In the last several days, I have seen a
few blog posts that have said things about the church to the effect
of “we have to stop being afraid, and start moving forward, but I'm
not sure what the answers are/ the answers are complex/ I had answers
but the dog ate them.”
Goodness knows, I'm sure I don't have
all the answers either. It's not like I've gone out to hard places
and planted thriving churches. But I guess I'm a little tired of no
one even positing answers. And so, in no particular order (other than
the first one), here's my stab at the answer(s) of how we're going to
plant and grow thriving churches.
1) I must unashamedly preach Jesus,
both to myself, and to others. Jesus says hard things, and it is all
too easy to soft-pedal them. He says hard things about being wealthy,
but somehow I allow myself to dream about being rich. He says hard
things about having an exclusive claim on the truth, but I try not to
talk about that among my pluralist neighbours. He says hard things
about death being the path to greatness, but somehow I still dream
about that big book I'm going to write. He says hard things about
sex, hell, money, and politics, but somehow, I am still tempted to
try to convince myself that I can dial his call on our lives back to
“loving people.” Most of all, he says hard things about a wild
and unimaginable grace that I don't deserve. He tells me that I'm not
good enough and never could be, but that he always has been, and
always will be.
2) I must be passionate about this
thing that I say has changed my life. Am I as passionate about Jesus
as I am about keto, essential oils, or Dungeons and Dragons? Do my
conversations spin back to the things of God, not in a contrived
“super-Christian” sort of way, but just because it overflows from
a deep well within? If I let myself think in terms of “getting
myself ready to share my faith,” then I am treating my faith as an
external thing to myself and not an integral part of who I am.
3) I must be part of de-politicising
the church. I will have Conservatives/ Republicans in my church.
Their fiscally conservative nature is not heretical. I will have
Liberals/ NDPs/ Democrats in my church. Their love of social justice
and social programs is not heretical. And we need each other, far
more than we realise. I worry about a world where no one is concerned
that the budget balances. I shudder to think of a world where no one
champions the rights and needs of the disenfranchised.
4) I must love the widow, the orphan,
and the foreigner in deep, meaningful, tangible ways. I must not wait
to hear about needs: I must look for ways to do good.
5) I must keep myself from being
polluted by the world. If I don't demonstrate an alternative to what
the world has to offer, I'm not sure why anyone would want to join
me. And yes, sexual purity is on that list. It's a problem, even in
the church – perhaps especially in the church, given the kind of
people we are called to be. But it's not the only thing on the list:
a) Am I humbler than the world? The
first to step out of the way, the first to sit down and shut up, the
first to admit wrongdoing? Am I quick to ask others about who they
are and what their lives are like, or do I just wait to jump in and
talk about myself?
b) Am I gentler than the world? Do I
truly consider the feelings of others? Do I take seriously the hurts
and the sorrows of others, even when those hurts and sorrows lead
them to decisions that I don't understand or can't agree with?
c) Am I more joyful than the world? Do
I live like someone who walks in triumphal procession with Jesus? Am
I fearful of “where the world is headed” or “young people these
days”?
d) Is my speech different from the
world's? And no, I'm probably not swearing, but that's such a small
part of “wholesome talk.” Do I always have to say things to make
me seem cool or clever? Does my biting sarcasm hurt people and drive
them away?
6) I have to be ready to shoot my dog.
If my preferred method of worship, or evangelism, or church ministry
doesn't win people to Christ, or doesn't grow them into the image of
Jesus, am I prepared to kill it? If I love street preaching, but it
offends people and drives them away, am I ready to stop and look for
a new way to proclaim the gospel? If I love four part harmony, but
such singing is no longer a cultural norm, am I ready to relegate it
to a yearly “old-fashioned hymn sing.” If I love apologetics, but
what keeps people from faith isn't intellectual objections, am I
ready to leave that behind? If I love discipleship groups, but people
respond best to one-on-one settings, am I prepared to invest that
extra time and energy? At the end of the day, these things are all
tools. And while I may enjoy working with some tools over others, the
priority must always be the good of my project, not my preferences.
This is where I'm supposed to write
some deep and thoughtful conclusion. I'm not sure that I have one
this time, except to exhort us to be creative, not to be afraid to
change, and to disciple ourselves to the God who will do anything at
all, up to and including his own death, to bring wayward people back
to himself.
