There’s dirty work to be done if a church is growing,” said Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church, Pensacola, Fla.
Traylor began with Proverbs 14:4 — “Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.”
Traylor them read the commentary at the bottom of his Bible — if there is milk, there must be manure.
To get the “milk” of church growth, one has to be prepared to shovel manure.
Just as the church did in Acts 11:19, he said, “It is time to go into those dirty mangers … and grab a shovel and do some dirty work.”
“Dirty work” in the church involved four issues, Traylor said.
First, dirty work involves receiving new members. This includes receiving people generationally, racially and culturally.
Traylor encouraged the attitude “whoever God redeems, I must receive.”
Receiving new members generationally means both the older receiving the younger and the younger receiving the older.
“ ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’ is still a praise song,” Traylor noted. On the other hand, Traylor said people should be able to gather and sing about Jesus — even if accompanied by bongo drums.
In his discussion of receiving members racially, Traylor noted there are 1.6 million interracial couples in America.
“If your’re not honest enough to say you struggle, friend, you’ll never shovel and grow a church,” he said.
Mentioning receiving new members culturally, Traylor told of a few of his members, “Navy boys,” who are struggling with the idea of Jane Fonda becoming a Christian. To grow churches, people must be willing to overcome cultural obstacles such as this.
“Grab a shovel,” members of the congregation responded.
Second, he said, dirty work involves following new leaders.
“Let the pastor be the pastor and the deacon be the deacon and join hands and go forward and do the service of God that He’s called us to do,” he said.
Instead of bickering, pastors and deacons should be praying for the Lord’s annointing on His work.
This “can be done through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, …but there’s going to have to be some shoveling done,” Traylor said.
The third element of dirty work a church must do to be growing is developing new disciples, just as Saul and Barnabas were willing to do in verse 26.
Traylor suggested people ask themselves “Who have I poured my life into?”
The final action Traylor suggested for a growing church is sponsoring new churches. “Grab a shovel,” he said to those who are leery of starting churches because they don’t want to lose faithful members of the mother church.
“Denominations don’t start new churches,” he said. “Churches start new churches.”
John Morgan, pastor of Sagemont Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, discussed the effective way of doing nothing. He based his two-part message on Matthew 5 when Jesus sat down on the mountain.
According to Morgan, doing nothing is necessary at times in ministry. “What does it profit us if we win the whole world but lose our families?” Morgan asked, noting that successes in ministry is for self to decrease and God to increase.
“Too many of us are trying to do God’s work,” he said. “Let God do God’s work.”
“I didn’t call you to do My work,” Morgan said what he thought God was saying. “I called you to do what I say.”
The way, Morgan said, of doing nothing effectively is to let God be God. Morgan reminded the people God had no help at creation or on the cross and He was alone in the tomb, at His resurrection and at His ascension.
“What wears us out,” he said, “is trying to do in the flesh what only God can do.
“Let us let go of the flesh and humble ourselves in the sight of God. And in due time, we’ll be exalted,” Morgan continued.
Morgan also noted two promises from God that come with His calling — He will provide a people and He will provide a place.
Share with others: