- a safe home - where members of our church family will be encouraged, appreciated, and nurtured to grow into mature Christians
- an effective mission - see the rest of this blog!
Today (and everyday), I want us to think about us as a church being an effective mission. Some of Jesus' last words to His followers were:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20
We are called to go (to be an effective mission). We are called to make disciples of all nations (people geographically close and far). We are called to teach people to observe everything that the Lord Jesus commanded us. And we have Jesus' presence to help us.
In a fascinating book called Confessions of a Reformission Rev. (see this book for more details on these concepts) by Pastor Mark Driscoll, I've been helped to recognise the following:
For the past one thousand years, the Western church has enjoyed a privileged position in the centre of culture, during what was known as Christendom. Because of this, the church also provided a common moral framework and language for our nation. ... During the era of Christendom, it was generally believed that our national culture was Christian, or at least Judeo-Christian.
Today, we live in an era when the traditional and institutional church is "hemorrhaging to death" and our society has transitioned to a post-Christian culture where moral ambiguity, relativism and pluralism reigns. How has the church responded to this cultural movement away from a Judeo-Christian moral framework?
1) Gospel + Culture - Church = Parachurch
First, some people become so frustrated with the church that they bring the gospel into culture without it. This is referred to as the parachurch... The parachurch has a propensity to love the Lord and love its neighbours but not to love the church.
2) Church + Culture – Gospel = Liberalism
Second, some churches are so concerned with being culturally relevant that, though they are deeply involved in the culture [the world around them], they neglect the gospel. This is classic liberal Christianity. Liberal Christians run the risk of loving their neighbours and their Christian brothers and sisters at the expense of loving their Lord and his gospel.
3) Church + Gospel – Culture = Fundamentalism
Third, some other churches are more into their church and its traditions, buildings and politics than they are the gospel. Though they know the gospel theologically, they rarely take it out of their church. This is classic fundamentalist Christianity, which flourishes most widely in more independent-minded, Bible-believing churches. Fundamental Christians are prone to love their Lord and their brothers and sisters but not their neighbours.
Where does CCCB St Lucia English Congregation stand? We want to stand in another classification; the Reformissional church.
4) Gospel + Culture + Church = Reformission
Reformission combines the best aspects of each of these types of Christianity: living in the tension of being culturally liberal [for what is meant by this, see 1 Cor 9:19-23] yet theologically conservative Christians and churches who are absolutely driven by the gospel of grace to love their Lord, their neighbours, and their fellow Christians.
Mark Driscoll, Confessions of a Reformission Rev., excerpts from pgs 15-16
The goal of SLE is to be a church that is both missional (going out as missionaries into our culture with the gospel, in an effective way) and attractional (inviting people into our church community to hear the gospel). We seek to continually follow Jesus’ example so that more people are saved for God’s mission and more influence is spread for God’s kingdom.
This is God's vision for our church. May we be found faithful in doing what He has called us to do!
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