Law and Order RoadHouse style

Call it a sin but I have a soft spot for the movie “RoadHouse” starting Patrick Swayze.  The reason why I like it is that Swayze is really cool (’80s style cool) and it has some really good action.  What prevents this movie from being really great though is that eventually it goes over the top and gets completely unrealistic – towns blowing up type unrealistic.  But I can normally get over the unrealisticness (is that even a word?) of it because again it has some really cool fight scenes and Patrick Swayze is really cool in it.

Patrick plays this guy named Dalton (also known as “the Cooler”).  He’s known as the Cooler because he is known for coming into a choatic situation and restore law and order into it. In the movie Patrick is hired by a bar that is completely out of control.  So Dalton has to get order restored.  However, it takes a bit longer than he expected so he calls in some extra support, his friend Wade Garrett (played by Sam Eliot in the movie, another cool guy).  Together they eventually get the bar and the town back in order.

So what am I getting at?  How does RoadHouse relate to ministry at all?  Here’s how.

Just like the bar in “Roadhouse”, every area of ministry needs a little law and order restored every once in a while.  Sure there might not be fights going on and drunks causing havoc (although I’m sure that has happened in places), but there are other things in our ministry that could be out of control that need to be reigned in.  For instance:

• You might not have the volunteer team unity that is needed to effectively model the unity of the body of Christ.  You may have distrust, deception or back stabbing/back bitting going on that is slowly tearing the team apart.
• Students might be falling through the cracks a little too often and you are not effectively tracking and following up with them because of database errors.
• You have no idea what your next teaching series will be and it starts this Sunday!
• A key volunteer teacher just told you that they will no longer be able to help you and you have no one to fill that void.

In all these situations, to one degree or another, order needs to be restored in one way or another.  Now, I’m not going to encourage you to transform into “the Cooler” and start throwing punches or blow up buildings, but a fix needs to happen, sometimes sooner rather than later.  To fill the void or to correct the problem areas, the first priority may be just to identify them.  Once you have them identified you have to get them fixed.  Sometimes a bandaid can be used to temporarily fix, but don’t keep it there too long because short term fixes rarely work out in the long run.

So right now TAKE A MINUTE and examine your ministry.  Where does law and order  need to be restored?  What changes need to be made so that you can be more effectively reaching students for Christ?  If you are having problems identifying problem areas, go for the Lord and ask Him to reveal them to you and to give you wisdom in solving them.

Thoughts, questions, comments?  Post them so that we can all learn and benefit.