This morning I was reading from a book that Brother Clark gave me titled Imagine Church: Releasing Whole-Life Disciples. Much of what the book discusses goes right along with our focus on transitioning from an attractional church (inward focused) to a missional church (outward focused).
In a chapter discussing changes that need to happen with church leadership, there is a chart listing questions regarding approaching these changes. While I was reading over this chart I was asking myself how does this pertain to our situation today? Can we still shift from being inward focused to being missional focused right now? How can these questions apply to the church’s response during the current crisis our communities are facing. Below is an edited version of the questions posed in the book that we, as a church, might be asking ourselves
Inward Focus
Why is this happening?
Where is God in this?
When will this end?
What do we need to get through this?
Can we get back to ‘normality’ so we can move on?
Missional Focus
How can we respond to what is happening?
What is God doing through this?
How does this present us with an opportunity to grow?
What do we need to be the most fruitful through this?
Can we integrate what has happened into our ongoing lives as disciples?
Perhaps now more than ever we see the need to shift our focus from being church-focused to being Kingdom-focused. Of course the church is important, but we spend a small fraction of our time at church. The vast majority of our time is spent outside of church, so we should be asking ourselves, “How can I be a disciple in my home/neighborhood/workplace/school/etc.? How can I introduce people to Jesus in my ‘everyday’ life?”
Your servant in Christ,
pastor mike