DRISCOLL: 18 ‘OBSTACLES TO EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM’ Lecture at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, NSW on September 1, 2008 a summary by Natasha Percy Source: www.sydneyanglican.net (used with permission)

CRCA MINISTRY FORMATION “A Church Reforming To Reach the Lost for Christ” www.ministryformation.com.au t Monday’s ministry intensive in St to send nourishment to new buds and Andrew’s Cathedral, Mark Driscoll branches in the name of socialistic Apresented 18 points which he says equality. The British are not an are “obstacles to effective evangelism” entrepreneurial people – they play by in the Sydney Diocese. Below is Natasha the rules and operate within existing Percy’s summary of his challenge. structures. This has caused Aussie culture to not be very entrepreneurial Mr Driscoll introduced these points and new things are not highly asserting that, if we are seeing no fruit embraced. from our ministry, rather than doing more, we have to ask what we are 3. There is a lack of merit-based reward doing wrong. He also asserted that in denominations. In the United States “pruning” must precede “harvesting”. there are far more entrepreneurs. I’m This pruning could involve such things as not saying your culture is bad and my people and programs. culture is good. I’m saying your culture is bad and my culture is bad differently. “You need to cut that People are rewarded for tenure but not which is taking energy for fruit. Men can’t away from be demoted or evangelism,” he said. thrown out of ministry for more Mark Driscoll asserted than stealing money that these 18 points or falling sexually. were coming from a Just because you’re “friend”, as he asked all doing ministry long- present to consider term doesn’t mean whether their ministry you should be was doing “all” that it guaranteed of a job. could to ensure people were “meeting You all know that some churches are ” (1 Cor 9:22). being led by men who are not the best 1. The guys are not the missional men for the job. guys, which leads to proud irrelevance 4. Christian Australian men are (Ministers are) less aware of the context immature. There is a lack of of their ministry and more aware of the entrepreneurialism and a system which content of Scripture. It’s not enough to discourages the ambition of young men. just be the faithful, you must be the Men are living with their mother until fruitful. 25, getting married at 32, delaying the 2. Your culture struggles with a lack of taking of responsibility for as long as entrepreneurialism, due to the possible. The fact is, there is not a influence of Socialism and Great Britain. denomination in the room that I’m Socialism brings the concept that qualified to pastor in. I planted a church everyone must be taken care of, with at 25 – could I do that with you? The resources given to the weakest pastors answer is ‘no’. What if there is a young in the weakest churches rather than man who wants to be responsible and pruning. This means you are neglecting plant a church… is there a system built

2 CRCA Ministry Formation to accommodate? The longer you delay (i) Anticipate the objections of your responsibility, the longer you delay hearers and answer them. This will also masculinity. Being in a Peter Pan encourage people to bring their friends. lifestyle indefinitely is a sin. Jesus Christ (ii) Ask the church what is our mission had atoned for the sins of the world by and how are we to live that? This is the age most men become associate application for the whole church. (iii) ministers. There are good godly men in Offer personal application for their 30s leading big churches overseas, individuals, It’s not just enough to give and you are flying them in to preach to doctrine. Application needs to connect you because you don’t have them in life and doctrine. your system. 8. Many of you are afraid of the Holy 5. Church planting is not widespread or Spirit. You don’t know what to do with welcome. The skills required of a church Him, so the trinity is Father, Son and planter are very different. There is not Holy Bible. You are so reactionary to widespread opportunity for young pentecostalism that you do not have a innovative men in this area. Young men robust theology of the Holy Spirit. The who want to plant a church are left with Holy Spirit calls people into ministry. He a terrible dilemma – innovate and also empowers people for ministry. You destroy the church or live within the don’t have to be charismatic but you parameters of the system and negate should be a little charismatic, enough at God’s call on their life. No less than 300 least to worship God with more than men have walked up to me and said ‘I just all of your mind. The word want to plant a church and I can’t. What charismatic here means prosperity, do I do?’ They need to be assessed and excessive, bizarre. In London, it means trained and only those who are fit you’re not a liberal. Don’t get hung up should be released, but they have to be on all the terminology. Do you love the released. Holy Spirit? Jesus says the Holy Spirit is a ‘He’ and not an ‘it’.” Ministry cannot be 6. You suffer from tall poppy done apart from the Holy Spirit – I think syndrome. Through preaching, people that is in part leading to the lack of must realise this is a sin. Having a entrepreneurialism and innovation, church of 1000 as a high-water mark is because if it’s not already done and unhealthy. You don’t want to rise up written down, you’re suspicious of it. because people will think you’re proud – the fact that you’re thinking of yourself 9. Many of you are Anglican. The parish means you’re already proud. This is a system works for some, not all. Less sin. We should celebrate if God would than half of those who live in this city allow a church to grow. My elders give own their own home and do their social 10 per cent of our money to church networking online. People have three plants. Having a big church is not bad – places, where they work, play and live it all depends on what that church (the place where they play is the place believes and what they do. they really like and would live if they could afford it). So what place is theirs? 7. Your teaching lacks three things: The parish model says we’ve drawn apologetics, mission and application... boundaries… but this makes evangelism

