Entreprenueral Church: Dealing With Uncertainty

By Michael Richards
Commentary on Chapter 1 of the First Book of Corinthians

(1:4-5) It is a nervous task for pastors and ministers to start any work for the Lord. This is because we humans live in a world of uncertainty. There are so many things which can go wrong that it is impossible for any pastor to prepare for them all. However, this is no reason to be discouraged when starting a new path for your church or ministry. In fact be encouraged that God has called you to lead.
When Paul starts his letters, he doesn't start by focusing on the problem. He starts by thanking the church of Corinth for all its successes. When looking at the future of your ministry, try to see where God has placed you. It is important to remember that the most uncertain thing of all for a pastor is God's will. This is because God is far more wiser than even the most experienced pastor. If God calls you to do something extraordinary, trust Him. You may not know what is going on, but He does.
If there is something to fix in the church, don't let it blind you and steal away all your hope. God has placed you there, even if you don't understand why.If you don't feel at least a little uncertain about the future of your church, then you are in trouble. Complacency breeds problems in the future.

(1:10-11) The most important thing for a church is to be of one accord. God has given His church leaders visions for what He expects from their church. Contention is born out of loss of vision. Don't deviate from God's vision with your own pet projects. These projects can overwhelm a pastor as they divert resources and time from more profitable ventures. A leader without a vision is like the blind leading the blind. Have a goal and stick to it.
This also important when deciding how to allocate church resources to your various ministries. Do your ministers effectively fulfill the goals that you have for your church? Do some of your ministries deviate from the goal? As the church entrepreneur allocating resources and personnel in the most profitable manner is the top priority. If a ministry is not useful for achieving the vision for the church, it may be better to scrap it and allow resources to be allocated where they are more productive.

(17-18) What happens when God tells you as a leader to do something that is not only seemingly impossible but ridiculous as well. David Wilkerson, founder of Teen Challenge, had a similar experience. God told him to go to New York to help young boys on trial for murder. After the trial, he failed to even talk to the boys and ended up gaining some unwanted media attention. He found himself in an embarrassing article all over the front page of local newspapers around the country. Needless to say, he was mortified. However, it was from this that local gangs in the area began to respect Wilkerson and he ended up saving a lot of souls who were lost in a cycle of violence and drugs. You can read more about Wilkerson's amazing journey in his book, "The Cross and the Switchblade"".
Remember, God's plans are uncertain to us because He knows so much more than we do. After all, Noah looked pretty foolish building his arc, but look how it turned out. He lived while everyone else drowned. If you try to rely solely on the wisdom of the world you too will drown in the uncertainty of life. Even in worldly things, that which seems foolish today may be genius tomorrow. Look at the airplane. Only 200 years ago the idea seemed out of reach, but today its an everyday part of our travel experience. Trust God, and you too can fly to new heights.

(1:29 and 31) God, does not want us to rely solely on our own strength. When all is said and done, don't brag like all this is your own achievement. Give God credit where credit is do. Without Him, there would be no Bible and no forgiveness. The Bible is a perfect example of how God deals with uncertainty. In the Bible, God set up a plan that spanned for over 1,000 years. Talk about great planning!!! Even today, God is still working out His plans. Any attempt to try to do God's work without Him is foolish. Businessmen know they are providing a good service through profits. A pastor knows that he is providing a good service in how much God is moving through his church.
However, unlike business people, money is not the way a pastor knows if he is succeeding in his ventures. Pastors do, however, have a way to measure if God is moving through his church. This will be explained more in later chapters.