Is Retrenchment Relevant in Church - by Tan Ghee Siak
Introduction
It is now common to read about retrenchment in the newspapers. The world is going through a difficult economic climate. To remain competitive and relevant, businesses “down-size” or “right-size” in order to sustain a profitable margin. In my opinion, although retrenchment does not necessarily remove the “excess” (since most of the employment costs may come from the 1% of the senior management team who earn five to six figures), it is nonetheless relevant.
Christians get retrenched and this affects the church giving. The effects of world situations does affect the church. The issue of retrenchment may also arise within the church - should we get rid of "excess fat” or “irrelevant ministries”?
The bible does not provide any guide in retrenchment. However, there are principles in the bible that I feel are important to for the church to consider if we are confronted with such a possibility. These concern how God relates to the church. At the same time, we must be also be aware that we live in the “end times” where we have to be alert to “worldly values” infiltrating the church. As we are called to be set apart from the "world" that we live in, we will need to understand the principles God has laid out for us to follow.
Relevance of Retrenchment in Church
The church exists by God’s grace. This grace is poured out to man from Genesis to Revelation; from the nation of Israel to the Church. The whole Bible illustrates the kind of God we have. I will try and illustrate my points from a few scripture passages. The important principles are:
1. God’s grace to the church
2. A holy nation
3. Would God exercise retrenchment in church?
I would briefly go through each point and leave some scripture references for the reader to ponder and encourage the reader to include his/her own scripture references.
1. God’s grace to the church
Those who are in the kingdom of God are under God’s grace. This richness of his grace is clearly expounded in the book of Ephesians in chapter 1. From 1:7, “In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ..”. All men are under judgment of God, which is death. So for man to “live”, he needs to receive this offer of eternal life. This is a gift expressed in the form of faith and the forgiveness of our sin. This gift is freely given from God to men, in order that we can enter into God’s kingdom.
If we continue from chapter 1 of Ephesians to chapter 2, Paul reveals that grace comes from “..his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy ..” (2:4). This passage reveals God’s nature, a nature of great love and richness in mercy. The Law condemns those who fail to abide by it but God provides an avenue for the condemned to surpass the requirements of the Law. The avenue that we now know is in the person of Jesus Christ.
If we examine ourselves soberly and honestly, do we deserve such extravagant grace and mercy? No! Paul considered himself a sinner (Romans 7:13 onwards) and the reason for his life in Christ is this grace that God has shown to him. Everyone who is in the Church is a sinner forgiven through grace.
God in all his wisdom and love for men gave us the commandments. These commandments are made very clear in Jn. 13:34. Love must be acted out in action irrespective of our emotions. This love can only be exhibited with the help of the Holy Spirit.
As the Body of Christ, our primary aim is to bear witness to non-believers who our God is. This we do by the gifts God gives (Eph. 12-14) and enrolling ourselves in sanctification. Sanctification is a difficult process, and as a church we spur one another in love (He. 10:24-25) to grow and to fruit for Christ. In my opinion, if we retrench our staff workers so that they can use their gifts elsewhere, as the Body in Christ, we have failed to honour God, and to differentiate ourselves from any secular organisation. We would have failed to spur one another on in love and in exercising of gifts. As “iron sharpens iron”, discipleship is painful but it will cause us to grow when we remain in unity. I believe retrenchment contradicts the purposes and commandments of Christ, for the church have become like any other secular organization because our love has turned cold (Mt. 24:12).
2. A Holy nation
In Ex. 19:6, the Israelites were commanded to be holy. The worship of Baal was prevalent in those days, just as it is now. "Baal" exists in our present time in many forms and not just in the worship of physical forms but also in subtle forms e.g. materialism etc. 1 Pe. 1:15-16 also warns us to be holy.
God is holy not just in a spiritual sense but in his character and nature. To be holy in today's world, we need to deal with with many issues e.g. lifestyles as well as our mind set. This holy nature can only be brought about by the renewal of our minds to incorporate (Ro. 12;1-2) God’s character and nature into our daily existence.
The principle I see is that worldly standards of dealing with one another must not find a niche in God’s kingdom. In His kingdom, only His ways and purposes must be adhered to. As a holy nation, we deal with one another in God’s righteous ways. Unless, we learn to deal with one another, as Jesus did on earth (Jn. 5:19-20), we will always be immature in our standing before God.
In the Old Testament, we see very clearly how God dealt or judged those who worshiped Baal. We, who are in church, called to be holy, must constantly be on the alert to how the different forms of "Baal" can infiltrate the church subtly. Even the elect and leaders can be deceived (Mt. 24). This very warning exhorts the church members with the responsibility to “watch and pray” (Mt. 26:41) so that none should be deceived. If we accept an action even if it contradicts our Christian principles then we are as guilty as those who made the decisions.
3. Would God exercise retrenchment in church?
This question is plain and simple and may not require us to ponder long with the conclusion. If God should make a retrenchment exercise, how many would be considered useful? Who would continue to be in the kingdom of God? How would God judge us today? Are we fruitful or righteous?
God’s nature as we have seen is that of grace. He does not throw us out unless we have grieved His Spirit. The burden that God has laid upon us, his yoke is light (Mt. 11:29). It is light because of His gift of faith, Spirit and blessings. God is a God of richness in mercies shown to us in the riches of his blessings (Ph.4:19).Would a staff worker in the church, considered fruitful by one but fruitless by another be retrenched? Even if such acts have to be executed, retrenchment must be executed in a loving and caring atmosphere.
Conclusion
Recession is sometimes good, because it tests our faith. If our minds are focused on God, He leads us to search ourselves, and restores us when we repent. With restoration there are blessings from the refining process. However, if we utilise our own wisdom and apply the world’s management methodology in the church, we have failed the test.
We have been warned by Jesus that in the last days, love will turn cold. If we think we will not be deceived nor our love grow cold, then we should remember that the elect can be deceived (Mt. 24:24). God’s love can only exist in a believer when it is exercised. Otherwise, the soul wastes away in the pursuit of the worldly ways.
We must be very careful about the values we incorporate into the church. All values from the world, whether good or bad, must be examined with the tools God has given us. We must also remember that the standards of the world is NOT that of the kingdom. The yardsticks used in the world should not be used without biblical consideration. Even though God has given us wisdom (if done in the fear of the Lord), our appraisal should be made in consultation to God. I believe God has made it clear to us to act justly during this time (Mic 6:8).
Our failure to adhere to God’s nature and commandment in dealing with one another would put us not just on the wrong side with God, but may cause others to stumble. When we exercise the love of God, we will witness to those who are not in the Kingdom a way to God. Finally, we will reap what we sow. If we sow love during this difficult time, we will reap God’s love in return.
Tan Ghee Siak
20 November 2003
Editor: Retrenchment is a controversial issue whether in or out of the church. We believe there are many arguments for and against "retrenchment" in the church. We welcome your views.
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