New 6 month model of DNA for the Baby Boomer generation
Sean Carnochan, of Holy Trinity Wester Hailes, Edinburgh
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Ever heard it said of church by church leaders “If we don’t maintain what we’ve got already we’ll lose it”? True enough. But if we forget why church exists, what the ultimate purpose of maintaining what we have actually is, then not only will we lose it, but we deserve too!
“What was God’s purpose in establishing church in a fallen world? Is He a needy God, desperate for our worship? Or a loving God, outworking His redemptive rescue plan through church and then through the second body of Christ on the earth, His church? Put simply, as Christians, why on earth are we here?
Surely, logically, let alone theologically, we’re here for the lost? God’s original covenant with Adam and Eve was to bless the creation (Genesis 1:28) as it was with Noah (Genesis 9) and with Abram (Genesis 12). And has been ever since. If, as most would agree, church was birthed at Pentecost, then surely we’d learn something of her purpose by seeing what she first did? And there it is, right there in Acts 2:1-41. The church exists, in the market place (not behind closed doors in the upper room) to reach the lost as indeed she continued to do (Acts 5:28).
To paraphrase Argentinian revivalist Ed Silvoso – if all we want as Christians is a greater sense of intimacy with God, the presence of the angels, deeper unity with the saints, stupendous and creative praise and worship …… then why don’t we just drop dead! We’ll get all the above instantly!
On the other hand, if we dare to accept that the focus of the church is evangelism, and we put all our relationships, activities, prayers, budgets, prophetic words, cultural relevance and sexy projects through that focus, then perhaps we’ll see fruit accordingly? The successes and the problems of the saints, in a fallen world, are cosmetic, however, important they seem. But the lost are not dealing with the cosmetic, but with (literally) eternal life or death issues.
So when did you last evaluate your church’s cells, programme, meetings, budget, goals, paid staff through the focus of evangelism? And when did you last do the same thing with your lifestyle, relationships, aims, giving and diary? Because church isn’t something we “go” to out there. Evangelism as the focus, focus’s the strategy with me and with you, or guess what? It doesn’t start anywhere.
