Here’s a question I have been wrestling with for years. How do we sustain a culture of wholehearted discipleship without people feeling unhealthy pressure? As you have said in your Ezekiel series, you are observing more and more apathy in many churches. Freedom can be abused, giving way to complacency. At the same time, I personally still feel the pressure of expectations that make me acutely uncomfortable. Others have told me they feel something similar. Yet we don’t want to open the door to more complacency! Thanks for your fight for us to have a great foundation of biblical knowledge! I know you work hard toward this end. How would you answer my question? — K.W.

First off, let me say that I wish I myself better knew how to strike the balance! But I will give it a go.

Yes, I have observed apathy and listlessness in my global travels (but also, at times, seen great faith). Some ministries are growing—but at the cost of a high degree of hierarchy and control. This is hardly growing in the grace of our Lord Jesus (2 Pet 3:18)! There may be excitement, but there are also rampant misconceptions about God’s love (sad), along with a performance mentality. It is thought that truly spiritual people “go into the ministry”—as though staff positions were the ultimate in godliness, or as though non-staff are not in the ministry!

The leadership model is in serious need of reform. Here are a few suggestions, in the order in which they came to mind. Most of these are in my little book, Ezekiel: Calling Out the People of God, which you referred to.

  • Get rid of clergy / laity, “in the ministry” / “not in the ministry” mindset and accompanying lingo. Clergy / laity is the first false doctrine Joey Harris and I slam in our book Informed: Destructive Interpretations of Scripture.
  • Stop relying on staff to move the church. All our churches are filled with men and women who can make small groups work!
  • Expect all members to be involved, and give them permission (in advance) for (most of) their ministry initiatives.
  • Stop trying to move the ministry by authority (my talk “Lording it over others” is relevant).,
  • Don't pressure fellow Christians to evangelize. Let their sharing be the natural overflow of their walk with God.
  • Where it still exists, jettison heavy-handed accountability.
  • Simplify the “study series.” Few “hoops,” more of a Christ-centered focus, preaching him, not the church (2 Cor 4:5).
  • Leaders, be more honest about how many members your church has. (Maybe stop counting children in the Sunday total?)
  • Focus on small groups. I personally prefer small group discipling to 1:1 discipling. That is, either a small group (5-6 people max?) or else perhaps 3. That’s because 1-over-1 becomes abusive very quickly, esp. when new converts are thrust into leadership.
  • Less is more. We can no more force the church to be healthy through pressure than we can make ourselves taller by walking on tiptoe or inserting wedges into our shoes!
  • Strive for a high-trust, low-control culture — not a low-trust, high-control culture.