There are a couple of questions in relationship to the unchurched surrounding our Mission Statement. 1) What does unchurched mean? 2) How will we know if we are reaching the unchurched? 3) Are there things we should be doing to reach the unchurched?
The answer to the last question is a resounding yes! One of the chief purposes of the church is to reach out to those who don't have an active and intimate relationship with Jesus. But who are the unchurched? First the unchurched are not heathens they are just like the rest of us. The unchurced are people who do not have an active engaged relationship with Jesus and other people who are attempting to put their faith into action on a regular basis. While technically not fitting the usual definition I would suggest that their are many people in today's churches that are unchurched. They have been showing up at church but they have for one reason or another not allowed the Holy Spirit to begin the work of transformation in their lives. They know about Jesus and the church but they have not begun to be the church in their relationships with others both inside and outside the buildings we call churches.
The only way to know if we are reaching the unchurched is to look for signs of transformed lives. Are people making first time commitments to Jesus? Are people recommitting their lives to following Christ? Are there people who are asking questions about what difference Jesus makes in the way one lives? If we don't know the answer to those questions then the reality is that we are not reaching the unchurched. It might seem harsh to say, but most of the churches in America are not reaching the unchurched. SJ might be doing a bit better than some, but the truth is that we have a long way to go.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
More on the New Testament Church
I want to reflect upon two parts of the discussion today.
1) What does a New Testament Church do?
2) If we could only do one thing in this area, what would it be?
These two questions I think, are a part of the key of how the church approaches the world. If we focus upon the particular activities of the early church we are going to get into debates about communal living and what is or isn't a contemporary idol. While some of that conversation could be helpful and meaningful it would most likely be the points of contention rather than focusing upon the many other things that the church did such as worship, pray, etc.
There is a common theme in the Bible in both the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) as well as the Greek scriptures (New Testament) that following God and being apart of God's people means caring for the widows and orphans, the foreigners among us, those who are lonely and ill. These are not New Testament activities they are God honoring activities. The difference in the New Testament is Jesus. Jesus makes a relationship with God possible because those who accept the grace/forgiveness of Jesus are able to enter into the presence of God for eternity as well as have the presence of God/Jesus in the form of the Holy Spirit here and now.
Without getting into a long theological/theoretical discussion the difference between the New Testament and the Old Testament is Jesus. The expected activity of the church is not really any different than what runs through the entire Old Testament. (There is a reason why we quote from the OT prophet Malachi, "Do justice, love mercy,and walk humbly with your God" as an emphasis upon what our lives of faith should look like.)
So what does the NT church do? It focuses on Jesus! It looks first to Jesus in all things, it reflects the forgiveness given by Jesus, it suffers on behalf of others, it stands against injustice, it proclaims that today is God's day and we will live in the midst of it. It does not so much do things as it reflects the image of Christ. In several places the church in the NT is referenced as the Bride of Christ. A bride is a bride not because she is going to cook or clean or doing wifely things, all these things can be done by people who are hired for the job. The difference is that a bride has a relationship with the groom that is to be like none other. So the church is to be in relationship with Jesus.
To make a long rambling a bit shorter I think this is the key, the church is to be in an active relationship with Jesus just as a bride would be with a groom. It doesn't mean doing things to earn his love, but rather to be in a relationship where love is growing each and every day.
Because of this answer I can only say that the one thing we can do in this area is to love Jesus. Anything good will only come from that reality. Love Jesus and make it our only priority.
1) What does a New Testament Church do?
2) If we could only do one thing in this area, what would it be?
These two questions I think, are a part of the key of how the church approaches the world. If we focus upon the particular activities of the early church we are going to get into debates about communal living and what is or isn't a contemporary idol. While some of that conversation could be helpful and meaningful it would most likely be the points of contention rather than focusing upon the many other things that the church did such as worship, pray, etc.
There is a common theme in the Bible in both the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) as well as the Greek scriptures (New Testament) that following God and being apart of God's people means caring for the widows and orphans, the foreigners among us, those who are lonely and ill. These are not New Testament activities they are God honoring activities. The difference in the New Testament is Jesus. Jesus makes a relationship with God possible because those who accept the grace/forgiveness of Jesus are able to enter into the presence of God for eternity as well as have the presence of God/Jesus in the form of the Holy Spirit here and now.
Without getting into a long theological/theoretical discussion the difference between the New Testament and the Old Testament is Jesus. The expected activity of the church is not really any different than what runs through the entire Old Testament. (There is a reason why we quote from the OT prophet Malachi, "Do justice, love mercy,and walk humbly with your God" as an emphasis upon what our lives of faith should look like.)
So what does the NT church do? It focuses on Jesus! It looks first to Jesus in all things, it reflects the forgiveness given by Jesus, it suffers on behalf of others, it stands against injustice, it proclaims that today is God's day and we will live in the midst of it. It does not so much do things as it reflects the image of Christ. In several places the church in the NT is referenced as the Bride of Christ. A bride is a bride not because she is going to cook or clean or doing wifely things, all these things can be done by people who are hired for the job. The difference is that a bride has a relationship with the groom that is to be like none other. So the church is to be in relationship with Jesus.
