Author and church development expert Leonard Sweet says, "A
missional church faces outward toward the world . . . . For too long, churches
have faced inward, offering religion as a benefits package for members
---- something that 'meets my needs' or simply offers comfortable
social opportunities with one's friends."
Dr. Sweet reports that many churches ask, "How can we get more young people
involved?" He believes that is the wrong question ---- it is an "inward-facing"
question. A better question, he says, is to ask, "What are the hurts and hopes
of our community and how can we respond to them?"
Does CPC do a good job in sending members out into the community and the
world, or is it's focus simply to get more people to come to church? Do we at
CPC evaluate our progress in terms of filling our seating capacity, or by
our sending capacity?
To truly connect with their neighborhood, church members must not just look
at data on a page, but listen to the people in the community. They must
get out and talk to the people who live around the church ---- in Summit, New
Providence, Berkeley Heights, and perhaps elsewhere in Union and Morris
Counties.
Again, the question: "Is CPC an outward-facing church?" In many small but
meaningful ways, CPC members regularly have been caring for and working to
transform the community around us, by offering service on a committed and
regular basis. You know about our participation in Family Promise (homeless
care), SHIP (Summit Helps It's People ---- meals for the homeless), weekly
visitation teams at Overlook Hospital and Runnells Specialized Hospital, and a
variety of other organized, outward-facing efforts.
Over the years, CPC has built an enviable record of community involvement.
For example, our members were prime movers in developing Senior Citizen housing
and low-income housing in Summit. Now we have new challenges and we will solve
them with some new CPC participants, with re-newed energy and new ideas,
building upon a strong foundation.
So, Dr. Leonard Sweet might praise CPC as an "outward-facing" church, but
is there more to our story? Don't we have some evidence of waning interest in
Bible literacy. While our worship services and Sunday sermons are compelling,
perhaps our members more and more are merely spectators, with their working
knowledge of the Bible becoming less and less sure over time?
Is this not a bit ironic? While we have a continuing track record of
reaching out to others ---- giving of ourselves to others, those relationships
may not really be spiritual. Is it simply that today we evangelize to
outsiders more by example, than by Bible lessons and the re-telling of
the parables of Jesus?
This is different from the practices of earlier generations, but perhaps it
is not a bad thing. We must, indeed, respond to the changing tastes and
interests of American culture and society, and today many of the strict
denominational borders within and around Christianity are fading. We are
encouraged to befriend and respect people who may be very different from us. In
a very real sense, is this not what Jesus would tell us to do even if many of us
cannot recite a specific Bible story in support of such practices.
Here is a question for each of us: If the time and effort required to gain
and retain Bible literacy is increasingly replaced by "action" programs to help
others in need, in the long run how might that change our relationship with
God?
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development
Team, hoping to encourage some personal growth this year at CPC.
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