The Key is the local church!

We have been directly told or overheard that the Church is the only hope to the dying world. Indeed, it is true! God has meant the Church (the body of Christ) to represent and reflect Christ and to carry Christ’s mission to the world. To what extent is the Church missional today? The Lausanne Movement members attempted to define “missional congregation” in one of the papers.  Before I could quote few excerpts from the paper, I wish to explain what Lausanne movement is about. It is a global, evangelical initiative, founded in 1974 by Billy Graham and John Stott, dedicated to connecting Christian leaders and influencers to accelerate global mission and collaboration. Centered on the "whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world," it focuses on evangelism, discipleship, and addressing social issues.

‘It is our deep conviction that congregations both in the West and in the Two-Thirds Worlds must make the transition to become “missional congregations”. What is a missional congregation? They are those communities of Christ-followers who see the church as the people of God who are sent on a mission. Their identity is largely rooted in what they do apart from a church service or a church building. They cease to yield to the Christendom assumptions that the surrounding culture will naturally want to come to church, or that coming to church is the goal of all missions. They no longer see cultures in terms of Christian and non-Christian. Instead, all cultures, be it the historic West, former colonies of the West, or countries with little Western contact are all equal candidates for mission involvement. These Christ-followers seek to embody the way of Christ within their surrounding cultures and not necessarily within the four walls of a church building or service.

Almost everyone has an image in their mind when they hear the words “local church.” The image may be a building on a stretch of rural hi-way or on a busy corner in the heart of a great city. It may be an image of smiling faces, friends and warm greetings as people gather at a building or outside in the open air. It may be a small group engaged in Bible study and prayer, or perhaps a larger group of dozens or even thousands of people meeting for worship. Whatever the image, one of the greatest challenges for local congregations today is to discern and be faithful to their special identity as Christ’s body designed and equipped by the Holy Spirit for God’s mission in the world.

Every local congregation is only a true representative of the body of Christ when they serve the world in mission. If the local church fails to “go” and instead waits for others to “come,” they are disobedient. If the church’s witness is only within our walls and not outward to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), the church neglects their primary calling as priests to the world. William Temple, former Archbishop of Canterbury, once noted that ‘the Church of Jesus Christ is the only cooperative society that exists primarily for the benefit of its non-members. The local church must regain the reputation as mission-driven and intensely passionate in responding to the world for the glory of the Lord.’

In this paper put together beautifully, it repeatedly points out one important fact that the Church witness cannot happen within the four walls of the building. Christ did not mean Church to be limited within a particular facility and if it does, then that would mean imprisoning people to a particular condition that would result in stunted growth. Church is all about equipping the believers to be an effective witness and be a disciple maker (Acts 1:8; 2 Timothy 2:2; Matt 28:19) beyond themselves.  Michael Goheen cites, “If the church is meant to point beyond itself to God’s kingdom, then it’s very structure must reflect a missionary identity rather than an inward concern for its own survival.”

Missiologist Alan Roxburgh notes that, “If you were born between 1925 and 1945 there’s a 60 percent chance you’re in a church today. If you were born between 1946 and 1964 there’s a 40 percent chance you’re in a church today. If you were born between 1965 and 1983 there’s a 20 percent chance you’re in a church today. If you were born after 1984 there is less than a 10 percent chance you’re in a church today.” The bottom line is more and more people are less and less interested in the programs and activities of the church. We must move from thinking of the church as a vendor of religious goods and services to the called and sent missionary. This shift in how we understand the Church will reshape how we think about mission, discipleship, evangelism, vocation and scorecards.

Rowan Williams, theologian and former Archbishop of Canterbury makes a strong comment, “Start with the Church and the mission will probably get lost. Start with mission and it is likely that the church will be found.”. Instead of focusing on how to do church gathering  better, begin to rewrite the playbook. How are you going to empower and disciple all the people of God into His? We often wrongly assume that the primary activity of God is in the Church. Instead, the primary activity of God is in the world, and the Church is the instrument created by God to be sent into the world to participate in what He is already doing. Let us remind ourselves as Brad Brisco states, “the church doesn’t just send missionaries, the church IS the missionary.”. Majority of the Church’s witness must take place in neighborhoods, workplaces and public spaces. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Church to equip the people of God to participate in public life and engage in His mission in these spaces. Finally let me leave you with the following challenges by Brad Brisco (Abridged from Brad Brisco’s excerpt):

"Pastors model witnessing,

Equip believers to be a witness and share the gospel regularly,

Engage the city, 

Organize around Mission,

Bring Value, 

Seek restoration,

Make Disciples,

Then, birth a new church."

You may read the last blog  HERE

Resource link: Lausanne

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What you wish to be and do differently?

 

Let me at the outset wish you all a blessed New Year 2026! 

What a joy to enter another brand-new year. I am sure we all have so much to thank God for what He has done in us and through us in the last year. May you continue to be fruitful and influence many lives in this new year 2026. Let me remind what Christ stated in His sermon on the mount “…let your light shine before others, so that they (people) may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Our existence is not a mere survival. When Christ said that you are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) He meant something definite. He expects us to shine where there is obscurity so that people can find their way, those who are plunging to a Christless eternity.  May the Lord help us to align our existence and what we wish to do towards His grandeur purpose. 

