Church – LOVE | ACCEPT

Sharing a Vision of Revitalization

Carry the Fire

The challenges and complexities intrinsic to church renewal demand a single, shared vision for the revitalization to have a hope of being successful. Whatever contributed to the decline will have left lasting marks and lingering infirmities. The culture at large will continue to ignore or outright denigrate the Church and her practices. Countless uncategorized factors will actively impede the renewal process. To maintain momentum and direction against these headwinds, a church determined to find new life must have a single vision of its new life shared among all those who commit themselves to the journey. Everyone must own the collective vision, and leaders must carry that vision and when darkness and doubt close in, raise it as a torch to push back the threatening shadows and light the way forward.

Photo by Kevin Finneran on Unsplash

A clear vision, shared by the church, encourages continued forward movement even when various hurdles present themselves on the way. A shared vision recognizes that obstacles are not limited to external factors alone, there are various internal realities that can hamper the pace of renewal. Years of decline are almost always evidenced by limited or depleted resources. A vision of renewal will need to be narrowed in the early segments of the journey so that these limited resources (monetary, human, etc.) can be marshaled and dedicated to the near-term goal. The renewing church also cannot be everything to everybody. A shared vision enables us to say (without constant turmoil) what we are called to be and also what we are not called (at this time) to be. The renewal vision serves as a touchpoint for everyone as the horizons can be easily pointed out, obstacles recognized and agreed upon and the goal(s) used as an ultimate authority when alternative directions present themselves.

Developing a statement that can support these requirements is not a simple task. A vision for revitalization must consider the Bible’s purpose for the Church, the Holy Spirit’s intent for your church, and the local context in which Christ has planted you. A vision for revitalization is a tool that will be put before the Renewal cohort as often as possible. Unlike countless church vision statements, it will not be printed, framed and placed on the lobby wall and then forgotten. The shared vision is rehearsed, again and again, in the same the Bible repeats mention of God’s goodness, His grace, His love; participants need to be reminded of the reasons they are laboring, committing their time and resources, perhaps even suffering. Another important facet of developing the renewal vision is that it need not be “once for all time”, the authors can be comfortable viewing the vision as temporal. The church can develop a vision for the first leg of the journey (return to “health”, address the issues that led to decline, et al.) and then discard it in favor of a vision of the next horizon. Taking this attitude enables the renewal journey to be envisioned as a series of intermediate goals leading to longer and longer horizons, making each one eminently reachable.

A shared vision is much more powerful written in that light; if the vision is to be owned by each member of the revitalizing church, write it in community. The composition of this group includes the members of the congregation, to be sure, but also the living Word of God, His Holy Spirit and a composite view of the neighbors blessed by the new life of the church. The vision must be biblically grounded which automatically narrows the scope of the vision as to the purpose of the Church and, unless an immediate move out the location is in the cards, the vision must also consider the local conditions, people and realities that the church is meant to serve.

Writing the renewal vision as a collective exercise leads to the likelihood that everyone will take spiritual ownership of the statement, and that they will be spiritually dedicated to the vision and the Giver of the vision. Ideally, as the renewal vision takes the form of spiritual commitment, the body will recognize the necessity of praying together and praying deeply. The renewal group must not be satisfied with perfunctory prayer asking for blessing and guidance at the writing sessions. Renewalists must pray deeply together seeking to be shaped and emboldened and committed to reaching the goal of the vision. They must pray to be changed as needed to accommodate the demands of the changed realities. The group must pray to be fully sacrificial in their own comfort, their own wants, and perhaps with their own treasure. It is essential that the renewal cohort pray together to experience the guidance of the Holy Spirit as one. They need to hear the laments of those who have lived through the decline, the heart-hopes of those who see a glimmer of new life, even the struggles of those who are having a hard time with the changes that accompany the journey. Prayer is not an optional adjunct to the renewal process and it cannot be limited as a requirement for the pastor and elders alone. It is essential that the first commitment of the church, especially when desiring renewal, is to be a praying church. We must always keep before us the quote of Matthew Henry, “When God intends great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is to set them a-praying.”

