I agree with Manda. No matter at what point you are in your walk with God, you’re always maturing and trying to be more like Jesus, so you rely on your own studying and time with God, but you also rely on the church and other fellow Christians. Are we supposed to cut these people off because we believe they should be “mature” by now (if they’ve been going to the church for a few years)? That really doesn’t make any sense if we want to have someone to build up the baby Christians in their faith. If some people do leave, is that immature or is it a reflection of what’s happening (or not happening) at Northgate?

People can share in your vision for the church without agreeing with the way you’re going about achieving that vision. Does that mean you get rid of all those people who might challenge you? Could they possibly be right in presenting that challenge? Just something to think about.

Why do you find it so refreshing to go to another church every once in awhile? You’ve told me it’s nice to be fed by someone else sometimes rather than having to feed others. It also gives you a fresh perspective or different ideas for Northgate. My question is, if your pastor still needs to be fed through the church, why should he expect other mature Christians not to want to be fed through the church also?

Please be available to the unchurched/unsaved, the baby Christians, the toddlers, the tweens, the teens, the young adults, the adults, the middle-aged, and the senior citizens as they all have a place in God’s plan and in His church!

I certainly understand you want to shepard this church in the way you believe God is leading you to and I can relate to what you’re saying. I’ve been through a somewhat similar experience upon taking over the business I now own. I will tell you though it’s going to be a bumpy ride for a time and don’t be surprised when some familiar faces leave. Out of the original staff of 30 I had eight years ago, only 10 remain today. The good news, at least in my case is, the newer members that replaced those who left are a much better fit. As you probably know, the key is having a core group of believers who share in your vision that you can depend on to stand by you through the difficult times until achieving the end result.

Keep loving the gimme gimmeee gimme toddlers,
Mike

I wholeheartedly agree with you that church is not here to serve me…I believe that the ultimate purpose of the church is to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ; and this is done in two ways through the church. The first is fulfilling the great commission (Matt 28:19-20), which at Northgate we call “bringing”. The second is edification (Eph 4:12), or at Northgate, “building”. I think that a lot of the time when we hear people worrying “what about me?”, they are just not voicing their concerns in the right way. They aren’t trying to be selfish (although, being human, we all tend to be that sometimes), they just want to make sure that the church is fulfilling the purpose of building them up (and others) to a maturity in their faith and helping them to be equipped to perform the work that God wants them to do. After all, what would a church be without mature believers to help build up the newbies? And I think your whole life is spent maturing…you are constantly growing in your faith, so everyone, no matter how long you’ve been a Christian, needs others in their lives, encouraging and reminding them to be living their faith; which is what people are getting in the “building” purpose (which at Northgate is our Bible Fellowships & small groups). And I think that is what people want reassurance that Northgate is going to do. There are those that sometimes forget that there is more to the church than building them up, but hopefully with a gentle reminder (2 Timothy 2:23-26), they will get out there and serve and bring and keep growing.