if there is one thing you think the modern church should do differently in order to fulfill her mission, what would it be?
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Ooooo Me first…Sunday school answer…Jesus.
Stay genuinely focused on Jesus, HIS mission, HIS purpose, and be flexible and open to whatever that means and whatever that takes. Hard to do in large groups sometimes.
Be nice to those within the church as well as those they are trying to reach.
Detangle herself from politics. Ugh.
To try to impact the culture.
Instead of making a subculture.
Hope that makes sense.
remove the barriers to women as teaching pastors and elders (in those denominations that – doctrinally – do not allow it). :)
I think we need to refocus our energy and resources from things that we do to impress other Christians and other Churches and to things that fulfill the calling Christ gave us.
We commit large amount of hours and dollars into elements like our buildings, incredible worship bands, trendy marketing (websites, etc) – all the while seemingly all struggling with burn-out and there not being enough hours in the week.
It seems like our priorities are really reversed most of the time – and it’s a cycle for both churches and Christians that seems to constantly be reinforcing itself.
Focus outward on needs – not inward on wants
Personal contact/follow up with every member and visitor. While looking for our new church home, we attended one church for 6 weeks and left without being welcomed by a single other person. A smile and a handshake make a lot of difference. Build on that to instill the feeling of church “family”. For me, it’s essential…Hope you’re liking Okla.
Kim
I think joining together more as The Church and not being so divided.
I’d most certainly agree with Kim. Though to give another opinion, I’ll share this:
A church needs to minister outside its doors, as well as oceans away. Too many churches find themselves “stuck” globally minded, or neighborhood sided. While I’m not suggesting the church body overextend its resources and burn out, I am suggesting that an emphasis be placed on both. Christ ministered where He was…So service, in any capacity needs to be implemented, not simply “suggested”, and it needs to take place where we are. That may mean in transit to another country, although for most of the US, it means our neighbors and co-workers.
I know we’re called to be “set apart”, but the church seems to have its own city and zip code these days.
-Becca
Work big time on relationships, inside and out. My small group leader is a PK, and he siad that studies out there are saying that even though many people don’t like things about the church, they stay because of their relationships.
It seems to work well with humans, let’s make it big.
Love unconditionally
Learn how to love God… not herself.
learn how to not be stupid.
Ummm, we could start by picketing people who picket people’s funerals under the guise of proclaiming truth. Not that that will solve a lot of problems, but at least it would make me feel good.
More fresh air.
Too much church happens indoors. Too many conferences under dodgy flourescent lights. Too many of us writing/blogging/ranting inside our air-conditioned/artificially heated cocoons. Too much welcoming and hospitality that traps people in soulless buildings.
Let’s get outside, smell the flowers, see the sky, walk and get a little more healthy and relaxed. It might well change the tone and feel of many things.
i have to steal a quote (or share a quote) from john piper…unfortunately, i don’t know the context of it.
he write, “missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. worship is. missions exists because worship doesn’t”.
when we realize that we are to worship god in everything we do and lead others to a point of relationship with god that they worship at every moment, then the church will be what a group of believers is designed to be.
I was going to say something like Scott said, above (“Learn how to love God… not herself,”) but I wasn’t going to say it that pretty. So, yeah, what he said.
Lory, the quote comes from Piper’s book “Let the Nations Be Glad”. A great treatise on missions.
Rocks… thanks for the kudos.
Learn to be uncomfortable/in pain… and still obey God.
Man, you will ask some comment-inducing questions! I guess that’s what makes you such a great writer.
A very similar question was posed on the Relevant Podcast this week, asking what is the biggest problem facing the church in America. My reply was the infectious negativity towards the bride of Christ, especially in those under 30.
I feel like there can be a tendency to focus so much on what needs to change that we can perhaps miss what is happening. Perhaps a follow-up question like…”What are you most encouraged about that is happening in and through local churches?” You know, like the one I just posted on my blog! (SHAMELESS blog promotion. My apologies.)
Hit the streets, feed the hungry, love the prostitue, the drug dealers the prisioner, just like Jesus said.
Get in the pit and try to love someone!
Downplay the emphasis on the title of “Pastor”. In some of our churches it feels like we’re living in the Middle Ages with all the titles we’re using for each other; “would you ask Pastor Smith about the offering?” or “how does Deacon Blue feel about it?” and these days “I forgot my tie; don’t tell Bishop Smith about it”. This over-reverence for titles undermines the priesthood of all believers – we’re all supposed to be the ministers – and therefore elevates the clergy above the laity. This means that the regular peeps in the pews don’t feel the need to participate because the pros in the pulpit have it all sewn up. And therefore guess who suffers from burnout?
