the end of an era?

last night Boon had a meeting with various members of the Strikeforce to pass the motion (hahaha) that.. hehz, well, i'll keep it under wraps for now. but basically things won't quite be the same, which came as something as a shock to most of us. anyway most of us were in agreement with Boon's proposal, for a variety of reasons. but some interesting comments..

Perception of the Strikeforce from the viewpoint of church members hasn't been too positive. Somehow many pple still have the idea that ministry means serving on sat or sun in some part of the church, catering to the needs of the church, and doing "church" things. usher, children's church worker, musician, choir member, tv crew, sound crew, attributes, etc.. and they wonder why strikeforce has practice every sunday at riverwalk, but we never perform in church. they ask me, actually what is strikeforce all about, what do you do? how can a group that performs outside of church be considered ministry? how can you be paid? how do you know you're not doing it for the money and not for God? questions from church pple and even non-church pple.

which brings me back to the cultural mandate. to penetrate the marketplace, to be salt and light of the world.

is a Christian businessman who runs a sucessful big company considered as serving in a ministry? is he serving God when he's at his office or at a meeting or having agolf game with clients?

ministry is ministering to others, being a servant, a worker, so that others may enjoy your service and be ministered to. like what pastor kong always says, a Minister is a civil servant, they are there to serve us, not their own needs.

and yet they are paid hundreds of thousands for their service. they justify the salary for good results.

then pple will say ministry should be done out of love for God and not materialistic gains, you should serve without any gains.

to these pple, i ask them, then why not go an quit your job n work full time in church for zero salary? is that what ministry really is? serving at the expense of yourself for the benefit of others?

i think pple don't really understand how deep and wide the cultural mandate goes. they should all go n read Peter Wagner's book, the church in the workplace. by "they", i mean especially cell group leaders.

even yujie n rosa (two very spiritually mature close friends of mine who are business pple, have led or helped cell groups, led ministries, and worked with Pst Tan and other ZS closely before) have comments on the standard of cell group leaders now. but that's beside the point n for another blog entry.

the marketplace ministry simply means this: by excelling in whatever you're doing that's outside of the church and blessing others with your gifts, talents and abilities, you are glorifying God and serving His will, by impacting the people around you in a godly manner.

you're NOT out there to declare you're a christian first, n then try to find ways to hook them to come to church or seduce or force them to attend bible study or cell group or church service. pastor kong said himself, when we help pple, its with no strings attached, no ulterior motive to convert them or force God down their throat.

if u excel in your job n your family n whatever you do, pple will naturally be drawn to you and then you tell them the secret of your success, God!