By Jonathan Allen, Thursday 29^th August 2019 at 1:30pm

Francis Chan is very clear about the role of leaders: not to coddle, but to equip.  He cites one of Tikkun’s key-note passages, Ephesians 4:11-12, and emphasises just how gifted all of God’s children are and can be.  Chan sees leaders being strategically called and placed to ensure that everyone reaches their full potential as God intends.

Comparing the way parents expect (physical, height) growth in their children and are so excited with additional half or quarter in gained, Chan asks:

Why isn’t this expected in the Church?  Week after week, the same faces show up with little to no change in their lives.  Insanely, we just keep doing the same thing, hoping it will yield different results.  Every week, same small talk, same “Good sermon,” same “See you next week.”  If there’s no fruit, isn’t it time for change?  I recently heard someone say, “Your organisation is perfectly designed for producing the results you’re experiencing right now.”  It may be time for a serious shift.

Chan then goes on to talk about the clergy/laity divide, the 80-20 rule (80% of everything is done by 20% of the people) and the need to create space and time for everyone to participate.  It’s worth reading, but we need to ask ourselves some hard questions about what we currently do, where we want our people and congregations to be and how we need to change to get them there.