Some Assembly Required: Moving Beyond Step One in the Instructional Manual

By Wes Wick
YES! Young Enough to Serve

I slit open the box trying to ignore that dreaded understatement, “some assembly required.”
 
Who are they kidding?   Just once I’d like to read a more honest warning, “Full assembly and mechanical aptitude required.  Do not open this box if you lack mechanical aptitude or persistence.  Partial assembly will result in untold frustration.”

Clearly God passed me by when gifting His Body with mechanical skills.  Early on, trying to be the helpful teenage son but mistaking the crankcase for the radiator, I filled the oil reserve in my dad’s new Cadillac with gallons of fresh water. 

Undaunted and later wanting to be the all-American dad, I drained the automatic transmission fluid from my daughter’s Toyota Tacoma, thinking I was draining her oil.  Ten quarts of oil and no transmission fluid!  Way to go, Dad!

Even international, wordless assembly instructions from IKEA can make me feel like an alien.    Somehow I manage to twist at least one important instruction, requiring some backtracking and re-assembly.

You would think spending fifty-plus years in “Assemblies” of God churches would make me an expert in assembly skills!

But enough about my deficiencies!  Let’s talk about you.  Could you also be a card-carrying member of this humble Union of Inept Assemblers?

When tackling a “some assembly required” project, we know that grouping the parts is an important first step.  Does the box contain all the parts promised in the right quantities?
 
By visually identifying and segregating parts, we can move more easily through the rest of the instructions. 

Of course, we recognize that we haven’t really begun the actual assembly process.  We must move beyond this first preparatory step.  Even I know that!

Partial Assembly of God, A Few Miles South of Persistence and Unity

My wife and I have the privilege of visiting several churches each month.  It’s exciting to see God creatively at work through a wide variety of congregations.

As we scan Sunday morning seats or pews, we sometimes observe so-called “assemblies” still stuck on step one of the instruction manual.  Youth sit with their peers.  Young married adults sit with other newlyweds.  Older adults often congregate far enough away from the loudspeakers to prevent further hearing loss.

We sometimes see generational overlap, but it’s often a family choosing to sit together or latecomers just happy to find a seat.

Okay, let’s celebrate that multiple generations made it into the same room.  Let’s not discredit churches that have successfully managed this multi-generational feat.  It’s enjoyable and natural to sit with friends we know.  And finding common ground among peers usually requires less effort.

If it were just about the seating arrangement on Sunday morning, we wouldn’t be so concerned.  But, digging deeper, we find a disturbing absence of relationship between generations.  Many older adults are hard pressed to identify three teenage kids by name, and vice versa.

Admittedly, the twelve disciples did not epitomize cultural or generational diversity when traveling with Jesus.  But as their ministries unfolded, they collectively moved beyond the first page of their Hebrew assembly manual. 

Under the Holy Spirit’s direction, they reached the world with Christ’s love, helping to touch every culture and generation.

Are We Outsourcing Our Assembling?

There is a distinction between the words, “multi-generational” and “inter-generational.”  “Multi” reflects that your box contains multiple parts.  “Inter” suggests you’ve begun connecting those parts.  Similarly, “attending an assembly” and “assembling yourselves together” are not one and the same.

Some churches camouflage generational gaps by narrowing their overall target group.  Emerging churches target a younger demographic while more traditional churches often cater to older adults.

In congregations with multiple services, worship style may be tailored to contemporary or traditional preferences, trying to keep everybody happy, yet separate.

The underlying assumption appears to be that joyful co-existence and effective intergenerational outreach are nearly impossible, or perhaps not always worth the effort.

Have we concluded that we’re going to simply outsource the generational assembly process?  Are we content to award first place to Facebook, surpassing the local church’s effectiveness in bringing generations together?

Let’s return to our roots and calling as assemblies of God.  A commercial enterprise with a receiving dock and separate storage areas may be an efficient distribution warehouse.  But it cannot be called an assembly plant.  The Assemblies of God must allow God’s assembly process to move forward, connecting the varied parts together.

What does something assembled by God look like?  As we know, the human body is a wonderfully complex, inter-dependent organism.  The different parts must work together in our physical bodies as well as in the Body of Christ, His Church.

As outlined so clearly in 1 Corinthians 12:21, “The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"

We must work together to become assemblies of God, reflecting His character, unity of purpose, and creative power.

The Body of Christ is an interdependent body.  The family of God is an intergenerational family.   And our God is an intergenerational God.

Let’s keep the assembly process moving forward, experiencing renewed vitality in our individual lives and churches. 

If we shut down the assembly line and remain generationally disconnected nuts and bolts, we’re destined to find the loose nuts multiplying and good people bolting for the door!

May the assembling continue until we are perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.