It’s like we’ve totally ignored Martin Luther’s motivation for the protestant reformation and slipped back into the pre-reformation model where the Priests were better, more important, and had power over the people. We’re supposed to be serving the people! “Priest” means servant. So let’s cut these fancy and sometimes prideful titles and get back to serving people by equipping them to do the ministry themselves. Where in the Bible is anyone called “Pastor Ezekiel” for instance? It’s a function, a ministry, a calling not a position or an office.
Make disciples who actually act or live the faith, discipleship is not the acquisition of facts.
Feed and train babes to be warriors.
Realize that we are all part of the body of Christ. We all may have different jobs or ways of doing things, but remember we are of one body. His.
The Sunday Show, it’s gotta go.
All that effort and energy focused on a 1.5 hour time slot. All aimed at Christians.
The Church should return to its historic, liturgical forms f worship and cease trying to be “relevant.”
die
Pray and then die to self!
Loving God, loving each other. Still love, even if there is an air of “strife” (which by the way, is where the MCD begins, I think)…I see it every Sunday. A person brings a bitter, angry attitude in Church toward their spouse or whatever, and we are commanded in the Bible to (I Cor. 13) to have charity no matter what. We still have to love…not shy away…..give a hug, a smile or even a handshake..the touch of love. My husband has been a Pastor for thirty-five years and we’ve seen the “Me-my-four-and-no-more” icey-cold, non-caring love attitude toward visitors and I promise, guys, they won’t come back! And ouch, that hurts on ever reaching a person! Just show love! As you can see, Anne, I can’t wait for your MCD book! One of my tasks is Outreach, so thank you for, again, coming to our rescue!
Stop trying to fix everything. Even as Christians, there will be suffering and tough times. We want to “fix” people rather than love them in many cases.
Also, be real. Many churches have that in their motto, but very few churches live it out.
grace
From a purely operational perspective I’d like to see more staff with MBAs. Big churches, lots of staff, tons of work, few trained and experienced business professionals = lots of headaches.
welcome change… see it as healthy growth.
I would say that we need to do what Jesus did and get out of our church buildings and into the community where they are. We’re only going to be so successful getting them to come to us and meet us on our terms.
Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well – the local hangout of their day.
Brad Ruggles
http://www.bradruggles.com
Get over itself.
Just stop condemning people for the poor choices that they make and love them anyway.
Return to liturgical, Biblical worship.
Mike
empower the family
love…grace….more love…more grace.
to love the people outside of the church more than you love the ones inside.
Focus: Loving God and Loving People. Period.
Build more buildings, and market how ‘relevant’ they are.
*end sarcasm*
Love the people Jesus loves. I think that’s pretty much everyone…seriously – everyone.
wow. great question…
That we’d truly love people… that we’d be known what we are for, instead of what we are against. that we’d be a loving presence in our communities.
invite families (little ones and all) to worship together in the service. i’d really like that.
Concentrate more on the verbs…..
LOVE God
LOVE one another
SEEK and SAVE the lost.
More “action”…….
they couls start by offering comapssion at memorial services instead of protesting. Unbeliebable! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22813570/?GT1=10755
‘yeidy’, that group is not part of the modern church. That is an independent Calvinist church ran by a crazy old fart. His church hates all other churches, as well as most of the world.
Follow Jesus…He didn’t say what he said and do what he did for nothing!
Thanks Paul :) I was just very upset about THAT group of people being called a “Christian Church” but you are right, I just need to think of them as a separate group of crazy jerk type of people. Its just so sad. I los my mom 2 yrs ago and it would have killed me to have people picketing at her funeral, I cant think of anything worse. Yeidy
Hey! We Calvinists don’t want them either!
They are a Baptist “Church” after all. *winks*
Seriously to even call that a church at all is a crock. They are just a hate group disguised as a church.
Mike
stop the “3 ring circus acts” and be authentic
The scary truth is that Jesus also died for the people that make up this “hate group” and “crazy jerk” people. They need his love as much as other lost people.
for more “Christians” to see the Truth and act more like Joseph and not yeady or Mike.
To realize that Jesus never came to make another “religion” but came to bring an ethic of love.
To realize that Jesus loves the sinner, embraces those who are weak, not make a program for them and place them in the back of the church.
To realize that the “priesthood of believers” is no joke, servant leadership isn’t a catch phrase, it is a leadership that says “let me wash your feet”
Stop picketing funerals http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,324966,00.html
there are times when i look at the church and see issues and want to blame the institution itself. i am not sure if thats fair though. the church is the Bride of Christ. He does with it as He wills. i think the issues in many churches are a result of the people running them. i think that if we, as leaders in the church, were to genuinely strive to live out the Christ-like qualities in scripture and mentioned in previous posts (authenticity, love, striviing for holiness above relevance), a lot of our issues with the church would be gone.
just a thought.
