BEING THE BEST CHURCH FOR THE COMMUNITY

BY STEVE DUNN
A number years ago Kennon Callahan wrote a superb book which was a formative piece of my vision for healthy churches building bridges through redemptive relationships with their larger community and the unchurched. The book was called Twelve Keys for the Effective Church. Callahan's 12 keys were:
.. Relational :

1. Specific, concrete missional objectives
2. Pastoral and lay visitation
3. Corporate, dynamic worship
4. Significant relational groups
5. Strong leadership resources
6. Streamlined structure and solid, participatory decision making

Functional :

1. Several competent programs and activities
2. Open accessibility
3. High visibility
4. Adequate parking, land, and landscaping
5. Adequate space and facilities
6. Solid financial resources.

Many of these remain quite valid today.  How would you measure up against these?

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS?

AMAZING GRACE

TEACHING ABOUT HELL

In a recent article in OUTREACH MAGAZINE, Dan Kimball shares some excellent insights about teaching/preaching about Hell to emerging generations. In it he writes:

"You’d think that in today’s culture it would be counterintuitive to regularly talk about hell to emerging generations. People both inside and outside the Church are extremely sensitive to associating God or a religion with something as horrifying as hell. While it’s quite comfortable to teach about Jesus having a heart for the marginalized, studying what He said about hell can be intimidating and very uncomfortable. However, in almost 20 years of serving with emerging generations, I’ve found that they are very interested.

Why Should We Talk About Hell?
When you stop to think about it, references and allusions to hell run throughout our culture. Think about the Far Side cartoons with the red devil and pitchfork or how hell is used in our everyday language. It’s even in many rock songs (think AC/DC's "Highway to Hell"). Jesus also talked about hell and used graphic metaphors for the reality of it. When we ignore the fact that He talked about it, we allow pop culture to define it. Or it gets defined by aggressive street preachers carrying signs with “HELL” written in flaming letters and yelling offensive comments to passersby. Talking about hell gives people an understanding of what the Bible actually does or doesn’t say about something they are very much aware of already. We cannot let pop culture define hell as something cartoon- or fable-like and harmless. Or let it get defined and dismissed as something that only fundamentalist street preachers talk (yell) about in a fire-and-brimstone way."

You can read the full article at KIMBALL.

DOCTRINE AND CONTEMPORARY EVANGELISM

Back in the 1970s and 1980s churches attempting to market themselves to persons turned off or bored by the traditional church emptied their sanctuaries of overtly Christian symbols. Most notably, many took down the Cross. There were a variety of reasons - a symbol of violence, the sign of the conquering armies of Christendom, or just too specific for people who were not prepared to deal with the exclusive claims of the church about the salvation. Get them in the door by being nonthreatening--then tell them about Jesus.

That always seemed a whole lot like "bait and switch" to me. But more problematically, it gave tacit permission to separate contemporary Christianity from its ancient moorings and in some way stopped being much more than a diluted form of "the faith once delivered unto the saints."

Likewise, some emerging churches and contemporary churches have tried to downplay the biblical doctrines that form the truth that is represented in Jesus Christ. Kevin Harney in his excellent book Organic Outreach for Ordinary People--Sharing Good News Naturally makes this observation:

"People in some Christian circles today seem to think we can't confidently know truth. They think doctrine is old-fashioned and confining. They are more comfortable reimagining or repainting the Christian faith. Rather than looking to God's Word and discovering eternal truth that can shape and guide our lives, they seem more interested in dissecting, debunking, and questioning the doctrines that have been embraced by Christians for the past two millenia. Core teaching and doctrines of the Christian faith are being treated like garnish on the side of a plate in a fancy restaurant. Some are suggesting that we toss these beliefs out like a sprig of parsley. They serve a decorative purpose but are not essential to our faith.

"What these 'innovative' and 'revolutionary' thinkers fail to recognize is that they are tossing out fundamental beliefs that define the Christian faith. Without these truths intact we are no longer the church of Jesus Christ. We become a social club of do-gooders who longer embrace or share the core truths of the Christian faith. But what we believe really does matter! The core, unifying beliefs of the Christian faith have always been founded on the inspired written Word of God-the Bible.

"Our beliefs matter to God because he is the one who breathed the very words of scripture (2 Tim.3:16). Our doctrine matters because what we believe determines how we live, love, and reach out to the world. The core beliefs of Christians are also of intense interest to those who are not yet believers in Jesus Christ. They arewatching us and wondering if we really believe what we say we believe."