Prayer is fueled by scripture and the congregation journeying toward revitalization should commit to collectively read and study God’s word, alone and together. The effect of regular immersion in the bible is well documented (“a lamp unto my feet”) for personal growth. Bringing this individual study together in a group setting deepens our understanding of the Bible’s story as we gain insights from one another, seeing truths revealed by the Holy Spirit to another. Renewal reading and study build renewal confidence as we collectively believe that what God has powerfully done in the past, He can easily do again (Hab 3:2). Deeper knowledge of what God reveals in the Bible makes the travelers more sensitive to what they are seeing and experiencing on their current spiritual journey.

The power of a shared vision for the renewal of a church is undeniable. As the leaders step out ahead, taking determined steps to lead the life of the body back to vitality, the vision lights the path, imbues confidence, and serves as the true north for aligning the map and plans. Leaders will need to be consistently rehearsing the vision before the renewal cohort, reminding them of its importance and painting a picture of where they are headed. When a glimmer of light is seen on the horizon, the leader must point out the sometimes-faint light for all to see. The leader must be guide and interpreter on the journey, pointing out landmarks and teaching their importance. He or she should be sensitive to making note of where God is at work in the life of the church and making sure that these events are memorialized. There is little more powerful than pointing out how God is working through or blessing or clearly guiding a church. Placing these divine interactions in the context of the shared vision builds the encouragement for the next step, the next week and the next year.

A Healthy Base for Planting Churches

Nurturing Roots to Fruit

If the Church wants to plant more churches in more places, we must launch them from a solid foundation. If your denomination, conference, affiliation or even your local church wants to see the reach of Christ’s church expand the kingdom gospel near and far, our commitment to church planting must balance that with an equally keen resolve to the nurture and maintenance of our existing bodies. We must nurture our legacy congregation at the same time we send out planters of new ones. Without the firm foundation of existing churches, planters without support, material and spiritual.

The Church is organic. We are the body of Christ spread across the globe and yet inseparably interconnected. Health in the body should be measured holistically, believing that all churches matter: fresh growth and existing parts equally. No leaves or fruit survive without the stem and roots. Like our own bodies, pain or weakness in one part is detrimental to the unhindered working of the other parts. It’s distracting at best, debilitating at worst. Sore legs cannot provide the stability and mobility needed by the rest of our body as we try to be of service in the kingdom. It can still happen, but it will require significantly more effort and may not be as effective.

While I support para-church planting efforts, I believe the most natural and effective church planting is done from within the church, done by churches who plant other churches. The men and women sent to plant are then known by the church, loved by the church, and supported by the church. When they are sent, they go with a support system in place and a time-tested culture adaptable to a new gathering of people. In order to realize this culture of planting, the existing churches need the confidence that comes from being healthy themselves.

To realize this mindset requires a cultural awareness on two fronts. The church must maintain as a life goal to reproduce itself. This begins on the more atomic level of being disciples who produce other disciples. Without this attitude, the larger goal of reproducing the church will be impossible in the eyes of the congregation. Keeping reproduction in the front of the other ministry goals, the church has an easier time of recognizing the need for health in all aspects of the life of the church. A public aim of reproduction heightens the awareness of a need for maintaining the church’s health in all areas to be prepared when the time comes to birth a new congregation.

Decline in churches occurs for a variety of reasons, but one of the most common is the loss of a frontier, a horizon toward which the body is always on the move. This is easily diagnosed by looking at the macro level; does the church have a group of saints who have ceased to grow? Are they not producing new disciples on their own? These truths point to the starting point on the path to health and, hopefully, a new vigorous pursuit of kingdom goals. This is a challenging ministry, but with the end goal of reproducing in mind, fresh motivation can kick-start a return to health.

Healthy roots support an abundance of fruit.

Taking a Missional Footing

The commission that Jesus gives His Church demands that she remain on missionary footing “to the very end of the age.” [Mt 28:18-20] The Lord’s command is a cycle of preparation and movement, two ongoing actions: spiritual preparation and the spread of the gospel. When a church experiences the pressures and discouragement of plateau or decline, the missional footing becomes less sure, and the temptation is to retreat from the frontline to regroup. In most cases, this retreat becomes the norm. The revitalization pastor facing this reality has no choice but to nurse the spiritually wounded back to health and lead them once more to their community and the world beyond. A healthy church is consistently missional.

