WHO WOULD NOTICE?

If the Bridgton Alliance Church were to suddenly disappear, would anyone notice?  Located on highway 117 as we are, if the building were to suddenly vanish certainly those who pass by daily would notice the absence of a building.  But what if we closed down the church while leaving the building intact, other than those who attend how many would notice that the church was no longer there.  I can’t help but ask: “How many weeks would go by before you noticed?”  Even if someone noticed that the church was missing, how many would care?  Rick Rusaw and Eric Swansan in their book THE EXTERNALLY FOCUSED CHURCH have raised these very pertinent questions.

One of the problems that many American churches including our own have to face is that the focus of the church has been more inward than outward.  The emphasis down through the years has been to reach out to the community to bring them in to the church where they can come to the Lord.  Is it not true that our primary means of determining our effectiveness has generally been by the number of people and the number of programs we have in our church?

Obviously our goal is to bring people to Christ, but how best do we do that?  Also, when we draw  Christians out of the world, what do you think is going to happen to that world?  For instance, we have been troubled in recent years by what has been taking place in the schools.  However, is it not true that at the first sign of trouble we pulled “our kids” out of the schools and with them we have pulled out the Christian parents, the Christian teachers, the Christian coaches and the Christian administrators, so what did you think was going to happen when we left?  This example holds true for the rest of community life.  Despite the fact that we live in the most churched country in the world, according to a recent Gallop pole 66% of the people in this country feel that the church is of little or no value in discovering meaning in life.  One writer put it this way: “We didn’t like the stream that was flowing by the front door of the church. The water was murky and muddy and there were chunks of stuff floating in it. So, we created our own streams up behind the church.  Interestingly enough, although the water is a bit cleaner and we can see the bottom most of the time, the streams run parallel with each other. For example, Christians and non-Christians divorce at the same rate, we get addicted at the same rate, and many have the same issues and struggles. Basically, because we didn’t like the color or direction of the stream, we started our own stream. We didn’t like what was happening in some of the business organizations, so we began our own versions. We didn’t like what was happening in the public schools, so we began our own. Today we have a Christian version of everything from Christian books, Christian TV, even Christian underwear. We’ve got it all, don’t we?”  Peter Drucker, generally considered to be the father of modern business and corporate management said this: “Any organization begins to die the day it begins to be run for the benefit of the insiders and not for the benefit of the outsiders.”  If this is true of the corporate world, it is all the more true of the church.  So what should we be doing?  In their book, Rusaw and Swansan have come up with a solution to this dilemma and have proposed four essential characteristics of 'Externally Focused Churches':

1. "Externally focused churches are convinced that good deeds and good news can't and shouldn't be separated. Just as it takes two wings to lift an airplane off the ground, so externally focused churches couple good news with good deeds to make an impact in their communities. The good news explains the purpose of the good deeds.
   
2. They see themselves as vital to the health and well being of their communities. They believe that their communities, with all of their aspirations and challenges, cannot be truly healthy without the church's involvement. It is only when the church is mixed into the very life and conversation of the city that it can be an effective force for change.
   
3. They believe that ministering and serving are the normal expressions of Christian Living. Even more, they believe that Christians grow best when they are serving and giving themselves away to others. They are convinced that Christians can learn through good instruction, but they really cannot grow if they remain uninvolved in ministry and service.
   
4. Externally focused churches are evangelistically effective. People are looking for places of authenticity where the walk matches the talk -- where faith is making a difference.”

 
How well is our church doing?  We have made great strides in reaching out, but we can do better.  I bring this subject up here, because coming up this spring we will be entering into a new”  “40 Days” campaign.  This time it will be 40 Days of Community.  The Lord has called us to reach our world, but not alone.  As part of a church community, we will reach out to the community at large.  Rather than asking for a lot from a few people, we will be asking for a little from a lot of people.  The first disciples following Pentecost were known as “those who turned their world upside down.”  Oh that we might have that same reputation.  In the months to come we will explain in more detail what this campaign will mean to us as individuals and as a church.