The Missional Network

Several weeks ago I had the awesome privilege of leading a businessman to Christ.  He is a gifted young leader who was completely unchurched and had never heard the gospel before.  (I still wonder every day if we realize how common this is in our own country!)  He was as excited as anyone I have ever led to Christ.  He was hungry to begin to grow, to find a church, and to share his new faith.  

I couldn’t wait to get home to get him some discipleship material and to find churches to recommend for him.  Two things happened in the days ahead that have caused me some concern.  First, he found a Baptist church near his home to attend that first Sunday after he was saved.  He even brought his lost friend.  Now what could be wrong with that?  Well, they left the church scared to death.  My new Christian friend told me that the environment was not friendly, they felt like outsiders, and the message literally frightened them.  It has been difficult to get them to try again.  I wonder if many of our churches are almost completely centered around those who are already there – and if they really care about that?

The second thing occurred as I was looking for discipleship material.  I needed to find something suitable for a successful businessman, with an approach designed for more of a post-modern mindset.  I asked a lot of people and struggled to get a good recommendation.  I went to a Christian bookstore and asked to see their section on material for new believers.  They didn’t have one.  I asked to see their section on evangelism.  They had 3 books.  I asked to see any book in the whole store – or workbook, or course, or magazine, or anything else, for that matter – that was meant to help a new Christian grow.  They had nothing at all.  I thanked the helpful employee and then just wandered a little bit.  I saw the most incredible collection of music, much of which I buy and love – but all for Christians.  I saw two whole rows of exciting and enjoyable fiction – but all for Christians.  I saw row after row of books about how to grow deeper in our faith – but all for Christians.  I saw t-shirts, video games, computer programs and a whole array of other stuff – all for Christians.  

It dawned on me that I wasn’t really in a Christian bookstore.  I was in the club resource room.  Full of great resources.  But all designed for the enjoyment, or at best the growth, of the members.  Doesn’t that sound more like a club than a New Testament mission force to you?  And even if I buy all these great resources and learn from them, can I really grow deeper in my faith if it is all for me?  If it never takes me to others with the good news?  Sometimes I wonder if we have gone so deep we have drowned.  I sure don’t want to go deeper than Jesus.  And Jesus seemed to spend a lot of time with real people – with their raw emotions and real problems right on the surface.  It seems to me that a Christian store or a Christian church for that matter, should by the very nature of its name reflect the values and actions of Jesus.  And Jesus was always seeking to save the lost.  Isn’t it time we follow Him again?

Now I sure don’t want to be too hard on Christian bookstores.  After all, I am a voracious reader and spend a lot of time and money there myself.  But I do think it is time we examine all we do as evangelicals and ask a hard question:

Is there any evidence that we are serious about fulfilling the Great Commission as our primary reason for being on this earth?

I have to say that the evidence I see from a lot of different arenas gives me a lot of cause for concern about the answer to that question.

But hey, I am about good news!  I am not a pessimist.  All around the world God is at work.  An atheist I know says she has never seen such spiritual openness in people than right now.  The Lord is on the move and invites us to come with Him.  All we have to do is become the Church again.

When I was a pastor I ended every service by asking our people a question: “What time is it?”  They would shout back, “Time for church!”  And we would leave to go be the church, to take the good news out of a worship center where most had already heard it, into restaurants, coffee shops, sports complexes, schools, neighborhoods and marketplaces where few had heard it.  

I know I fail at this much of the time, but it is my passion to grow in this journey of following Christ on His rescue mission, to love all I get from my books, my music, my worship, and my fellowship, but to never mistake all that for the measure of my Christian life.  Jesus is on mission.  And so my measure must be His mission.

I have high hopes for the growth of my friend in his new life as a follower of Christ.  But it is my prayer that the body of Christ will love him more and help him more – and all the others like Him who God in His awesome grace is calling out of darkness and into His wonderful light.  Wouldn’t that make evangelism good news again?

As you read this I pray you have a great day, full of the joy and adventure of following the Lord of life.  I have no doubt you will – because it is time for church.