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Unfinished Business: Returning the Ministry to the People of God
The Reformation restored the Scriptures to the people, but the job was only halfway finished. Today the church is awakening to the truth that ministry is not just the domain of clergy, but belongs to the entire body of Christ. God is moving her to complete her unfinished business of placing the ministry back in the hands of the people. Unfinished Business has played a pivotal part in helping the church reclaim ministry at the grassroots level. First published in 1990 as The New Reformation, it has become a classic resource for church life. Expanding on and updating the original material with fresh examples and references to eight key important movements, this new edition lays foundations for the church to move from: · Passive to active · Maintenance to mission · Clergy to people of God · Teacher/caregiver to equipping enabler Pointing us back to the church as an organism, not an institution, author Greg Ogden shows how each of us is called to help finish the Reformation’s unfinished business: expressing the priesthood of every believer practically in the church, the world, and all avenues of life.
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2003
About the author
Greg Ogden
31 books13 followersGregory J. Ogden (DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary) lives out his passion of speaking, teaching, and writing about the disciple-making mission of the church after spending twenty-four years in pastoral ministry. Most recently Greg served as executive pastor of discipleship at Christ Church of Oak Brook in the Chicago western suburbs. From 1998-2002, Greg held the position of director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary and associate professor of lay equipping and discipleship.
Greg is the author of several books such as Unfinished Business, Discipleship Essentials, Transforming Discipleship, Leadership Essentials(with coauthor Daniel Meyer), and The Essential Commandment. He is a partner in the Global Discipleship Initiative (GDI), which trains, coaches, and inspires pastors and Christian leaders to establish indigenous, multiplying, disciplemaking networks, both nationally and internationally. Greg and his wife, Lily, have been married more than forty-five years and have one adult daughter and two grandchildren.
Greg is the author of several books such as Unfinished Business, Discipleship Essentials, Transforming Discipleship, Leadership Essentials(with coauthor Daniel Meyer), and The Essential Commandment. He is a partner in the Global Discipleship Initiative (GDI), which trains, coaches, and inspires pastors and Christian leaders to establish indigenous, multiplying, disciplemaking networks, both nationally and internationally. Greg and his wife, Lily, have been married more than forty-five years and have one adult daughter and two grandchildren.
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February 6, 2020
The thesis of this book is that the Reformation didn't go far enough. Luther basically proposed that anyone who believed in Jesus was saved, regardless of baptism or any ecclesiastical affiliation, and thus the hierarchy in the church could only be a matter of organization and it all had to be for edification--for making people more like Jesus. So far, so good. Ogden thinks that by defining the church as the place where the word is rightly preached and the sacraments rightly administrated essentially defined the Church as the clergy. The two or three believers meeting and praying together are just as much "church" as any assembly of saints on Sunday.
I think the basic thesis is right.
This book was powerful in many ways, powerful in its denunciation of the current ecclesiastical setup and even powerful at moments in some of the solutions that it proposed. Still it has one flaw.
This book proves quite well that pastors used to be seen as kind of life caretakers: they oversaw people at major points in their life: birth, marriage, death. They had a very specific civic role, and that role is going away. Right now we are sliding into a dependency model in which the pastor functions as a superman, counselling and discipling everybody in the church. People think that attention from the pastor is special, but always mediocre when it comes from a fellow parishioner. No wonder we make pastors think they're holier than us and that so many get too big for their boots. They are superheroes and we expect them, and possibly the elders to do it all.
Ogden strikes me as a very wise man, and a very well read pastor, very much like Paul Miller. He writes in a highly accessible style that most people should be able to read, and the content really is on fire. Probably his best positive practical idea is that pastors should basically be equippers and trainers of leaders. This seems very Biblical (remember that the Apostles said they did not want to wait on tables, and counselling just isn't in the Bible). This still kind of keeps things top-down, but Ogden persuasively argues that there is a way to de-institutionalize the church and make organization organic. Perhaps we need to spend less time fighting over Presbyteries and engaging in work that saves souls. This for me is the biggest reason this book sells it's negative critique: Paul seems very concerned with telling people about Jesus and with telling people how to avoid sin, love their families, and do their work quietly. He seems less concerned with admin and denominations.
