Earlier this year I was at a conference in Florida where one of the stage speakers said something like this:
"Often times we Christians are found pressing our faces against the inside windows of our churches, looking out and wishing we could party like the world. What we really want to be doing inside our church buildings, is partying with such joy that outsiders would want to press their faces against our windows, looking in and wishing they could party with us!"
I know what he meant and you probably do too. In fact, I agree: the INSIDE of our church facilities should be one of the greatest spaces of concentrated joy there is--- because the power and presence of Jesus calls us to gather into Himself! Having said that, if Jesus is with us on the INSIDE of our church facilities, how can he also be with us on the OUTSIDE?
The answer is: Jesus is everywhere his BODY (the Church) is! If the body is only believing, worshipping, serving and testifying on the inside of a facility, then Jesus' power is limited to four walls on a Sunday...but if the body lives the faith outside the facility, then the power of Christ has no boundaries Monday through Saturday in the daily marketplace!
Trouble is, too many post-moderns on the outside of the church facility aren't seeing enough Christians living their inside Christian faith on the outside of the church facility. Why, then, would the outsiders ever want to become insiders if they aren't seeing insider's changed lives on the outside?!
Think on this for a moment: there are two main ways most people understand Church as a place to GO TO...
1)...for teaching of the true Gospel of God's Word and to correctly celebrate the sacraments. This is a great start, but God's Word isn't held hostage to just Sunday mornings.
2)...and receive religious goods and services. In this understanding, people are welcomed into a church facility as customers. Membership means you belong and have rights and privileges within the tribe--- such as having a welcoming place to be baptized, married and buried. Expectations are an exchange: for the member's loyalty, money and time volunteered inside the facility; comes new insight through teachings, fun experiences, a place to make friends and publicly worship.
Certainly nothing listed in 1 and 2 is bad...but if 1 and 2 don't exist for the sake of mission outside the building, the church is quickly seen as an institution that exists for only the benefit of its inside members.
Instead, the "biblical church" exists for the main benefit of others! Members join the inside to become equipped missionaries for the sake of those living on the outside! With that in mind, allow me to add a third way to understand the church...
3)...as people called and sent by God to participate in His redemptive mission for the world. The church is a body that is sent. We gather, yes, but we gather for the sake of God's mission in the marketplace. We come together to be equipped through teaching, prayer, worship and study--- then sent out. We are gathered to be scattered in the power of Jesus to change the world around us!
Blog-2 of this series, The Quest to be Missional, will feature a powerfully influential and biblically directed mission, in which your church can start connecting Christians from the inside of the church, to folks on the outside of the facility. It is called, Prayer Evangelism. Stay tuned for the new blog, tomorrow. Thanks.
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