“14Ye are the light
of the world. A city set upon a mountain cannot be hid. 15Neither do
men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on the lampstand, and it gives
light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine
before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in
the heavens.” Matthew
5:1416 (Jubilee Bible 2000)
I hear about churches in decline
and what might work or even what seems to be working to maintain church numbers
or perhaps to foster growth. I hear churches and the organizations that bind them
talk about being poised and ready for growth. We ask ourselves ‘how do we bring
them in?’ and then the burden is laid on the congregations to bring friends to
church while the people whose only friends are the church wonder what they can
do.
In case you’re wondering here; I
don’t have a magic elixir to offer; no program to tout and no new mix of music and
liturgy sure to bring them in.
I hear talk of numbers and see
pie charts, bar charts, and line charts showing the trends toward zero. We
pundits of recent church history provide color commentary on what’s wrong and
what could be right while pointing to growth churches and what progressive
programs they’ve got going to bring in the sheaves. Christian Analytics: How
much do we gain if we do this? Do we get a good return on our investment if we
do that? Sports are being driven to analytics to get more for less money, win
enough to keep people buying tickets and maybe get deep into the playoffs or
luck into a championship. Then sell off the high-priced emerging talent that
got them there and start again. As long as fans buy tickets. Don’t fall for it
in the church, our Chairman of the Board doesn’t care for that approach. And
don’t forget that statistics are wielded by people, each with his or her own point
of view.
Yes, I’m aware of the irony of
providing commentary in my writing about folks providing color commentary.
I turned a little corner this
morning and found myself doing what an elder in the church should be doing –
prying for the church to focus on Christ – him resurrected for us as the former,
present, and forever King of all Kings. I need to be praying for that and doing
it from the heart while going to battle against distractions to His Lordship and against encumbrances
to our glorifying Him in our worship and our fellowship, and in our service,
programs, and vision for the church.
Doing battle does not mean my
standing up with a big sign out front of the church as I rail against the
shortcomings of each person as they enter the grounds. I’ll not be riding in on
a white horse raising my Bible as a flaming sword. However, I will be immersing
myself in God’s Word and finding my way to Calvary to take time to pray, and
pray earnestly, that Christ be lifted up first in the heats of believers and thus
on display as a beacon to those who seek.
We must not light our lamp only
to hide it under a bushel. We light it, put it on a lampstand, and provide
light for all in the house (the church). And the church, having her wicks
trimmed and lit, provides a light to all around, as a lighthouse. The light will declare, “Here
is landfall, a place of safe harbor, beware the rocks and waves as you enter.”
Those that are now cast adrift and in trouble on the stormy ocean will be drawn
to find rest, a place where their wicks will be dried out, trimmed, and relit.
In
His grip,
jerry
