Real Talk

In recent months, I have become aware of people in our congregation who have significant ministries in the community:

· the lawyer who volunteers with the domestic violence center;

· the former heart patient who spends time each week visiting heart patients and sharing insights about how to live with their disease;

· the busy mother who tutors at-risk children;

· the business person who finds himself the “chaplain” in his workplace.

This is what missional Christians do; they serve in the world. These are not church-sponsored activities. These are ministries that they have identified and pursued.

In Missional Renaissance, Reggie McNeal notes: “People don’t go to church; they are the church. They don’t bring people to church; they bring the church to people.” Wherever a believer is, there the church is present.

Ministry takes place in many contexts—community service, the workplace, the home, the coffee shop. The challenge for the church is to give members the permission to seek out and pursue their ministries in the world. We value what people do within the walls of the church through recognition, training, and encouragement, but we fail to do that for those who are doing Kingdom work outside the walls. The traditional church needs to find ways to bless and equip the daily ministries of our members.

The People Development Team in our church believes that God is always at work in the world and invites us to join in that activity. We want to help church members become what God has called them to be (self-awareness) and develop strategies to live that out (through skill development and personal growth development). Our theme verse is “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10b, NASB)

One of the ways that we can learn more about how our church members are living out their witness each day and how we can help them in those efforts is the “Real Talk” session. We picked up the core of this idea from McNeal’s book. During this 45-60 minute session, a member of our team meets with a group in our church (such as a Sunday school class) and asks members to respond to these questions:

· What do you enjoy doing?

· Where do you see God at work in your everyday life?

· What would you like to see God do in your life over the next six to twelve months? How can the church help?

· How might God be working through you to serve others? How can the church help? How can we pray for you?

Participants will be asked to respond in writing and to discuss their responses in a small group setting. Our ultimate goal is to develop people rather than programs, so we start where the people are rather than assuming we know what is best for them.

We think it is an exciting idea and look forward to what we will learn from those in our fellowship.

Comments

Check these out

Confessions of a Recovering Southern Baptist

I am grateful for my heritage as a Southern Baptist. I was exposed to the Bible and worship from a very young age. I grew up in a church in south Alabama that supported the Cooperative Program of missions giving. This meant that our church had the benefit of being part of a supportive group of local churches and the educational opportunities that afforded. Our state convention provided varied and effective ministries with groups like orphans, ethnic groups, and college students. We supported missionaries at home and abroad. We had good Bible study and training literature (which we paid for, of course). I went to an accredited seminary and paid a remarkably low tuition. Wherever you went on a Sunday morning (in the Southeast and Southwest, at least), you could find a church that sang the familiar hymns and studied the same Bible lesson. In hindsight, I realize that this Southern Baptist utopia was imperfect. There were significant...

The Bible Tells Me So

As I read the story of the Good Samaritan during my devotional today, I was reminded of the times that I have heard the story in the Christian education setting of the local church--as a youngster in primary and intermediate classes (old terminology), as a young adult in college classes, and then as an adult, often teaching the passage myself. The characters and story line are very familiar due to these experiences of Christian education. These are challenging times for Christian education in the church. Like so much of what is happening in the church today, the old forms do not seem to support present needs. What once worked no longer seems to be effective. Christian education or the formation of believers is in a state of flux. In an article on ethicsdaily.com , retired professor Colin Harris addresses this issue. He points out that the period of the 60’s and 70’s “saw the beginnings of a loss of vitality within the educa...

Metaphors of the Kingdom of God

In a recent blog , consultant Seth Godin addresses the power of metaphor. He points out, “The best way to learn a complex idea is to find it living inside something else you already understand.” In other words, “this” is like “that.” “When you see a story, an example, a wonderment,” says Godin, “take a moment to look for the metaphor inside.” Jesus turned this around. In the use of parables, he told a story or provided a metaphor and challenged his hearers to see the truth within. For example, in his teaching on the Kingdom (or Reign) of God in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom to such things as a mustard seed, yeast, a hidden treasure, a net, a king, and a landowner. His hearers are encouraged to use their imaginations to understand something that they had never experienced. He also attempted to shift their perspective so that they might see signs of the Kingdom breaking into their present reality. These are metapho...

The Tragedy of Willow Creek Community Church

File photo of Steve Carter, Heather Larson, and Bill Hybels As Christian brothers and sisters, we need to pray for Willow Creek Community Church. On the eve of the Global Leadership Summit, a worldwide conference sponsored by the church in cooperation with the Willow Creek Association, church leadership imploded as a result of further allegations against former pastor Bill Hybels. Last year, Hybels introduced the team who would assume church leadership upon his retirement--lead pastor Heather Larson and teaching pastor Steve Carter. Although the founding pastor planned to stay on to assist in a time of transition, reports of sexual impropriety involving Hybels surfaced early this year. He accelerated his departure from the church and left the board of the Willow Creek Association. When other charges emerged last week, teaching pastor Carter resigned. On Wednesday evening, Larson and the entire elder board--lay leaders who provide accountability ...

A Future for the Global Leadership Summit?

Craig Groeschel, the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church. The Global Leadership Summit which began as a project of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and its founding pastor, Bill Hybels, over 25 years ago was held this week without Hybels. For several years, the GLS has been now produced by the Willow Creek Association, a spin-off organization and a loose network of churches but Hybels has been its driving force. Attended by thousands at the church facility in South Barrington and broadcast to thousands more at satellite locations, the annual meeting brings together not only evangelical leaders but outstanding speakers from business, charitable organizations, politics, and business. For the first time, Hybels did not appear due to allegations of sexual impropriety brought against him over the past year by former employees, staff members, and business associates. He has already left the church and resigned from the board of t...

Barnabas File

Search This Blog