14th April 2026 Question box

OK today’s question is a practical one:

How much organisation/flexibility should ministry groups and initiatives have?

The answer is: the right amount. See you can be so organised, that you tie yourself up in red tape and don’t get anything done. And you can be so flexible that there’s no real plan, and so you don’t get anything done.

Let me give you an example, from the bible, of a time when more organisation was needed: In Exodus chapter 18, the people of Israel were camped out in the desert. Moses had lead them out of Egypt. And so now every time someone had a problem or a dispute, they would take it to Moses for him to sort out. And Moses’ father-in-law noticed how Moses was spending all his time sorting out everyone else’s problem and so he said: “What you are doing is not good. … you will only wear yourselves out….select capable men…and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you.” (Ex 18:17–22.) He’s saying: “Moses if you want to last in this role you need to put in place a system.”

I can also show you an example in the bible when more flexibility was needed. The apostle Paul was trying to deal with some problems in the Corinthian church. He sent letters, and he visited a number of times. One one occasion, he’d written to them and said that he was going to come and visit… but then he heard that they didn’t take his letter so well, and he realised that this was not actually a good idea to visit at this time. And so in 2 Corinthians, he has to explain to them why he has changed his plans: He says: “I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia… Was I fickle when I intended to do this?…it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth… So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you.” (2 Corinthians 1:15–2:1.)

And so this is a question of wisdom. There’s a time to be organised, and a time to be flexible. And you need to be able to read the situation.

Let me say, one thing that sometimes people find jarring is moving between university ministry, and church-based ministry. Uni-ministry often needs to be very flexible; it often moves very quickly because people are in and out of uni within three years. Whereas congregational ministry often needs a bit more organisation, because in a church you’re dealing with a wider range of people:
Different stages of life, different levels of education. You’re doing ministry to children, and so you need to take into account child protection protocols. There’s often a building to look after, and you’ve got think about public liability, and the obligations of being a registered charity… Doesn’t mean that we should let ourselves get tied up in red tape, but we do need to understand our situation.

In all situations, we need to ask: “What’s wisest where God has put us right now? How do we press on in Jesus’ mission, so that people will be saved and will grow to be more like Christ?”

---

This question was originally answered in our evening service on 30 November 2025. I’ll aim to post another question and answer next week. You can read about how our question box works here.