Being missional in ministry and outlook is not an innovation reserved for the younger churches in the family. The term describes the expected qualities of every church as they view their role in the larger Family of God. Every church is a citizen of both a locality and the kingdom, and the way this looks is unique to every context. Mission is not exclusive to foreign fields or underserved communities; the charge given by the Lord starts right where a disciple finds him or herself. [cf. Acts 1:8] Ignoring this local context while sending disciples across the ocean or to distant neighborhoods, the church finds herself out of place, disconnected from her parish while believing that she is playing her part in the kingdom mission.

“The gospel always comes as the testimony of a community which, if it is faithful, is trying to live out the meaning of the gospel in a certain style of life, certain ways of holding property, of maintaining law and order, of carrying on production and consumption, and so on. Every interpretation of the gospel is embodied in some cultural form.”
Lesslie Newbigin ‘Gospel in a Pluralist Society‘

In a church looking toward renewal, mission is often narrowly defined by the support and celebration of foreign missionaries, without equal attention to the neighborhood the church calls home. Revitalization begins with a restored vision of the community, a renewed belief that God was intentional in placing your church where it is. The demographics of the neighborhood may have changed over the years, the economic measure of a place may have shifted in one direction or another, but two things remain consistent: the mission of the Church and the power of the gospel. A fresh vision of what both mean for your community should be a chief topic of prayer among the faithful remnant. Challenging the church’s view of “the other” is a hard conversation that needs to be had. Loving those others must once-again be viewed as a debt [Romans 13:8-10] owed. A firm missional stance is the footing from which the first steps of renewed life in the church can be taken.

In an earlier post [The Inner Shaping of Mission], I emphasized the inseparable nature of discipleship and mission. The Missio Dei cannot be accomplished other than by disciples who are growing in spiritual maturity. [cf. Hebrews 6:1-3; 2 Peter 3:18] The axiom that we cannot give what we do not have applies here. The mission of the church requires vision and action, gospel vision developed through discipleship and action motivated by the same. Revitalization requires discernment to judge the preparation of the faithful in relation to these twin requirements. Renewal may require retreat from the outward expressions of mission for a season while you reengage the discipleship of the saints.

The North American Baptist Conference has four principles that guide ministry throughout their churches. These principles [called End Goals by the NAB] are interconnected and intended to be understood as a whole. Ministry flows through each of the principles to form a holistic, missional philosophy of the Church in the world. The thoughts above are an interaction with End Goal 1: NAB Churches will be trained for missional and formational ministries. In an article written by Executive Director Harry Kelm, the following paragraph appears:

Missionally and formationally multiplying is why the NAB plants churches, which has always been a commitment of the NAB. We plant churches with the intention of reaching people with the Love (of) God in Jesus. Missionally and formationally ministering is embedded in all our End Goals and in who God is calling us to be. Onward Spring 2023

In addition to church planting, these principles should also guide revitalization efforts. As with the church plant, the legacy church has a place in being and proclaiming the gospel to their community. Use the principles to evaluate the alignment of your church’s ministry and leadership with the vision embedded in the Goals. Teach them and shape your efforts to reach your community and the world with the love of Christ and the hope of shalom.

Do You Want Spiritual Vitality?

The Principles New Life in Your Church

Spiritual formation and the Missio Dei often suffer in a church that is plateaued or in decline. The inner life and a Great Commission footing fall prey to the “more pressing” concerns of survival and whether the church will make it to next Sunday. But for the leader with a heart and vision for restoring the vitality of a body, these essentials of congregational life are the seeds and spreading roots of revitalization. Men and women of God who will look clear-eyed at the challenged spiritual condition of a church will not look for hope in process and programs, but in the biblical calls to develop Christlikeness and a servant’s heart. How do we do that? The answers are contextual to a particular church, but working from principles rather than programs can guide and motivate the first steps back to health.