There is one big thing lacking though in his analysis, and it empties his proposals of some of their umpf for me: first, he is very positive about the way Evangelicalism is much more bottom-up grassroots movement. He labels his movement the New Reformation, but he doesn't ask the question, as far as I remember, about why Church is becoming this way. For my Roman Catholic grandparents, not attending Church was a mortal sin; now I feel like going to any ol' church is optional. Why has this happened? Well, it has to do with a lot of factors related to industrialism, technology, and increased mobility. The gist of the result is that civil society and the commons have broken down. Families are separated from their parents, and so inter-generational ties are weakened. People spend time on the couch watching TV or surfing the internet, rather than going out to town to have fun and spend time with people. This affects everything, and it means that the consumption model of church-shopping has hit Evangelicals hard, and so people are sometimes looking for "community" from churches in a way they haven't before.
Now, Ogden's proposed alternative is that pastors should train leaders and leaders should be part of small groups where they basically give people accountability and focused attention. The problem is I have experienced those things: they are called Bible studies, and believe me though they do a lot of good, they have a lot of problems. First, Bible studies and small groups working through devotional material often end up very pious and squelching any kind of mutual interest activities. The problem is that's how you make friendship. You can perhaps get around that by having meals together and having a chat about life, and that's wonderful, but the Bible study part doesn't really make people friends organically. Second, people are not going to bring their problems to the Bible studies. Indeed, they absolutely should not, since a lot of the stuff that we as humans need help with is private, sensitive, and not something a group should be working on. I'll be specific: if we're talking about a man who struggles with porn or a woman who struggles with loneliness or parents that struggle with childrearing and seniors who struggle with midlife or late-life crises are not going to get good help or discipleship in a group setting. People want to talk piously in these settings, so let's not pretend that people can make small groups Alcoholics Anyonymous.
Often Ogden raises very poignant problems; we really do need to focus less on the red tape and more on helping our neighbors in front of us. Church really does need to be organic and people out there have serious problems and megachurches are a very real problem. People are hurting, and we can do way more than we are currently doing. I know that I opened a can of worms and that I am way beyond Ogden. Since that's the case, I want to offer some of my thoughts on what constructive alternatives would be:
* Outreach: instead of looking to local churches to be your community, try to do things with nonbelievers. See what needs are out there. Are there people in trailer parks? Those people might be rather open to the gospel. Try going door to door. If there's activities in your life that involve unbelievers, pray for them and look for opportunities to invite them to church.
* Friendship: find out what you are interested in that is worthwhile (books, sports, or what have you) and seek out people who share that interest with you and prioritize your time with them.
* Counselling: we need to have more professionally trained Christian counselors, and if people are suffering from severe needs (sexual trauma, lack of self-control, relational disfunction, etc.), then they need to get help. More people than we think are in this category and you never know until they explode.
* Finally, a lot of people need life advice. Young men and women need help with vocations and relationships. Parents need encouragement and guidance about parenting. Seniors need to have people visiting them. Family is important here and it's probably the best remedy for all these problems, but as we all know Christians should be doing their part so the whole burden doesn't fall on the family; it really does take a village to raise a child. What we need are wise Christian mentors, and right now the field is ripe to harvest but the laborers are few.
Churches need to train people to be proactive in seeking out friendships, help, mentorship, and participating in society. People won't do this unless it's a social expectation, and the church can explicitly tell people to want these things. It's great to have congregational fellowship meals (they are a great way to make friends and to encourage each other). But fundamentally churches need to remind people about the gospel, about practical Christian living, about true spirituality, about the basics of the Biblical story, and the basic doctrines of the faith. Pastors should not be getting overly involved in the specifics of people's lives, though he should definitely observe and note false principles at work in our minds. Paul said that he wanted his children to be mature: the best thing about this book is the reminder that the Christian church needs to grow up. In a time where extended adolescence is more culturally normative then ever, Ogden's call to maturity is a breath of fresh air.