3 CRCA Ministry Formation in this society very difficult. People no Driscoll said Mars Hill had grown to longer organise themselves by 8000 by the time he finished his Masters geography, but by affinity. People are degree in Theology. “Sometimes you moving all the time. The parish system don’t know what you don’t know until also makes church planting very hard. you’re doing ministry – and then you’re And the overseer may deny it. more teachable than ever.”

10. Denominations are built on an old 12. Churches need prophets, priests and paradigm that young men don’t kings, according to 1 Peter 5 where understand. This is a paradigm of Jesus is chief shepherd, leaders are control – we control your benefits, your undershepherds under Him. Prophets income, your tenure, we control you. do preaching and teaching, priests look Young men operate under influence – after people (for example, hospital some young men are disrespectful visits), and kings are concerned with towards authority and need to be systems, policies, procedures, real rebuked. Not all young men are estate and the like. Most churches in disrespectful, but they operate through Sydney are filled with priests and there’s influence – this comes through a deficit of prophets and kings. There is relationships and mentoring. “Influence a limit to how many people a pastor can comes up close and control can be care for… pastors can’t do all three. maintained at a distance”. They need to Kings are discouraged by systems that be given encouragement and are already built. responsibility. Young men will increasingly avoid a system that’s built 13. There is a lack of missiologists. A to control them and will increasingly missiologist evaluates the culture and work around the system to make their uses discernment to find the idols, “so freedom. missionaries can be employed and churches can be missional”. 11. There is a propensity to call the “Theologians defend the truth of the trained rather than train the called. gospel and missiologists then take it to People need to be tested and proved by the streets.” When you stack the team church leaders but ministry needs to with theologians and not missiologists… begin with a calling. There should be an lots of people still don’t know Jesus. innate sense of desire, rather than going to college, then being trained, then 14. There is a proclivity to try to raise being called into ministry. Colleges that ministers before making them have alternative delivery systems, for husbands and fathers. Many men delay example part-time options, will be more marriage and children so they can enter effective in training the called. Four college and ministry. They need to learn years in college without sufficient to be good husbands and fathers and practical experience can lead to idealism shepherd a little flock. If they are not and self-righteousness, where young good husbands and fathers, they are not men critique older men who’ve done going to be good ministers. “In fact… something. That then gives the young being a husband and father trains you men the false impression that they more for ministry than any college.” You themselves are doing something. Pastor should really press young men to take