Dry bones can live…

The revitalizationist will probably find that the principles of church health have become secondary concerns of the congregation in stasis or retreat. Where the kinetic energy of events and programs might seem to solve a church’s issues, the immediate blessings of doing something will fade quickly unless they come to rest upon a foundation of spiritual vitality. The pastor or lay leader seeking to renew a declining church should be prepared to set short-term gains aside and devote themselves and those under their leadership to restore spiritual health from the bottom up. Churches in the North American Baptist Conference [NAB] are blessed by a set of guiding principles that invite all member congregations to take them as their own. For the revitalizer, these are four principles that provide an outline for restoring areas of church life that can lead a church back to life. The principles [called End Goals by the NAB] are simple, biblical and direct:

Churches will be missional and formational
Churches will engage their neighbors cross-culturally
Churches will be committed to raising up the next generation of leaders
Churches will keep ‘all the nations’ in their ministry scope

Applying these principles as the foundation of a renewal plan addresses the wide variety of causes and symptoms of decline. Consider the church planted decades ago in a neighborhood or borough of the city. Over the years of faithful kingdom service, the church experiences declining membership and attendance. A census of the remaining membership shows most people not living in the immediate area and the makeup of the church no longer aligning with the changing demographics of the surrounding neighborhood. The reasons for these disparities are many and varied, but the underlying principle is much easier to find; the church has not consistently loved their neighbors as themselves. Now, this doesn’t have to be interpreted in a negative sense or assigned any nefarious motive. Every church with a history can identify with slowly changing surroundings, while the congregation carries on in the memory of their more fruitful days.

The temptation of the church is to have an event, intending to connect with their new neighbors. No doubt the Holy Spirit can produce fruit from this occasion. For longer term health and growth, however, the better choice is to put in the work of prayer and teaching to build a missional culture and an attitude of welcome for the church’s neighbors. Over time and with a commitment to the principles of spiritual health, the body of believers can become more naturally missional, not relying on special events to be a part of the life of the neighborhood. Consistently applying the principle of cross-cultural ministry to the church’s teaching and practice can be used by the Spirit to create a new sensitivity to the needs and issues of those who live within the parish of the church, resulting in open hearts and welcoming arms.

We’ll look at each of these principles individually as tools of renewal in the weeks ahead. If you are a part of the NAB family, be encouraged that our leadership has prayerfully given the conference a consistent set of guidelines for our collective ministry. One of the great blessings of these end goals is that they are applicable to all ministry contexts, from the church planter to the missionary and to the legacy churches that are seeking new life.

Review: The Loveliest Place by Dustin Benge

Why is More Important Than How

A Christian who has spent any length of time in the Church knows that she can appear less than beautiful when subjected to human scrutiny. Bickering, division, scandal – all of these things and more wound her and leave scars and many within seem to care little about the damage done. But when we pause and consider the view from God’s perspective we’re humbled. He looks upon the less-than-faithful, worldly, gospel-possessing but imperfect Church and He loves her unconditionally because, to Him, she is the most beautiful thing He has fashioned. To read Dustin Benge’s love letter about the beauty of the Bride of Christ is to be moved to repentance for one’s lack of similar vision.

The Loveliest Place is a beautiful book and one that I will be rereading regularly. Theologically deep, the depth is contained in a heartfelt paean to love the Church in the same way God does. Benge systematically presents the unique treasures that have been entrusted to the body and the eternal value that God assigns to them. Dare we consider of less value, or worse, abuse these privileges through apathy or ignorance. I was deeply captivated by page after page or prose that encouraged my vision to lift to a higher perspective, to look past the scars and stains and see the Church as her Creator does. The theology can wait for a second reading if the first pass draws us back to the beauty of the Bride.

The Loveliest Place should be on the shelf of every pastor, elder and dedicated church member. I find it much more powerful than any crop of ministry ‘how-to’ books because it gives the important ‘why’ to everything we do in the Church. Understanding the reason why the Church is so valued by God gives the motivation for everything we do (or don’t do) as people blessed to be part of the Bride. In the introduction, the earth is turned and the reader is confronted with our own attitudes as Benge challenges, “Chosen by God the Father, purchased by Christ the Son, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the church should be cherished and recognized as ‘dear’ by all who call her home.” Reflecting on what we encourage, discourage, allow or ignore gives us our commitment to this truth. Perhaps our prayers need to return to the ‘why’ of the church, to the reason that we want to treasure her and her members.

Planting Seeds of New Life in Prayer

Matthew Henry wrote, “When God intends great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is to set them praying.” History affirms this maxim, as the great revivals that God has sparked around the world have always been launched by prayer. There may have been grand movements of Christians joined in crying out to God that brought the revival, but it hasn’t always been so. In countless instances, the hearts of just a handful of people united to plead with God for new life in their community, their country or their church were the passion to which God responded. It is not the size of the group praying that matters as much as the depth of that group’s heart. They need this depth for the perseverance in petition that renewal often requires. God does not put a shot-clock on these prayers, and He may respond to them at once, or it’s more likely that revival comes after a season of souls persevering in long hours of communal prayer.

God uses our commitment to prayer to prepare us for receiving the life-giving power of the Spirit, and this preparation is two-fold. He first sets out to prepare our hearts to burn for revival. The Christian must be able to see the dry bones of the church or the distracted hearts of their community and then believe that spiritual life can come to them if God moves. This hope is the second area in which the heart is prepared because these prayers for new life can require extraordinary perseverance. Revival may appear like a single cloud on the horizon, no bigger that a fist, and prayer warriors must be patient in the time it takes to blossom into a drenching storm pouring down torrents of living water. Without preparation, our hearts would often fail to have the vision needed or the strength to carry on when answer is not immediately forthcoming.

“From the day of Pentecost, there has been not one great spiritual awakening, in any land, which has not begun in a union of prayer, if only [among] two or three. No such outward, upward movement has continued after such prayer meetings have declined.”
A.T. Pierson

The prepared heart prays in complete honesty [JAS 5:16]. Christians recognize that the spiritual vitality of their church is not what it should be and the prayers that issue forth confess as much to God. Sin, cold fellowship, poor leadership – whatever the list of known deficits holds is boldly and openly laid before the Lord for his correction. Genuine repentance in revival prayer forges a heart soft and malleable for God to turn and shape, addressing these things so that new life does not germinate in rocky soil where it cannot flourish. When we pray for our community and for salvation to come, we are open with God about those areas in which we have not reached out or cared for. He may take the first step of turning our attention to knowing our neighbors and serving this community before He sends the Spirit with revival for the hearts of the lost. Honesty starts in the humbled heart, and a humbled heart is prepared by God and committed to Him above all other things.

Longing for Revival

I passionately believe in the possibility of renewal in the church, particularly the legacy church where the devotion to the Missio Dei has grown cold in favor of comfort and familiarity. I believe that the best way, but not the only, for revival to come to the church is through a return to first principles, a devotion to prayer and worship.

As a matter of regular meditation, I consider the list of things I believe:

The eternal God of the Bible created, sustains, and has a purpose for the universe and my life within it
Jesus gave His life to atone for the sins of the world (Mark 10:45) and by vesting belief in Him, people are saved (1 Corinthians 1:21)
The Holy Spirit of Christ miraculously indwells redeemed people (1 Corinthians 6:19)
The Colorado Rockies will win the World Series (someday, no scripture reference)
Many churches need and can have revival

I passionately believe in the possibility of renewal in the church, particularly the legacy church where the devotion to the Missio Dei has grown cold in favor of comfort and familiarity. I believe that the best way, but not the only, for revival to come to the church is through a return to first principles, a devotion to prayer and worship. A renewed sense of the mission of disciple-making results from the first sparks of spiritual life that ignite, giving evidence to my belief. I believe these things are Scripture honoring and God glorifying.

There are doubtless many reasons that churches fall into decline, some beyond their control. As we talk about revival, it’s important to distinguish between spiritual and material poverty as a contributing factor. Geographic factors and demographic shifts can be the reasons that churches find themselves in material decline, making closure a choice that has to be made. We can identify numerous other external factors as reasons for the death of a church, and we need to be clear-eyed in assessing these realities. Conversely, spiritual decline has but a single source, the dimming of the passion of the members of a body for the gospel mission. Jesus spoke of this as forsaking “your first love” (Revelation 2:4).

