I know the pressures of leadership in a congregation. I know how bottom line thinking can dominate a leadership's imagination. I know that in spite of our best intentions to be other than this, we tend to equate success only in terms of numbers. I know how much energy is spent trying to attract more members. I know it like a nagging cough, like a limp or a birthmark. I've even known it like a cancer, like a siren's song.
MANDATORY DISCLAIMER: It is not wrong to want your church to grow, even numerically. It is not a virtue in and of itself, or a mark of faithfulness, to get smaller.
Having said that, there is a prior question that must command the attention of a congregation than the question, "How can we attract new members?" It is the missional question, "What is God's preferred future around here?"
Now, I know there is a way of understanding God's future so that those two questions yield the same answer. This perspective views the ultimate purposes of God in relation only to the destiny of individual souls. All God cares about is the tote board of who is in or out. Individual status is the only thing that matters under the heading of salvation. The only thing that matters for the church, therefore, is claiming individuals. The logical extension of this kind of individualism is to think of the church primarily as a support group for individuals. What kinds of programs will attract as many individuals as possible?
This view of salvation, however, is not the biblical view. Salvation is not a status conferred upon individuals--not primarily. Salvation is a reign, a rule, a way of ordering reality that makes it clear that the one who is crucified is Lord of all. The resurrection of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit are God's guarantees that there is a day in the future when all things will correspond to the intentions of God.
There is nothing we can do about the kingdom of God. We cannot build it or add to it or diminish it. It has been established in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It's reality is secure in the future of God. This is God's salvation in which we are called to participate. We belong to that day and serve its interests in the power of the Spirit now.
If this is the case, then mission becomes larger than just evangelism. The question is not just how many people can we get in our building on Sunday. The question becomes, how can our life together show that we belong to the great day of God's salvation?
I've been working with a little meditation to help people get a sense of this. It's not complete by any means. More pictures could be added. The main point here is that our vision for mission is necessarily eschatological, and our view of that is typically way too small.
God has established a day in the future when all of humanity will gather around one table, will constitute one family all recognizing God as Father. This is our salvation. We belong to that day.
Because of Jesus and through the power of the Spirit we experience that future today…
not fully but in ways that are undeniably connected to that future hope…
and we live together a way of life that is only explainable by our belief that that day is real…
God has established a day when we will fully enjoy his presence. Sin and death will no longer separate us from God. This is our salvation. We belong to that day.
Because of Jesus and through the power of the Spirit we experience that future today…
not fully but in ways that are undeniably connected to that future hope…
and we live together a way of life that is only explainable by our belief that that day is real…
God has established a day when all of creation will be set free from its bondage to decay, when God’s good order will once again be seen in a new creation. This is our salvation. We belong to that day.
Because of Jesus and through the power of the Spirit we experience that future today…
not fully but in ways that are undeniably connected to that future hope…
and we live together a way of life that is only explainable by our belief that that day is real…
God has established a day when nations will stream to God’s holy mountain to learn only from him. His teachings will reach to the coastlands, filling all the earth. This is our salvation. We belong to that day.
Because of Jesus and through the power of the Spirit we experience that future today…
not fully but in ways that are undeniably connected to that future hope…
and we live together a way of life that is only explainable by our belief that that day is real…
God has established a day when there will be no more war, nor weapons of war. This is our salvation. We belong to that day.
Because of Jesus and through the power of the Spirit we experience that future today…
not fully but in ways that are undeniably connected to that future hope…
and we live together a way of life that is only explainable by our belief that that day is real…
God has established a day when each will be filled and satisfied, where hunger and want will be no more. This is our salvation. We belong to that day.
Because of Jesus and through the power of the Spirit we experience that future today…
not fully but in ways that are undeniably connected to that future hope…
and we live together a way of life that is only explainable by our belief that that day is real…
God has established a day when we will have rest, when toil and struggle will no longer mark our existence and our life can be a life for others. This is our salvation. We belong to that day.
Because of Jesus and through the power of the Spirit we experience that future today…
not fully but in ways that are undeniably connected to that future hope…
and we live together a way of life that is only explainable by our belief that that day is real…
4 comments:
Amen!
Beautiful meditation, Mark! Is it available for use? Thanks for the posts on Missional Transformation--they are helping me put my thoughts and impressions into actual language!
Rochelle Palmer
Rochelle
Feel free. I'll probably use it at Bering next time down anyway.
thank you for your words of encouragement and inspiration! it is easy to get lost in the middle of it all and forget what story we are in. the worlds needs to know this story, the CHURCH needs to know this story. keep singing...
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