Let the Spirit Lead Your Church

Whitney Hopler

Editor's Note: The following is a report on the practical applications of Craig Van Gelder's new book, The Ministry of the Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit, (Baker Books, 2007).

You can work your hardest to try to make your church successful, but your best efforts won’t lead anywhere if you’re not leading the church where the Holy Spirit wants it to go. The Spirit has a particular mission for your church, and it’s only when you discover and follow it that your church can grow the way God intends.

Here’s how you can let the Holy Spirit to lead your church:

Focus on God’s plans rather than your own. Recognize that your church should be a vital part of God’s ongoing work in the world. Don’t waste time or energy pursuing activities that, while good, aren’t clearly what God is leading your church to do. Always start with an awareness of God’s redemptive work in the world; then consider how He might want your church to be a part of that. Ask two key questions: “What is God doing?” and “What does God want to do?”. Never let your church’s functions become ends in themselves. Remember that congregations are ultimately created by the Spirit, and their purpose is to engage the world in bringing God’s redemptive work in Christ to bear on every dimension of life.

Understand the Spirit’s ministry. Get to know the different ways the Holy Spirit works in the Bible, such as: demonstrating God’s creative power, affirming God’s intention for His creation that all life might flourish, confronting principalities and powers and restraining evil, reconnecting people and restoring community by helping them clearly understand their identity as God’s people, empowering people with gifts and abilities, empowering leadership to guide faith communities into redemptive action, extending mercy and establishing justice, and engaging the world.

Embrace change. Realize that the contexts in which your church performs its ministry is constantly changing. Rather than resisting change, accept and ex

pect it. Regularly seek the Spirit’s guidance to adapt well to the changes your church encounters. Know that a healthy church will always be reforming. Anticipate new insights into the Gospel, and expect that the people you reach with the Gospel will change your church after they join, making the congregation constantly dynamic.  Expect surprises, interruptions, and disruptions as the Spirit works in your midst, but remember that the ultimate result will always be good – lives transformed for the better.