Common wisdom says that inwardly focused churches need to focus on outreach in order to change. Dallas Willard challenges this wisdom in Renovation of the Heart:
It is, I gently suggest, a serious error to make "outreach" a primary goal of the local congregation, and especially so when those who are already "with us" have not become clear-headed and devoted apprentices of Jesus, and are not, for the most part, solidly progressing along the path. Outreach is one essential task of Christ's people, and among them there will always be those especially gifted for evangelism. But the most successful work of outreach would be the work of inreach that turns people, wherever they are, into lights in the darkened world.
A simple goal for the leaders of a particular group would be to bring all those in attendance to understand clearly what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and to be solidly committed to discipleship in their whole life. That is, when they are asked who they are, the first words out of their mouth would be, "I am an apprentice of Jesus Christ." This goal would have to be approached very gently and lovingly and patiently with existing groups, where the people involved have not understood this to be part of their membership commitment.
Over the years I have met many mature persons (age-wise) who were once in the church -often very involved- and younger persons who were raised in the church and who looked keenly for God at some point. Too many of these people I can now only think of as 'victims'; victims of poorly formed christian environments.
Far too many of these people are no longer with us, in our churches, because they could not find enough of Christ in us. And also because we have formed a style of 'doing church' over the decades that precludes, in large part, our truly knowing and walking and surrendering to Christ.
Our talk of faith and truth has not matched our living - largely of non-faith and poorly formed truth. And lives speak louder than words. Always.
So they have walked away from us. And have tried -oh so unsucessfully- to find a reason to carry on that makes more sense than the skewed reasons we have inadvertantly witnessed to them of, or testified to them of.
This has deeply troubled me.
I've longed and prayed and cried for them.
And for His church, and for ourselves.
The church that will stop trying to do all the good things that christians are supposed to do, and that will stop talking in vague or assumed terms as though all its body parts have really got the message, and that will start paying close attention to the lives of those already within its doors and to the message it delivers to them, is the church that may stand a chance of actually reversing the trend; where we stop losing as many or more out our back doors, than we ever take in through our front doors.
The vast numbers of faith-gone-awry outside of our churches, and faith-gone-lukewarm within, testify that Willard's recommendations are exactly the ones needed for His church today, here in the West.
So - you up to it Darryl?
If so, we'd love to throw our small lot in with you, and do what we can to help out.
AMEN! Preach it, Sister!
Amen Darryl, and double amen Naomi,
I mean, I'm all for new babies, but when we have new babies they will look like the family they're born into. Maybe lets invest a bit more into the local families, expect more from them as disciples. Then maybe the babies will grow up a little healthier.
Maybe.