Balancing Fellowship And Mission
I love the close, loving fellowship of my simple church. We take time to be together eating and laughing and sharing life. But this fellowship can create the danger of neglecting to reach out to those who are not part of the body of Christ. We can get so snug and comfortable that we forget the mission of Christ – redeeming and restoring that which is lost.
Each week the good folks over at House2House publish an article or story that is relevant to those involved in simple church. They recently posted Are we Eating with the Right People? Thoughts from 1 Corinthians 5 by Jon Zens. The article deals with what the author calls the “doctrine of ‘separation’” which he says seems to have been “translated into church practices which flatly contradict both the example of Jesus and the teaching of Paul in l Cor. 5:9-13.”
Let me try to summarize three ways Jon believes we miss the truth of balancing our lives between fellowship and mission:
- We miss the truth when we believe we should have nothing to do with unbelievers.
- We miss the truth when we seek to separate ourselves from the world and yet openly fellowship with deliberately sinful believers.
- We miss the truth when we condemn those outside the church building but do not go and to minister to them.
I agree with his points and summation that “we will not change this perverted image of the church until we become a compassionate people who will step out of our comfortable edifices and reach out to the needy.”
I want to suggest at least four ways we can balance our fellowship with believers with the mission of reaching out to those who need the very fellowship we claim:
- Go and spend time with those who need the good news of Jesus Christ
- Find times to bring fellow believers and those without Christ together
- Hold one another accountable to live godly lives
- Encourage one another to live godly lives in our every day interactions
What are some ways you and your small group, cell group or simple church practices living in proximity to those who need the Savior?
Grace and Peace,
Terry
Related Posts:
- Pledging Ourselves To Live Worthy Lives
- 7 Ways Basic Christian Community Multiplies Your Efforts
- Living With The Mission On Our Mind
- Look Up In That Tree
Tagged with: Community • Evangelism • Living the Mission • Proximity
Filed under: Life Habits
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Terry, I agree. I find that we have to cultivate these relationships if we want to go long term. I try to always have some favorite “fishing holes” that I like to fish at. A lot of love is needed to “overlook” the bad because as Christ-Followers we start to see sin the way God does and want to seperate ourselves from it and I hope that made sense. I also think we have to seek the doors God provides to actually share the Good News. Too often it seems like we want to love people into Heaven which typically results in just loving people to Hell.
Ken, I am so glad that God did not simply “overlook” my sin but instead came looking for me in my sin. What a great calling and challenge we have to join him in his great mission and be carriers of grace and mercy.
Terry,
For some dumb reason, my thoughts on this topic got placed on Pledging Ourselves to Live Worthy Lives. I guess I followed too many links and forgot where I was when I made my post. Sorry for the high-tech ineptitude.
Terry,
When we figure out how to get motivated to get out of our comfort zones and actually mingle with the people we are trying to reach, I believe the simple church will actually grow exponentially. Everywhere I turn, I see people hungry to hear some good news, but no one seems to want to hear the good news in a traditional way. However, demonstrated love and compassion does make an inroad or a bridgehead into a heart of granite. Our adolescent leaders (Terry, we still need a good non-church term to call our “youth.”) are working with “at risk teens. After several weekly meetings, I dropped in to show my support. I was thanked for actually staying and participating in the discussion instead of looking around in a supervisory type way. While there, my cell phone went off. I had forgotten to put it on silent and my ring tone grabbed everyone’s attention. A week later, the leader mentioned to me that the kid’s were really talking about “the pastor’s” ring tone. I guess it comes close to Jon Zens’ illustration of the pastor accepting a cigar. Perhaps every pastor ought to have “Back in Black” by AC/DC for a ringtone. What pharisee would have ever thought that? I know I never dreamed that a ringtone I inherited from my son would help dismantle a ministry barrier. I guess we really do need to think out of the box. Incidentally, I told my wife just yesterday, that I am ready to have a few neighborhood men over “just to get to know each other.” Developing that trust with those who need us just takes time. OK, I’m not through but my coffee cup is empty so I’m going to refill it.
When we hear stories like yours it helps picture the challenge of living out our mission with Jesus. You said “developing . . . trust with those who need us just takes time” and your example of being in proximity of at risk teens and their leaders is a great illustration. It does take time to live this way, but as you show us, it is some of the most rewarding time we will ever spend. I want to hear how it goes when you get together with your neighbors. Come back and share the story. Thanks for sharing a coffee break with me.
give evrything the church has away every week or every month…and let the persons closest to the need deliver it in person…..we all get to breathe the vulgar breathe of reality like this….