It has become increasingly more the norm and a survival decision that banks, investment firms, insurance companies and corporate entities in general are finding it necessary to merge in order to survive. I am probably the most surprised with the need for Wachovia Bank to find partnership simply to stay alive, knowing its historical significance and practices have always been on the conservative side. Though Wells Fargo has bought them out the CEO of Wells stated this is more a merger than a buyout.
Well, everyone seems to be able to discern the significance of this need but the church of God. Please hear me out, don't shut me down until I make my claim. I am not necessarily talking about the dissolution of any ones local church, though in some instances that makes sense also, but we should at least give some credence to the fact that we need to make some changes in the way we do business.....kingdom business! That is truly the operative word here, the kingdom, because if one is still doing church as usual then this article has already offended you. We claim we understand the Body of Christ and its significance in all of us being interdependent and interconnected but yet we don't pool our resources to accomplish the GREATER goals we all say we embrace. My challenge in this principle is that this being done would never have to impede or interfere with any local church vision. I believe that most of us in ministry are simply trying to build our own kingdoms when the Kingdom of God should be our primary and only focus. We have so much world that we need to conquer and win for Jesus, so few laborers and even fewer resources both time, talent and treasure to pull from.
Kingdom people let us not fall into this selfishness that keeps us in pursuit of those things that bring us glory and none to GOD......let's merge in anyway we can to get done corporately, what I'm sure we can get done alone but my question is simply....WHY??
1 comment:
Mergers of businesses take place as a necessity to survive and remain economically viable in a flawed world system which competitors strive to be either the "biggest and baddest on the block" or the "last man standing". If bank mergers say anything to the church, it should be that any house of worship operating under a flawed set of principles is doomed to collapse.
The church, unlike a business, is not an entity competing to be economically viable; its' backing is God Himself, not the SEC or the FDIC. Unfortunately, The infusion of world principles into the operations management plan of various houses of worship have the equivalent effect of "adding a little leaven, thus spoiling the whole loaf"; the leaven comes in the form of an "empire mentality" - to seize, command and conquer as much territory as possible, for the same reasons outlined above, as well as bragging rights. This is evident in the turf/territorial warfare that takes place between competing houses of worship in numerous regions. Need I point out the number of houses of worship that can be found within one city block of each other in any major city?
Sadly, kingdom development has effectively been usurped by empire building. There is no such thing as a "benevolent empire", no matter how prominent the words "Soli Deo Gloria" hangs from the rafters of that house of worship; the delusion that everything is done "to the glory and honor of God." it truthfully efforts toward creation of miniature Babylon. Unfortunately, it is this mentality which acts as a stumbling block to the cooperative spirit of the church, and hinders the efforts of the church in fulfilling the Great Commission - the true purpose of the church.
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