BEING LOYAL TO YOUR CHURCH (PART 6)

BEING LOYAL TO YOUR CHURCH (PART 6)

(Why people leave their churches)

INTRODUCTION: In the previous discussions, we have been dealing with reasons why some church members are not being loyal to their churches but have been hopping from one church to another. We have been elaborating on church leadership deficiencies which cause members to leave their churches. Today, we move to another point:

 NEGLECT OF TEACHING MINISTRY
 
TEXT: Eph 4:1-16

 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and TEACHERS, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

 

Apart from problems emanating from the camp of leadership, the most significant issue which causes people to leave their churches is the neglect and lack of consistent teaching ministry. Consistent teaching ministry simply refers to a well-planned systematic teaching programme instituted in the church through which all groups of people are instructed with the Bible. In this case  ministry material are prepared to constantly address the changing spiritual, emotional and physical needs of church members, delivered by carefully selected and trained Bible teachers to handle these in the local churches.

It must be noted here that teaching is the supernatural ability and desire to communicate and clarify the details to the word of God. Teachers are those who have special God-given ability to clarify, expound and proclaim God’s word in order to build up the body of Christ (Eph 4:12)

People with the gift of teaching characteristically are eloquent speakers who seek to impart knowledge. They are very studious, teachable with focus on members’ understanding and clarifying of issues. Teachers are interrogative by nature (always asking questions on “whys” and “Hows”) and proof-seeking. As such, their preachings are generally full of Bible quotations. Additionally, teachers are generally diligent: accuracy is their hallmark.

The importance of teaching ministry in the church cannot be overemphasized. In the text quoted, Paul explicitly gave the reason why there should be teachers in the church: And He Himself gave some to be… TEACHERS, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, …that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting..

 To begin with, they guard the gospel entrusted to them by the help of the Holy Spirit, (2Tim 1:11-1). They also point the church to biblical revelation and to the original message of Christ and the apostles, thereby ensuring continuity of apostolic teaching and practice. Again, teachers ground the faith of the members with the word of God. Gifted teachers teach the word of God in simplicity and with clarity. They equip church members with the knowledge to overcome the craftiness of the Devil and his team of deceiving liars. Additionally, teachers help to refute faulty doctrine. With their constant studies, they have the capability of effectively comparing scripture with scripture in order to come out with the total picture of what God is saying in any given particular situation. They make the word of God practical to the needs of the members. Most advancement and progress of the church depend on what teachers do and say. Most of the research work aimed toward growth and trends in the church are conducted and revealed by teachers. They additionally suggest ways of handling those trends and provide most of the teaching materials needed for systematic pedagogy.

 With these roles played by teachers in the church, one would have expected the church to give prominence to the teaching ministry, but surprisingly, the teaching ministry is relegated to the background in many churches. We consider teachers as the least in the five-fold ministry gifts of Christ to the church. In apostolic and Pentecostal churches for instance, people are ordained into the offices of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists and Pastors, but hardly do we see ordained teachers! Some simply explain it off that all pastors are supposed to be teachers. If that is the case Paul, would never have mentioned Teachers. The fact is, all Apostles are supposed to evangelise yet not all apostles are Evangelists. In the same way, all Prophets are supposed to teach but not all Prophets are Teachers. Why then should church leaders conclude that all Pastors are Teachers so there is no need ordaining people into that great office of the Teacher?

 If any church plays down the role of the teaching ministry, the following negative consequences bedevils it: Firstly, members refuse to grow in the spirit. Such a church will continue to produce baby Christians who cannot withstand the trickery of men and the lies of the devil.

 Secondly, members quickly embrace every manner of doctrine. The faithful will accept any message coming to them as the gospel truth. This is where the danger of cultism rears its ugly head in the life of church members. They follow people blindly to prayer camps and fake men of God take advantage of the innocent flock of God.

Thirdly, church splits and cross-carpeting also occur frequently where teaching ministry is neglected. Leaders fight over issues which mostly border on practices which have been dogmatized or reinforced with texts which are hermeneutically inappropriate. Confused members move to join different churches.

Finally, leadership crisis easily crop up in churches where the teaching ministry is neglected more frequently. Institutionalization and succession procedures for churches are, in most cases, spear-headed by teachers. Absence of teachers mean there is the tendency for conflict when it comes to who succeeds the leader. That is why conflicts and breakaways are more frequent in relatively new churches than the old ones.

 

MAY THE GOOD LORD SAVE HIS CHURCH FROM DECEITFUL PLOTTERS!

PASTOR WILLIAM BOACHIE-ANSAH

THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST
P.O. BOX 203
NSAWAM ADOAGYIRI, GHANA

+233 244137880

boachieansah@gmail.com
copadoagyiri@gmail.com