
Attempting to lead a church in a more Biblical approach to ministry in a community rather than a traditional route of doing ministry has its definite challenges. So many of us who were raised in the church were taught that a healthy church is one that gets people to church and then gets them so involved in church that their entire new social network and schedule of weekly events involves only church events and people. Here at New Heights we are learning how to focus the people who genuinely desire to follow Christ to not busy themselves within the church calendar and culture, but rather minister within their natural network of co-workers, friends and family in their neighborhoods, and other parts of the world as the Lord leads. True discipleship is not busyness. I have found as a Pastor that it is not hard to get people busy within the church. But how busy we are in the church means nothing and really has very little to do with the real business of the Kingdom. We are learning daily how to validate this community and global approach to ministry as people follow Christ. For instance, we have one couple, who on their own have stopped attending on Wednesday night (Bible study and connecting track) to intentionally meet weekly with a pre-christian couple that are their friends. They meet each Wednesday to watch a TV show together and bond. Most churches today would consider this unhealthy and a lack of commitment from the believing couple to their church. My entire past ministry preparation would say the same. But the truth of the matter is this couple is living out the great commission. The church for so long has been so worried about who is influencing who in these type of situations. so concerned, that we feel the only safe route for a true disciple of Christ to live is a sheltered, isolated life within the confines of the church culture - music, movies, friends, education.... As if our life purpose once we come to Christ is supposed to be "Safe" rather than full of "Faith." The seeker sensative model of the church now and in years past has also fed this "inward" approach to reaching the lost. The emphasis is to get the lost into church. I love it when lost people come to church, don't get me wrong, but this tells most believers that their effort in the community to promote the Kingdom of God is only useful in the arena of "inviting someone to church." This does not validate what believers are doing outside the four walls of the church as true ministry and healthy priority as a disciple of Christ. The church is there to equip the saints, not to be the "ministry center" to the masses. The "ministry center" to the masses are the daily lives and networks of the believers outside the four walls of the church.
We don't have it all together, but we are learning how to validate people who are making choices to reach out to their family and friends through genuine relationship and divine appointments. The outcome will be a harvest of souls that the church culture could never have reached, nor were ever meant to reach. But people loving people is the Kings way. As Christ sent his disciples out in twos, we too need to each week send our congregation out into a real world with real issues, knowing that real faith and witness works within the confines of real relationships.
We are going down a good direction in our way of thinking here at New Heights, but how to put legs on it and equip people to live it out is the challenge that I am learning to embrace daily.







