Stewards, Shepherds or Partners?

In many churches today, a curious contradiction exists: while leaders may rent out their halls for profit, they hesitate to partner with other believers in outreach efforts within their communities. The deeper issue at stake is how we evaluate good stewardship and what value we place on collaboration in the body of Christ.

When organizing evangelistic healing services we have witnessed the same strange situation a number of times: a church that is happy to rent their hall or kindly make it available free of charge, but that does not want to promote the event to their own people. So people come from everywhere — except the local congregation.

This isn’t just a behind-the-scenes detail pertaining to one event. It is something that happens everywhere, and it reveals a deep problem in some parts of the body of Christ. Why are some churches willing to make money from letting out their halls or support a parachurch ministry by sharing their building, but unwilling to work together with other believers to reach their own community?

Managers with tunnel vision versus healing blind eyes

By the grace of God, we have seen blind eyes open, the lame walk, the deaf hear and many put their faith in Christ. You might assume that every church would want their people to hear such faith building testimonies or even receive their own miracle. But unfortunately the reality is quite different.

In some specific cases, my associates met with those approving the rental of the building to try and get them excited about the event itself. I have even offered to personally meet with pastors and decision-makers to build trust. I want to assure them that we are not there to steal sheep. We want to bless their congregation and help them grow the Kingdom of God in their town.

On one mission trip, we had a confirmed booking of a church building for a weekend conference. We were told we could use the hall because the Pastor was on holiday. But on Saturday lunchtime, I was told the booking was being revoked. They wanted to do Sunday service as normal. We had no alternative than to make other arrangements. So like the master whose guests did not come to the wedding, we went to the highways and byways (Luke 14:15–24). We rented a school bus and went to a church in a remote village. There one blind man and several partially blind ladies received their sight. You can see this documented in our first “Called+Empowered” film.

In this case, while saddened by the fact that the town church missed their blessing, I put it down to the sovereignty of God and his prepared works. But we can’t always assume that every human decision reflects a mysterious divine plan. Often, pastors, leaders or hall managers simply resist the will of God and fail to align with his vision for their people and their region.

Heart searching – stewardship of what?

Clearly, organizations rent buildings to outsiders because they want to be good stewards of the property. But what about being good stewards of the souls entrusted to us? How do we measure that? If we are more than happy to collect the rent money but don’t really want people from our congregation to attend an event, then we are showing that we care more about money than about the content of the event. What does that tell us about our values or faith level?

Perhaps people who refuse to collaborate with other ministries are simply overly conscious of the fact that we all have limited time and attention spans. People cannot attend innumerable events. We all need to decide what invitations to follow and what to ignore. But when a church is renting out its hall for an evangelistic healing service and does not want to promote the event to the congregation, then I can’t help wondering what fears are at work.

• Are we afraid our people are too immature to manage their own time? As leaders, our role should be to raise mature believers who can make their own Spirit-led decisions.

• Are we afraid they might skip Sunday morning service if they hear the Word of God on Friday night? When people experience the presence of God in our meetings they are usually more passionate about getting involved in their local church.

• Are we afraid of disappointment — that if someone doesn’t get healed, we’ll have to answer hard questions? Do you tell your people not to invite friends to church because they might not give their lives to Jesus? Of course not. We share the Gospel boldly, trusting the Spirit to do His work. Healing ministry is no different. We must sow boldly and trust God for the results.

A Body, Not a Business

The Bible calls the Church the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12–27). Every part is connected to the others. If the toe says it doesn’t need the hand, the body suffers. If the eye says it has no need of the foot, the body is incomplete. This vision cannot be limited to a single congregation. The body of Christ was not meant to be one local church, one denomination or one ministry. It stretches across cities, nations and denominations and is comprised of everyone who has been born again of water and the spirit.

“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”
(1 Corinthians 12:26)

When we refuse to truly partner with Spirit-filled ministries that God is raising up, we are like a hand saying it has no need of the feet. If we actually attack other members of the body, then we are the spiritual equivalent of a an auto-immune disease. And if we want our ministry to grow and don’t care about the healthy growth of other ministries we are the spiritual equivalent of a cancer.

Led by the Spirit – Not the Law

Recently, a young leader in a church where I will be speaking later this year wanted to promote an evangelistic healing service event to the congregation. But his superiors told him that this will not be permitted “on principle.” He was told that they want to treat all external event organizers equally and promote none of them. In other words, this young leader was being taught to run the church by rigid rules as opposed to the leading of the Spirit.

“The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
(2 Corinthians 3:6)

A “one-size-fits-all” policy is certainly simpler to manage but it contradicts the essence of Christian life: it is like communism and not Christianity. In the early church, the rules weren’t the same for everyone. In the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1–16) Jesus establishes the principle that human ideas of what is fair are not important in the Kingdom of God. The Master decides how to invest his resources. The Apostles distributed differently to different people according to the need in each situation and not according to inflexible rules.

“All the believers were one in heart and mind.
No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own,
but they shared everything they had …
and it was distributed to anyone according to their need.”
(Acts 4:34–35)

They lived not by rigid policies but by the Spirit, responding to each need as it arose. Buildings, money, time — all were stewarded for the advancement of the Kingdom, not for the protection of human systems.

If we want to see the miraculous works of Christ flow, we must align ourselves with the Spirit. The Spirit is like the wind — it blows where it wills (John 3:8). We cannot control Him. We can only discern and follow.

If God has anointed a para-church ministry or missionary/apostle/evangelist with a gift of healing, if He has raised up a ministry to bless and complement others — who are we to block it? The people of Nazareth missed out on miracles because they rejected the one God had sent.

“He could not do many miracles there
because of their unbelief.”
(Mark 6:5–6)

They thought they knew better. They were self-sufficient — and they stayed sick.

A Prophetic Call

When the church operates with human principles like a business, it can potentially be as successful as any well run corporation. While the marketplace for time and attention is fiercely competitive nothing beats the alternative: a body of believers who are led by the Spirit of God, able to do the works of Christ and able to release his power through faith and cooperation across human boundaries.

• Let’s stop renting our buildings merely for money.
• Let’s stop thinking of our church or denomination as self-sufficient.
• Let’s start partnering with one another to release the fullness of the Kingdom.
• Let’s discern the Spirit, honor His gifts, and flow together for the glory of God.
• Let’s be one body, moved by one Spirit, working together to fulfill the Great Commission:

Let’s partner to help people get free and healed for His glory.