Chaos or order? I don't have definitive answers to this question, but it has been circling my head for a few years, and I am at a conference where it has been raised again. The question is "should we strive for chaos or order in our ministry?"

The answer to this question will shape the way we structure our ministry and how it looks.

I think there are two competing issues in the question.

1. God is not a God of disorder, but of order (1 Cor 14:33). Our world is disrupted, and the only way true order can be restored is through God.
2. The gospel challenges us and our culture, calling for a disruption. Paul, in Athens (Acts 17) challenges the worship of unknown gods, and undermines the whole cultural understanding of the people. In 2 Cor 5 he declares that to understand our new creation effected by Jesus you must cease observation from a worldly point of view.
To put it another way, the gospel both comforts and challenges.

Being heard and changed

One of the presenters at the conference I am attending claims that disruption, chaos and dissonance are required to enable a person to engage deeply and be changed. This is seen in ministry. Often people attend meetings where the Word is proclaimed but they do not hear it. A call for change is met with the idea that "I'm OK". So, I think it is true that life changing interaction is best served by disrupting our comfortable world.
But what about God being a God of order?

Order & chaos

Here are some preliminary examples of how we might apply these ideas.

Church meetings: we need regularity, as this creates an orderly setting in which we can hear in an undistracted way. But we also need a surprise, something unexpected and unpredictable, that causes us to pay attention. Of course, the unexpected element must be a significant thing we desire our congregations to engage with.

Preaching: We must challenge, at the deepest level, assumptions that we hold but which cause us to not be wholehearted slaves of Christ; while at the same time affirming that God is sovereignly working, so he is reliable and trustworthy. God is on the throne, caring for his children. I have seen both aspects executed well and badly in sermons. Bad execution just makes the sermon grey and insipid. Good execution leaves me rejoicing in our good God and challenged that I must amend my life in a fundamental way as a result of this.