I think the basic thesis is right.
This book was powerful in many ways, powerful in its denunciation of the current ecclesiastical setup and even powerful at moments in some of the solutions that it proposed. Still it has one flaw.
This book proves quite well that pastors used to be seen as kind of life caretakers: they oversaw people at major points in their life: birth, marriage, death. They had a very specific civic role, and that role is going away. Right now we are sliding into a dependency model in which the pastor functions as a superman, counselling and discipling everybody in the church. People think that attention from the pastor is special, but always mediocre when it comes from a fellow parishioner. No wonder we make pastors think they're holier than us and that so many get too big for their boots. They are superheroes and we expect them, and possibly the elders to do it all.
Ogden strikes me as a very wise man, and a very well read pastor, very much like Paul Miller. He writes in a highly accessible style that most people should be able to read, and the content really is on fire. Probably his best positive practical idea is that pastors should basically be equippers and trainers of leaders. This seems very Biblical (remember that the Apostles said they did not want to wait on tables, and counselling just isn't in the Bible). This still kind of keeps things top-down, but Ogden persuasively argues that there is a way to de-institutionalize the church and make organization organic. Perhaps we need to spend less time fighting over Presbyteries and engaging in work that saves souls. This for me is the biggest reason this book sells it's negative critique: Paul seems very concerned with telling people about Jesus and with telling people how to avoid sin, love their families, and do their work quietly. He seems less concerned with admin and denominations.
There is one big thing lacking though in his analysis, and it empties his proposals of some of their umpf for me: first, he is very positive about the way Evangelicalism is much more bottom-up grassroots movement. He labels his movement the New Reformation, but he doesn't ask the question, as far as I remember, about why Church is becoming this way. For my Roman Catholic grandparents, not attending Church was a mortal sin; now I feel like going to any ol' church is optional. Why has this happened? Well, it has to do with a lot of factors related to industrialism, technology, and increased mobility. The gist of the result is that civil society and the commons have broken down. Families are separated from their parents, and so inter-generational ties are weakened. People spend time on the couch watching TV or surfing the internet, rather than going out to town to have fun and spend time with people. This affects everything, and it means that the consumption model of church-shopping has hit Evangelicals hard, and so people are sometimes looking for "community" from churches in a way they haven't before.
Now, Ogden's proposed alternative is that pastors should train leaders and leaders should be part of small groups where they basically give people accountability and focused attention. The problem is I have experienced those things: they are called Bible studies, and believe me though they do a lot of good, they have a lot of problems. First, Bible studies and small groups working through devotional material often end up very pious and squelching any kind of mutual interest activities. The problem is that's how you make friendship. You can perhaps get around that by having meals together and having a chat about life, and that's wonderful, but the Bible study part doesn't really make people friends organically. Second, people are not going to bring their problems to the Bible studies. Indeed, they absolutely should not, since a lot of the stuff that we as humans need help with is private, sensitive, and not something a group should be working on. I'll be specific: if we're talking about a man who struggles with porn or a woman who struggles with loneliness or parents that struggle with childrearing and seniors who struggle with midlife or late-life crises are not going to get good help or discipleship in a group setting. People want to talk piously in these settings, so let's not pretend that people can make small groups Alcoholics Anyonymous.
Often Ogden raises very poignant problems; we really do need to focus less on the red tape and more on helping our neighbors in front of us. Church really does need to be organic and people out there have serious problems and megachurches are a very real problem. People are hurting, and we can do way more than we are currently doing. I know that I opened a can of worms and that I am way beyond Ogden. Since that's the case, I want to offer some of my thoughts on what constructive alternatives would be:
* Outreach: instead of looking to local churches to be your community, try to do things with nonbelievers. See what needs are out there. Are there people in trailer parks? Those people might be rather open to the gospel. Try going door to door. If there's activities in your life that involve unbelievers, pray for them and look for opportunities to invite them to church.
