Priorities & Pacing Spring 1991

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A friend asked me about the church where he had just been invited to candidate. "I don't want to get stuck in a maintenance ministry," he said.

I cringed, as I had when hearing similar remarks on other occasions.

At seminary, I overheard student pastors complain that the churches they served offered nothing but "maintenance ministry." They meant the congregation was composed primarily of elderly people and showed little potential for numerical growth. Ministry there seemed to mean perpetuating the status quo, marrying and (mostly) burying. Pastors marked time until something better came along.

Later I heard a denominational executive entice pastors to consider church planting by offering them "more than mediocrity and maintenance." He implied that pastors face two options: significance or maintenance.

Yet maintenance, by definition, is "upkeep, support." To maintain means "to keep in a certain condition or position, especially of efficiency and good repair." That sounds good to me.

In most areas of life, we applaud maintenance. I take my car to a mechanic to maintain it; I want it to run well. I maintain my house, performing minor repairs and upkeep to keep it from deteriorating.

We also try to maintain skills we have learned. Anyone who plays a musical instrument, for instance, knows that practice is necessary to maintain your level of expertise. The same is true of the ability to speak a foreign language; you use it or lose it.

I also want to maintain a close relationship with my wife. This requires time and energy. To neglect my wife, ignoring her needs to pursue "more visionary goals" would seriously weaken our relationship.

The same principle applies in the church. To maintain spiritual vitality requires time and energy.

So ...

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