Fever (Photo credit: Joe Seggiola)

Once, as a child, I played sick to avoid a particular confrontation that I knew was going to take place at school. My plan was foolproof: Moan a little bit, wait for the thermometer to show up, and then fake a fever using my desklamp to inflate the reading.

I may or may not have recently watched “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” In either case, I would have been more successful in my devious effort if I had followed his advice and simply licked my palms instead of faking the fever.

My mother took the thermometer, held it up to read the temperature, — and laughed as she walked away.

“Looks like you are going to school, pal,” she called over her shoulder. “You either have a fever of 115°, or something screwy is going on around here. I’m leaving shortly. Be in the car when it leaves the driveway.”

You cannot fake the fever — not like that.

The Church’s Thermometer

We Methodists have a thermometer. It’s called “Vital Congregations,” and it is an indicator of church vitality. But proponents and opponents alike have made the mistake of thinking that it is the solution to our problems.

It isn’t.

Our statistical tables have been faked, forged, ignored, and sloppily done for years — not by everyone, but by enough pastors that the figures were largely meaningless.

The new methodology, if not accompanied by some serious changes in the way we do ministry, will result in the same sad numbers that have been tortured to say just what we want them to say. In short, we have a new chance to fake the number on the thermometer.

Why would we do that? The short answer is, “to keep the institution happy.” The more nuanced response would be, “because we have conflated church health with the simple notion of higher numbers in attendance, membership, and giving.”

But it’s a thermometer, not a prescription.

Church Health Instead of Church Growth

Last week’s post, I’m Done “Growing the Church,” was well received. While it didn’t go viral, I’d have to say it caught a little cold. I was surprised, and not just because my site doesn’t usually see this much traffic. What really surprised me was this realization: Incredibly, in a day and time when the Church is down in attendance, giving, and effectiveness, people responded (and continue to respond) to the idea of creatively approaching the tasks of Christian discipleship while summarily rejecting the valiant efforts to save the institutions that are strangling and stifling that same ministry.

Clearly, people oppose the artificial efforts to bring people to the church. I think it’s fair to say that we especially despise the ones that attract people but don’t necessarily bring them to Christ. People really do seem to be pulling for the health of the church. And some are folks who couldn’t care less if the institutions die.

I’m in a strange position in all of this. I’m a clergy person. My membership is not in the local church. My membership is with the Memphis Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I have an obligation to the institution and serve it in several forms.

But I see the institution undergoing some definite changes. Staffing has been reduced at many of our denominational agencies. Budgets are fractionally smaller — in some cases, the fractions are significant. We are reversing, slowly, the trend we experienced in the 80s and 90s where churches saw themselves as supporters of the agencies rather than the other way around.

In our conference, our Bishop has offered a bold new vision for shared ministry that presses for interpersonal discipleship on a basis that is largely unprecedented.

What does this mean?

For the local church, there has never been a more opportune moment to seize the initiative and reclaim responsibility for ministry to and the care of the neighborhoods and communities in which we are found.

And by “local church,” I certainly mean the concerted efforts of the laity in each and every congregation and the clergy sent to lead and serve them.

In a past article, I lifted up the work of Tom Rainer and company. At the time, I was convinced that this would grow the church. Admittedly, I was still seeing numbers on a page, stats on a spreadsheet, and larger slices of pie in the charts and graphs.

I still see those things. But I see them in a different way.

Those numbers can help us to know that we are doing things right. But we must add one critical element, a simple question: Are the disciples we already have making disciples themselves?

English: Billy Graham (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Billy Graham is often credited for bringing millions to Christ. But he would tell you himself he merely closed the deal in the vast majority of cases. For a year before his Crusade came to a town, local volunteers would invite, encourage, and enlist attendees. The preparation was astounding. Volunteers were trained, motivated, deployed and supported. When the big night arrived, hundreds if not thousands would come to Christ. The next day, Graham’s team would begin the task of follow-up by mail with one goal in mind: To get the newly converted Christians into a bible-believing congregations.

Billy Graham didn’t make as many disciples as most think, but he empowered far more people as disciple-makers than almost everyone thinks.

“The Next Right Step”

I’m a big fan of photographer Dewitt Jones. He is constantly challenging photographers and leaders alike to find the next right thing. I recommend his videos on leadership and photography. Oddly, they are the same videos, but doing something well means the same principles whether you are a photographer, pastor, corporate executive, or a ditch-digger.

I think that the next right things for me as a pastor will look like this:

1. Take a close look at the discipleship of as many members of my congregation as I can.

• Are you regularly spending time in prayer and scripture reading?
• Do you work to develop your skills and gifts? 
• Are you practicing the faith or merely learning about it? 

2. Help them to determine their next right step as a disciple.

• Do you need to spend more or less time in personal devotion?
• Do you need to do something different in your participation in worship?
• Do you need more, less, or different acts of compassion and justice?

3. Get intentional about having mature disciples mentor others in their faith.

• Have you matured in your faith to the point that you can reproduce your faith in others?
• Are you leading, teaching, or discipling others?
• What steps do you need to take to gain proficiency in those skills?

What steps would you add to this list? Are you already challenging fellow disciples with questions like these?

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• I’m Done “Growing the Church”
• Hacking Christianity :: Rev. Jeremy Smith: Holding the UMC Hostage 03 – Collateral Damages
• United Methodeviations: Narrative Transformation
• Movement…