How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! Song of Solomon 4:10
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Many churches today suffer from a lack of vision. Or perhaps I should say they suffer from having too small a vision. Consider the way churches advertize themselves in the papers or on their outside marquis: “The Family Church” or “The Place for You” or “Growing Together in the Lord.” These are just a few of the many church slogans I’ve seen over the years, which are meant to declare to any who may be interested just what this church stands for and hopes to achieve.
Now having a church where families are welcome, people can find a place to grow and serve, and new friendships can be forged is not a bad thing. It’s just that these aren’t sufficient to describe the vision of the Church which the Lord Himself holds out for His Bride. His vision for the Church is much more compelling – and more alluring – than all of these mottos rolled together.
The New Testament is not reluctant to identify the Church with Israel, Jerusalem, and Zion from the Old Testament. Thus the New Testament teaches us to access those passages in the Old that can help us in discovering the Lord’s vision for the Church. Take, for example, Psalm 48:1. Here the Church is described as beautiful in elevation and the joy of the whole earth. Jesus picked up on the idea of the Church being elevated as a desirable habitation in Matthew 5. He said His followers would be a city set on a hill. He intended, moreover, that the beauty of the Lord should shine forth from the Church so that all the world could see the glory of God and give Him praise and thanks (Matt. 5:13-16). So it seems that part of our vision for the Church should be that we strive to become a place of beauty before the eyes of our neighbors.
Something is beautiful when it brings us delight, and not just once, but over and over. Our churches will be beautiful in the eyes of our communities when we offer them things that bring them joy, wellbeing, shalom. In times past churches used their facilities to serve the needs of the local community. They offered themselves in service to the poor and needy, the downcast and troubled, and to those beset by crisis or emergency. You can be sure that people will delight in our churches and find them beautiful when, in a variety of ways, we make it a point to bring delight and shalom to our neighbors.
Joy couples readily with delight. Are the people in your community happy that your church is located there? What can they point to in order to tell a new neighbor that this is a church that has the needs and interests of the community in mind? When was the last time your church did anything for the sheer sake of bringing joy into your community?
We need bigger visions for our churches. As the garden of the Lord the local church, together with the churches in the community, must consider what it would take for them to become sources of beauty and joy in their community. Each community will differ, and no church will want to compromise its Kingdom calling just to satisfy the whims of unsaved neighbors. But there is still much that churches can do – if only they had the vision for it – to extend a hand of beauty and joy, gloved in Truth and love, to help their communities know more of the reality of the living Christ.
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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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May I address this personal concern? How much do our 'Christian Faith Followers' continue to establish their outreach too much still, from human reasoning, and strength, rather than by prayer, supplication, and surrender, to act upon the power of the Fathers precious Holy Spirit and focusing more on eternal resources for accomplishing the 'Great Commission' task before us?
Father, please help us all...
Agreed, T.M. Although many churches have worldwide vision for missions, they lack a community focus. One I'm familiar with has both a worldwide focus and a community focus, which is ministry to the urban community roughly 15 miles from the suburban church. They send money to these urban missions, but rarely do they send people. My suggestion for them and for all 'neighborhood churches' is to focus efforts on an area of a 1000 foot radius from the church. Are there needy families there? Financial needs? Friendless couples? Focus there! That would make the local church a thing of beauty, a true Garden of the Lord.
The Garden of the Lord
Margaret Helen Brandt makes this comment
2010-01-31 21:00:16
Bob Schaetzle makes this comment
2010-01-31 19:03:04
Jack Dekkinga makes this comment
2010-01-31 16:30:34