The churches I have been involved with in the past had a terrible time of letting go of that which wasn’t working anymore. I think it needs to have a limp grasp on tradition and a firm grasp on the gospel being preached in a mode that works. I guess that’s why I like my church so much :)
yeah, being unified and resisting the urge to think your church has got it ‘right’ and everybody else is doing it wrong.
the church needs desparately to become more relevant. as a post college twenty-something, I struggle trying to find a place in the church. my friends (who grew up in church) will have nothing to do with it because they all feel like outcasts.
also, I like the comment above dealing with the church impacting the culture rather than becoming a subculture. well said!
In my experience, the church is very good at looking inward and being about each other. Which isn’t all bad.
But I think the major shift that will occur is that the church will stop being so concerned with other Christians and rather focus more of her energy, time and $$ towards those who don’t belong to Jesus.
Anne, you are so good at asking questions!
1. CARE!!!
2. Build up!!
3. GO!
I just read an awesome book about ideas on what the church is supposed to be. It’s called “So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore,” by Jake Colsen. It is written as a fictional story (so its entertaining) but chock-full of truths….
we need to get our eyes off of ourselves…to stop inviting everyone to us, to our campuses with huge buildings and programs and start going. we need to go and serve those around us who are in need, meeting them where they are. we need to go and share God’s love and His grace with them…we need to get our eyes off of ourselves.
I’m with Derrick. I’ll bring the sharpies if you bring the poster board
stop with the costumes (bad hair, makeup, and churchy clothes)
make disciples
what was the question again?
Oh yeah…to (start) feeding and taking care of orphans and widows…and all those other people too.
I love pop quizes.
Your blog rocks.
quit building churches and start building people.
CARE.
it’s so easy to be criticizing, i am catching myself that instead of telling what someone should or shouldn’t do, i should be pitching in building it up.
on the other hand, while living here in australia, i am noticing how many churches are really really cool. flashy decorations, awesome music, huge screens, etc.. but somewhere i feel like the message gets watered down. we can’t focus on anything else but christ and seek him, instead of try to be cool. at the same time…. we need to bring our best gifts and talents so we can make it as cool as anything in the world. finding balance…
Simplify. Simplify schedules, accommodate family time, stop thinking “busy is godly”. and whoever said, meet outside more–you’re right! Most spiritually blessed times for me are like the “tabernacle” meetings at summer church camp, sweating in the dark, fighting bugs, worshiping, it’s better that way.
Dont water down or sanitize the Gospel so that it is more palatable to people. The Gospel is wonderful news. But it begins with bad news. We cant keep skipping and white washing the bad, skipping straight to the good.
Mike
vote Jesus in and committees out.
there are some really good answers to a fantastic question…
for me, i think it’s not about DOING anything but about BEING something.
in my experience the church tries so hard to DO something that we forget that we are to BE Christ to the world. the church is great at doing things, i want to be.
after all…God told Moses His name was “I AM” …. not “I DO”
More focus on environmental stewardship.
Love and accept all people, not just those who are “clean”, affluent, powerful, have the right gifts, etc. Love people rather than using them as a means to an end…
J/
Less politics, less pride, less cliques.
OK that’s three things :)
“This program for the renewal of worship [according to historic reformed principles] in American Protestant churches of today may not be exactly what everyone is looking for. In our evangelistic zeal we are looking for programs that will attract people. We think we have to put honey on the lip of the bitter cup of salvation. It is the story of the wedding of Cana all over again, but with this difference. At the crucial moment when the wine failed, we took matters into our own hands and used those five stone jars to mix up a batch of Kool-Aid instead. It seemed like a good solution in terms of our American culture. Unfortunately, all too soon the guests discovered the fraud. Alas! What are we to do now? How can we possibly minister to those who thirst for the real thing? There is but one thing to do, as Mary, the mother of Jesus, understood so very well. You remember how the story goes. After presenting the problem to Jesus, Mary turned to the servants and said to them, ‘Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). The servants did just that, and the water was turned to wine, wine rich and mellow beyond anything they had ever tasted before.”
- Hughes Oliphant Old, Worship: Reformed According to Scripture
Just thought I would share…
Mike
Stop throwing rocks at our sisters and brothers.
Discipleship. It’s all good & well for us to witness to people, but what happens to those folks afterwards? How many churches have a program in place to follow up on those newly saved souls?
People who haven’t grown up in church or haven’t been in a long time don’t know where to start. Many often give up after trying to read their new Bible from cover to cover & only getting a few chapters in. Often they feel the Sunday School class discussions are over their heads. Others want to shout to the world about their newfound faith but feel inadequately equipped to do so.
There are many good discipleship curricula available, for children and adults. All it takes is a few people willing to devote their time to teach a new believer’s class. If these folks are started out correctly, the likelihood of their falling between the cracks or “dropping out” altogether is greatly diminished.
piss on self promotion