* Friendship: find out what you are interested in that is worthwhile (books, sports, or what have you) and seek out people who share that interest with you and prioritize your time with them.
* Counselling: we need to have more professionally trained Christian counselors, and if people are suffering from severe needs (sexual trauma, lack of self-control, relational disfunction, etc.), then they need to get help. More people than we think are in this category and you never know until they explode.
* Finally, a lot of people need life advice. Young men and women need help with vocations and relationships. Parents need encouragement and guidance about parenting. Seniors need to have people visiting them. Family is important here and it's probably the best remedy for all these problems, but as we all know Christians should be doing their part so the whole burden doesn't fall on the family; it really does take a village to raise a child. What we need are wise Christian mentors, and right now the field is ripe to harvest but the laborers are few.
Churches need to train people to be proactive in seeking out friendships, help, mentorship, and participating in society. People won't do this unless it's a social expectation, and the church can explicitly tell people to want these things. It's great to have congregational fellowship meals (they are a great way to make friends and to encourage each other). But fundamentally churches need to remind people about the gospel, about practical Christian living, about true spirituality, about the basics of the Biblical story, and the basic doctrines of the faith. Pastors should not be getting overly involved in the specifics of people's lives, though he should definitely observe and note false principles at work in our minds. Paul said that he wanted his children to be mature: the best thing about this book is the reminder that the Christian church needs to grow up. In a time where extended adolescence is more culturally normative then ever, Ogden's call to maturity is a breath of fresh air.
January 26, 2009
It is not hard to figure out where this book will take it's readers based on the title. Ogden argues for the ministry to be put back in the hands of the people by utilizing gifts and people strengths. He wants to see less emphasis on the preaching ministry, and more on the serving ministry. I certainly agree.
November 1, 2017
Comprehensive and compelling
A lengthy, yet compellingly persuasive argument for the re-establishment of the NT model of the priesthood of all believers for ministry. A lot of focus on the problems with the clergy/laity distinction and how to resolve that.
A lengthy, yet compellingly persuasive argument for the re-establishment of the NT model of the priesthood of all believers for ministry. A lot of focus on the problems with the clergy/laity distinction and how to resolve that.
December 29, 2017
My reaction to this book was very mixed. I am sympathetic to the author's overall project, and think that his central point--that the logical implication of the Reformation doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is a "bottom-uP' ministry structure--is salutary. There are, however, several flaws. First, the author is overly optimistic in his assessment of many of the movements he thinks are spurring a "new reformation". This book was written in 2003, so some latitude can be given to the author for not anticipating all of the failures of the "seeker" movement in particular. Second, the book is primarily technique-oriented and only secondarily a biblical overview of ecclesiology. This means that the book is not entirely complete: it is addressing a fairly specific subset of issues, and doing so from more of a pastoral perspective and less of a theological perspective. Finally, there are some questionable parts of the author's thesis--in particular that there is no "representative" character to the ministry of elders/pastors. Overall, I'd recommend this book as a good introduction to a bottom-up ministry style (at least, from the perspective of one not involved in ecclesiastical work) but not as a starting point for biblical or theological reflection on the nature of the church.
November 9, 2019
Ogden gives some great incites as he jumps into a difficult topic; the issue of clergy, laity, and their proper function.
Ogden addresses the issue of the church needing to shift the way it functions from that of an institution to an organism. I especially appreciated the time Ogden spent on how those serving in church leadership should view themselves. Specifically how they are to prevent dependency from developing and the need to focus on equipping.
