We have to recognise the difference between things as we would have them—our personal ideal—and things that are of worth. Despite what we often think, these two things do not neatly overlay one another.

When my wife and I moved into our current house, we thought to ourselves (more often than perhaps we’d like) we would have done a whole bunch of things differently if we were starting from scratch. But such is life. We were not starting from scratch. We had bought a house in which previous decisions had been made, no doubt for what seemed like good reasons at the time, but from our vantage point were not what we would have done. But short of flattening the entire house and rebuilding it again—and we absolutely weren’t going to do that—we had to work out the best things to do given what had previously been done. Some things we just live with, other things you build upon to make them fit for purpose, some things you do effectively tear out and start again.

Whilst this reality applies to lots of life, it unquestionably exists in the church. There are lots of things I might do if I was planting a church from scratch. But, when I became a pastor, I wasn’t planting from scratch. I was joining a church that was not only already doing things in particular ways with its own specific forms, but one that had a history that predated what it was doing now. And this is common. A lot of pastors join churches that already exist with forms and cultures; unless you intend to tear the whole thing down and literally re-plant again, you have to start thinking about the church as it is before you. The question is, what will you do?

Observe & Assess

Before you go jumping in with your blueprints for the perfect church ©, it probably pays to spend a bit of time just observing the forms and culture as they are. There may be things going on that, though they aren’t what you might have instigated, you realise are really quite helpful. You may see some things that, whilst unworkable and intolerable in another context, are really helpful and useful in this context. You may just find the answer to the questions ‘why are we doing this?’ and ‘why are we doing it that way?’ illuminating.

Even where you find things to be, let’s say a little idiosyncratic, you need to ask another question: how big a deal is this? There are things that might be such a distraction from the gospel that we cannot countenance letting them continue. But the reality is an awful lot of idiosyncrasies, odd as they may be, are not damaging. In fact, in the right place and the right context among the right people, they may even be quite endearing and serve that elusive sense of authenticity many rave about being vital these days. There are some oddities that may not be what we would do if we were setting up from scratch but that are harmless and tolerable and may well be best left alone.

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