Leading from a Cramped Position
Larry Osborne
Being cramped is a part of ministry at every turn, at every level of growth—and probably at every church.
—Larry Osborne When I first came to North Coast, the walls of the "sanctuary" were not lined with stained glass. They were spotted with the remains of innumerable food fights. While we rented the facility on Sundays, Monday through Friday it served another function: lunchroom for the local high school. Obviously, it wasn't an ambiance that lent itself to traditional worship. One Sunday, a dog wandered up the aisle in the middle of my sermon, nuzzling and sniffing at the faithful. Another Sunday, a boisterous gang of adolescent skateboarders decided to show off their skills right outside a row of large Plexiglas windows. On top of that, I had taken a cut in pay from my previous salary as a youth pastor in a large suburban church. As the new pastor of a fledgling church plant, I no longer had at my disposal a secretary, copy machine, or many of the other trappings of civilized ministry. Instead, my new office was a refurbished garage with a beat-up desk that my previous church had given me as an act of charity. After a quick start (we jumped from 120 to 150 in a few weeks), we leveled off. It soon became obvious that ministry from a cramped position would not be a short-term aberration but a long-term way of life. As a twenty-eight-year-old rookie pastor, I had two choices: adjust or quit. I chose to adjust, all the time thinking that if I hung in there long enough, the day would finally come when ministry from a cramped position with significantly limited resources would be a thing of the past. That day never came. I've since discovered that there is no time in ministry when something doesn't hinder ministry. Today we have ...
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