Jesus changed the lives of thousands of young people in the 1960’s
and early 1970’s. I don’t know if Jesus had a name for what He did,
but that doesn’t matter, we named it for Him. as we always do. We called
it the "Jesus People Movement". Actually, I like the name. It
states clearly who we were. There are many Christians going strong today
because of what Jesus did for them back then, and I’m one of them.
This movement spread to our small city of Belleville, Ontario, Canada
where I found myself right in the midst of things. I could tell many
stories about those days. Someday I’ll tell you how I got kicked in the
head while witnessing. I literally flew over a table in our local Jesus
coffee house, landing on the floor, only to be kicked again. Great days
they were.
One thing I liked about those days was that our priority was to preach,
teach, talk about, and demonstrate our Lord Jesus Christ in whatever way
we could. It was all about Jesus and not about us.
Half way through the 1970’s the Charismatic Movement, of which the
Jesus People Movement was part of, split into a few different directions.
This is something else we like doing, that is splitting into different
directions. One of these directions was called the Shepherding Movement.
Don’t we love our nametags. One basic tenet of this movement was to
encourage all those involved to be shepherds, (or pastors – same thing)
who would care for others "under them". We seem to like putting
people "under us". Maybe it makes us feel important. This
movement also came to our small city and I found myself right in the midst
of it as well.
I gave myself to this movement although there were things I did not
agree with. One thing I didn’t agree with was the idea that we all
needed to shepherd others. A close look at the New Testament tells us that
not all Christians are to be shepherds or pastors – two different words
for the same job. There were many trying to shepherd people who had no
right to do so because that was not their calling. As a result they did
more harm than good. I’ve got some stories about that too. Maybe some
day I’ll tell you about the time I got rebuked by my shepherd for not
buying him some milk.
Anyway, one big difference between the Jesus People Movement and the
Shepherding Movement from my perspective was that we preached, spoke and
song about Jesus in the Jesus People Movement. Not so in the Shepherding
Movement, at least as I saw it. In the Shepherding Movement we preached
"our style of doing church". I actually found myself witnessing
to non-Christians about our church structure, as if our church could save
them. I wasn’t the only guilty one on this count. I know others that
would confess the same sin. I could tell you their names, but confessing
other people’s sins isn’t really a New Testament practice.
This leads me to the point of my article. After seriously studying the
Apostle Paul for a couple years straight, I don’t think Paul’s gospel
was a gospel of church. Let me say it clearly. Paul would not be a fan of
the Church Growth Movement, or so I believe. Paul’s motivation in life
was not to build the church, but to spread the news of Jesus crucified,
risen, and ascended into Heaven as Lord. Paul was more interested in
bringing people to Jesus than promoting a certain brand of church life.
I believe today we need the same emphasis that Paul had. I don’t
think we have his emphases for the most part in our society. We tend to be
church builders instead of soul savers. We are more interested in
promoting and growing our version of church life than bringing people to
Jesus through His gospel. I think of this in computer terms. We look for
the newest version of church growth – Church Growth, version 4.2 –
download from the web or buy the CD version.
Yes, Paul had lots to say about the church, and I’d wish we’d
listen to him on those points too, but that was secondary. If there were
sufficient people getting saved in a certain locality he’d appoint
elders (shepherds/pastors) to care for these people. The elders weren’t
there to grow the church but help the individuals in the church to grow.
They didn’t have people under them. They walk alongside those they
served and cared for.
I say amen to those in the Jesus People Movement, and those like them
today who promote Jesus over their brand of church life. In light of this,
we might want to rethink what the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is all
about. Do we promote and spend our efforts on the gospel of Jesus, or the
gospel of our church?