To make a long rambling a bit shorter I think this is the key, the church is to be in an active relationship with Jesus just as a bride would be with a groom. It doesn't mean doing things to earn his love, but rather to be in a relationship where love is growing each and every day.
Because of this answer I can only say that the one thing we can do in this area is to love Jesus. Anything good will only come from that reality. Love Jesus and make it our only priority.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Back to it again
I've just let this last week consume me in the wrong ways. I've opened blogger several times to start writing and then let interruptions get the better of me, not today. I'm going to get it in early before things start side tracking me.
We have been encouraging people individually and in groups in the church to be reflecting upon the Mission Statement of our church. There is a listing of questions to guide the discussion and the last post was my reflecting upon the first point. The second question to reflect upon is:
What does being a New Testament Church mean?
When the mission statement was written a number of years ago the focus of that statement was centered around the last portion of Acts 2. This is the passage where Luke writes about the things the early church was doing, such as eating together, worshipping together, sharing their resources with each other, etc. While I believe that these are signs of a community of believers that are actively living out a life of faith I think to stop there is really to lose out. There is so much guidance for us individually as well as a community in the rest of the New Testament that we should really look at the whole more often than just the parts.
My thoughts are that to be a New Testament Church means that our practices, attitutes, and expectations are guided by the whole New Testament. It means that whenever there is conflict in the church that the expectations are that it will be dealt with in a biblical manner, such as Matthew 18. It means that there will be no seperation based upon race, economics, or gender as Paul says in Galatians 3:28. It means that we expect people to grow in love and grace toward one another because of their love of Jesus as is shown in 1 John 4:7.
In all this I think that being a New Testament Church means that together we are guided by the New Testament in all of our interactions with one another and with the world. It also means that together we have to know what the New Testament says and then encourage one another to live it out for the glory of God.
We have been encouraging people individually and in groups in the church to be reflecting upon the Mission Statement of our church. There is a listing of questions to guide the discussion and the last post was my reflecting upon the first point. The second question to reflect upon is:
What does being a New Testament Church mean?
When the mission statement was written a number of years ago the focus of that statement was centered around the last portion of Acts 2. This is the passage where Luke writes about the things the early church was doing, such as eating together, worshipping together, sharing their resources with each other, etc. While I believe that these are signs of a community of believers that are actively living out a life of faith I think to stop there is really to lose out. There is so much guidance for us individually as well as a community in the rest of the New Testament that we should really look at the whole more often than just the parts.
My thoughts are that to be a New Testament Church means that our practices, attitutes, and expectations are guided by the whole New Testament. It means that whenever there is conflict in the church that the expectations are that it will be dealt with in a biblical manner, such as Matthew 18. It means that there will be no seperation based upon race, economics, or gender as Paul says in Galatians 3:28. It means that we expect people to grow in love and grace toward one another because of their love of Jesus as is shown in 1 John 4:7.
In all this I think that being a New Testament Church means that together we are guided by the New Testament in all of our interactions with one another and with the world. It also means that together we have to know what the New Testament says and then encourage one another to live it out for the glory of God.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Mission Reflections
The mission statement of our church is; "To be an authentic New Testament Church, To Reach the unchurched, and to develop fully mature disciples of Jesus Christ." In order to flesh this mission statement out we as a church in groups and individually are being asked to consider some questions about what this means. I'm sure that I'll be doing this in other places but I'm going to use this space for the next few posts to reflect personally upon the questions. If they get a bit long feel free not to read them, if you have places that you would like to interact feel free to leave comments.
The first question is: Are the goals of the mission statement listed in order of priority, or are all equally important?
My short answer would be yes.
The follow up question then would be why do I think this?
The authentic New Testament Church seems obvious to me as the place to start. Without it the other two lose their context. There are many reasons and ways to reach people who are not in church and they could have nothing to do with the God of creation and the invitation of Jesus to accept the reality of being made in the image of God through his teaching, love, and sacrifice. So if we don't put the New Testament first the cart goes in front of the horse.
Now the next two are where the conflict arises. Is the church of the New Testament here for the building up of believers first or is it for the building up of the disciples (in New Testament language, "the saints").
Jesus command as he left the disciples and ascended into heaven was, "Go make disciples..." (Matthew 28:19) There seems to be a clear indication that the expectation is for people who believe in Jesus to replicate that belief in others and not to be content until all people come to a living faith and relationship with Jesus. (Romans 16:26) The reality is that faith ends if those outside the faith are not brought into a relationship with Jesus.
