I read the following in a newsletter from a mission agency working in country in mainland Europe
“… believers [need] to be engaged in building the Kingdom. A high proportion of the country’s evangelical pastors are due to retire over the next few years. Planting a church should strike a chord with the younger generation’s desire to do something for God and allow them to participate directly in building the Lord’s community”
The writer seems to imply that a high proportion of evangelical pastors being due to retire soon is a bad thing. Perhaps it is a good thing, since it shows that most “elders” are indeed older men – should that not be the norm?
There is also the implication that the normal desire to do something for God should lead to church planting and that this allows people to “participate directly” in building the Lord’s community. Does that leave the rest of us doing things only part-time for God and building the Lord’s community? Rather, we should be encouraged in how we can be involved in God’s work in our everyday lives – speaking and living for Him as we rub shoulders with people at work, at home and elsewhere. “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col 3:17). The gospel spreads through ordinary people living and speaking extraordinarily – doesn’t it?
