Organic Organisations

Organic Versus Organisation.

1 Cor 3:6

I planted the seed, Apollo watered it, but God has been making it grow. Paul uses the analogy of a tree because a tree best conveys the continual and changing environment of an organisation. It cannot just be processes, it must be growth.

When we talk about organic life, we are talking about life that:

• Recognises organic team ministry.
• Recognises that some things are only for a season and are not permanent. People who resist this will struggle when the time comes for a change, or a moving on.
• Recognises that some sow, others water but only God gives the increase.
• Is willing to deal with every subculture that we have developed in the church as something that must be both repented of and broken.
• Is flexible, and embraces God-inspired, Spirit-directed adjustments (Matthew 9:14-17).
• Is willing to be stretched outside of comfort zones.
• Captures, embraces and accommodates the momentum of the Holy Spirit. It does not give in to the preferences, preconceptions, prejudices, fears or comfort zones of the people. Organic life keeps in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

We must be careful not to confuse administration with organisation. The word ‘administration’ is used four times in the New Testament, The word ‘administrator/s’ is used 15 times. ‘Organisation’ is never used in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. There is a Kingdom to administrate, but it has to be administrated organically, flexibly, catching what it is that God it doing and changing all the time.

Organic life places a strong emphasis on the necessity of the presence of God in every sphere of church life, including church government.

We cannot ever make the Church an organisation and expect the Spirit of God to work through it as He wants to.