Please take a minute and read this rather lengthy letter. It has important information to help us collectively embrace some thinking and action for the future.
As most of you know, we are in a season of evaluation to determine how we can grow as a church, and become most impactful for Kingdom of God in relation to reaching the lost and retaining those who come our way. Last Sunday, I shared a sermon concerning a shift that I believe we need to make as a church relating to our outreach to those who don't know Jesus. It was the second time that I shared a message using the terms "BELONG, BELIEVE, BECOME." Because this may be new thinking, it could be misunderstood. So, I'd like to give a brief review of what we are seeking to consider, and what we aren't intending in this thinking and action.
What do we mean by "BELONG, BELIEVE, BECOME"?
We live in changing times and changing culture, and are now in a Post-Christian America (especially here in the Northwest). Because of this, we need to think carefully and act intentionally about how to effectively reach those who are growing up in this environment with the Gospel.
In our present culture, especially among young people, there is a deep need and longing for relationship, a sense of belonging to something and finding acceptance, because the world doesn't have much of this to offer them. In broken families, dysfunctional lives and all the pitfalls of the consequences of sin in relationships, a good relationship with someone or a group of people is rare and a premium. Therefore, we need to provide an environment that gives people a sense of hope that loving, gracious people are here for them. They are looking for people who are willing to journey with them in their mess. We need to help them find a sense of BELONG
ing, even if they don't yet
BELIEVE.
Authentic relationships and finding love and grace with those in our church may be the key to help them see the need to
BELIEVE in Jesus as their Savior. So, when they are presented with the Gospel in Word, they have already seen the Gospel demonstrated in life. Then, once they BELIEVE, we then encourage them to BECOME a member of the church and join in the mission of evangelizing others. To summarize:
Helping people find a sense of
BELONGing before they
BELIEVE may be the key to our outreach for many who come our way.
Another shift that our culture requires us to consider relates to believers who are young in the faith that still have a lot of "mess" in their lives. Somehow many of us assume/expect that once Jesus is a person's Savior, that all their mess should quickly go away (and the mess in their children's lives should also vanish when they step into church). With people who come from great spiritual dysfunction, the journey takes time and patience and grace on our part. We are seeing more and more "messy lives" as time goes on. We need to be welcoming, receiving and accepting of people in their lifestyles that have yet to become as holy and righteous as we would "like" in order to be acceptable in our church gatherings. We need to help them find BELONGing, before we help BECOME like Jesus in how they think, behave and feel (as well as their children's behavior). Otherwise, we have created an "elite religious club" that will turn them away after they've been here a brief time.
We cannot expect sinners (non-believers) and young Christians who still have a lot of sin in their lives to BECOME like us without giving consideration to how we help them find BELONGing in the process. We need to be spiritually strong enough and lovingly mature enough, like Jesus, to be able to hang out with sinners to help them see Jesus' love, grace and compassion. How much mess are we willing to deal with so that sinners can find the solution in the Gospel of Christ?
What we don't mean by "BELONG, BELIEVE, BECOME"?
- We are not suggesting or will ever consider a change in our doctrine and teaching to somehow diminish the sinfulness of sin in people's lives.
- We are not "lowering the bar" of membership by allowing people to BELONG (in this sense of the word) to our church when they are still dealing with disobedience in areas that are compromising the Christian life that we ascribe to.
- We are not saying we won't help people face their sinful behavior or ignore its reality. Rather we are saying we need to develop relational connection with them to have trust. This will show we care for them and their life in Christ and are not concerned about the preservation of our "Religious Club." As Theodore Roosevelt said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."
What are you going to do with this as an individual or a family? What are we going to do with this as a church? How can we continue the conversation and be led to action, as we continue in the Great Commission in being disciples who make disciples? I would encourage you to respond and share your thoughts as you listen to how the Lord is leading you in these areas, or share what you are struggling with!
I hope and pray that together we can make these shifts so that we can be God's Church to a lost and dying world that is desperately longing for relationship and in need of the Way, the Truth and the Life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
