Corporate Church?

After reading an article regarding the impact that corporate America is having on the leadership style and structure of American churches I thought I would share a few of my thoughts. Let me attempt to address how the church should be similar and how the church should be different from the corporate world.

Successful corporations in America have a few things in common. One of the common denominators is an effective organizational structure. In these corporations there are clearly defined roles and responsibilities with a chain of command that must be followed. Corporations that cease to define job positions and hierarchy tend to implode from within.

The early church continued to grow because they organized deacons in Acts 6 to meet needs that were otherwise being neglected. This leadership decision by the Apostles proved to be an effective model of church organization. The principle from Scripture is simple. As a pastor I can't do everything so I must learn to delegate responsibility to other leaders within the church.

As a pastor I'm also commanded in Ephesians 4:11-13 to raise up leaders and equip them for service. If I'm not doing that then I'm neglecting a spiritual trust that God has given to me. Delegation is a must in spiritual leadership. This is one reason why churches need to have clearly defined leadership structures.

Can this go to far? I think so and here's why. First of all, leadership and organizational principles didn't originate with corporate America. God outlined these principles in the Bible. We endanger ourselves when we try to copy and recreate the corporate leadership mentality that succeeds in businesses within our churches.

Churches need structure and organization, but churches are not primarily businesses. Some aspects of ministry are better described as administry, which means that business administration is necessary to some extent. However, the church is a living organism as much as it is an organization. We can't compare and copy everything that works in business and expect it to translate and work in our churches.

To go a step further, what works in a business that also works in church did not originate with business. These principles originated with God. The life of Jesus should be the leadership we strive to emulate. The functionality of the early church should be the example for our modern day churches. The Book of Acts should serve as our guideline for effectiveness.

If we neglect these truths at the expense of copying the business world then we should expect the results that corporate America promises to us. Backstabbing, situational ethics, survival of the fittest, etc. Are these the kingdom results we desire? If not, then we need to stop trying to create corporate churches and start building kingdom churches!

Just my thoughts...