10 WARNING SIGNS OF AN INWARD FOCUS

From Thom Rainer come these thoughts via Todd Rhoades ...

Thom Rainer had a great post today about ten signs of an inwardly obsessed church.  Here are some thoughts:

1.  Worship Wars.  Man, I remember trying to transition a traditional church to a contemporary one (at least worship style).  It really WAS a war.  And it’s still that way in many churches.  When you make changes in worship, you can expect casualties.  But if your church is STILL in the midst of a war over worship, it’s time to stop.  Chances are at this point, you’re fighting a war with your own people.  End that battle soon, or you’ll never reach out to who you’re really trying to reach.

2.  Prolonged minutia meetings.  Meetings are vision killers.  If you’re in a church that has endless meetings about everything, I can almost guarantee you’re in a church that gets nothing accomplished.

3.  Facility Focus.  I was a part of a church (that was like many, I’m sure) that focused on the property committee and the finance committee.  They ran the church.  Everything was based on facility and finance.  And little on outreach.  (Although we said we were using our finances to better our facility so we could reach people.  The truth is… that never happened).

4.  Program driven.  If your church is program driven, it’s a bloated mess.  Programs are great, but they also breed inward-focus in most cases.  Do yourself a favor and kill a program this week.

5.  Inwardly focused budget.  Look at your budget and divide it into two areas:  inreach and outreach. How much is allotted to keeping your people happy and content?

6.  Inordinate demands for pastoral care.  The key word there is demand.  Demanding things from your pastor or staff almost always connotes an inward focus.  And when all you do is meet demands, there is no time to reach out.

7.  Attitudes of Entitlement.  When people start feeling entitled to things your church offers, you can kiss outreach goodbye.  You’ll never be able to keep everyone happy.

8.  Great concern about change than the gospel.  If people are always griping about change, it takes your eye off the ball.  When you’re putting out ‘change’ fires, it will distract you from outreach.

9.  Anger and hostility.  When 1-8 are happening in your church, people are harsh, judgmental, angry and hostile.  That’s real inviting to the lost.  (Actually, it’s not).

10.  Evangelistic Apathy.  When we’re consumed so much with ourselves, our needs, our comfort, and our need to control, evangelism is the last thing we’re thinking about.

So… how many of these ten things are problems in your church?  And if you’ve solved any one of these… how did you do it?
Todd

WHAT IS A DISCIPLE?

BY STEPHEN DUNN

About a year ago we made a fundamental shift in the language of the congregation that I serve as Lead Pastor. We began speaking of disciples instead of members.  The latter tends to be an exclusive and organizational word.  And thanks to Mastercard and other marketers, membership has come to connote privileges rather than responsibilities.

Disciple on the other hand is a more organic term and it infers lifestyle and learning.  A disciple has not arrived, they continue to become as they learn to think, act and be like the One of whom they are a disciple.  It was in a Finance Commission meeting where we were discussing how to get members to give their fair share, to measure up to the expectations and needs of the Church.  Tithing, of course, was part of this conversation.  It was then when one of our older members said, "This is not a membership issue, it's a discipleship issue." He went on to note that members think in terms of what is necessary to be in good standing. Disciples give. It is who they are.

Profound, isn't it?

It's more than semantics.  It is a religious world view.

Now at the church we teach discipleship and form groups of people on mission with Jesus.  We have Membership Orientations to describe the formal needs of the organization.

We also use this definition of disciple.

A DISCIPLE IS A PERSON WHO LIVES IN DAILY OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL AND PURPOSE OF GOD, COMMITTED TO BEARING FRUIT FOR THE KINGDOM.

This linguistic change is helping us make a cultural shift from membership to discipleship.  It is moving us beyond maintaining the organization to mobilizing for mission.

