There’s nothing better than the local church. The gathering of Christians in local congregations for worship, teaching, fellowship, ministry, and Gospel proclamation is God’s “Plan A” for fulfilling His redeeming work in the world.
This work, by definition, includes what Paul described as the “equipping of the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12).
There are obvious contextual differences between the early church and the modern one. But I think it’s safe to say that faithfulness to our call to equip the saints for ministry must include the church catalyzing and celebrating the work believers do at home, in the marketplace, and in the public sector six days each week as much as anything they may do inside the structures of the church programming for a few hours of the week.
THE TENSION
One of the struggles with this approach is that pastors and other church leaders want to provide a full-service church program. We not only create a gathering event for worship as well as age-graded teaching, but we also feel compelled to provide a large menu of other ministries to men, women, young moms, empty-nesters, grandparents, singles, single moms, step-dads, people struggling with addictions, people who need help with finances, and the list goes on and on and on.
Additionally, seasonal programs, musicals, fairs and festivals, and sporting events capture our attention.
All of these efforts have value. And in many cases are very important.
Most churches, however, do not have the capacity to do even a fraction of the things I listed above. But they want to. They try to hire people who will do it. They cojole their members to do it. And the 20% that do 80% of it are too tired to even think about doing anything “beyond the walls.” It’s all they can do to “honor their leaders and serve the church.”
The result is that no one, literally no one, on the pastoral staff has any margin to even think about what Christian business leaders, educators, healthcare workers, or public servants are doing everyday. They just hope they will keep tithing to pay for all of the things “the church is doing.”
ANOTHER WAY
What if there’s another way?
What if we, as a church, did just three things, and we did just those three things really well? And through those three things, we invested, inspired, equipped, and then unleashed believers to live on mission with Jesus everyday in their community.
I’m not suggesting these three things are easy. They are not. But they are simple. More importantly, when done well and with intentionality, they are powerful to change lives, mobilize believers, and multiply churches.
THE THREE ACTS OF THE CHURCH
What are these three things, you ask? Here they are:
Gather for Worship
Grow in Grace Together in Small Groups
Integrate into the Community
I won’t break all of these down in this post, but I do want to take a minute on #3.
Rather than creating more programs for people to attend at church, what would happen if the church encouraged, equipped, unleashed, and celebrated believers to live out their faith in programs that already exist in the community?
Rather than creating more programs for people to attend at church, what would happen if the church encouraged, equipped, unleashed, and celebrated believers to live out their faith in programs that already exist in the community?
What would happen if the success of the community became our success?
What would happen if we deeply invested in the local Senior Center rather than spending so much time on our senior adult ministry? What would happen if we joined in with youth sports in the city, rather than creating our own leagues? What would happen if we introduced business leaders to marketplace ministry opportunities and celebrated their work in the local chamber of commerce?
What would happen if the success of the community became our success?
What would happen if we sent out and supported believers joining local civic organizations, rather than viewing organizations as competitors or second-tier volunteerism activities?
Rather than starting our own support groups, what would happen if we got involved in groups that already exist? Rather than starting our own food pantry, what would happen if we served the local one already serving our neighbors? What would happen if we mobilized our church members into the nonprofit that works daily to provide for youth who have aged out of the foster care system?
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN?
I’ve asked that question a few times. Here are a few possibilities:
Church members will be freed up to do what’s already on their heart to do. Most educators, for example, feel called to that work. How great would it be for their calling to be affirmed, for them to be prayed for, and for their church to equip them to be the best missionary they can be in their context?
Church staff will be freed up to do what they have been called to do. Pastors are not called or trained to be program directors. They are called to equip the saints for the work of ministry. The more time, energy, and capacity they have for that work, the better everyone will be.
Community members who are near to us but far from God will be confronted by genuine love, practical service, and a Gospel presence of God’s people. They will be impacted by the incarnational ministry of believers who want to be there, want to serve, and want to spend and be spent for the Gospel.
There are a lot of conversations around why we do church the way we do. I’m not here to suggest there’s just one way to do it. But I do think the abundance of resources in the modern church has given us options the early church never imagined or needed. Resources are not bad, but like that big walk-in closet at your house, it fills up with stuff you don’t really need.
Our affluence has allowed our churches to be filled with things that we just don’t need, and things that actually distract us from the mission and dilute our impact. And the result is a church segregated from the community that is waiting for hope.
Our affluence has allowed our churches to be filled with things that we just don’t need, and things that actually distract us from the mission and dilute our impact.
All this is to say that what the normal, everyday believer does in Jesus’ name every day counts for the kingdom. May a tribe of churches rise up to raise up a new generation of everyday missionaries.
PICTURE OF THE WEEKS
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
The Thrill of Orthodoxy by Trevin Wax
What is a Healthy Church by Mark Dever
A Good Return by John C. Lennox
ENCOURAGE TO FOLLOW!
Ryan Burge at Graphs About Religion. His Linktree is HERE.
EVERYONE’S WILSON | THE EVERYONE’S WELCOME NETWORK
I’m the Executive Director of Everyone’s Wilson and The Everyone’s Welcome Network—a Gospel-driven community transformation initiative. Our mission is to unite the Church to engage the community, so everyone thrives. Very simply, we’re passionate about helping Jesus-loving people live like missionaries in their local community through prayer, service, evangelism, and collaboration.
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