When my daughter Kayla was a baby, we had a certain kind of organization to the schedule: when she napped, when she got fed, who was home with her when, how to get Jess naps, etc.

But as Kayla grew and began crawling and eating food, the organization changed. Gates needed to be put up near the stairs, food needed to be blended.

Now we have three kids at various stages of life and each one has various needs --  soccer and school and friends for the older two, dapers and naps and feedings for the baby --  and managing all that requires new forms of organization and systems in our household.  

We organize in order to support their growth, not the other way around. We didn’t tell Kayla that we’ve always fed her breast milk so she just has to keep drinking it, or that it’s easiest to keep her in the crib so she has to stay in there; no, the systems and organizing supports her growth, not the other way around. 

Same goes with churches, which are complex living organisms. 

True Life Church is in a season where we will be bringing in new forms of organization and structures and systems to support its mission and growth. You will hear about them over the next few months. The purpose of this blog is not to lay those changes out, but to simply explain a principle when it comes to organization and structures: 

The organization must support the Church's mission, not the other way around.

Another way to think about it is in terms of historical movements. Anything that had successful movement -- like the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s - required organization as it grew. But the purpose of the organization was to keep the movement going. 

Where churches run into danger is when the organization becomes sacred, and now the mission of the church is to protect the organization.

That is when churches become institutions. 

This is where we think and say things like, "This is how we’ve always done it....Bill has always been in charge of men's ministry....Sally-Mae would be offended if we got rid of this ministry...." This is when we sacrifice mission money in order to patch up a hole in the roof of our sacred building. This is when titles become badges of honor instead of dileneation of responsiblities. 

This is not what we want. 

But we don't want to be afraid of organization, either.

Just because there is potential for the above abuses and perversions, just because some churches have become institutionalized, doesn't mean we should avoid adding systems and structures where they are needed. If a movement is not organizized for more movement, then the movement gets chaotic and nobody knows where they are going, and it can't multiply as it should. 

As more and more people jumped into the civil rights movement, there required more and more organization (trainings for students who would be doing sit-ins, strategies for marches, prioritizing of goals), but the organization lead to more and more movement. 

Again, we need to add more organization to our church in different ways that you will hear more about in future months.

Here’s what I can promise you: 

1. Some of you will feel we’re not organized enough, and others will think we’re getting too organized. 
2. The intention of the organization, as long as I’m here, will be for the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ -- even if that means me stepping down or stepping aside for a better pastor or leader (don't read into this, just saying everything has to be on the table). 
3. Whatever structures are put in place at True Life will be imperfect. And since everything in the bible has the potential for abuse, there will always be at least a few people whose old church wounds will be triggered no matter what we do. 
4. But we will not be led by fear. Because even though I can't promise that every decision will work out the way it is intended to, we can trust that God will still be sovereign, he will still be faithful to us, and he will still cause all things to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). 

So before you hear about specific changes, let the above sink in.