I do my normal Monday thing. Well before the office opens, I sit in a undisclosed coffeehouse location and pen out messages (my fancy way of saying “I type out sermons on my computer”). I find myself reflecting on yesterday’s message points by Ron Maddux:
Out of context of the story of his life, these seem like very simple points. But to hear his testimony…to catch his passion for the lost…yesterday’s message continues to impact me to my very soul. You need to understand: I came out of a week of talking with missionaries about future missions trips, conversing pastor’s pursuing their calling, and seeing people reaching out to those who are hurting. Sunday was the “icing on the cake.” I am so passionate for people to hear the Gospel (the good news of hope in Christ in the midst of our hopelessness) and yesterday just fed the flame.
I learned something years ago: church is not a spectator sport. (Yes I know it’s not a “sport” per se but bear with me.) But I’m afraid we’ve made the american “church” into nothing more than what I do during football season on Sunday afternoons in front of the TV.
I watch my team.
I get excited.
I’m proud to be a fan of my team (for the first time in a long time).
I post it on social media.
Then I walk away and go about my life.
A spectator. A fan.
Aaaaaaaaand that can sum up the life of a church attender. I will support my team/church on Sunday. I’ll enjoy it IF the outcome of the game/service is what I think it should be. I might even tweet/facebook post about it.
But that’s it.
Have we spent so much time going to church that we forget we ARE the church? We fight for traditions of what takes place in a building we call the “church” and don’t fight for the traditions of BEING the church. The early church was radiant with the Gospel. The “Good News” was so good they couldn’t keep it to themselves. Grace was so rich to taste that they didn’t want to be the only ones consuming it. Everything about the early church seemed to smack against being a spectator. Everyone was involved. It wasn’t about getting “my” church experience. It was about being a “city set on a hill” (Matthew 5:14) so that others could experience the indescribable grace of God.
This is what this month is about at Kfirst. It’s about moving us from being the spectator into engaging the world around us. We’re asking you to engage in 3 ways:
- Reach our community. Sign up to serve the week of November 17 in our “Serve All” week. Put hands and feet to your faith.
- Reach Ethiopia with clean water. We’re partnering with Life Water to drill a well and provide clean water to a community in desperate need. Every time we gather in November, we’re going to take time to give so that we can provide people with water and communicate the love of Jesus.
- Reach the world. Starting next week, we’re going to challenge you to make a commitment to reaching our world by partnering with us and our 84 missionaries/ministries to make it simple for people to find and follow Jesus.
It’s time to get out of the stands in the stadium and get on the field. Jesus didn’t come out of the tomb so that you can be housed safely in your church buildings. You are a missionary. You are an ambassador of the Kingdom. It’s time to engage with world around you with the love of Jesus that has transformed your life. If you have freely received…
…it’s time to freely reach.
We’ll see you on Sunday.
Thank for letting me ramble…