The last statement then is to develop fully mature disciples. This is the goal then of the church in not simply telling people that they should believe and trust in Jesus, but that faith leads them to a different way of living. Become mature disciples is what should happen following being reached. I think this is often the hardest part because while we talk a lot about what the marks of discipleship are, we rarely ask one another, "why don't you look more like that?" The use of the believers spiritual gifts then as Paul says in Ephesians 4:12-13 is to build up the body of Christ both numerically and spiritually. It is the logical outcome of people becoming believers. A child is designed by God to grow and become an adult when everything is working correctly. When a child remains childlike everyone recognizes that there is a problem. In the church when a believer doesn't become a disciple what do we do? (ok I think that is a reflection for another post)
So to return to the short answer I would say that yes the order is correct in the mission statement and to change that order moves outside of the design that God has for God's church.
The first question is: Are the goals of the mission statement listed in order of priority, or are all equally important?
My short answer would be yes.
The follow up question then would be why do I think this?
The authentic New Testament Church seems obvious to me as the place to start. Without it the other two lose their context. There are many reasons and ways to reach people who are not in church and they could have nothing to do with the God of creation and the invitation of Jesus to accept the reality of being made in the image of God through his teaching, love, and sacrifice. So if we don't put the New Testament first the cart goes in front of the horse.
Now the next two are where the conflict arises. Is the church of the New Testament here for the building up of believers first or is it for the building up of the disciples (in New Testament language, "the saints").
Jesus command as he left the disciples and ascended into heaven was, "Go make disciples..." (Matthew 28:19) There seems to be a clear indication that the expectation is for people who believe in Jesus to replicate that belief in others and not to be content until all people come to a living faith and relationship with Jesus. (Romans 16:26) The reality is that faith ends if those outside the faith are not brought into a relationship with Jesus.
The last statement then is to develop fully mature disciples. This is the goal then of the church in not simply telling people that they should believe and trust in Jesus, but that faith leads them to a different way of living. Become mature disciples is what should happen following being reached. I think this is often the hardest part because while we talk a lot about what the marks of discipleship are, we rarely ask one another, "why don't you look more like that?" The use of the believers spiritual gifts then as Paul says in Ephesians 4:12-13 is to build up the body of Christ both numerically and spiritually. It is the logical outcome of people becoming believers. A child is designed by God to grow and become an adult when everything is working correctly. When a child remains childlike everyone recognizes that there is a problem. In the church when a believer doesn't become a disciple what do we do? (ok I think that is a reflection for another post)
So to return to the short answer I would say that yes the order is correct in the mission statement and to change that order moves outside of the design that God has for God's church.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Go Colts!
Watching the Indianapolis Colts last night win their opening game was a nice diversion. After winning the Super Bowl last year many people thought they would have a down year and struggle to maintain their motivation and fill in the holes left by departing players. In the first half it looked like the Saints might just stay with the Colts and make a game of it. But when the second half got under way it became clear that the Colts aren't rebuilding this year they only had to stop and reload. Watching the Colts play in the second half showed the difference between the two teams. I'm sure that the Saints will be good this year and will win a lot of games, but they did not start the season out at the same level as the Colts.
It could be a fun year to be in Indiana!
It could be a fun year to be in Indiana!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
When Life Happens
It's fun to blog when you have great adventures to share like our trip to Alaska this summer. Then I looked forward to blogging every day. Upon our return I had the opportunity to share notes about the Willow Creek Leadership Conference and spend time reflecting back upon that experience. To blog at that time was simply a matter of making the time to get it done. Now though it has become a struggle. I by nature am rather reserved, I don't go around sharing my deepest darkest secrets or emotions. So when life happens and I'm in the midst of stuff I find it difficult to know what to say. It isn't like I'm a hermit and retreat into my cave not talking to anyone. Rather I share deeply with a small group of people and lean upon them in the midst of it all.
This is part of the struggle of being a pastor in North America right now. People want their pastors to be vulnerable and real (of which it comes fairly naturally to me for the most part). However as a pastor the role is never about me. I have to guard against making sermons, teaching, or even one on one time my own therapy sessions. So when life is happening around me as it is right now (my wife has been sick and off work for the last couple of weeks) what do I share and what do I not share. I try not to be fake and just say everything is fine when it really isn't, but at the same time I do try not to burden people with things that they really can't change. When bringing a meal isn't really helpful what can they do?
Some will say that at least they can pray and I would agree completely, but how do you decide who will pray and who will simply use it as a gossip excuse? I don't know I haven't got this one figured out yet. So I'll keep plugging away and sharing what I can when I can. In the mean time if you will I would ask you to pray for my wife.
This is part of the struggle of being a pastor in North America right now. People want their pastors to be vulnerable and real (of which it comes fairly naturally to me for the most part). However as a pastor the role is never about me. I have to guard against making sermons, teaching, or even one on one time my own therapy sessions. So when life is happening around me as it is right now (my wife has been sick and off work for the last couple of weeks) what do I share and what do I not share. I try not to be fake and just say everything is fine when it really isn't, but at the same time I do try not to burden people with things that they really can't change. When bringing a meal isn't really helpful what can they do?
Some will say that at least they can pray and I would agree completely, but how do you decide who will pray and who will simply use it as a gossip excuse? I don't know I haven't got this one figured out yet. So I'll keep plugging away and sharing what I can when I can. In the mean time if you will I would ask you to pray for my wife.
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