It was a cold, gray Illinois day in early spring. After some cordial greetings, the interrogation began.
“Can you tell us why the attendance is down?” I said “No.”
“Can you tell us why the offerings are down?” I said “No.”
“We know why you took the attendance board down. You didn’t want us to see everything dropping. Furthermore, you have turned our church in to a Catholic Holy-Roller church.”
This was deduced from the open testimonies coupled with the new praise chorus we learned. People were now praising joyfully. I had taken the attendance board down because nearly every week I heard members of the choir making so many comments about the attendance. If we were up a little, they were elated. If we were down, they were deflated. I just really thought the focus should be on Jesus at least for the Sunday morning worship.
Everyone sat in awkward silence. Feeling like I should say something to account for the sagging attendance and offering, I began to query.
“Have I been immoral?” They said, “No, not that we know of.”
“Have I mishandled any money?” They said “No.”
“Have I preached the Word? “Yes.”
“Have I loved the people?” “Yes.”
After a long pause and silence, God game me these words. “I don’t know what the actual problem is. I don’t have the answers. All I can say is, it’s not my church. It belongs to Jesus.”
When I said that, it seemed like a gentle breeze blew into the room. We all seemed relieved that somehow we were beginning to recognize Jesus as the Owner and the Builder of His church. It was a definite turning point in our ministry. For the next 18 years, we became “underservants” together, cooperating with Jesus as He worked. At the core, we moved from being owners to being stewards. The strangle-hold of human pride is broken when Jesus alone is embraced as the Head of the church. It was a life-changing moment for our leadership. We never looked back from there.