All of us whether an individual or a Church usually contemplate to do something new or different in the new year. In this context I wish to pose two big questions to the Church and the believers: 

1. What you wish to do differently in this New year? 
2. How you want to do it?

If you must ponder on these meaningful introspective questions, then probably you already have a bunch of things on queue. Usually, the list of things that would capture our attention as individuals are the areas that can enhance better revenue, add to our income, our status, be noticed, enhance our lifestyle for the better and to pacify our conscience we pray to become a better person. Churches may have lots of goals too, with a primary goal to see their Church growing. But are we ready to analyze if we are missing something? Only when we understand the problem correctly, we will be able to revamp appropriately. Brad Brisco the missiologist cites, "If you don't understand the problem, you'll fall in love with the wrong solution.". It is important to know what we are doing wrong. I am not referring to your church liturgy, order of service, Church management and administration. We are so well-versed and accustomed to follow a pattern within a framework that we usually don’t need help. I am referring to the purpose of our existence the purpose of the Church beyond a Church culture. Instead of focusing on how to do a Church gathering better, begin to rewrite the playbook. How you are going to empower and disciple all the people of God into His.

Every institution has a way of doing things and sustaining it like a company with a set of desired outcomes which includes profit and revenue. Sometimes it is possible for the Church world to get the monotonous cycle of a religious institution that manages the people without any specific outcomes. As I always state, measuring the church based on the ABC model, Attendance, Building and Cash. Most of the Churches fall into this cycle of thought to consider themselves a successful Church.  Churches are seen as a legendary Church that attracts crowds because at the end of the day Church crowd matters. 

Lesslie Newbigin puts it beautifully, "You can’t renew things by patching. You have to accept the fact that the old is old, and you have to be ready for what is radically new.” 

Brad Brisco puts it beautifully, Ecclesiology must first be about our identity, who we are and who we serve. Who the church IS, should determine what the church DOES. The proper order of questioning that should guide our church planting and church renewal efforts. 

1. Who is the church (essence/identity)
2. What does the church do (mission/vision)
3. How does the church organize (ecclesiology/leadership)

All the time we are busy showing the Church building is the house of the Lord where Christ lives. The reverence given to the Church buildings is becoming an idolatry. We want to ignite the people so that they do not miss the attendance. Like all religious shrines and worship places we draw the sentiments towards the place. Churches are continuing to put their best efforts to ensure believers commitment to be part of the Church and their obligations towards the duties to the Church - attendance and giving – as prime and sacred priorities. Many Churches are scared to emphasize that people are the Church, and they have an equal obligation to accommodate the people in their sphere of influence into their space, the Church. 

This idea of Church which Christ meant to establish has been misunderstood by majority. The consequence of this misunderstanding is that over 90% of Christians have not shared Christ to anyone in their lifetime. Let us not forget Christ called us to be a witness and a disciple maker. Thousands of Para-church mission organization have emerged lately working in parallel to the Churches to complement the church by trying to influence, train and equip the believers for a lifestyle of evangelism. 

What does the Church do? As this talks about the Mission and Vision of the Church it is important to clarify the existence, the outcomes and measurement. If this is vague you will have Church crowd that exists like the parable that talks about the talent and especially the unproductive guy who did nothing with the one talent given to him. If the Church can move their emphasis from Church activities to equipping believers to share their testimony and share the gospel then the Mission of Christ is honored. Today, in the difficult places where persecutions are high, Church buildings are demolished and church services are not happening regularly there you would notice the growth is rapid with many committing to follow Christ. We have no guarantee how long we would have the privilege to gather on Sundays in the Church buildings. Do we have an strategy how people can still be connected in situation like such and yet be productive in reaching people?

Follow the way Mark Chironna puts his thought, “When the God of a culture grows thin, faith shrinks into slogans and spirituality dissolves into sentiment. A thin God asks nothing of us, shapes nothing in us, and offers nothing sturdy when the weight of life presses in. But the Christian confession has never been of a thin God. It has always been of the God who takes on flesh, who steps into our history through the Incarnation, and bears the fullness of our human condition in His own life. A God like that carries substance. A God like that forms people with depth. The thinner our vision of God becomes, the thinner we become. What our moment needs is not a lighter, more adjustable deity. It requires the One whose embodied presence gives creation its meaning and gives the human person their true strength.”

How does the Church organize? Follow Christ’s mission model which I call it as Christ 1-12-72 mission model where it talks about the three categories of people in the Church.  1. The pastor, 2. The Church leadership Team, 3. The congregation: 

Luke 8:1 Jesus constantly was on the move to preach the gospel. (As a pastor are you still connected with the non-Christians. How many people have you led to Christ?) I am not referring to your Church believers.

Luke 9:1 The twelve disciples were appointed and sent. This is the Church leadership team.

Luke 10:1 Jesus calls 72 people (70 in local language) were appointed and sent. This signifies your Church.

If these 3 categories are not active then probably you are not doing it right all along. The Church needs to revamp and adjust to Christ’s mission and then to answer the next big question: How you want to do it talks about the strategy and the means? Every Church is missional and every believer is a witness there is no other big purpose beside this. Do you like to commit to be a burning and shining light as mentioned in John 5:35; Matthew 5:16, and be a missional Church like the early Church in this year 2026?

You may read the last blog  HERE

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