For many weeks and months now, I've been wrestling with what the church is all about. What is it's purpose? Is the "business" of the church to maintain what we've got? Or is it to be like Jesus emptied out for the sake of the world? I don't think the church has done a very good job answering these questions. For too long pastors and parishioners have functioned in the church as if it were 1959, when it was just assumed in our culture, that if you were a good American you fulfilled your civic duties by being in church. How many times have we longed for the good ol' days when extra chairs had to be dragged into worship to accomodate large Sunday morning crowds? How often do we beat ourselves up as we lament the empty pews in our sanctuaries?
But the culture has changed. The church is no longer at the center like it was in 1959. If we are lucky, the church is barely in the cultural circle at all anymore. At the very least, we are off to the side watching the world go by without us. It seems to me that if we don't want to be irrelevant, we need to begin to ask the tough questions. Do we stay off to the side watching the world go by, mournfully longing for the days when the church was in the cultural center? Or do we actually do something about it by engaging the post-modern, multicultural, interconnected world with the good news that God through Jesus heals and transforms broken lives? Do we stay locked behind closed doors waiting for a "magic bullet" to fill our pews again, or do we seek ways to pour ourselves out in love for all?
Let me put it another way. Are we a church of "maintenance"or "mission"?
Here's how a maintenance church rolls as I see it:
The maintenance church:
seeks to preserve membership;
focuses on congregational survival;
depends on pastors and other professionals to do the ministry;
has volunteers who will do the work of ministry if there is time;
uses terms like "inreach" concerning itself with making all members happy all the time;
assumes new members will come to it;
focuses primarily on the congregation and what happens within its four walls;
is driven by the ABCs: (Attendance, Budget and Cash Flow);
expects very little commitment by members;
identifies itself as "congregation".
On the other hand,
The mission church:
seeks to make disciples;
understands that you find your life when you give it away;
believes that ministry belongs to the people with the pastor helping to equip for ministry;
is not about membership, but the lifestyle of discipleship;
is focused outward;
is called to love people and go to them;
is concerned with advancing the Kingdom of God;
is not obsessed with numbers but with how people are living the faith and sharing the gospel;
understands that being a disciple is a 24/7 commitment;
identifies itself as "community of faith".
These are questions with which I continue to wrestle. I hope and I pray that you will too.
Peace and Love,
Pastor Doug
