I'd like to suggest that within the church we've been doing things backward for quite a while, and the fix, while it isn't easy, is a necessary adjustment if we're going to truly join God in His mission. I believe the church (as we've come to know it in America) is like Mater from Cars... we'd just prefer to drive backward instead of forward. Truthfully, again like Mater, we're better at driving backward than forward. Here's what I mean...
When Jesus left us with the task of carrying on His mission, He made two statements (along with dozens others) that are important for us to understand. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, "He (Jesus) would build His church." Then, in Matthew 28:19, He told us to, "Make disciples." The problem is that in our efforts to seize the mission of Jesus, we try to accomplish the mission backward. We attempt to build or maintain the church and then make disciples. By the "church" I mean the focus we place on buildings, services, and the organizational structures and routines of church.
As I shared with our church this past Sunday, this backward approach is what The Overflow did in our beginning. Honestly, it's what most new and established churches do in America. Our intentions were good... we wanted to seize the mission of Jesus just as all churches say they want to do. However, we ended up trying to do that in the same way most American churches have been doing it for hundreds of years... by focusing on "church." We started backward! We thought if we modified how people think of church (meet in a school, use contemporary music, etc) we would be able to make disciples. The amazing thing is that God has still touched many lives in the process, but as we've discovered, it's time for us to move forward that right way.
I've learned that if you start out focusing on church (as described above), you'll rarely, if ever, get around to making disciples, but if you focus on making disciples, Jesus will build His church (the gathering of His people). Therefore, we began making shifts almost 5 months ago to start moving forward according to Jesus' plan. This past Sunday, I shared the next wave of shifts that are coming for us as a church. These shifts are necessary so that we can lay the proper foundation of making disciples within our church; it's a foundation that will last regardless of the latest "church trends."
We must stop doing this backward. Does your church (the people) focus more on "church" or making disciples? Seriously. Every church needs to deal with this question. Will you stop trying to accomplish the mission backward?
In June, we adjusted our format on Sundays by including connection times each Sunday. This was important for us to do because it helped us put more emphasis on caring for each other and doing life together. Additionally, we began an intentional discipleship process called Xcellerate, which about 20 people are already doing. Now, as we move forward, we're adjusting the entire atmosphere on Sunday mornings... We're no longer doing a "structured" service... at least for the time being.
By this I mean that our current flow of music, then teaching, and then connections is being adjusted so that there's no exit point during our gathering for those who don't want to connect with others. We feel it's essential for us to view our church as a team/community of people seeking to make disciples. At this point in the progression of our church, we don't need a service that merely attracts attendees. However, we invited everyone, regardless of where they are in their walk with God, to move forward with us. Our commitment is that we'll do everything in our power to personally invest into them so they can be an authentic disciple of Jesus.
What will Sundays look like? It'll be like a community of people gathering together. If you're longing for authentic community that is focused not only on each other, but is also focused on joining God in His mission, you'll love where we're headed!
-We'll begin with prayer each Sunday. We'll have prayer leaders scattered throughout the people who will casually gather people together in circles for a time of prayer. While we won't put people on the spot to pray, this prayer time will be completely led by the Spirit's promptings. You'll just have to experience this for yourself.
-Then, our prayer time will naturally flow into a time of praise and celebration as our band leads us in worship. The prayer time will prepare our hearts for everything the Spirit has for us during our gathering.
-After this time of music is over, we'll then gather into our connections for the teaching time. The teaching is now becoming even more interactive as I'll be teaching and allowing for immediate interaction and application in the connections. I may then teach more and then allow for more interaction in the connections. We may even have the connections share with each other what they've discovered and how they're planning to apply the teaching. The options for exactly how we do this are endless.
The Holy Spirit has been moving in our church unlike ever before since we made the first shifts back in June, and I know that will only increase as we move forward!
If you want the full picture of why we're doing all of this or why your church should consider going "forward" instead of backward, I'd encourage you to download the audio teaching from this past Sunday called "Faith: Moving Forward Day" by going here... http://overflowknoxville.com/media.php?pageID=5
Questions about these changes, such as the ones listed below, are answered toward the end of the audio teaching beginning at the 49:45 mark.
-If we don't have a "service" won't people, specifically new people, be uncomfortable and turned off?
-What about all the churches who do "services?" Are they wrong?
-Are we the only church thinking this way?
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