Church = Hospital
had a heated debate with a brother in church recently on the notion: the local church shld take pre-eminence in the work of God. that was his stand. i m the opposition with my stand: the local church & parachurch shld work in a balanced partnership.
as i discussed with james Z, i thot of this analogy which can help explain the purpose of local church & parachurch in the kingdom of God.
the universal church of Christ can be seen as a general hospital. the local church is like the wards or GPs who are there to heal the wounded & sick back to health while the parachurches are specialists, who specialized in the various areas: sec/JC & tertiary student ministries, workplace ministries etc. there is no dichotomy in this. a hospital cannot function fully as a hospital if its ward decided to pull away & be independent, neither is it a GH if all their specialists open their private clinics & surgery.
"On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" (Matt 9:12)
i m saddened by the immaturity of the leaders of some local churches who claim that only the local church is a church & is the church of Christ. they have failed to see that there is a place for God's work to be done by parachurches in places that a local church can never go in.
Father, awake Your church leaders that they may also see the purpose of Your work in the various specialized ministries. may Your children see the need for such ministries that they may give the support for Your work there...
as i discussed with james Z, i thot of this analogy which can help explain the purpose of local church & parachurch in the kingdom of God.
the universal church of Christ can be seen as a general hospital. the local church is like the wards or GPs who are there to heal the wounded & sick back to health while the parachurches are specialists, who specialized in the various areas: sec/JC & tertiary student ministries, workplace ministries etc. there is no dichotomy in this. a hospital cannot function fully as a hospital if its ward decided to pull away & be independent, neither is it a GH if all their specialists open their private clinics & surgery.
"On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" (Matt 9:12)
i m saddened by the immaturity of the leaders of some local churches who claim that only the local church is a church & is the church of Christ. they have failed to see that there is a place for God's work to be done by parachurches in places that a local church can never go in.
Father, awake Your church leaders that they may also see the purpose of Your work in the various specialized ministries. may Your children see the need for such ministries that they may give the support for Your work there...
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home