(C) 2012 by Stephen L Dunn

This was originally published on my blog IMMEASURABLY MORE  (Discipleship Version)

5 REASONS NOT TO LEAVE

One of the difficulties of becoming an outward-focused church is that you must both cast a new vision and create a new culture capable of living out that vision.  Many a church has been defeated in this process because the catalyzing leader leaves before his or her work is done.  Rick Howerton has an excellent article on this dynamic.-steve

FIVE REASONS NOT TO LEAVE--EVEN IF YOU WANT TO

BY RICK HOWERTON 

Many of us tend to get itchy for new ministry challenges.

If you’re like me you’re a catalytic leader. That is, you were made by God to start something, pass it on to someone else, then move on to start something else. While this is an important responsibility, sometimes, those of us, no matter what our leadership style, may have a tendency to jump ship before God’s done with us in a particular setting.

I think there are at least five reasons to consider staying at the church you’re serving.

1. It takes time to accomplish a God-size vision.

Too many church leaders are called to a location with a vision in mind and leave before that vision has become a reality.
The vision is what drove them to their new position and they believed with all that was in them that they were to accomplish that vision for that church.

The problem… they jump ship before the vision has docked and the church they serve finds herself starting over with a new leader long before God’s expectations were completed.

2. You haven't mentored someone to pick up where you left off.

Great leaders are mentoring someone to take their place when they exit.
This assures the church that the ministry can continue on becoming all God meant her to be.

3. The grass really isn't greener when you shepherd different sheep.

Many church leaders leave a church because of a few difficult people.
There are some churches that have problem people and they are always going to make a staff member’s job hard, even painful. But for the most part, people are people and there will always be some in every setting that are going to be problematic.

Rather than leaving, it may be much wiser to learn to work with, around, or in spite of the few difficult people at the church you’re serving. You may just move to a new location to find there are a few problem people who are more problematic than the ones you just left.

4. A move will affect your family.

Too many pastors forget that their families are deeply affected with each move.

If God isn’t vividly calling you to a new location, just for the betterment of your spouse and children, stay put. They deserve it.

5. It takes time to realize the obstacles that stand in your way.

There are obstacles in any ministry situation. Those obstacles can’t be overcome until a ministry leader becomes aware of them. Some of those obstacles won’t even be on a minister’s radar screen for two to three years.

Taking off to another church starts the process of realizing these and removing them all over again.

Rick has one passion... To see “a biblical small group within walking distance of every person on the planet.” He is presently the Global Small Group Environmentalist at NavPress Publishing. Rick has authored or co-authored multiple books, studies, and leader training resources including Destination Community: Small Group Ministry Manual, The Gospel and the Truth: Living the Message of Jesus, Small Group Life Ministry Manual: A New Approach to Small Groups, Redeeming the Tears: a Journey Through Grief and Loss, Small Group Life: Kingdom, Small Group Kickoff Retreat: Experiential Training for Small Group Leaders, and Great Beginnings: Your First Small Group Study. Rick’s varied ministry experiences as a collegiate pastor, small group pastor, teaching pastor, full-time trainer and church consultant, as well as having been a successful church planter gives him a perspective of church life that is all-encompassing and multi-dimensional. Rick is a highly sought after communicator and trainer speaking at or leading training in forty settings annually. 

More from Rick Howerton or visit Rick at blogs.navpress.com/rickhowerton/

THREE POTENTIAL PURPOSES FOR THE EVANGELISM COMMITTEE

This video was created by Chris Walker, "the evangelism coach."

