Church is about people. Not programs, not strategies, not buildings, not facilities, not equipment, but people; people reaching out and touching other people.
Churches—like individuals—can be too absorbed with their own survival or success. Our overriding concern may be that we become the church that everyone likes. We focus on how many people attend our services and other events. And we panic when the numbers are not to our liking. We give undue attention to the things that we think would boost our image. We tend to operate from the perspective of competing with other churches or groups. We end up engaging in self-promotion rather than ministry.
Or we may get caught up in protecting our preferences. We rigidly hold on to the cherished programs and ways of “doing church.” We frown at anything that challenges our supposed stability. We end up engaging in self-preservation rather than ministry.
In his book On Being a Servant of God, Warren W. Wiersbe writes, “Ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.” Another declared ministerial value of Vallejo International, then, is that ministry be people-focused. This declaration serves as a vital reminder to the church how we ought to prioritize and carry out our endeavors.
The apostle Paul reminds us of a vital mindset that must characterize a community of faith: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2.3-4 NIV). He goes on to point out that this is the very same mindset that characterizes the Lord of the church (Philippians 2.5-11). Ministry must be driven by this mindset.
It must be clarified, however, that meeting “human needs” does not mean simply making life easy for others. What humans need is defined by the gospel. In its very core, what we need is liberation from sin—the rebelliousness that disregards God. The troubles of this world may be traced back to this sin-problem. Sinful people doing things that end up hurting other people—whether directly or indirectly. And so ministry seeks to address the problem. We do what we can, as “loving channels” of “divine resources,” to touch other people with the grace and love and mercy of God. Even more, we seek to help people to connect with God himself so that the core problem of sin is addressed and the emergence of a transformed life may occur.
The church that loves God will focus on loving people.
—Keith Y. Jainga