The evangelistic church

 Last night I finished reading I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. It is, by far, the best book I've read this year. It was fairly heavy reading, and I wanted something perhaps a little lighter. I pulled out a book from my library I had not read in many years titled The Evangelistic Church by John Havlik. It was published in 1976 so I imagine it would not be easy to find a copy. Havlick is a Southern Baptist, and while he expresses his joy in what the churches in his denomination was doing regarding evanglism, he also recognized there were problems. I want to share a paragraph from the introduction. If it was true in 1976, it is even more true today. He wrote

"Some of our churches have settled into a dull routine that is unexciting and unappealing. The joy and celebration over evangelistic victories have been lost in the flat sameness of service after service. Some of our churches (especially in the cities) have not learned how to communicate with a secular society. Some of our churches exist as a well-insulated little pocket of spirituality in the midst of a sea of indifference. The world does not hate us. They do not love us. They do not know we are here."

WOW! I can't say if his words were true in 1976, but they are certainly true in 2024. A few years ago I served as the Transitional Pastor of a church that had served its community for well over 200 years. It had one of the largest buildings in the community. I was amazed at how many people who lived in that community had no idea where the church was located.

I am currently serving a church that will soon celebrate its 175th anniversary. Again, it is one of the largest church buildings in the community and sits just off a major highway in that community. Numerous times I've been asked where the church was located. The community does not know we are here.

I fear that many churches could close their doors tomorrow, and no one in the community could tell the difference. One of the things church leaders should ask is: Is there anything we do that our community could not live without? If the answer is no, that community sees your church as irrelevant, if they even know you exist.

The people in the first century certainly knew the church was there, and this was without large buildings, seminary-trained pastors, professionally-designed ministries, or any of the other things we think are needed today. They saw the church in action, and the Bible tells us the Lord added daily to the church those who were being saved. I don't know about you, but I want to see God add persons being saved daily to the church I serve.

That will require that we take seriously the Great Commission and adopt the attitude that we will do anything except sin to reach unsaved persons for Jesus Christ. This is the mission God has given the church, and if we fail in this mission we will have failed as a church.