BULLISH ON EVANGELISM
Investing in outreach can pay off, even when market conditions aren't favorable. But you need a strategy.
Calvin C. Ratz
July 1, 1989
A recent ad by the Canadian investment firm Nesbitt Simpson featured this line: "Anyone can ride a bull, but it takes discipline to dance with a bear."
That's true, as any recent investor knows. When a "bull market" is surging ahead, as it was through the early 1980s, everyone makes money. But when it's a declining "bear market," that's not the case.
Pastoring has its equivalent. A friend, who'd never experienced significant growth of the churches he'd pastored, has suddenly enjoyed a spurt of numerical growth. "I'm not doing anything different," he claims, "but all of a sudden our congregation is expanding rapidly." That pastor is riding a bull market.
The fact is, several other churches in his community are experiencing similar growth. The demographics of his community, the subculture of his congregation, and an influx of transferees have all coalesced to nearly double his congregation in a couple of years. It has revitalized his church.
Many of us, however, are in a bear market. We work hard for every convert. We struggle to maintain our gains. It takes discipline to dance with a bear-the discipline of developing a long-range strategy and a balanced philosophy of ministry. The discipline of rejecting passing fads and apparent quick fixes. The discipline of developing personal character and integrity.
I began at my present church almost seven years ago. For the most part, I've danced with a bear. Growth has been neither automatic nor easy. In the process, I've had to come to grips with my approach to ministry and discover how to direct the church's spiritual energy toward evangelism, when for years it's been comfortable with the status quo.
One Sunday morning, shortly after arriving, I asked the congregation of about six hundred ...
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