12 Apr What If Church is Really About the Lost?
“The problem with denominations is that they want to shape the mission around their polity, rather than shape the polity around the mission. The latter view is the spirit of all the founding fathers and mothers of every denomination, while the former is the sorry state of every denomination today. The lack of mission urgency in North America means that denominational leaders think they still have time to develop modest, incremental strategic plans to tinker with polity, and time afterwards to then go about mission. The truth is just the opposite. The eternal destinies of individuals do not allow such laxness” (Paul D. Borden, “Hit the Bullseye”).
Stop and think about that paragraph for awhile. The history of this denomination would vouch for its truthfulness. Otterbein and Boehm didn’t seem too concerned about polity. They were driven by an insatiable desire to see lost people find Christ. Now we have conferences to change discipline and polity without even being greatly disturbed at the ineffectiveness of many of our churches in fulfilling a mission to the lost. As a result of being in this office a short time, I have been left reflecting on what it would take to bring us back to have a missional focus again. Do we really see the Great Commission as our mission? Was God a missionary God? If so, then isn’t the one mission of the church clear?
This Sunday we will gather in churches to celebrate the resurrection, ascension, and glorification of the Lord of the Church. Maybe, just maybe, “He expects the church in dependence upon him to accomplish great things” (Borden, “Hit the Bullsey”). And to be urgent in fulfilling our mission. Does it make any eternal difference whether persons place their faith in Jesus Christ? If the eternal destinies of individuals are determined by whether they have placed saving faith in Jesus, then maybe we ought to ratchet up our urgency of communicating the Gospel. I think probably most of our congregations believe it makes a difference, but many surely don’t act like it.
What if church wasn’t for us? What if church is really about reaching the lost? I know, we all want fellowship, being with our Christian friends, worshipping God…but we will have an eternity to do all that. Maybe church isn’t really about us. Maybe it really is about the mission! Reaching people, making disciples for Jesus Christ.
How different would our church and churches look if we really acted like we believed our task is missional? I think it would change how we talk about and to one another. I think it would change our priorities. I think it would change what it took to upset us.
Steve Dennie passed this quote on to me, I share it with you. It is from C.H. Spurgeon:
“If sinners be damned, at leasty let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
WOW!
Jim Bolich
Posted at 12:16h, 13 AprilBishop, thank you for this post. I appreciate your unrelenting call to storm the gates of hell. I am anticipating great things from God this Sunday. To God be the glory!
Michael Thompson
Posted at 21:03h, 13 AprilI believe that this revolves around some of the central issues facing church and denominational leadership today. The question needs to be raised, indeed pressed quite hard, to find where our theology is constructed. Sadly, there are many cases which show that our leadership and polity begin (and end) by moving away from our own fears and establishing our own securities.
But Bordon is certainly correct in his assesment, for it is imperative for the modern church to realize that salvation is not an end in and of itself. Rather, Scripture is straightforward in that salvation is a means to an end. N T Wright states repeatedly that the point of our faith is NOT ‘to go to heaven when we die’ but to see the kingdom be established and creation made right.
What does this mean for leadership? It is realizing how little Scripture speaks of ‘individual election’ and how it is permeated with a community called, chosen and elected to make a difference. In a culture as egocentric and individualistic as ours, this becomes a great challenge for the church.
But to begin this movement toward sound doctrine and polity, we must be willing to ask rather embarrasing questions and seek out painful remedies. Introspection is a good place to start. . .if we’ve got the guts to try.
Tom Blaylock
Posted at 01:45h, 20 AprilBishop, my prayer for you today is that you “do not grow weary in well doing.” My hope for our tribe is that we recapture somehow, some way, what it means to be a movement of God once again. We see glimpses of that here and there, but my heart longs for joining arms with our brothers and sisters and having the exact impact upon this culture and world that God has uniquely designed and called us to have. This will not come cheaply.
As noted in the Borden book, there was a high up-front price to pay in transitioning from maintenance to mission, and there were some very unhappy (and unemployed) pastors along the way. As a hunter I resonate with your DNA analogy with the ranch in Texas. What I am unsure about is whether we as a group have the resolve, the tenacity, to do whatever it is going to take to become a movement of God that is faithfully AND fruitfully making disciples for Jesus Christ. Can we really “pull the trigger”? I pray that we do/can, and I believe that you and Pat and our ELT can lead us down that road.
You have done a good job stating the goal. I would love to hear a follow-up discussion about our current reality (a pair of outside eyes would be most helpful here), what options we have for going from that reality toward the goal, and which of those options we will choose and be held accountable for.
Mark Vincenti
Posted at 17:03h, 20 AprilA picture that God once put in my mind was that of a first aid tent stationed beside the gates of hell.
This picture spoke quite loudly to me about the role of Christians in the world. Do we really believe Jesus’ words that, “it is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick?”
We are commanded in the book of Jude, “Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment.” (22, 23)
May God use me (and us) to be rescuers of others from the flames of judgment! Revival fire fall, and start with me. Amen.