Let me begin with what’s buzzing in the Indian media now days, or to be more precise what’s buzzing in the Indian car market. For the uninitiated, very competitively priced NANO car manufactured by Tata motors is creating waves (aimed primarily at the majority middle income group of the Indian society), especially with the market leader Maruthi Suzuki feeling the heat of it all.
A media report says that the Nano car bookings (now its ultra-competitive price of just Rs1.00 lakh is sensational by all accounts) have crossed the 2 lakh mark, what with its manufacturers-Tata motors- already netting 500 million dollars account bookings. The bookings are still bound to go up courtesy the burgeoning number of eager prospective car owners who are hopelessly hooked on its price tag.
Is Nano car the best thing to happen to the Indian middle-income group? Difficult to say NO really, considering that car ownership in the developing Indian economy adds to one’s standard of living, besides augmenting the feel-good factor all around, principally in a country’s International standing.
With nervous competition looking over its shoulder, predictably Tata motors (whose stakes are very high in this venture) is leaving no stone unturned by going for flashy full-page ads in the print media highlighting the features of its “wonder car”.
Now let’s “change tracks” and “motor down the road” of yet another related subject… “Product-advertisement”. Again, quite predictably, as every manufacturer is expected to blow his own horn about his own product, Tata motors raving about its own Nano is not a strange phenomenon at all. But let’s hypothetically consider the occurrence of the most unlikely phenomenon: What if Maruthi Suzuki, the chief competitor of Tata Motors, unwittingly pays a compliment (to its business rival) such as: “Oh, Nano has turned the Indian Car market UPSIDE DOWN”. If it would really do such a thing, everyone would sit-up and take notice! And most importantly, Nano’s stock would further soar-up, as receiving an endorsement from the most unlikely source, its arch rival, is the BIGGEST ADVERTISEMENT any player in a market can hope to get! For this to happen (getting such a lofty compliment from a competitor wittingly or unwittingly), it goes without saying, Nano would cause an earthquake measuring at least 8 on the Richter scale of the Car Industry!
Now let’s switch tracks, hitting the “spiritual road”, as it were, and “zoom” back in time to 1st century AD. What do we see? The early Christians are getting the highest compliment ever paid “These men have turned THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN” (Acts 17:6-KJV). And this is not from friends or well-wishers, but from its MOST BITTER ENEMIES. Oh boy, oh boy, what a compliment, which is not so much inked as engraved in World history!
Now consider the fact that disciples were not “selling” Gospel of down-to-earth, cheap, Nano-like price, but one which required shelling out a “high price” of “cross-bearing” (suffering and even martyrdom –Luke 9:23/Acts 14:22) albeit with Holy Spirit empowerment (John 15:5-6) and the magnitude of their achievement would loom large before our eyes like a towering landscape.
Add to this fact the point that disciples were not from the well-educated, higher, spiritual echelons of society boasting of impressive, lengthy Cvs, and the truth that God delights in showing His strength through weak folk (II Cor 12:9) blares out loud and clear.
So this brings us to a paramount subject: With the ever-present God’s power available to them, WHAT DID the early Church (both its leaders and laity) DO, despite odds stacked against it, that its most bitter enemies unwittingly paid it the highest compliment of having turned the World topsy-turvy (honestly the Church turned the world which was upside down spiritually, right side-up)?
The answer is as profound as it is simple. Even as they were empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit (the upper room ethereal experience was the turning point – Acts 2:1-4) we see them, most importantly in the Book of Acts, GETTING THEIR ACT TOGETHER. Not only did they have clear-cut priorities, but they also went about it in right earnest (oh, how many have fallen in recent times despite being given various gifts!).
In this series primarily aimed at achieving “Sound and effective church leadership for general church growth”, let’s focus on
a) Priorities that defined the Ministry of the Early Church leadership; and
b) What constituted building blocks for success of the laity in their victorious Christian living.
For there is no better timeless model for arriving at “Sound and effective church leadership for general church growth.”
In the next part of the series, let’s focus on two important facets of Early Church which brought glory to God even while countless “lost” souls were added into His Kingdom: Capture and Nurture! Join us next week for SOUND AND EFFECTIVE CHURCH LEADERSHIP FOR CHURCH GROWTH, Part 2: The Leadership
Prayer: Father, into Thy hands we the Church Leaders commit ourselves. Use us for Thy glory. Amen.
Suresh Manoharan
(To access the entire “Sound and Effective Church Leadership” mini-series, please click here.)