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I just spent a delightful two days at the National Gathering of ECO, the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians, a 7-year-old branch of the Reformed faith that is eager to “…be a movement…to saturate our broken and hurting world with the transforming power of Jesus Christ.” I was encouraged that they talked a lot about making disciples and helping their folks understand that they are all on mission.

I teamed with Chris Lake of Vere Institute to present a 2-hour workshop: Equipping Disciples for “frontline” Ministry–Empowering the Scattered Church for Fruitfulness in Everyday Life.

We captured the highlights of the Imagine Church workshop that I arranged for in Colorado Springs two years ago. You can read about that here.

I want to share something today that I tried out for the first time during our workshop–a metaphor that seemed to resonate with the pastors and church leaders this week. See what you think.

I’ve quoted before what the Apostle Paul said about the purpose of the church:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up… (Ephesians 4.11, 12, NIV)

I asked, “If we were building houses instead of making disciples, would the church be more like a general contractor or a trade school?” The answer, I believe, is a trade school. Trade schools don’t build houses; trade schools train carpenters, plumbers, and electricians, and they build houses.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9.35 – 38, NIV)

What just caught my attention in this familiar passage was “send out workers.” That’s what trade schools do.