Getting the Church on Mission |
Nov 16, 2010 |
In a recent conversation with one of our champions the question was asked, “How do you get the church on mission?” Not exactly an easy question to field from one of your champions!
So, in an attempt to create some room to think, I kindly volleyed the question back and insisted that he answer first. Well, the conversation that ensued was both theologically insightful and quite illustrative, particularly as it relates to the non-profit's role in coaching champions to be on mission with respect to the causes of God.
“Well”, he persisted, “How would you propose that we do it?”
While I admit that neither in the conversation nor in this post was the issue fully satisfied, I do think there are definitive things we can point to that would begin to answer the question. We discussed items that one might expect, including the importance of the Gospel, a commitment to theology via study of the Scriptures, cultivating a culture of prayer, other disciplines of spiritual formation, being a part of a multiplying community, and perhaps even a few that weren’t so pleasant, like persecute it. That said, there was one that was of particular interest to me and that is the non-profit’s role (specifically those practicing Transformational Giving) in answering the question. In that vein I offered the suggestion, “Help it (i.e. the church) to understand that it can’t pay people to do its job...”
He quickly responded, “What do you mean by that?”
I contended then, and I would here, that the para-church finds its fullest legitimacy in connection with the local church relative to the cause that God has given to it. Or to state it another way, I believe the non-profit realizes its fullest impact when it proclaims a message of fidelity to the church regarding how the Bible calls believers to the engage the world around them – a message that many churches have simply overlooked or even worse neglected. In this context, the non-profit doesn’t merely become an outsource for the church's apathy or inability, but instead the non-profit becomes a place of engagement in the cause. A place where Christians can gain experience, be educated, and further equipped in their context to do the good work to which God has called us all to do.
So, I have a question for you from one of your champions, “how can you help get the church on mission?”
