Maturing Church
Ordained Leadership
Indigenous leadership is critical for the development and maturity of the church. Leaders will function to equip, protect, discipline, model, ordain, oversee outreach, literacy, pray for sick, perform church functions, teach and instruct the church etc. Many western missionaries in the past have prioritized their timeline over the biblical standards for elders and deacons and as a consequence the church has suffered as the biblical mandate was not upheld. We do not seek to impose our timeline or lower the biblical expectations of leaders. The first Leaders will be ordained by the missionaries and then by existing leaders after that. The church must have an understanding of what these shepherds are intended to look like, and that it will require much teaching and time given for God to work in the hearts of men to see elder-like qualities developed in their personal life, family life and community life.
Functioning Body
Another aspect of a mature church is a healthy body life, one that is not cued by the missionary. Love and generosity must be present and out-flowing to others. There should be encouragement, comfort, forgiveness and a looking out for the needs of others. Regular gathering of believers, planned and unplanned, formal and informal, should take place. Discipleship must be a lifestyle of the church leaders and congregation. There must be a willingness to teach, train and hand things off to those being raised up. An understanding of the body of Christ and how it supersedes physical family should exist. The second generation must be showing life as well; parents teaching children and the second generation of believers showing signs of spiritual life and growth. Fulfilling the great commission beyond their own borders and taking the gospel out from themselves should be an attribute of the church. We want to see the leaders functioning in their God given roles: teaching, leading, and modeling godliness in all areas of life. The church body is recognizing that these leaders have the desire and the gifts to teach and shepherd them. Leaders must recognize and deal with any areas of syncretism and deal with sin in the church with the ultimate goal of restoration. The church should also have a good standing in the community. Tim Keller describes how he hopes unbelievers will see the church, “I may not believe what the Church does, but I would hate to think what our community would look like without them.” The indigenous church should be a highly thought of and a productive part of the community. These signs of maturity should be happening without the missionaries input at this point, a real sign of Holy Spirit at work causing the church to grow and mature.