The staff of Good News Church has lately been discussing a book on change and innovation by Larry Osborne titled, “Sticky Leaders.” As we’ve talked about the concepts in the book, I have been reminded of sections from the book of Acts where one can see leaders in the early church navigating seasons of change and innovation. I think that examples found in Scripture can serve as good models for us on how to navigate times when ministry needs to change.
Regarding ministry changes, the first passage that always comes to my mind Acts 6:1-7. That passage contains a fantastic story about how the early church was doing mercy ministry (specifically caring for widows) and how their methods needed to adapt to a new situation.
It seems that the situation initially involved the apostles being expected be in charge of all the preaching and all of the widow care. However, after a while, they learned that the widow distribution wasn’t being done in a fair way, and so the apostles went with a “specialization of labor” strategy. This involved having twelve men devoted to preaching and prayer and commissioning another seven men to take over the caring for widows (see Acts 6:3-4.)
This is a clear example of church people making a change in the way they do ministry for the better. And the church of Jesus Christ has done that same thing ten thousand times since then. Times and situations change, and therefore people must innovate and/or change in response.
I also noticed other examples from the life of the Apostle Paul. Paul adapted his missionary strategy depending on the environment he was in and depending on the reception he was receiving from his current audience.
One example involves comparing Paul’s typical strategy of preaching in synagogues (Cyprus, Antioch, Iconium, Thessalonica, Corinth, Ephesus) to the times when he did not make use of synagogue preaching (Lystra, Philippi, Athens). There may be a very simple explanation for the difference in strategy in those towns; it could be that Lystra, Philippi, and Athens didn’t have synagogues.
Another strategy difference can be seen in the how long Paul preached in the synagogue and what he chose to do after that time. For instance, he lasted three months preaching in the Ephesian synagogue, but only three weeks in the Thessalonian one. But it looks like the difference wasn’t because of a different ministry mindset, but rather because that’s how long the people would tolerate his preaching.
Another interesting difference is that when he got kicked out of the synagogue in Corinth, Paul switched to a house church model, teaching the Bible in Titius Justus’ house (Acts 18:7). However, in Ephesus, once he got kicked out of the synagogue, he moved his base of operations to a lecture hall (Acts 19:9).
So, there were three things that I pointed out at the staff meeting when we were first discussing all this:
Regarding ministry changes, the first passage that always comes to my mind Acts 6:1-7. That passage contains a fantastic story about how the early church was doing mercy ministry (specifically caring for widows) and how their methods needed to adapt to a new situation.
It seems that the situation initially involved the apostles being expected be in charge of all the preaching and all of the widow care. However, after a while, they learned that the widow distribution wasn’t being done in a fair way, and so the apostles went with a “specialization of labor” strategy. This involved having twelve men devoted to preaching and prayer and commissioning another seven men to take over the caring for widows (see Acts 6:3-4.)
This is a clear example of church people making a change in the way they do ministry for the better. And the church of Jesus Christ has done that same thing ten thousand times since then. Times and situations change, and therefore people must innovate and/or change in response.
I also noticed other examples from the life of the Apostle Paul. Paul adapted his missionary strategy depending on the environment he was in and depending on the reception he was receiving from his current audience.
One example involves comparing Paul’s typical strategy of preaching in synagogues (Cyprus, Antioch, Iconium, Thessalonica, Corinth, Ephesus) to the times when he did not make use of synagogue preaching (Lystra, Philippi, Athens). There may be a very simple explanation for the difference in strategy in those towns; it could be that Lystra, Philippi, and Athens didn’t have synagogues.
Another strategy difference can be seen in the how long Paul preached in the synagogue and what he chose to do after that time. For instance, he lasted three months preaching in the Ephesian synagogue, but only three weeks in the Thessalonian one. But it looks like the difference wasn’t because of a different ministry mindset, but rather because that’s how long the people would tolerate his preaching.
Another interesting difference is that when he got kicked out of the synagogue in Corinth, Paul switched to a house church model, teaching the Bible in Titius Justus’ house (Acts 18:7). However, in Ephesus, once he got kicked out of the synagogue, he moved his base of operations to a lecture hall (Acts 19:9).
So, there were three things that I pointed out at the staff meeting when we were first discussing all this:
- Notice that there was a willingness to innovate/change in order to serve God. Paul and the other apostles weren’t so committed to “the-way-we’ve-always-done-things” that they couldn’t change their strategy to match new conditions.
- Notice that the adaptations were not always the same. It’s not like “house church” was always the solution to getting kicked out of a synagogue. That worked in Corinth. But a public meeting space was used in Ephesus. We, also, don’t have to always use the exact same strategy over and over again either.
- Lastly, notice that the innovations didn’t happen until they were needed. Of course, church people will disagree on what “needed” means whenever a ministry change is proposed. However, my primary point here is that we don’t need to dream of solutions in search of a problem. The problems will come on their own. And when they do, we can innovate/change in reaction to them, but it is often a waste of time and resources to do it before then, because solutions need to solve actual problems.
The discussion was a good one; and so I decided to share these insights with you. Perhaps you need to consider an area of your life that needs to change in order to serve God better. Perhaps you’ll need to consider not doing something “the-way-you-always-have.” And perhaps, if you are a dreamer type, you should pull back on some of your innovations until they solve a problem that really exists.
