Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Feb/96

Contributor - Jim Moerman

Title - Songs For The Bride

Topic - Outreach

Taped to my desk is a beat-up piece of paper with the unusual words (unusual for city-folk) 'Now that the combine's been greased, let's get out in the field!'

Man oh man, I hate meetings that don't produce. At home, I've got a wife who loves me, a quiver almost full of kids (who usually love me), a warm pair of slippers, and a coffee pot that just won't quit. Who wants to trade that comfort and joy in order to sit at a meeting that drones on and on about maintenance questions and issues? "Now, when's the next meeting and who's bringing the Tim-bits?". . . "These minutes need correcting!". . . 'Who seconded that motion?' - . . 'Did that previous action follow the proper procedure?' . . . "Who's the next delegate to that meeting going to be?'

Now don't get me wrong, these C.G.S.'s (Combine-Greasing Statements) are necessary, but only insofar as they lead to production. The reason we grease the combine is in order to get out into the field and do some work! And the reason we deal with maintenance issues is in order to help us do the work at hand.

The work at hand. Say, what was the work at hand at the meeting you attended earlier this week, anyways? If you took a black marker to the agenda and crossed out everything that could be classified as "maintenance,' what would be left? Makes me want to say Hmmmmmm.

Most farmers don't like greasing their combines. OK, maybe a few of them do, but for the most part, it's a wearisome, joyless task. But when that combine's ready and the farmers bust into them fields with engines screaming, you should see their faces light up as the corn (soybeans, wheat, barley) comes pouring into the hopper. I mean, that's why farmer's grease their combines in the first place!

Paradigm shift. If I was a betting man, I'd wager that most Christians don't like maintenance issues dominating their meetings either. (Oh the joy of being a clerk. NOT.) Maintenance glorification is a surefire way of stealing all the fun out of a good, Spirit-filled meeting.

But if we take maintenance out of the driver's seat, what's left? Well, time to focus on production, for one thing. And time to figure out what barriers need to be removed in order to glorify God better. And time to work on fulfilling your group's mission statement.

How does the ministry you serve need to expand? If you didn't have to focus on maintenance and problem-solving, what would you focus on? What does the Great Commission mean in your particular context? What is the next phase in your ministries' life and mission? The answers to those questions is what it means for-your group to get out into the field.

Every church, every ministry, every Christian desperately needs to have a challenge that is bigger than they are, a challenge that requires greater energy than they possess, a dream that makes them strive, drive, and, ultimately, thrive! It is healthy and necessary to reach for something that exceeds our grasp. Come to think of it, that's exactly what the heyday of the developing Reformed Church in Canada was like in the 1950's a bunch of new immigrants with no money but lots of desire to reach for something beyond their grasp-the establishment of a church for their families to serve their God.

Heaven help us if the dreamers and reachers are denied today.

We can't afford to sit back and revel in the accomplishments of the first generation of immigrants, just passing time, doing maintenance work, greasing the combine.

Being part of The Church is a great venture. The purpose of The Church is to march forward, not march in place. Even at my tender age, I start to get worry lines when I see a church meticulously greasing itself in the shop but giving no thought to the fields around it and what it would mean to produce some more.

Where would we be today if Luther and Calvin and Knox were combine greasers instead of combine pilots? Christ Himself was a producer and insists that we produce as well. He said "Go ye therefore and make disciples!" The Apostles were sitting around in the Upper Room in a let's-maintain-what-we've-got attitude until the Holy Spirit blew into town and empowered them to start producing.

The Holy Spirit has not been retracted. He's blowing today, calling us to produce.

The healthiest of churches, the healthiest of ministries, the healthiest of denominations are those that are reaching, striving, and pressing on toward something. They are in the fields, producing something definable. They are purposeful and intentional about what they're doing, striving to fulfill their mission statement.

Without a goal, a cause, a purpose, even trained hunting dogs will simply turn on one another. So will farmers.

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