15 SIGNS YOUR CHURCH IS IN TROUBLE

From Perry Noble comes these 15 measures for self-evaluation as a church that particularly apply to the call to be an outward-focused church. - STEVE

BY PERRY NOBLE

1. When excuses are made about the way things are instead of embracing a willingness to roll up the sleeves and fix the problem.
2. When the church becomes content with merely receiving people that come rather than actually going out and finding them…in other words, they lose their passion for evangelism!
3. The focus of the church is to build a great church (complete with the pastor's picture…and his wife’s…on everything) and not the Kingdom of God.
4. The leadership begins to settle for the natural rather than rely on the supernatural.
5. The church begins to view success/failure in regards to how they are viewed in the church world rather than whether or not they are actually fulfilling the Great Commission!
6. The leaders within the church cease to be coachable.
7. There is a loss of a sense of urgency!  (Hell is no longer hot, sin is no longer wrong, and the cross is no longer important!)
8. Scripture isn’t central in every decision that is made!
9. The church is reactive rather than proactive.
10. The people in the church lose sight of the next generation and refuse to fund ministry simply because they don’t understand “those young people.”
11. The goal of the church is to simply maintain the way things are…to NOT rock the boat and/or upset anyone…especially the big givers!
12. The church is no longer willing to take steps of faith because “there is just too much to lose.”
13. The church simply does not care about the obvious and immediate needs that exist in the community.
14. The people learn how to depend on one man to minister to everyone rather than everyone embracing their role in the body, thus allowing the body to care for itself.
15. When the leaders/staff refuse to go the extra mile in leading and serving because of how “inconvenient” doing so would be.  

I am part of the Missional Outreach Network which coordinated by the highly creative James Nored.  This week we received a new post from mission church plant John Richardson about an extraordinary experience in true outreach giving. - STEVE

Giving Away the Collection Plate

• Posted by John Richardson on April 9, 2012 at 5:52pm

I don’t know that I could be called a naturally generous person.  Maybe kind, but not always generous.  However, over the years, there have been many people who have been extremely generous toward me.  One family heard that my wife and I had moved to a new city to plant a church and sent a $2500 check in the mail.  They hardly knew us.  They had no idea that we desperately needed help paying some major bills that at that time.

I think God has placed generous people in my path to wake me up to His generosity.  Over time, I’ve realized that God is the first, and most generous, giver.  Luke 6:35 even goes so far as to say that when we are generous toward even the “ungrateful and evil,” we will be known as children of the Most High.  In other words, radical generosity is the way of God.  He’s even generous toward His enemies (thankfully)!

A couple of years ago, our small church plant was desperately praying that God would show us how to best live sent among our neighbors.  We asked, “What can we do so that people will see You when they interact with us?”  Much to our surprise, we sensed that the answer from God was, “Become generous as I am generous.”  And as we prayed further, we realized that He wasn’t kidding.  He was prompting us to give away all of our tithes and offerings for an entire year.

From April, 2010 through April 2011, all of the tithes and offerings that were given to Traceway went to help the abused, neglected, sick, poor and unstable of our city.  These gifts from God went to keep a few families out of foreclosure after job losses.  Other gifts went to provide housing for abused mothers who escaped literally with their children and the clothes on their backs.  Some gifts went to pay medical bills and build handicap access ramps.  Others went toward providing a vehicle for a family and aiding in disaster relief after a devastating local tornado.

Regardless of where the funds went, each gift was an investment in our neighbors.  Each donation provided an open door for missional discipling and a built-in community that would love them.
To be completely honest, not all of the giving turned out the way we hoped.  Some of the recipients wanted a handout and nothing more.  One lady even got mad at us after the 1997 Toyota Camry that we donated to her was not everything she expected.  So, we learned first-hand that missional giving can be a mess.

But we also learned that God values our willingness to walk into the mess with Him.  After all, that’s what He does… day after day after day.  He joins each of us in our mess.  He loves us and generously gives us gifts that nudge us closer to Him.

So, maybe we – as the Body of Christ (His physical representatives today) – should learn to be better imitators of His generosity.  I can promise you that it won’t be easy; but, the Church (and our neighbors) desperately need this.

To read more of the stories of Traceway’s ReGifting Project and to dig in to the lessons they learned, check out Giving Away the Collection Plate from Tate Publishing.  To connect further with John, join him at https://twitter.com/#!/RichardsonJohnD.

