Our local assembly is struggling with what to do about our growth in numbers. We are putting a strain on available square footage. Four proposals have been put forth: build at a new site, refurbish an existing building, modify/add to the existing structure, and begin a new work with a percentage of the people. Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages, and there are proponents for each course of action.
I sat in a meeting not long ago, listening to a presentation given by representatives of a firm who have experience in planning and building structures for church use. Near the end of the discussion, the presenter said, "You don't have a vision. What is your vision for the church?" I have been thinking on that observation since then.
It is a valid question.
If any group does not know its purpose and where it needs to go in the future, how long will it survive? Should it survive? Our current purpose statement is posted on a web site and states that we are helping each one "move toward maturity in Christ," emphasizing four discipleship areas:
It is a dangerous question.
When church groups consider their future, the results are often disastrous because plans are based on desire rather than doctrine, replacing God's defined purpose for his church with their own agenda. One does not need to search very far or long to stumble over a gathering that left their beliefs by the wayside months or years before in order to "reach out" and "be relevant." God's Word contains an entire section recounting what happens when each person and group ignored God's express commandments and revelation, in order to do "what was right in his own eyes" (Judg 21:25).
Eric Andersen warns in a post that asking the question "What kind of church do we want to be?" should never be asked because we, as redeemed sinners, still have the old nature wreaking havoc. The result will always (not sometimes, as I charitably stated above) be a disaster. Whether or not one agrees with the assertion, his summary paragraph is useful for this discussion:
It is a question needing an answer
With the constraint placed upon us that our existence and conduct be derived from a holy God's expectation of perfection and willingness through Jesus death, burial, and resurrection to accomplish atonement—he who was made "our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Cor 1:30)—there is need to take greatest care in crafting what might define the future of a local assembly. The best wordsmiths ultimately fall short here in their attempts to lay a foundation on which might be forged the superstructure of church life. I therefore offer the following vision statement as a humble gesture:
Of first importance in a local gathering is not the formation of a vision intended to target a demographic or build in a particular section of a town or county. These factors are ever changing in significance and weight. The people will be unable to keep up. The church throughout history never grew because of market research or location preference: It grew by remaining faithful to what had been received.
This is not a diatribe against spending money on a structure in a particular locale. This is a plea for Christians to not make decisions interpreted through current cultural norms or mystical divination attempts to determine God's will, nor through the more crass influences of creative marketing and poll numbers: rather let these be based on priorities drawn directly from their Bibles.
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Phil 3:13-16)
I sat in a meeting not long ago, listening to a presentation given by representatives of a firm who have experience in planning and building structures for church use. Near the end of the discussion, the presenter said, "You don't have a vision. What is your vision for the church?" I have been thinking on that observation since then.
It is a valid question.
If any group does not know its purpose and where it needs to go in the future, how long will it survive? Should it survive? Our current purpose statement is posted on a web site and states that we are helping each one "move toward maturity in Christ," emphasizing four discipleship areas:
- • WORSHIP GOD together each week.
- • LOVE OTHERS within the framework of a small group.
- • SERVE JOYFULLY in a ministry that strengthens the church family.
- • SHARE CHRIST with others everywhere we go.
It is a dangerous question.
When church groups consider their future, the results are often disastrous because plans are based on desire rather than doctrine, replacing God's defined purpose for his church with their own agenda. One does not need to search very far or long to stumble over a gathering that left their beliefs by the wayside months or years before in order to "reach out" and "be relevant." God's Word contains an entire section recounting what happens when each person and group ignored God's express commandments and revelation, in order to do "what was right in his own eyes" (Judg 21:25).
Eric Andersen warns in a post that asking the question "What kind of church do we want to be?" should never be asked because we, as redeemed sinners, still have the old nature wreaking havoc. The result will always (not sometimes, as I charitably stated above) be a disaster. Whether or not one agrees with the assertion, his summary paragraph is useful for this discussion:
The challenge for the Church today is to resist entertaining questions that take the focus off of Jesus and so divide His Body. Not all questions are good questions. Self-serving questions do not edify the Church. We must be careful to avoid the temptation to re-create the church after our own image and likeness. The Church is not Her own, for She has been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). She has been called out of the darkness not to bear witness to Herself, but to bear witness to Christ (1 Peter 2:9). The words of John the Baptist could serve as a motto for every Christian and every church: “He must increase, but I must decrease,” (John 3:30). As the blood-bought Bride of Christ (Acts 20:28), the Church is not ours to do with as we please. Rather, the Church freely submits to Her Heavenly Bridegroom in all things (Ephesians 5:24), so that all blessing and honor and glory and might be to God and the Lamb, now and forever (Revelation 5:12—13).Vision and purpose are not defined by what we want to be, or feel we need to be. We are what the Lord and his word says we are.
It is a question needing an answer
With the constraint placed upon us that our existence and conduct be derived from a holy God's expectation of perfection and willingness through Jesus death, burial, and resurrection to accomplish atonement—he who was made "our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Cor 1:30)—there is need to take greatest care in crafting what might define the future of a local assembly. The best wordsmiths ultimately fall short here in their attempts to lay a foundation on which might be forged the superstructure of church life. I therefore offer the following vision statement as a humble gesture:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matt 28:19-20)Are you thoroughly underwhelmed? There are no Christian catchphrases, no missional mantra, no postmodern punditry. Instead of a slogan meant to appeal, but being more maladroit than majestic, we have clear instruction delivered by the head of the church to those who obeyed this very command to the benefit of those who believed the proclamation of the gospel: they made disciples by baptizing them into Christ and teaching them all he had commanded.
Of first importance in a local gathering is not the formation of a vision intended to target a demographic or build in a particular section of a town or county. These factors are ever changing in significance and weight. The people will be unable to keep up. The church throughout history never grew because of market research or location preference: It grew by remaining faithful to what had been received.
This is not a diatribe against spending money on a structure in a particular locale. This is a plea for Christians to not make decisions interpreted through current cultural norms or mystical divination attempts to determine God's will, nor through the more crass influences of creative marketing and poll numbers: rather let these be based on priorities drawn directly from their Bibles.
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Phil 3:13-16)
1 comment:
The larger the assembly gets, the more difficult it is to have any interaction with more than just a few people, and the more difficult it is for leadership to actually shepherd them.
Why do people always want to grow bigger rather than split off?
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