Paradigm Shift

Things are changing. Things are not so simple anymore. As a child we did not have cable television. We had four channels. ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS. Cartoons played after school and on Saturday mornings. We ate cooked from scratch meals. We went on picnics. It was a VERY SPECIAL TREAT TO EVER GO OUT AND EAT. I can remember when McDonald's came to my hometown. It took some convincing to get my grandmother to take me and my brother there. Let's say she was not impressed.

And then there was church. The old downtown First Nazarene Church with Brother Fowler. He drove me to children's camp. I went and liked the stories about Jesus from time to time. I did not understand salvation though they got me to the front to pray over me. I had no idea what they were doing. They also had an Easter egg hunt. It was an outreach. They had me hook line and sinker when they told me about a prized egg. My competitive juices kicked in and I determined to find that prized egg. My heart sunk when it turned out to be a chocolate covered bunny after finding it. I thought, "What a rip off."

I never dreamed that one day I would be a pastor leading a local congregation. Much has changed. Many times chairs have replaced hard pews. Screens and television monitors have replaced hymnals. Electronic devices have replaced leather bound Bibles. Praise teams have largely replaced choirs. Televisions have replaced flannel graph boards and puppets. Things are much different in church today. Guitars and drums have replaced pianos and organs.

Some changes are easier to embrace than others. I have found it hard to stomach the change in preaching. Feel good, tickle the ear, group therapy, self help messages are abundant. In an effort to be more relevant to reach more people somewhere along the way some forsook the very word God uses to transform lives. The word of God began to take a backseat to other elements of worship.

New paradigms abound in churches everywhere. Some never meet in a church building. They start in schools, hotel conference rooms, civic buildings and even in homes. They are every bit as much a church, and in some cases more so, than congregations that meet in elaborate worship cathedrals.

Brenda and I know about church planning. We too have met in homes, rented spaces and school cafeterias to start churches. Let me state this. BUILDINGS DO NOT MAKE CHURCHES CHRIST HONORING OR EFFECTIVE NECESSARILY. Buildings are just tools that take a lot of overhead to build and maintain.

How do we measure success in church? Typically it's measured by the attendance, the offerings, the baptisms and the facilities. Do these things always mean success?  Not if God is measuring. Great crowds can assemble but not truly worship, not live holy lives and not be devoted disciples. Millions of dollars can be spent on buildings that are used just a few hours each week. The rest of the time they sit vacant. Churches get enslaved to debt and lenders to build such facilities.

I have spent a good portion of this week prayerfully seeking God about how He wants to build, use and work through a local church. I'm asking some difficult questions. Looking at long held traditions in relation to scripture and wondering why so many churches are so largely ineffective when God has so much power. Not easy questions. Not easy answers.

I have no interest in spending the rest of my days content to remain in holy huddles ministering only to the already convinced. Not when hundreds of thousands all around me perish because they have never met Jesus. No when families are falling apart. Not when teenagers and children have so little hope. They will seldom if ever attend a worship gathering. I do not want to be at ease about this. I do not want to be satisfied with meager ministry efforts and results. Not when God is able to do so much more. Not when the gospel is still the power of salvation.

Romans 1:16 (ESV)
16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The new paradigm would actually be a church where people share the gospel, where they love people and minister to them for as long as it takes until Jesus saves them. A church where baptisms are frequent and joy abounds. A church where people are not afraid to try new methods and approaches. Maybe meeting in warehouses, school cafeterias, living rooms or in worship centers of all shapes and sizes. All the while God getting glory from churches that really impact a community.

I have carried one dream in my heart for the local church since 1991. I dreamed of it. Prayed for it. Preached on it, Taught on it. Wept over it. Stayed up late at night thinking about it. This is my paradigm shift.

Acts 2:42-47 (ESV)
42  And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43  And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44  And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45  And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46  And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
47  praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.