We could all name churches that you could figuratively throw 'a bomb under', so to speak, to take it from its lifeless medicority and give it God-given hope.
I present to you a provocative title, primarily just to have your eyes glance upon one main thought. The church must be challenged to understand that we are not called to be pew-warmers, sideline critics or disengaged whingers. The church does not even exist to have nice tea, nice coffee, nice worship music, nice welcoming, nice fellowship, nice committee meetings, nice offerings and nice denominational get-togethers.
The church exists to be missional. While I'm not going to unpack that too much here, let me give you some thoughts. Wendell Berry says, 'Love your neighbors-not the neighbors you pick out but the ones you have'. We could start with that.
Mike Frost in The Road to Missional writes, 'God didn't give us talents and gifts and all this freedom and initiative just to sit around discussing how to produce a slicker and more impressive worship gathering. He gave us these gifts so that we might breathe shalom throughout the world, that we might bring reconciliation and joy, peace and justice to a broken world yearning for redemption' (p. 120).
We must challenge our churches to be missional. We are called to be and do nothing less.
Communicate it. Live it. Embrace it. Unite together arond the mission of Jesus.
I present to you a provocative title, primarily just to have your eyes glance upon one main thought. The church must be challenged to understand that we are not called to be pew-warmers, sideline critics or disengaged whingers. The church does not even exist to have nice tea, nice coffee, nice worship music, nice welcoming, nice fellowship, nice committee meetings, nice offerings and nice denominational get-togethers.
The church exists to be missional. While I'm not going to unpack that too much here, let me give you some thoughts. Wendell Berry says, 'Love your neighbors-not the neighbors you pick out but the ones you have'. We could start with that.
Mike Frost in The Road to Missional writes, 'God didn't give us talents and gifts and all this freedom and initiative just to sit around discussing how to produce a slicker and more impressive worship gathering. He gave us these gifts so that we might breathe shalom throughout the world, that we might bring reconciliation and joy, peace and justice to a broken world yearning for redemption' (p. 120).
We must challenge our churches to be missional. We are called to be and do nothing less.
Communicate it. Live it. Embrace it. Unite together arond the mission of Jesus.
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