Look Out Again

Look Out Again

Why are so many congregations so inwardly focussed? The church is not a social club, caring only for it’s own members. It is supposed to be a group of disciples of Jesus Christ who meet together for fellowship and mutual encouragement as they, together, reach out to a lost world in order to spread the good news of salvation and the Gospel. Every church should be focussed on the world and the people around them who do not know the Lord.

That is the church’s mission statement – to make disciples of all men by taking the good news of the Gospel to the ends of the earth – to every nation and every tribe and tongue. And signs and wonders shall follow them. How did Jesus attract such crowds? H saw the people; He healed ALL the sick; then having got their attention, He preached the Kingdom of God to them.  Attend to them first then teach and preach.

Surely this is the blueprint for outreach. Show our love and the love of God first, then everything else follows. As I see things in almost every church, the pastors are intent on keeping their place in the pulpit so they are not outwardly focussed. the leadership or elders, having no particular mandate from the pastor, are intent on if not empire building then at least maintaining a position of influence. The group leaders (if there are any) are completely rudderless having a mandate solely of maintaining peace in the ranks by ‘wet nursing’ the pampered souls in their care. There are exceptions to this of course but, by and large, this is the woeful picture of the state of the majority of churches today.

No wonder few or less people want to reach out into the community, to reach the lost and the hurting who were so attracted to Jesus that they flocked to see and hear Him. The church was born on an outward facing mandate. It has turned around to become so inward facing that they now close ranks to prevent people coming in by the simple expedient of ignoring them. It is, in a word, pitiful.

We know a few pastors. I heard of one remark to a pastor trying to introduce something a little bit new in terms of infrastructure into his church. A lady said to him, “You know, sometimes you must feel you are swimming up stream in molasses.” His response – “You don’t know the half – I could tell you a few stories . . . “

So sad. Time to change.