Well, I spent last week in Denver, taking a class on preaching and leadership. The class was led by Dr. Scott Wenig of Denver Seminary and Mike Breaux of Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, Illinois.
Over the past five years, my life and faith has been influenced, inspired, and encouraged by several of the leaders at Willow Creek. When the opportunity to take a class with Mike Breaux came up, I was pretty pumped. Here's a church with over 20,000 people that God has used greatly to not only reach thousands of people in Chicago, but influence and build up the church worldwide. Like any excellent ministry, Willow Creek has had many churches and pastors who want to copy, imitate, or emulate what they have seen happen at this wonderful church. I'm afraid I can't blame them (us) for wanting to see God work in such powerful ways in our own churches and communities!
Today I feel moved to at least blog a disclaimer. It's not just their location (big city), their arts and music (mostly professional quality), their technology (state-of-the-art plasma screens), or their once-in-a-lifetime CEO/Pastor Bill Hybels - it's the fact that these people really love God and love people. I've included this link that has just a little bit about Mike Breaux.
The fact is that most churches exist today to serve the people INSIDE the building. The "membership" or the "fellowship" of the already-convinced.
But that's not exactly why Jesus invented the church.
I remember how Jesus described his own life mission - "to seek and to save the lost."
I remember what he told his closest friends - "Go and make disciples."
I remember the last charge he gave them - "Be my witnesses... to the very ends of the earth."
Seems like the God-given purpose of the church is to GO LOVE PEOPLE who are OUTSIDE the building. So Jesus would eat meals with "sinners." So Jesus pursued a reject tax-collector like Zaccheus. So Jesus went out of his way to talk to a hurting woman who did not know God's love. So Paul traveled all over the Roman empire telling people about Jesus.
If a "church" isn't placing a huge priority on spreading this GREAT news about God's love...
If a "church" is more concerned about maintaining the "way we've always done it"...
If a "church" isn't actively trying to build friendships outside of the church membership...
Then it's really NOT the church.
(Yikes -- this is our personal family blog where I'm supposed to tell people about how cute Luke is, what words Allie is learning, and how much Jennie is sleeping. Here I go off on some passionate tirade about the purpose of the church. I just felt like I had to share.)
5 comments:
Thank God you said it (what the church is and is not) and amen.
that's why i love the church planting model. it forces the Body to think outward, and too look inward at how they may influence those who are outside the walls.
i know you're not saying this, but the church also has to be careful to assume the big church has to be doing things right or it wouldn't be big. (we know this is obvious because there are huge mosques and tmeples). I know you affirm that as well, big is not always right.
however, traveling a lot with finish line also taught me something else....small is not always a reflection of wrong. there are small churches lead by outward focussed pastors who are doing a lot to reach out to the community who just aren't making it.
willow creek has survived and influenced others than for no other reason than that is the desire of God. hybels is gifted, the people are passionate, but that is only because of God's grace and their passions are only rightly focused because of God's grace.
i know you agree.
Thanks for the comment!
Danny, to balance out some of your points....
- there are a lot of people who assume that big church is doing things wrong and just saying what people want to hear. That's unfair and inaccurate. For some, statements like that are their excuse or disclaimer for why they don't try to grow their church (either through plants or growth).
- Your paragraph about Willow surviving and growing for no other reason than that is the desire of God... we could say that about any ministry or any event in human history, couldn't we? Not sure why you're singling out Willow Creek - is it cause you think I have them on a pedestal?
- What would it look like for you to admit or agree that (by God's grace) Willow has done a lot of things right, and many churches are (and should be) learning a lot from them?
I dig willow, saddleback, and lots of "big" churches, that are reaching lots of people, training lots of leaders, and making a difference...
however, at some point, most "big" churches reach a point of growing by momentum and critical mass...and this doesn't require the Holy Spirit's involvement - but of course that doesn't mean that all, most or even some of these big churches don't have the Holy Spirit working through the Big Mo at the same time...and in addition...I wouldn't pick on Willow any more than I would pick on podunk church in podunkville that happens to be a Biblical church...which brings me to another point...I traveled to a lot of these little churches too, in little towns...and met several pastors and congregations that were fulfilling the same mandate of the church as you mentioned...but their methods wouldn't even remotely resemble those of willow or other biggies...I guess my point in wrapping this up... I think we spend Way Too Much Time trying to figure out, methodize, label and reproduce the methods of churches like Willow. God puts pastors and people together in communities that have their own very unique DNA. Chicago, Southern California, Dallas, etc...would not have a clue of how to relate or pastor a church of 50 in a little rural village in Southwest IN (I've been to one like that) The town itself only had 250 people...and most of them are related...seriously! :) However, they were very missions minded and supported several missionaries and evangelistic efforts. They don't operate soup kitchens, tailor their services to the unchurched or worry about guests on Sunday morning though. I guess that means I disagree that Jesus created the church with the primary mission to "go". I believe that Jesus called individual believers to "go", but I believe he created the organism/organization of the church to be a place of hope, a place of healing, a place of education and a place of equipping to "go". Otherwise, why have the organized, local church in the first place. We should all just be out in the community, serving the poor, the homeless, the hurting, etc...and listen to Bill Hybels on the web :-)
By the way, I don't think Danny was picking on Willow Creek - though, they beg to be picked on sometimes :) (i just got an invitation to their worship arts conference and the theme they used for the promotional materials was cartoon characters. I thought it was pretty comical :-)
Enough for tonight
Post a Comment