Jan
29
It Takes a Community
Posted by Champ Thornton at 3:23 pmFiled Under blogdom
Should churches be missional (sending out its members to unbelievers) or attractional (bringing unbelievers in to its members)?
Andreas Köstenberger, prolific author on the apostle John’s writings, makes the following observation about Jesus’ prayer for His disciples (found in John 17:20-26):
Unity (together with love) constitutes an essential prerequisite for evangelism. Outreach to unbelievers is rooted in the community of believers as a whole rather than begin the isolated enterprise of individuals who have the gift of evangelism. This realization has come to the fore once again in the present postmodern climate, which accentuates the subjective nature of knowledge and truth. In such an atmosphere, it is very difficult to reason someone into the kingdom by mere rational argument. Rather, the unbeliever must first be brought into the community of believers where he or she can experience unified and loving relationships among Christians. This experience, in turn, will prepare the unbeliever to hear the gospel message (from Encountering John, page 173).
There is much truth to “evangelism in community.” One qualifier I would add is that prebelievers can experience at least a glimpse of Christian community in non-church settings where believers collaborate together in ministry and exhibit unity and love for each other. Places of work, relief / homeless centers, etc. for example.
Kostenberger’s thesis raises an interesting challenge for “serious” churches that focus on expository preaching and semi-liturgical worship. How do those churches create approachable opportunities for pre-believers who may find the worship and preaching so unapproachable that they can’t then see the community that exists?
Just a couple quick thoughts. First, thanks for posting! Second, shouldn’t churches be both? Isn’t the gospel, as it is embodied in the lives of its members, both missional and welcomal (fun to make up words).
I can envision a church body intentionally operating in its community as a body…performing a service project together or in small groups for example. That’s missional.
The other is a bit more challenging, if that means shaping “the gathering” to make the unbeliever feel loved. If, on the other hand, that means loving the unbeliever when they join the gathering, or bringing the unbeliever into gathering events designed for building horizontal relationships, that may be a different story.
At the end of the day the main point is made clear by Jesus’ emphasis…unity is essential.
Jon,
Great observation (re: being both missional and attractional). That west-coast voice of all things even-keeled, Mark Driscoll, said, “The growing hostility between attractional-ministry pastors with larger churches and missional-ministry pastors with smaller churches need not occur. Instead, each needs to learn from the other; each has a vital piece of the truth gleaned from the life of Jesus” (“Confessions of a Reformission Rev,” p. 27). Probably more from Driscoll later this week. Fore-warned is fore-armed.
Ken,
Good comments. I think you’ve put your finger on the difficulty: how do you focus on feeding the flock without neglecting the lost, or vice versa. Tim Keller makes the following assertions (probably look for more to come from Keller this week):
1. Non-believers are expected to be present in Christian worship.
2. Non-believers must find the praise of Christians to be comprehensible.
3. Non-believers can fall under conviction and be converted through comprehensible worship.
Great discussion. Looking forward to continuing it in days ahead, Lord willing.