Our theme for this year is Reimagine. The last two years have given us the opportunity to reimagine much about the way we do ministry in this world. One of the most exciting opportunities before us is the potential to reimagine what success looks like for the church of God in North America.
I have vivid memories of my childhood church experience. It was a huge part of my own development as a person and as a disciple of Jesus. One of my earliest memories of church life was something called Rally Day. There was always some kind of challenge that involved attendance for the day and if the goal was hit, there would be some kind of unusual or humorous reward: the pastor would preach from the rooftop of the building, the leaders of the church would shave their heads or dye their hair a strange color or some other kind of response to encourage folks to bring in the masses. Early on, these experiences taught me that attendance and particularly, more people in attendance, was a measure of success for the church.
For most of us, we’ve measured success in such ways: attendance – more people, offerings – more money, or buildings – more space. The past two years have accelerated the need for churches to rethink how true success is really measured because very few congregations can say they have more people in attendance than they did three years ago. A lot of congregations are struggling to match their level of tithes and offerings from just a couple of years ago. Many congregations are beginning to rethink their physical structures and how to utilize their buildings because the space isn’t being used like it might have been before.
In Matthew’s Gospel, we’re given an account of John the Baptist sending some of his disciples to Jesus with the question “are you the one to come or should we expect someone else?” Jesus responded with the following answer in Matthew 11:4-5, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” When Jesus was asked for proof of who he was or some measure of his success as the Messiah, he offered the evidence of the kingdom of God breaking through and transforming peoples’ lives. He could have responded “tell him I’m gathering enormous crowds everywhere I go” but he didn’t measure success that way. Jesus listed the various ways in which lives were being transformed by the inbreaking of the kingdom of God.
What does success look like for your own congregation? Can you offer evidence of the kingdom of God breaking in and transforming lives in your community? Who is receiving sight? Are the lame being made to walk? Are the lepers being cleansed? Are the deaf being made able to hear? Are the dead being raised to life? Is Good news being proclaimed to the poor? These are the kinds of stories of kingdom of God breakthrough and transformation that are good measures of success.
What’s success look like? Maybe it’s the young woman who came to faith in your congregation, got discipled by an older, more mature sister in Christ for a number of years and eventually leaves the safe confines of your church to carry the Good News of Jesus to a region of the world where less than 1% of people claim to follow Christ. Maybe it’s the group of brothers and sisters who get a burden for a particular group of people in your community (single moms, folks trapped in addiction, Afghan immigrants) and intentionally begins to love, serve and interact with them in a Christ-like way that both demonstrates and proclaims the Good News of Jesus. Perhaps it’s the young man who finds freedom from addiction and prison and sees God redeem his life experiences to reach others trapped in the same tragic cycles of destructive behaviors. Maybe it’s the congregation member who feels compelled by the Holy Spirit to start a neighbor initiative to help her local neighbors get to know one another and begin to connect in meaningful ways rather than live in isolation and loneliness.
Are your good works in the community increasing or decreasing? Are you seeing evidence of kingdom breakthrough in your community? How do you define success as a body of believers and does it look like the way Jesus measured success?
God is handing us a gift in this time where we’re being forced to rethink and reimagine a lot of things related to how and why we live out our faith as the body of Christ. How do you need to rethink your measures of success?
Christ’s Peace,
Lance
CGGC eNews—Vol. 16, No. 10
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