Tag: go
Is there really much difference between “going to church” and “being the church”?
Posted on July 11, 2014 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
That’s a question I’ve given a lot of thought to lately and the conclusion is that there is considerable difference. First let’s describe what “going to church” looks like and then talk about what it means to “be the church.”
Going to church is little more than checking a box on a to-do list and believing that you have done your duty. A person who sees church as something you go to is missing the fact that every Christian IS the church.
The typical church where people see going to church as the primary objective is often characterized in a number of ways.
First, the church has an inward focus. This is true because the members are focused on going to church and church is what happens inside the walls of the church building. So the primary focus becomes what church members do inside the church building on Sunday. The lack of external focus inevitably leads to stagnation, starvation, and death. Thom Rainer recently wrote that the most common factor in declining churches is “an inward focus.”
The Great Commission: Talking the Talk Without Actually Doing Anything
Posted on June 17, 2014 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
Chuck Lawless, writing at Thom Rainer’s website, shares some insight on why many churches talk about the Great Commission but rarely do anything or follow up their talk with action. These points by Lawless are very much worth considering and perhaps, unfortunately, more true of our churches than we care to admit. But without first admitting there is a problem we won’t seek to correct it. So let’s be honest, admit there is a problem, the figure out how to make it right.
In seventeen years of doing church consulting, no church leader has said to me, “Our church really doesn’t want to do the Great Commission.” I’ve worked with many churches, though, that proclaim the Great Commission but never get around to doing it. Here are my conclusions about why churches so often fit this description.
Church leaders talk the language without letting the biblical texts “sink in.” They speak about the Great Commission because the Bible so obviously commands it (Matt. 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:45-47, John 20:21, Acts 1:8). I suspect many leaders, though, echo the words out of evangelical habit more than out of heartfelt burden. When we proclaim the message without obeying the command, the words have not settled firmly in our heart.