FRUITFUL CONGREGATIONS - FIVE PRACTICES

This post was written by Robert Schnase and is an excellent checklist of DNA of fruitful congregations. -steve

The purpose of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. But how do we do that? The most visible way God knits people into the community of Christ and draws people into the relationship with God is through congregations that fulfill the ministry of Christ in the world. Fruitful congregations repeat and improve on these five basic practices: Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission and Service and Extravagant  Generosity.

The practices are basic and fundamental. But it’s the adjectives that make these words come alive, because they stretch us and cause us to ask ourselves, “How are we doing in practicing these qualities of ministry in our congregation? How might we do better?”

These are practices—they're not qualities that some churches have and some don’t. They’re not phases that, once we get them done, we can move on to something else. These are practices that we have to learn and improve upon constantly. These are the activities that are so critical to the mission of the church that failure to perform them in an exemplary way leads to congregational decline and deterioration.
Here’s a look at the five practices used in fruitful congregations.

Radical Hospitality
(Romans 12:9-21)

Congregations offer the invitation and embrace of Jesus Christ, the gracious welcome that creates genuine belonging that brings people together in the Christian community. Churches characterized by Radical Hospitality are not just friendly and courteous. Instead, they exhibit restlessness because they realize so many people do not have a relationship to a faith community. They sense a calling and responsibility to pray and work to invite others and to help them feel welcome and supported in their faith journeys. Congregations surprise newcomers with a glimpse of the unmerited gracious love of God that they see in Christ. Our Radical Hospitality goes to the extremes, and we do it joyfully, not superficially, because we know our invitation is the invitation of Christ.

Passionate Worship
(John 4:21-24)

In Passionate Worship, people are honest before God and one another, and they are open to God’s presence and will for their lives. People so eagerly desire such worship that they will reorder their lives to attend. Passionate worship motivates pastors not only to improve their preaching but also to learn continually how to enhance content and technique for effective worship. Worship is something alive that requires continuing care, cultivation, and effort to keep it fresh. Pastors should willingly review and evaluate their own work and invite feedback. The motivation for enhancing the quality of worship is not only about deepening our own faith but also about allowing God to use us and our congregations to offer hope, life, and love to others. Worship is God’s gift and task, a sacred trust that requires our utmost and highest.

Intentional Faith Development
(1 Corinthians 9:19-24)

Transformation comes through learning in community. Congregational leaders that practice Intentional Faith Development carefully consider the full life cycle of members and look for ways the church forms faith at every age. They look for gaps, opportunities, and unmet needs to round out their ministries and ask how they can do better. They train laypeople to lead small groups, teach Bible studies, and coordinate support groups. They realize the power of special topics and interests to attract unchurched people, and they advertise and invite beyond the walls of the church. They form affiliation groups such as grief or divorce recovery, substance abuse, parenting, and more. They explore new ways of forming learning communities–blogs, chat rooms, e-mail Bible studies, and downloadable materials. These pastors also participate in forms of community with other pastors or laypersons to help deepen their own relationship with God.

Risk-Taking Mission and Service
(Matthew 25:14-30)

This involves work that stretches people, causing them to do something for the good of others that they would never have considered doing if it were not for their relationship with Christ and their desire to serve Him. These churches not only solicit and encourage ordinary service to support the work of the congregation, but they also consciously seek to motivate people to more extraordinary service. They lift examples in preaching and teaching. Risk-Taking Missions and Service is also part of the formation of children and youth. All youth and children ministries include teaching and experiential components that stretch compassion outward beyond the walls of the church. Faith mapped in childhood provides pathways that shape lifelong commitments. These churches collaborate with other churches, other denominations, civic organizations, social agencies, and non-profit groups. They actively invite and welcome newcomers, visitors, and the unchurched to help them in making a difference in the lives of others. As congregations move beyond their comfort zones and follow Christ into more adventurous encounters with people, God’s Spirit changes them, changes others, and changes churches.
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