Life and growth are chaotic. Family gatherings that involve many generations are usually a little unpredictable, fairly disorganised and a lot of fun. However, decline and death are usually neat, tidy and predictable. Funerals are orderly, dignified and organised.
This is nowhere more true than in church life. New people turn up to things, church members start doing things for the first time. Ventures are started when we are not exactly sure of how they will finish up. Visitors don't understand the routine. Growth is simply chaotic.
The book of Acts records God's spirit using the preaching of the Apostles to effectively bring chaos to the early church. Imagine the Apostles' staff meeting a day after Pentecost with several thousand new converts! I wonder who got the job of being the small groups pastor and organising people into Christianity Explained courses? 3000 visitor's cards to process on one day. It would have been total chaos. They just get used to this idea and then in Acts 8 the Samaritans believe. What a messy headache that is. Then Cornelius and the Gentiles in Chapter 10 and the mess and chaos continues.
It is a very different feel with decline in a church. Decline is almost always comfortable. We know exactly who is turning up. In decline everyone knows each other, you can see how inevitably things will wind down and those in charge can keep control of what is happening.
I am simply pointing out that we need not be afraid of things being slightly chaotic, "messy", a little unpredictable in church life. (I am not saying be deliberately disorganised or sloppy in administration; what I mean is growth will happen on the edges and it will be unpredictable.) Church leadership needs to be prepared to let go and give people the opportunity to start new things. We need to be prepared to step out and trust God to provide the resources we need. Most of all we need to face the possibility of failing. If it doesn't work, let's try something else.
In your church life, is there any uncertainty, any "chaos', or is everything neat and tidy and organised and completely predictable? We need to be prepared to take risks in church life, even things that may fail. Maybe we could even pray that God's spirit would send just a little chaos into our church life.