As a Pastor I have a passion to help those within the church understand their giftings and calling but so often, I allow that function to take a back seat to other tasks and responsibilities. Tasks and responsibilities that I should be equipping others in our congregation to do. Ogden affirmed my passion and calling but also convicted me that I need to do even more to re-focus my time and energy on my function as a “player-coach”.
I found this book insightful and helpful in giving me clarity at some of the practical struggles I face as I serve a church that has an institutional culture. While Ogden’s message is still relevant for the church today, I would enjoy seeing a revised edition as we are now sixteen years removed from the most recent edition.
Ogden addresses the issue of the church needing to shift the way it functions from that of an institution to an organism. I especially appreciated the time Ogden spent on how those serving in church leadership should view themselves. Specifically how they are to prevent dependency from developing and the need to focus on equipping.
As a Pastor I have a passion to help those within the church understand their giftings and calling but so often, I allow that function to take a back seat to other tasks and responsibilities. Tasks and responsibilities that I should be equipping others in our congregation to do. Ogden affirmed my passion and calling but also convicted me that I need to do even more to re-focus my time and energy on my function as a “player-coach”.
I found this book insightful and helpful in giving me clarity at some of the practical struggles I face as I serve a church that has an institutional culture. While Ogden’s message is still relevant for the church today, I would enjoy seeing a revised edition as we are now sixteen years removed from the most recent edition.
January 22, 2019
This book is a blessing!!
My son recommended this book. He had it as “required reading” for a seminary class and I’m glad he and I both read it. There’s a lot of good presented here.
My son recommended this book. He had it as “required reading” for a seminary class and I’m glad he and I both read it. There’s a lot of good presented here.
April 29, 2024
He accuses the reformers of not going far enough, but he too, doesn't go far enough and keeps a pastoral hegemony. Great biblical basis for his argument, but weak application.
May 20, 2009
"This institutional legacy has quenched the release of the Spirit. But a new vision is arising in the church today of a living organism in whom Christ dwells. Therefore, the whole people of God are called to the ministry, which means exercising their function as priests to each other and to the broken world. When we come to realize that there is only one people and therefore one ministry, God's people will be released to fulfill their callings."
Though Ogden makes many good points, his project is somewhat ironic. For here we have a pastor preaching to the masses, striving to convince them of what is right. This is certainly not incompatible with the goal of empowering the entire Church, but it's easy to drift from a healthy balance to an unhealthy extreme, and Ogden dances dangerously close to that line.
Fortunately, he never quite crosses the line. Rather, he recognizes the importance of functional distinctions based on training and gifts, as well as the need for structure and order. Ultimately, he advocates a balanced approach, which I think is the right way to go.
Though Ogden makes many good points, his project is somewhat ironic. For here we have a pastor preaching to the masses, striving to convince them of what is right. This is certainly not incompatible with the goal of empowering the entire Church, but it's easy to drift from a healthy balance to an unhealthy extreme, and Ogden dances dangerously close to that line.
Fortunately, he never quite crosses the line. Rather, he recognizes the importance of functional distinctions based on training and gifts, as well as the need for structure and order. Ultimately, he advocates a balanced approach, which I think is the right way to go.
February 17, 2015
The title "Unfinished Business" refers to Ogden's belief that the Reformation as it unfolded did much to bring the Church closer to the people, but did not quite finish the job. I will grant that he makes some excellent arguments about the clergy having been placed in a new position, but still one that places them in a hierarchy between Jesus and his followers in too many cases; but I am less sure that his prescriptions, alone, will significantly improve the situation. There is lots of good stuff regarding small groups and enabling ministry, and he does have good things to say about making disciples. I think I would still like to use his "Discipleship Essentials" as a small group study.
September 14, 2014
This book takes the reader through the biblical and theological implications of the Reformation on ministry and how churches should build a "permission based" equipping approach to ministry.
I highly recommend it. It brought clarity to me on several issues, especially on the role of an "equipping pastor."
I highly recommend it. It brought clarity to me on several issues, especially on the role of an "equipping pastor."
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews