The Mission and the Method
"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NLT)
The Mission hasn’t changed, but how we carry it out must in some ways adapt. I had a conversation with my Dad over the holiday break, about the condition of some of our churches right here in our own community and the reality that how we do church is shifting in our culture. It’s shifting, and yet, many churches and more specifically many denominations are still doing it the same way it has always been done. I am personally witnessing this evolving process as my older 2 children are experiencing their faith journey. My oldest, Rylee, is 21 now and a senior at Missouri State University. She has in the past year found her place in a fairly new church in our community. Unlike myself at her age, rather than continue attending the church her Dad is on staff with, she has ventured out to discover where God intends for her to connect in a church family. It has been an amazing and truly beautiful thing to watch as she has found her place with this new church, connecting with a college student ministry, serving as a youth sponsor in youth ministry, and finding support, encouragement, mentoring and fellowship in a home group. My second born, Bailey, is 18 and a senior at Willard High School this year, and as our home church is preparing for entry into a leased building out in the Rogersville area, he has connected over the course of this past year with another church’s student ministry that has provided him the opportunity to serve on student worship team, consistent weekly discipleship and fellowship with students his age in both a large and small group setting, and a student pastor who has connected with him in the way I found to be so vital to my own faith journey as a student years ago. So, it is interesting and quite refreshing to me, to watch as this process flows for my children, so differently than it did for me, and for my parents. I love seeing my children discover what God is doing in their lives, for themselves and not just because of what they have learned from us. I am thankful to know our example has made a difference in both of them, that our prayers are working, that they both found Christ at a young age and continue to desire to know Him more and more. I want to see our faith increase, I want to see people in our churches strive toward making a difference in the lives of others and blow the doors wide open in terms of how we do that.
We can’t “do church” the same way it was done 5, 10, 20 years ago. We need to adapt. The Message and the Mission remain the same, but our methods must change in terms of carrying it out.
This article I came upon highlights the path one group took in their approach to revitalize that approach by taking a dying church and making it more of an all-encompassing, all-inclusive support system for a community:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/what-should-america-do-its-empty-church-buildings/576592/
I believe as I reflect upon how Jesus and His disciples did it, and how the early Christians did it, that it really should be a natural transition. The body of Christ is not doing the full and complete work God the Father intended, if the needs being met are only for a selective few. When we consider how we can meet our community’s needs by providing resources through our churches that provide recovery and wellness programs, homeless shelters, job centers, health clinics, art classes/exhibits and fine arts events, and so much more, then we are connecting with each other and using all that God has given us to the fullest intent.
Doing church and being the church should not be separate; we are the church. We need to be consistently and routinely checking ourselves for how we can be better, how we can be more like Christ in this world that is not for Him and is in fact against Him. I am thankful to be part of a movement that intends to live this life for the Kingdom in a fresh new way. The intention of man apart from God is puffy with pride, so let’s strip it down and consider what the meat and bones focus ought to be as we seek to share the gospel in this crippled world.
We have a lot of work to do, and we need each other to complete it. I am hopeful, and I encourage you to consider how you can be part of this movement.
The Mission hasn’t changed, but how we carry it out must in some ways adapt. I had a conversation with my Dad over the holiday break, about the condition of some of our churches right here in our own community and the reality that how we do church is shifting in our culture. It’s shifting, and yet, many churches and more specifically many denominations are still doing it the same way it has always been done. I am personally witnessing this evolving process as my older 2 children are experiencing their faith journey. My oldest, Rylee, is 21 now and a senior at Missouri State University. She has in the past year found her place in a fairly new church in our community. Unlike myself at her age, rather than continue attending the church her Dad is on staff with, she has ventured out to discover where God intends for her to connect in a church family. It has been an amazing and truly beautiful thing to watch as she has found her place with this new church, connecting with a college student ministry, serving as a youth sponsor in youth ministry, and finding support, encouragement, mentoring and fellowship in a home group. My second born, Bailey, is 18 and a senior at Willard High School this year, and as our home church is preparing for entry into a leased building out in the Rogersville area, he has connected over the course of this past year with another church’s student ministry that has provided him the opportunity to serve on student worship team, consistent weekly discipleship and fellowship with students his age in both a large and small group setting, and a student pastor who has connected with him in the way I found to be so vital to my own faith journey as a student years ago. So, it is interesting and quite refreshing to me, to watch as this process flows for my children, so differently than it did for me, and for my parents. I love seeing my children discover what God is doing in their lives, for themselves and not just because of what they have learned from us. I am thankful to know our example has made a difference in both of them, that our prayers are working, that they both found Christ at a young age and continue to desire to know Him more and more. I want to see our faith increase, I want to see people in our churches strive toward making a difference in the lives of others and blow the doors wide open in terms of how we do that.
We can’t “do church” the same way it was done 5, 10, 20 years ago. We need to adapt. The Message and the Mission remain the same, but our methods must change in terms of carrying it out.
This article I came upon highlights the path one group took in their approach to revitalize that approach by taking a dying church and making it more of an all-encompassing, all-inclusive support system for a community:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/what-should-america-do-its-empty-church-buildings/576592/
I believe as I reflect upon how Jesus and His disciples did it, and how the early Christians did it, that it really should be a natural transition. The body of Christ is not doing the full and complete work God the Father intended, if the needs being met are only for a selective few. When we consider how we can meet our community’s needs by providing resources through our churches that provide recovery and wellness programs, homeless shelters, job centers, health clinics, art classes/exhibits and fine arts events, and so much more, then we are connecting with each other and using all that God has given us to the fullest intent.
Doing church and being the church should not be separate; we are the church. We need to be consistently and routinely checking ourselves for how we can be better, how we can be more like Christ in this world that is not for Him and is in fact against Him. I am thankful to be part of a movement that intends to live this life for the Kingdom in a fresh new way. The intention of man apart from God is puffy with pride, so let’s strip it down and consider what the meat and bones focus ought to be as we seek to share the gospel in this crippled world.
We have a lot of work to do, and we need each other to complete it. I am hopeful, and I encourage you to consider how you can be part of this movement.