4 CRCA Ministry Formation responsibility early, be good husbands innovator or entrepreneur - but is there and fathers, and then encourage them room in the system for those who are? into ministry. Otherwise their priorities You can allow innovation without taking end up being God, ministry, wife, away from what is good. children, rather than God, wife, children, ministry. If you delay marriage for 18. Movements have become ministry, you are organising a paradigm institutions and museums. A that is dangerous. movement is where God does what He always does, but in greater depth than 15. There is the doing of evangelism we normally see, for example the but not mission. Evangelism doesn’t , Methodists, Charismatic belong just to the individual Christian, movement. evangelism is something that belongs to the Christian church. Are we using all Defining variables of a movement are: the resources at our discretion? Don’t (i) Young people are often at the centre ask, ‘what would a faithful minister of of a movement – everywhere but the gospel look like?’. Ask ‘what would a Sydney. I’m an older guy where I’m from faithful missionary of the gospel look - but here, I’m young. Young people are like?’. often at the centre of movements – 16. There are a lot of No 2 guys in No 1 most of the Methodists were guys in slots. Number 1 guys are preachers, their 20s, was 19 when he teachers, leaders, innovators. A No 2 first started preaching. guy isn’t bad, but he’s not the right one (ii) “Statistically I think one of the for the job. This is part of the issue of reasons your church is so small is that having a system based on tenure rather your young men don’t get to lead them than meritocracy. No 2 guys need to until they are old” – and they run out of have the humility to step back as John gas before they get there. You say, ‘but the Baptist did with Jesus – which is the young are irresponsible’ – of course good to preach but hard to practice. they are! Young men say and do stupid When a No2 guy is in a No 1 slot, the things, but it’s good to get the losses out church will survive, but it will not of the way early. multiply. (iii) Movements are marked not just by 17. There is not a great sense of birth, but by new birth. New churches urgency “I believe God has a sense of have to be planted and you need new urgency for planting churches, and leaders so there can be new churches. releasing young men” but this urgency is not evident. You’re not seeing a lot of (iv) A lot of movements are completely conversions, and everywhere I go I’m unaware of their influence – “I was having guys come to me and complain shocked by the number of Aussies who that they have no permission to plant download my sermons.” churches. Urgency shows itself with new services and new churches. Lack of (v) Movements have supporting urgency shows itself with a lack of organisations, such as theological innovation. Not everyone is an colleges and publishing houses.

5 CRCA Ministry Formation (vi) Usually, new movements come into partner with you, or are they unwilling existence when there’s new technology. to walk with you because they don’t For example, the Protestant want to be controlled by you?” Reformation happened at the time of Five ways you’ve gone off track: the printing press, Billy Graham used the advances in amplification and radio at 1. Doctrinally, you have too much or too the time he was preaching. Today, we little control. You define the world so have the internet. Old systems were tight theologically that you don’t give based on control, but today, there is no much flexibility. control. “You can sit on your Macbook and even if no leader approves of it, you 2. Relationships – people love each could communicate to the world. That other and don’t want to walk away from changes everything.” People spend the relationships they have with others more time looking at a screen than a in leadership – so the love of human being. Mark Driscoll’s sermons relationship means all seats (of are downloaded more than 10 million opportunity) are taken. times each year. “That’s crazy – we 3. Organisationally, you have too much could never have a meeting with 10 or too little control – too much, and million people, we’d call it a country.” ministry becomes too complicated, too (vii) The movement leader embodies little and people who don’t have good the values and then tells the story of the doctrine or character can come in. movement so that the movement has 4. Pride or ‘Not invented here integrity into the future. They are syndrome’ – not adapting something attacked and maligned and usually not unless it was created by someone on appreciated until after they’re dead. your team. Your worship and service (viii) Movements become organisations, structure is painful and slow and which become institutions. Innovators frustrating – you need to have humility don’t go into or come out of institutions. to learn from other people in other Institutions are marked by a fear of denominations and discernment to failure and a preservation of previous know what not to implement. wins. “Eventually, young leaders realise 5. Failing to honour founders and future. that it is too cumbersome to get Issues of succession are difficult and anything done and they leave.” significant. The key is to honour both (ix) If an institution doesn’t come back your founders and your future. You to being an organisation or a need to do some things differently, and movement, it becomes a museum. “A you need to be innovative in what we museum exists to tell the stories of do. when God used to work.” A museum doesn’t exist to call future leaders. So you need to ask: ‘Are we a movement, an organisation, an institution or a museum?’ Do the best and brightest entrepreneurial young men want to

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