what is the point?

In a Church context there are various ministries which churches engage in. From serving tea after the service to running a library to running bible studies, teaching sunday school etc.

The question is, what should the primary goal of those ministries be?

You might respond by saying, that is a no brainer, and to be honest, it should be. However, the church can get confused as to what the goal of those ministries are.

You see, when a church engages in a ministry which has at it's heart the spiritual well being of the people, in other words, those which include bible study, Sunday preaching and Sunday school, what should the primary focus of these ministries be?

Recently my church has re-launched their men's ministry, dubbing it, "Men behaving Godly". I read the manifesto and one of their goals was to "Teach the Bible". You might say, so what's wrong with that.

I have made it a habit to regularly attend a young adults bible study. In the past year I have got the sense that the goal of thse bible studies is to teach the bible. This has been especially highlighted recently.

You might agree that this is a laudable goal, and I agree, it is a laudable goal. You can do a lot worse. However, notwithstanding this, I think it is misplaced.

The reason I have been getting frustrated with this approach is that, to be honest, I don't need another bible lesson when I attend a bible study. If that is what I get then I could just as easily stay at home and listen to a tape. In this case I, don't have to go out and, I'll probably get better teaching anyway. Why bother meeting together if you can achieve the same goal by yourself.

What I'm really looking for in attending a small group meeting, is elements that you can only get from a small group, namely, love, support, encouragement and help. I've done Mark (this is the current book we're studying) many times. Teaching me mark again, is not that important to me. Supporting, praying, encouraging, now that's what's important. That's what will, along with the teaching of the bible, help me grow in Godliness.

The goal of these small groups, and in fact the goal of the men's ministry should not be to teach the bible. It should be for the people concerned to "Know God". Don't get me wrong, teaching is very important, but it is a means to an end. In my experience, the Church seems to think that we are all in vacuum and love and support amongst the people is not a necessary and important element of growing in Godliness. Why did God command us to meet together if this is the case. He wants us to support and encourage one another in order to grow in our knowledge of him.

So often at the bible study meeting I've attended, the focus has been on the lesson, we have to finish the lesson, the other elements of the time together are inevitably tacked on as a token onto the beginning or the end.

I have to mention however, that my particular church is not guilty of this misplacement in all the areas of ministry. Some of the areas it is doing a good job. The Sunday meetings for instance have the goal of growing people in Godliness, as does the Sunday school. I'm also sure that not all the bible study groups suffer from this malaise.

Why has this program driven situation materialised? There are, I think, I number of reasons for this.

1. Results driven ministry - Whether or not the bible has been taught is particularly easy to measure. A simple answer can be reached, was the bible taught? Yes, or No. There is not really a maybe and it is simple to measure. How do you measure whether people have increased in their knowledge and love of God? How do you know you've got results when aiming for something which is more difficult to measure.

2. Teaching the bible does require relationship or vulnerability. Let's face it, the modern person finds relationships particularly difficult. They find vulnerability particularly difficult. We live in a world where people do not know each other and do not reveal their true natures or the difficulties and struggles they are going through. In the bible studies I have attended I have from time to time shared the struggles or questions that I had been grappling with. In both cases the response I got was not supportive and to be honest, not loving. It certainly did not encourage me to share any more with the group. So you see, you're a vicious cycle.

3. Lack of trust in God. Why is it that, after 2 years, I had no idea the seriousness the sufferings of one of the members of the group due to a condition they suffered from. Because of the teaching focus, you could not have a meeting where you did not at least look at the bible. After all, that's the only way to grow anyway isn't it? If we don't teach the bible then how will people grow. It is not man's responsibility to ensure that people grow, it is God's, and God can use many avenues to draw people to himself. You cannot grow me by teaching me the bible, I have to learn the bible, and by learning the bible, I will learn more about the person who wrote the bible, and thus deepen my relationship with the Creator.

What you call something defines it. That's why the South African government has changed the names of many towns and Cities in our countries. It is also why the Minister of Education insisted on changing the name from of goers, from "pupils" to "learners".

Let's change our approach and make the glory and knowledge of God fundamental to all of our meetings. Let's start providing people with help, support, love and encounragement so that they can blossom and shine in his Kingdom. Let's do whatever is necessary go grow people in their relationships with God. Let's start living out our Christianity. God has always seen a "christian in community" as the only way.