While external factors may be beyond the control of a local church, the spiritual fire they exhibit is not. I believe that the Lord’s promise to be with His Church always (Matthew 28:20) assures us that any spiritual spark can be fanned into a roaring flame through His power. What does it require? I believe this inferno lies at the juncture of a return to heartfelt worship and the restoration of the Church as a house of prayer. Does this guarantee revival? Perhaps not, but it ensures that any ministry that emanates from a church is glorifying to God.

Sparking a Movement

A summary of Spent Matches by Roy Moran

The Christian church has used a range of participatory metrics to evaluate her success in the modern era. Conversions, baptisms, the number of people present in worship: we fastidiously record these numbers throughout the year and then pore over them at year-end leadership summits. We define success as an increase in these totals; failure, plateau or decline. The analysis of these numbers governs the design and direction of the programmatic functions of the church. Leaders will tweak the edification programs to push for a more active evangelism, believing that transferring more information will make more effective evangelists. But how often are these same leaders referring to the commission given to the Church by her Lord to check the validity of their choices?

As Roy Moran states in his invaluable book Spent Matches, not often enough. The flaw in these metrics of success is that we no longer live in an era where information transfer to our neighbors and friends is effective in igniting their interest in God and His grace. To state this is a more colloquial fashion: the lives that surround the typical evangelical church are not the least bit interested in knowing what goes on inside. What people respond to is running into a radical life, one that is radically committed to Jesus and His teaching. Telling people what we believe puts their hypocrisy radar on full alert (as they have become conditioned to do in all areas of life). Living what we say we believe makes us stand out from the rest of the world clamoring for attention in the lives of our family, friends and neighbors.

It can be tempting to read the book as the outline for implementing a program, particularly because it includes ‘suggested’ outlines for meetings in the closing chapters. Mortify this temptation by slowly considering the imagery of the dire condition of the Church Moran paints at the beginning of the book. He suggests that our metrics should show the declining influence of modern Christian practice, likening the condition to a burning oil drilling platform surrounded by miles of churning sea. In the modern day we have two choices, jump or fry. To stay on our current platform is to die slowly on a long slope of decline. To jump is the join a movement back to the first principles of the Lord’s commission for His community of followers: make disciples who make disciples.

Moran is not the only author to put this idea into print. The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne leads to a similar conclusion, and has been influential in many churches by offering a ladder down from the burning platform. Moran is more forceful. We must jump and return with fresh eyes to the text of Matthew 28:18-20 and stop the bifurcation of the Gospel movement. Following a declaration of the expansive authority given to Him as the basis for the commission, Jesus commands His Church to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (ESV). The command to baptize these new disciples into the family and to teach “them to observe [obey] all that I have commanded you.” The Church has been obedient to this commission, but the methods have resulted in a bifurcated gospel practice where we separate life from faith. We have defined discipleship as an education process (information transfer) and then convinced ourselves that discipleship precedes evangelism (“sharing our faith”). The outcome of this process? Disciples never feel ready to evangelize others, so we double down on teaching them, hoping that someday their ship will launch. All the while, the platform burns.

The myth of preparation-perfection that plagues the information-transfer Church is refuted by reading the verses in the passage that are not a part of the memorized commission. The audience for the Lord’s command is His remaining eleven disciples, some of whom worshipped, but some of whom doubted! Perfection was not to be the enemy of progress, as Jesus commanded them to jump from the platform into the unknown. As Moran says,

“Jesus didn’t exhibit any sense of alarm indicating this was out of the ordinary or unusual. He was quite comfortable with a team that didn’t have it all together. In fact, He was comfortable commissioning people who not only lacked complete faith but were confirmed doubters.”

