INTRODUCING A NEW BLOG-BEING THE BEST CHURCH FOR THE COMMUNITY

The last year has been a busy one for me as a person, a disciple of Jesus Christ, a pastor and teacher, and blogger.  A sabbatical, ending an eleven year pastorate, teaching for a seminary, and taking Bridgebuilders Seminars nationally have all reduced some of the time and energy that I have had for this ministry.

Lately I have found myself drawn to casting vision and providing coaching to churches that want to take on a kingdom-focus.  To borrow from Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanton "to become the best church for their community."  Not all of these churches have been ready to embrace a full-scaled outward-focus.  Many are traditional churches who sense the prompting of the Spirit and are beginning the process of renewal.

Renewal often precedes a new vision and a fresh empowerment.

I am introducing a new blog called BEING THE BEST CHURCH FOR THE COMMUNITY in hopes of fanning into flame the fires of renewal God is setting in these churches.  My first hope is that these churches will start becoming discipleship cultures rather than simply rehashed ecclesiastical organizations.

I invite you to follow this link to the new blog and see if you want to be a part.  This blog can also be accessed on Facebook through Networked Blogs.  VISIT THE BLOG

- Steve Dunn

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN OUTWARD-FOCUSED CHURCH?

PEOPLE ON MISSION WITH JESUS

“Leadership is not merely personal sanctification but the multiplication of disciples.” – Mike Breen 

The majority of churches in America are not growing. It is a well-documented fact. The number one reason for this is that churches have become institutions instead of missionary movements. Institutions tend to be inward focused, intent on preservation rather vision. Movements figure out what God is doing and where He is going and join Him.

In many ways we have succeeded as a church–but succeeded in matters that are contrary to the metrics of the Kingdom. We make the pastor the chief discipler but insist on most of time being spent on the wrong priorities. We want him present in programs whether there is a discipleship purpose or not. We want him to attend to our every need instead of focusing on the work that God is clearly calling us to do. We allow ourselves to be recipients of services instead of providers. In many cases we resist his allowing or equipping others to do what he does for fear that he will stop making our needs his highest personal concern.

And yet at the same time we want to see the church grow. But again, we focus on the wrong metrics. How many people are in the pews and how many dollars in the plate? (Some pastors refer to this as counting nickels and noses.) Because we are not really concerned with doing the work of Jesus ourselves, or that even the church as a whole does the work of Jesus, we never ask whether these additional people represent persons who will be a part of the ministry or simply more consumers of the ministry’s services.

In that scenario, the church is only growing at the expense of the pastor’s exhaustion or lowering the expectations of people who are part of the church. And in that scenario, we have a whole lot of people who are sure they are going to heaven but aren’t insuring that they are taking anyone with them.

Have you read the Great Commission lately? “Then Jesus came to them and said, `All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20

Permit me to highlight two phrases: go and make disciples and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Jesus defined his mission as making disciples who would share the Good News of the Kingdom of God. He did not say, “Once you’ve got it made as a disciple” you’re finished. Nor did he say, “Once you have learned my commandments” just hang in there until I return. And he did not say the pastor takes care of the disciples and the rest of us watch.

People on mission for Jesus know that what Jesus counts is how many disciples we have made and disciples are measured by their obedience to the will and purpose of God.

The church is not growing because it is not making disciples, just highly savvy religious consumers.

It’s time to change that. Jesus IS returning.

(c) 2011 by Stephen L Dunn Originally posted in IMMEASURABLY MORE

CHURCH REDEFINED

From Granger Community Church in Indiana


Church Redefined from Granger Community on Vimeo.

ROB BELL - THE GOSPEL AND THE CHURCH

I know that Rob Bell is a controversial person in some circles, but his description of the Gospel and the Church describes in a powerful, powerful way the motivation that compelled the earliest church to proclaim the Good News.

BEING THE CHURCH

“Somewhere along the way “church” for some people became a once-a-week event, an event with no sense of community.” - Thom and Sam Rainer Essential Church

In my life I have come to understand that there is a difference between being and doing. Often we simply do many things without discerning whether or not they reflect who we truly are. In fact, some forms of doing can keep us from being who God created us to be. Activity alone is more often or not a reflection of expectations others place on us or as an excuse for not having healthy expectations of ourselves. The result can be a shallow or empty life while giving a different impression on the surface.

Churches go through the same dilemma. We speak of going to church or doing ministry. Do showing up (even faithfully) and engaging in a ministry activity constitute being the church that God created us to be?

Recently churches and leaders have been using this challenge: STOP going to church. They are not advocating forsaking of the assembling of ourselves together. They are challenging us to be more concerned with fulfilling/living out our purpose as the scriptures describe it than with showing up for services on Sunday morning.

Rainer and Rainer describe who the church is - it is a community, it is an interdependent Body out of which we do ministry. We encourage one another, discipline one another, equip one another, support one another not because they are godly activities but because it is what it means to be the community of Jesus Christ. If our activities, our schedules, our priorities keep us from being that community - we have stopped truly being the church except in name.

LOVE THE GROOM, LOVE THE BRIDE

From Steve: I publish another blog called IMMEASURABLY MORE that focuses on The Church and how churches both traditional and emerging can grow as a people who serve a great God. This is part of a post on the response to a world that despises the church but claims to love Jesus,


One of the most intriguing images found in the Bible is that of the Church as the Bride of Christ. The Church is Christ's partner, His helpmate. The Church is united to Christ by covenant. That covenant is rooted in Christ's giving of Himself for the Church and then the Church giving of itself to Him in return. Spiritually speaking, the two are one.

That oneness is described in another form in 1 Corinthians 12 when the Church is also called the Body of Christ. The Church is the continuing, living embodiment of the Person of Jesus Christ. We are united with Him through our baptism and held to Him as inseparable because of his unconditional love.

Today, a whole lot of people feel free to despise the church. Dan Kimball has written an excellent book called They Like Jesus, But Not the Church. Dan describes an unpleasant, even tragic reality in the 21st century. People want to have Jesus, but they want to have nothing to do with the church.

In 0ne sense, the church has earned such an attitude. Too often the church has forgotten it was the Bride, and acted like it could be Christ's representative without reflecting the nature and character of Christ. But that doesn't change a deeper reality.

God chose the church. Christ made a covenant with the Bride. He did not make that covenant because of who the Bride was but because of Who He (the Groom) is. To chose to hate the church, to try to separate Christ from His Bride is to ask Him to divorce Himself from the Church. This Christ clearly will n0t do.

To read the rest of this post go to IMMEASURABLY MORE