Surely, you have heard of the Tale of the Life-Saving Station, no?
It started out as a simple hut, with only one boat, along a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occurred. Mariners were rescued from a watery grave because of the dedication of the hut members. But over time, membership grew, the place expanded, new boats were bought and it became a well-furnished club with modern amenities. Life-saving was no longer its main purpose; social hobnobbing took its place. And the handful who wanted to be true to their original purpose were encouraged to leave and build their hut further down the coast. Then history repeated itself — the next single hut experienced the same improvements – and over time it became another social entity and pleasurable venue.
“This story of the life-saving station that became a club has become a familiar parable of the modern church,” recalled Rev Dr Jeff Seaton. “I first heard it a few years ago, and was struck by how well it seemed to describe the church as I experienced it. As it turns out, this parable dates from 1953!”
Is the main thing no longer the main thing for the local church?
The main “business” of the church – its mission and calling – should be saving souls (and helping them grow in the nurture of the Lord). Internally, are we true to our original spiritual intention and purpose? Externally, the “litmus test” must be relevancy to the needs of the neighbourhood. Are we needed or redundant? What part can we play to stake our role in the community? What are the vital contributions we are suited to make?
There was a time when church kindergartens met the needs of their immediate precinct. They functioned as bridges. Subsequently, children and their parents were comfortable stepping over the threshold of the church to participate in the various befriending activities organised by the church, be they tuition and enrichment classes; or even games like chess or table-tennis; or cooking lessons and floral arrangements. And in the process, they were introduced to Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour.
Today, people can be staying within a literal stone’s throw of the church and not ever “drop by” or visit the church. Has the local church lost its sense of outreach – serving the lost, last, and least – as its members have moved up the economic and social ladder?
Here’s an interesting observation written under the title “Whenever the Church loses its mission, people lose their faith” (hear any alarm bells ringing?):
“Good leaders with the wrong mission may gather crowds, raise up new buildings, grow budgets, do lots of busy things at church, run a lot of programs/events – but still may watch their parishes and dioceses stagnate or even shrink. Why? Because while they may certainly be leading people, they may also be leading them in the wrong direction.
“The mark of success for every Catholic ministry and institution is not found in the number of groups, the growth of income, the hits on a website, etc. It certainly isn't just attendance. The true mark of success is whether or not disciples are being made. After this, the next step is to raise up disciples into mission and maturity – thus becoming missionary disciples who are raising up even more missionary disciples like themselves.
“But, let us be clear – most Catholic institutions in the West are not growing at all, they are declining. Yet, most leaders are only making minor shifts in methodology and expect to see big changes. This is the definition of madness. It is also a mark of valuing our methodology over our mission! We have replaced our mission for our current methods. The methodology may change, but the mission remains the same always. Thus, we can’t change the mission, but we CAN and SHOULD change how we go about achieving our mission, especially in times when the methods are no longer working.”
You are reading right. Your eyes are not fooling you. Marcel LeJeune was commenting about the Catholic churches in the West. He is the President and founder of Catholic Missionary Disciples (USA). Sounds familiar? Applicable to evangelicals, too.
Darrell Stetler II of Newstart Discipleship counted that Jesus said “Follow me” 21 times! One sample: “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Lk 14:27) To Stetler, “Following Jesus means Imitating Jesus”:
“Following Jesus is about doing the things that He would do, having the values that He would have. It's about daily making the choice to live in a way that honors Him, impacts the world positively, and brings us into a deeper relationship with God. That's what discipleship teaches us.”
Doing many things is commendable. But disciple-making is the watershed. Back to the little hut?
What's inside this latest issue?
VOL. 49 NO. 2 of IMPACT Magazine
IS THE INFLUENCE OF THE CHURCH WANING?
By Robert Solomon
STORM WARNINGS... Lessons from the church in Britain
By Lynette Lim-Teagle
AVOIDING "LEPROSY OF THE SOUL"... On the alert for spiritual apathy
By Peter Teagle
50 EXCUSES FOR NOT ATTENDING CHURCH. By Lang Tien
GREATEST THREATS FACING THE CHURCH
~ The Impact Panel responds ~
SHOULD YOU STAY IN THE SAME CHURCH ALL YOUR LIFE?
By Henry Chua
STARTING A CHURCH AND ALL THAT JAZZ
~ Interview with David Seah ~
FOOTBALL AND THE DISCIPLESHIP CHALLENGE... A metaphor for the 21st century church
By Calvin Chong
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