RELATIONAL LEADERSHIP

POWER VS. PROGRAMS

I met with one of our small groups leaders last Wednesday.  He was talking about when he first came to church, he would hear statements like “na-one2one ka na ba?” or “na-Victory Weekend ka na ba?”  And when he would get these questions, he felt something cringe inside of him.  In fact, he would feel “does-this-mean-i’m-less-of-a-Christian” feeling.

I told him that sometimes, in our zeal, we throw around these words and statements either as a joke or as an encouragement not understanding how it might come across which is exactly what happened to him.

Don’t get me wrong, our tools have been so powerful that we’ve seen so many lives changed.  In fact, in a few minutes, I will be going down from my office to the Youth Hall because we’ll be having our Victory Weekend.  But tools are exactly what they are – TOOLS.  But what drives those tools to bring about lifechange is the POWER OF GOD, which is available to us daily.  Actually, it has been available since way before.

We didn’t have one2one, Victory Weekend, Training for Victory, Making Disciples Training 15 years ago and yet we’ve seen lives changed, marriage restored and families healed.  We need to watch out that we don’t replace the POWER OF GOD with PROGRAMS.  Programs are good but without the power, they are just ‘good stuff’ devoid of capability to bring transformation.  Then we’re back to religion.

Genuinely love people.  Sit, chat, talk, spend time not so we can get them through the discipleship process.  Sit, chat, talk and spend time because Jesus loves them, therefore we love them as well.

“When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35, Message Version)

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Paolo Punzalan's avatar

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Paolo Punzalan

Husband, father, pastor and most importantly, Christ follower.

4 responses to “POWER VS. PROGRAMS”

  1. patricia Avatar
    patricia

    “We need to watch out that we don’t replace the POWER OF GOD with PROGRAMS.” – amen.

    Reply
  2. Jojo Agot Avatar
    Jojo Agot

    When I was still in the province a few years back, the buzzword among churches in our area was Cesar Castillano’s Encounter Weekend. It was good and it was producing good results among churches but it came to a point when people almost equate it with accepting Jesus. In just a few months, I would hear people “imply” that you aren’t really a Christian until you’ve been to an Encounter weekend. How sad!

    Reply
  3. Erik Isaac Avatar
    Erik Isaac

    I felt the same way before, pastor Pao and it can make one feel less of a Christian. Before I would normally hear people ask me “Have you accepted Christ already?” Pero ngayon nauuna pa yung tanong na “Na one2one ka na ba? Victory weekend? Ay hindi pa?!”
    Often times when focus on relationship is lost, discipleship becomes a game of numbers, and the whole point of it is totally missed.

    Reply
  4. vibay hernandez Avatar
    vibay hernandez

    Pastor Paolo, this is very true…we Christians must always remember that TOOLS will remain mere tools without POWER coming from God. Naalala ko bigla yung martilyo — ang bigat, ang galing na tool. But without the powerful hand which needs to lift it & strike it hard so the nail will get through, the hammer will just remain a tool.

    May I repost this?

    Reply

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