reward), are to be moved higher, not with a preventative purpose but a motivational one, as an incentive for growth.
We have all heard of, and some of us have experienced, christian leadership or church as a “factory” project or program-oriented with a high value on productivity and results, ongoing busyness, difficulty in establishing deep, meaningful connections due to lack of time to invest in people and, in the most extreme cases, a high burnout rate. Not a pretty picture, but the other end of the pendulum is not healthy either. It seems that we really do need skillful ministry coaching that will lead towards wise and healthy christian leadership.
Family has been, since the beginning of times, the unit and form of government God designed and chose to promote growth and multiplication and true church health. The place where an individual is nurtured and finds his sense of belonging and identity. But the main purpose of the family was never to raise up children. It was to raise up adults: mature individuals with the capacity to nurture and raise up more mature individuals.
Church as a family is still in the heart of God. How do we know this? The Bible tells us that the church is founded on apostles and prophets (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 2:19-20), and in several occasions the Apostle Paul spoke of himself as a father (eg. 1 Corinthians 4:14-15). Apart from the big gatherings, the church was growing every day through communion and fellowship in people’s homes (Acts 2:42-46). The apostolic model is not centered around pastors (who are wonderfully gifted to gather, nurture, mend and strengthen the flock), but around fathers and mothers who are invested in the equipping and development of mature disciples that can be sent out, deployed to expand the Kingdom, empowered to empower others.
If we “put all the cookies on the bottom shelf”, in other words, if we only provide low function experiences or challenges to the ones who gather with us once a week, most of the time as mere spectators, we are going to end up with dysfunctional families. Families whose main purpose is maintenance not growth, where development is not happening. Churches filled with immature, self-centered, self-serving people. What about Jesus’ Great Commission to go? (Matthew 28:16-20). We don’t have to go to another nation or continent to follow His command.
There are places to be evangelized, ground to be taken in our neighbourhoods and communities. In the schools, the workplace, and the marketplace.