This is a catalyzing moment in the book, setting in relief the encouragement to jump and ignite a new movement within the Church, disciples who make disciples as they go along, each edifying and encouraging the other rather than relying on subject-matter experts that students feel they have to imitate before moving on the Mission. The Lord does not expect to create a class of mission-minded within the Church, specialists who carry on the Commission while others sit and watch. To be a Christian is to be a disciple, one involved in daily learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus and then putting that into practice. Moran’s take on John 15:8 (“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”) is accurate and puts our current process is stark relief:

“Jesus’ hope was that it would be normal for His followers to make disciples as they lived out a dangerous message that would divide families ad heal the brokenhearted, challenge the well-off and encourage the impoverished, transform the oppressors and bring freedom to the oppressed. To fail to make disciples would indicate followers weren’t connected to Jesus and the heart of His mission.”

Owning this concept is the spark of a movement that puts away information transfer and replaces it with community life. Jesus did not commission us to be taught principles about Himself, he said we were to be taught and then apply what he commanded. This obedience is the missing part in most programs in the modern Church; we are never challenged to show what we’ve done with what we’ve learned and so we never do. This is the source of the apathy we see in the pews. We have more information than we can possibly process at our fingertips, but scarce few opportunities to put it into practice and fewer still partners in the discipleship life holding us accountable. The discipleship patterns that Moran suggests through the book aim to fill this vacuum.

A fair number of churches today claim Acts chapter 2 as their model, seeing a return to the ancient church as a solution to moribund Christianity. The component missing in many is the discipleship pattern given by the Lord’s example and command: disciples, however imperfect, who make other disciples (who repeat the process) in community. This is what will capture the imagination of a world that has long ago become inured to the invitations of the Church. I invite you to read the book a few times and see if you are tempted to jump from the platform into the raging sea of the culture, trusting the Lord’s promise for our weakness, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

THE Church in the City

Today, Church in the City in Denver dedicates the restored synagogue that will become its new home, a block away from the old Safeway store that has been its home for many years. Here is an article in the Denver Post about the move. This is my favorite church in the our area. It is the most ethnically diverse congregation we have. Lead by Pastor Michael, the church is also the home to Raleigh Washington, a prime mover in racial reconciliation and the Promise Keepers movements.

Glory to God on this great day for the church. The Temple is Ready! My prayers for blessings on the event and I hope you will add yours too.

The Church in the City

The Church Cafe and Shallow Worship

The incongruity of the scene doesn’t affect you as you sweep past on the way to the sanctuary so that you might find a seat a least a few moments before the praise team takes their places. The rich, bittersweet smell of the daily roast caught you as you entered the lobby of the church and you wind through the clusters and knots of people surrounding the cafe. The brisk pace that you set for the family belies the fact that the Nine O’clock hour is moments away, but you can’t help but notice the number of people sitting at the little tables sipping coffee and the number of people still waiting in line to purchase a steaming cup of their own. Taking your seat with a minute or two to spare you glance around at the sanctuary which is barely one quarter full. Your eyes close and your head bows and you focus on the process of quieting your heart and bringing yourself fully present to the community worship of God.

As people trickle into the room for the next twenty or thirty minutes, you can’t help but wonder how many of them were sitting outside enjoying their latte as the praise leader skillfully attempted to lead the congregation into the immediate presence of God. Sure, many of the latecomers have no sense of urgency in being present while prayers are lifted up and voices raised in praise; to some it is simply a prelude to the sermon and it serves no purpose other than ritual. Do those same notions fill the hearts of the coffee drinkers? Have we gone too far in attempting to create an inviting environment, so much so that we have abandoned our primary mission as the Church – the worship of God?

I believe we have. I believe that in some instances the Church has leaned so far into the venues of the world in an attempt to be relevant or attractive that we have done so to the detriment of the Church itself. We would do well to contemplate again and again our purpose in convening on Sunday mornings. Is it to meet our needs for fellowship and only incidentally about worship? Or, do we gather at an appointed hour and place specifically to give corporate expression of our love and worship to God? With our answer in hand, we should then strive to ‘cleanse the temple’ of everything that distracts from that purpose, stripping away things that do not direct the people of God in the appropriate direction.

What do you think? Do you think that the cafe/bookstore/etc. contributes to preparing the hearts of the people of God for worship? Or, should these venues be closed and the hospitality ministry be directed to remove any friction between the front door and the chapel wherein people can quiet themselves, put the world aside, and prayerfully seek to know the presence of the Father?