“Your missional effectiveness is directly proportional to your relational capacity.” This statement by Michael Frost resonates with me so deeply and completely. It simply promotes the idea that our effectiveness as “missionaries” in this culture; is largely contingent upon our ability to build relationships outside of ourselves; ourselves being “the church”. It is ironic however that the modus operandi of most traditional church structures operates outside the reality of an on-going need for relationship with the world. Church culture today in fact teaches us more and more to become exclusive clubs or groups which focus on loyalty to a local assembly over the bigger picture of living the mission for the sake of the KINGDOM.

“Within the Christian church, we have tended to define spiritual growth as disengagement from the world rather than engagement with the world. We often measure spiritual growth and formation as an increase in cognitive knowledge about God or religious activities. Many pastors and Christian leaders who disciple new believers don’t include evangelism or service as part of the growth and maturation process.” This statement taken from the book “The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation” (edited by Alan Andrews) also reflects this idea worthy of closer examination. The idea is that “Christian exclusivism” which becomes more closely defined as “denominational” or “church-exclusivism” is capable of becoming the subtle tool which the enemy uses to keep us out of contact with the world for which Christ died. While not negating the need for individuals to be discipled through the teaching of the word etc, there is an even more pressing need for new disciples to become re-engaged with the world through acts of service and the building of authentic relationships. When intense church activities become a way to “keep” members, especially our youth, active in the church so that they will not be swayed or roped in by “the big bad world” then I think we are clearly missing the point of “go you therefore”! Nothing wrong with activities per se, but in the church our motivations need to be right. I have witnessed first hand leaders attempting to manipulate loyalty out of members because of fear; fearing of losing them. While this is humanly understandable, it need not be. I believe God would prefer us to stay and work with any given local assembly out of our love for and sense of loyalty to Him and because we genuinely love the world; not because we want to remain in our Pastor’s “good books”! As Frost confirms, the astronomical sums of money spent on church building-funds and other “church-extras” like gyms and coffee houses etc strengthens the reality of a disconnect between what we say it means to be a Christian and how we practice our Christianity. The Christianity that we indeed practice tends to look rather self-serving, self-aggrandizing and church-focussed to me. The sad thing is that we have become so acculturated into accepting this model as “good-church” that we do not realise what we have become. We have actually become reduced to mere “shoppers” on the market for the best and hippest “religious goods and services” designed to meet our ever-evolving middle-class needs. So we “shop’ for churches with the most charismatic pastors, or the biggest parking lots, best nursery facilities, best Christian school attached, best choir/band/worship-team, best use of technology or best income-earning membership, because at the end of the day, this church is all about us (and our families). We are in essence searching for a church that matches our social/financial image/status or for that matter one that may boost it!

I honestly welcome the day when our “shopping” is influenced by an entirely different set of values; when our “selections” are perhaps influenced by the poorest or most needy communities or by a need to reach out to street kids or the homeless and battered. Am I saying that large congregations or established churches do not cater to such needs? Of course we know that some do and do so quite successfully but at the same time, we must ask to what extent does community outreach/involvement/relationship constitute the life-blood of a ministry as opposed to just a program appendage for a few to become involved in? Unfortunately, for most churches, in the thrust to swell numbers, people are taught more to take than to give. Pastors become quite involved in becoming the ‘be all and end all” to their members in an attempt to secure their loyalty and continued presence (and of course tithes). The back-lash of this however becomes an overtly dependent member who is more interested in what he/she can get from the church as opposed to what he/she can give to the world. Ironically, the said Pastors are known to bemoan the lack of involvement of members in “ministry” not realising that they are primarily responsible for the creation of the “religious monster” now on their hands.

If we are to bring lasting reform to how we view/do and are the church then we must get back to a basic missiological understanding of why the church was formed. That may mean simply reading the word, particularly the gospel, with fresh lenses. God is depending upon us to continue his work in the world and if we are to take our example from the Master-Teacher Himself (JESUS) then we know that he was not afraid to get involved with the outcasts of His society; as a matter of fact; this practice got Him called a lot of names (eg wine-bibber) but He counted this a small price to pay for the opportunity to change lives. What about us?

As stated in the book “The Kingdom Life . . .”, today’s “modern-day disciples of Jesus” may “confess belief in the right things”, but to be really authentic followers of Christ, means more. It means ensuring that our lives are congruent “with the values and actions” which Jesus both taught and exemplified.

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