Tough questions the church must ask

In the movie Sister Act the character played by Whoopi Goldberg wanted the nuns to leave the safety of their convent to go into the dangerous neighborhood that surrounded them.  The Mother Superior forbade it saying that is was much too dangerous.  When the priest overruled her ban the nuns went into the neighborhood where they found numerous ways to minister to those who lived there.  As the weeks went by the church sanctuary, which had been nearly empty, began to fill with those folks whose lives had been touched.

The world is a dangerous place, but it is in exactly that dangerous place where we are called to serve.  Too many churches want to sit in the safety of their "sanctuaries" and wonder why the people are not coming to them.  Jesus taught that we are to go into all the world and make disciples, not sit around and hope people will come to us.

I was involved in conversations with some folks yesterday about the situation facing many of our churches, especially our smaller ones.  Some of them were amazed when I told them that approximately 100 churches in the US close their doors every week.  I explained to them that the size of the church had nothing to do with that although the majority of those churches were smaller churches.  The primary reason they closed their doors was that they had forgotten why they existed.  At some point in history people had a vision that involved a church in that location, but over the years succeeding generations lost that vision.  They no longer had a purpose for existing other than ensuring that the existing members had their spiritual and other needs met.  While this is important, it is not a vision that can sustain a ministry nor should it be the primary focus of the church.  Eventually, a church with such a tunnel vision will cease to exist.

Scripture clearly gives each church its mission.  It's found in the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, and neither can be fulfilled unless the church is in the world touching people's lives.  Unfortunately, the reality is that too many churches have abandoned this God-given mission.  Such churches need to ask some really tough questions.

• Who are we here for?  If a church exists for those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior it should be reflected in their budget and in their programming.  You might want to check out those before answering this first question because it could change the way you answer it.
• Is what we're doing worth the life of the Son of God?  Think back to your last board meeting or business meeting.  How much of the time in those meetings were spent discussing vital issues that will impact the lives of people and how much of it was spent discussing trivial things that won't matter five years from now?
• Who is Jesus to you?  How the church answers this question will determine what kind of church it will be.  Any church that calls itself a conservative or evangelical church that is not reaching unchurched people for Christ has some serious problems.
• Do you love people as much as Jesus does?  On the night he was betrayed Jesus took a basin of water and washed the feet of his disciples, including the one he knew would later betray him.  Many churches claim to be the friendliest church in town, but from my experience of being a different church nearly every week I would say that many of them are only friendly to one another, not necessarily to the stranger in their midst.  People matter to God.  Do they matter to your church?
• What price are you willing to pay?  Many of the churches I work with claim they want to reach new people until they learn they will probably have to change some things to do so.  After all, if you could reach people by doing what you're doing, you would already be reaching them!  What preferences, what traditions, what sacred cows would your church give up to reach people with the gospel?

These are tough questions which I believe every church is going to be forced to ask at numerous times in its life.  Based upon your answers your church will be set on a path that will lead you to a destination.  The right answers will result in transformed lives and the advancement of the Kingdom of God.  The wrong answers will lead to the church becoming irrelevant and useless to the purposes of God.  Is it time to begin asking these questions of your leadership?

For more on this issue I recommend you read my book The Healthy Community: Moving Your Church Beyond Tunnel Vision.