> Ask 6-8 people to come out front, stand in a ring, holding hands – they will probably do so facing inwards towards each other …
It’s interesting that, when this group of people came together, they formed an inward-facing ring like this – something I completely expected.
> let people sit down again
You see, when a group first forms, its members quite naturally face inwards towards one another in order to offer and receive affirmation, support, and guidance. That is, as I say, quite natural, but, if that group then remains inward-looking, it quickly becomes stagnant and unhealthy.
That principle especially applies to churches. As we continue to consider ‘The Seven Signs of a Healthy Church’ that we were introduced to on our church awayday, we come to the second sign: the healthy church has an outward-looking focus.
Of course, as we can see from our two readings, this outward-looking focus is a deeply biblical principle. Just take the reading from Genesis, chapter 12, which tells of God’s call to a man named Abram:
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
Notice what God actually says to him: “Do what I tell you and I will bless you abundantly. Then you will be a blessing to others; in fact, you’ll be a blessing to the whole world.”
Abram and the nation that emerges from his family are to be a channel for God’s grace to the world – if this doesn’t indicate that God’s people are to have an outward-looking focus, I don’t know what does!
Of course, the other verses that come to mind are from the very end of Matthew’s Gospel:
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
And, in the Book of Acts, Jesus tells His apostles:
“And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus Himself, then, was completely outward-looking. His own ministry had been focussed upon a limited area – Galilee, Samaria, Judea, and one or two other areas – but He sent His apostles out “to the ends of the earth” and, once the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon them, they went far and wide.
So, it would seem that, as the people who have been entrusted with continuing the Lord’s work and the work of our fellow Christians across the centuries, we too really must be outward-looking. But what – practically speaking – does being outward-looking mean?
Well, first of all, we can say that the outward-looking church is …
Rooted in the local community
Robert Warren, who wrote The Healthy Churches’ Handbook, tells the story of a mining community that was hit extremely hard by the complete closure of its pit at the time of the miners’ strike in the 1980s. Ten years later, the local church realised that the community was still stuck in an unhealthy state of anger at the closure and so it held a service to mark this tenth anniversary. In the service, older people had a chance to give thanks for all the pit had meant to them in the past and young people were allowed to express their relief at not having to work in the mine. Through it, the community achieved a sense of emotional closure on their loss and a better relationship developed between the church and the community.
That’s just one example of how a church can be rooted in its local community – other examples are more mundane, but equally significant. For instance, at my previous church, we became aware of a large number of foreign workers moving into local housing and realised that proficiency in spoken English was a real issue for these people. So, we talked with the County Council about providing language classes on church premises – the Council would provide tutors and we would provide rooms for the courses and refreshments for the students. When we held a couple of open evenings at the church, we were astounded by the numbers that turned up to register. The two classes we started up two and a half years ago are still going strong and they are helping people from all over the world to do better at work and to fit better into the local community!
Healthy churches are rooted in the local community, which also means working with other local Christian churches and organisations for the good of that community. It’s encouraging that Churches Together in Barnstaple has begun again in the town and we as the Baptist church need to join with the wider Body of Christ in the town to share the gospel with local people. We have an opportunity to do just that on June 28th when there’s a Churches Together youth event on The Square and on June 29th when there is a united service, also on The Square. If you would like to help out with stewarding, welcoming, or prayer ministry, do let me know afterwards.
The second thing we can observe about the outward-looking church is that it …
Possesses a global perspective
I’ve already mentioned Jesus’ Great Commission to the apostles to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and, indeed, having a global perspective includes sending out people as missionaries to places both near and far, and supporting missionary agencies, like BMS World Mission. As you know, Violet, who’s away on holiday at the moment, regularly produces a really useful mission update, which we can use to help us pray.
But it’s more than just sending people out from the UK. It’s also about linking with, and encouraging, our Christian brothers and sisters, both locally and globally. For instance, it has to be good that we, as a church, have a link with Lovosice Baptist Church in the Czech Republic and I hope that this might be strengthened and extended.
Having a global perspective also includes addressing poverty and injustice wherever it occurs. I think Ruth’s trips to The Gambia are a fine example of how Christians from Barnstaple Baptist Church, and other fellowships, can make a difference physically, emotionally and spiritually to people living thousands of miles away.
The third thing which marks out an outward-looking church is that it …
Makes connections between faith and daily living
For truly outward-looking churches, Sunday worship services are “not the be-all and end-all of their existence” (Warren, p.22). Instead, they recognise that church members and attenders need to be equipped to live out their faith in the real world from Monday right through to Sunday.
When Sunday is over, we go to work in our jobs, or we go to study at school or college, or we go shopping at the supermarket, or engage in social and leisure activities. For the most part, we have to live out our Christian faith and exercise our ministry a long way away from the church building, so it’s vital that the church equips us to do that effectively. That is what healthy, outward-looking churches do.
We need, then, to be aware of what each of us does during the week, so that we can support one another in prayer. With this in mind, in weeks to come, I will be inviting members of the fellowship to share with us what they do outside of church.
Also, I am interested in visiting you at work, if that is a possibility, so I can see for myself what you do – of course, this will depend upon employers’ cooperation. When we were in the Lake District, I visited a church couple who worked at an outdoor pursuits centre and, as a result, I was asked by their boss to offer weekly chaplaincy support to staff and a Bible study group developed.
Healthy churches – those that are outward-looking – make connections between faith and daily living.
They also …
Respond to human need with loving service
There are plenty of Gospel passages that illustrate this particular point, but probably none better than the parable of the Good Samaritan – of course, the shocking thing about that story is that it isn’t the so-called religious people who respond to the wounded man’s needs!
Healthy churches don’t walk on by when they are faced with human need, but respond with loving service. And this service mustn’t be delivered in a patronising way, but with the deepest humility - Christ Himself sets the example as He kneels before His disciples and washes their dirty feet. As I indicated earlier, healthy churches are channels for God’s grace and in such a way that the glory goes to Him and not to the church itself. The point is that we mustn’t do things for others just so that we can feel good about ourselves and so that our list of activities looks good on our website and church brochure – the whole life of the truly healthy church points towards the Lord.
Conclusions
So, then, a healthy church has a very definite outward-looking focus – it isn’t simply focussed in on itself – and this is expressed in four main ways:
first, the church is rooted in the local community
second, it possesses a global perspective
third, it makes connections between faith and daily living
and, lastly, it responds to human need with loving service
But, as we go through the seven signs of a healthy church, don’t get the idea that any church has got there, has achieved all of them – there is always more to do, always room for improvement and development.
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