Church Direction: Will of Man or Will of God?

The direction of the church is a sensitive topic. If 100 people attend, you have at least 100 different opinions about how the church should function. Should it have pews or chairs? Stained glass? Contemporary, traditional, or blended music? Sunday School or small groups? Then comes the bigger schism – should the direction be set by committees, the congregation at large, or the pastor? I can already sense the steam rising with some of you who are reading this. While God should be setting the direction for His people to follow, this is not always the case.

This post is sparked by a church that recently exercised its will over God’s. The church has a history of heartless tradition funded by old money. After years of a pastor who pacified the people, it voted to be ushered into a new era. With lip service, they vocalized their desire for change. When change arrived, it was resisted to the point it decided to vote out one of its staff members.

This story is all too common. The worship of Christ is tossed aside over a preference to go through the motions that have been done for years. The commission of Christ is ignored for the “let’s-hire-somebody-to-do-what-we-are-commanded-to-do-then-complain-about-it-and-exercise-our-lame-committee-authority-to-go-back-to-business-as-usual” mentality. Too often (considering once is too often), I see this over and over again. I gets the calls and the messages for prayer from the ones who gave their lives to answer the call of God, only to be slapped in the face by those who profess to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This must end!

The will of man is ruining a lot of churches. It is being exercised by pastors and church members alike. It is so much easier to exercise than taking the biblical method of seeking the Scriptures and praying for the Holy Spirit to reveal the specific plan of God for HIS church.

To those who have been wounded by the will of man, I weep with you. I have been one of the wounded because senior leadership wanted “better” or “the powers that be” couldn’t stand that Jesus was going to call the shots and they did not like the fact that I was going to execute God’s will.

To those who love the power, please repent! Christ didn’t die so you could vote down progress in your church. The will of man has deterred many souls from being saved. I would hate to think my disobedience kept someone from walking in God’s will.

By nature, we are selfish people. Choosing our will is easy. Discerning and implementing God’s will is tough. The bottom line is we will have to answer to God for our choices. Let’s be guilty of striving to do God’s will no matter the resistance.