May
31
Written by:
Rev. Ed Boon
5/31/2009 10:50 PM
I’m sure that most who read this article have at one time or another expressed concern about the moral direction our country seems to be taking. We are troubled by court decisions that rather than protecting religious freedom seem rather to prohibit those freedoms. Our hearts are broken by decisions that permit the infanticide of the unborn in the name of casual sex. Marriage seemingly is losing its significance as we move from a traditional concept to official recognition of gay and lesbian relationships to recent call for the recognition of polygamous relationships. We’re frustrated and even frightened as we see schools taking the responsibility for raising our children out of our hands and entrusting it to the state. The courts and the politicians have left us at times wondering what we can do.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
I’m sure that most who read this article have at one time or another expressed concern about the moral direction our country seems to be taking. We are troubled by court decisions that rather than protecting religious freedom seem rather to prohibit those freedoms. Our hearts are broken by decisions that permit the infanticide of the unborn in the name of casual sex. Marriage seemingly is losing its significance as we move from a traditional concept to official recognition of gay and lesbian relationships to recent call for the recognition of polygamous relationships. We’re frustrated and even frightened as we see schools taking the responsibility for raising our children out of our hands and entrusting it to the state. The courts and the politicians have left us at times wondering what we can do.
It was a revelation to me a couple of years ago when despite the rules and regulations we were allowed to openly preach the gospel in several schools in the south where we were ministering. Why? Because the vast majority of the people in that area wanted it that way. The reason that we find ourselves in the position we do in New England and most of the country is that the church has failed in its task of reaching people with the gospel and they have turned away from their creator and headed in the wrong direction. The prophet Hosea said that the first step towards spiritual awakening is to break up the fallow ground. That means deep, genuine, Holy Spirit generated repentance...not first for the sins of the nation, but for our sins. When we are broken before God he will get through to our nation. In fact the message of the prophet for us to day as we contemplate our situation is that the hope of America today is not found in the White House or the State House, or in the Courthouse. The hope of America is found in God’s House, and your house, and my house!
That’s a tremendous responsibility. What can we do then to enable our church to more effectively reach out and touch our world with the gospel? I recently came across a book by Bishop Rober Schnase entitled Five Practices Of Fruitful Congregations. In this Book Bishop Schnase lays out some very practical steps that can make the church much more effective in reaching its world. Here’s a look at the five practices that he says are indispensable in making us the church we should be.
The first crucial practice involves Radical Hospitality. As congregations offer the invitation and embrace of Jesus Christ, the gracious welcome will instill a sense of genuine belonging that will bring people together in the Christian community. Radical hospitality involves much more than simply being friendly and courteous. There must be a genuine heartfelt desire to reach out and touch newcomers with the wonderful gracious love of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a hospitality that gives everything because we have received everything from Christ
The second crucial practice involves Passionate Worship. Passionate Worship involves much more than simply going through a traditional ritual. It involves our whole being. We must be honest before God and one another. The motivation for enhancing the quality of worship is not only about deepening our own faith, but also about allowing God to use us and our congregations to offer hope, life and love to others. Worship is God’s gift and task, a sacred trust that requires our utmost and highest.
The third crucial practice involves Intentional Faith Development. One of the greatest problems in the Christian life is maintaining a continuing growth in the Lord. The danger of getting stuck on a plateau in our Christian growth is that we become stagnant and stagnant Christians do not attract many others to the Lord. There is much that a local church can do to help Christians grow in the faith, but ultimately the responsibility lies with the individual. We need to take the responsibility for our growth seriously. It must be a priority that precedes all others in our lives. We must take advantage of all the resources that are available to us to make sure that we do continue to maintain a life in the Lord that contagiously reaches out to others
The fourth crucial practice involves Risk-Taking Mission and Service. This means getting involved in work that will stretch us and cause us to do something for the good of others. I’m speaking here of getting involved in projects that we never would have been involved in had it not been for a very special relationship with the Lord that gives us that desire to truly serve Him in any way possible. Risk-Taking service pushes us to step out of the box, to do things we might never have dared to do in order that we might reach others with the gospel. We need to move beyond our comfort zone to follow Christ into more adventurous encounters with people. As God’s Sprit changes us we in turn change others and that will inevitably change our church.
The fifth crucial practice involves Extravagant Generosity. As Bishop Schnase puts it: “Churches that practice Extravagant Generosity speak confidently and faithfully about money, giving, generosity, and the difference giving makes for the purposes of Christ and in the life of the giver. They emphasize the Christian’s need to give for more reasons than just the church’s need for money. They emphasize mission, purpose, and life-changing results rather than shortages, budgets, and institutional loyalty…Churches that grow in giving know that generosity increases with participation in ministry and community, and so they work to deepen the core ministries of worship, small group learning, and mission. They address the challenge of growing in giving to long-term members as to adults new to the faith. They also teach, model, and cultivate generosity among children and youth. The spiritual maturity that comes from growth in giving, and the extraordinary engagement that results from tithing, bring clarity of purpose and greater integrity to all the church’s ministries.”
Bishop Schnase concludes by saying that these five practices work together to truly revolutionize the mission of the church. Putting them into practice will enable the church to truly turn the world upside down. It is an undeniable truth that we find ourselves today in a difficult situation as we see our country heading down a slippery dangerous moral slope. In all of this we need to keep in mind that God never told us that our task would be easy. He simply called us to be faithful. God-fearing people have remained silent too long! We must make a difference. We must step out of the box. We must change our world. We must lift our voices united in a humble prayer to God for guidance and for the strength and courage to sustain us through whatever the future may hold.