Expanding Our Borders

It is human nature for us to think our way is the best way. Most committed churchgoers make a significant investment in the churches they attend. Once we are vested through the time and effort we give, we tend to look at our group through rose colored glasses. I am no different in this regard. I am hugely committed to the missional small group model of church, just as you may be likewise invested a very different model. Since I have been a part of both large and small churches and both attractional and missional models, I feel it has given me a unique perspective, which I want to share with you.

I will look at two very different types of churches in this article. The first I call “Vacuum Cleaner Churches,” the reason being that they pull Christians from all over the place out of their local environments into one large building for Sunday services. I was a part of such church for many years, and we all enjoyed it immensely. A second type of church is philosophically the opposite. I call them “Embedded Special Forces Churches .” These types of churches seek to relationally weave their way into the daily lives of the people who live, work, and play around them in order to impact entire neighborhoods for the Kingdom of God from the inside out.

Hugh Halter has written a wonderful book illustrating how these two kinds of churches can partner together. ¹ Hopefully in the future we will see that take place. For now, most often they work separately, but for the same King and kingdom. We are not enemies but partners in the Gospel.

A type of this fortress mindset exists today among many Christians, who are well aware of the many dangers present in our secular and somewhat godless culture. To protect ourselves, our families, and our fellow Christians, many followers of Christ have chosen to wall themselves off from the prevailing culture and “hole up” at the local church. Over time, if we are not careful and because we end up spending most of our time with other Christians, often at church meetings, we begin to lose contact and friendships with people who are not Christ’s disciples. This is seen as an unfortunate byproduct of the necessity to protect ourselves. Sometimes this happens more because we like being with those we love and who have a belief system that mirrors ours. Birds of a feather…

Sometimes Christians are taught the “necessity” of removing themselves from connecting relationally with others. The idea is that God has commanded us to be separate. Below is a verse that is often used to illustrate this point.

Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. 2 Corinthians 6:17 (NLT)

Fortunately for missions, the above verse cannot mean that we are supposed to segregate ourselves from the world. In fact, just the opposite is true. We are to avoid participating in the evil deeds of the world and embracing the sick culture of the world, but Christ sent his followers into the world as his ambassadors.

Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people! ” Matthew 4:19 (NLT)

Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” John 20:21 (NLT)

Somehow Christians who accept Christ’s call to mission, must learn to live and thrive in a dangerous world without being destroyed by it.

I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵   I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶   They do not belong to this world any more than I do. ¹⁷   Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. ¹⁸   Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. John 17:14-18 (NLT)

Huge “vacuum cleaner” churches sometimes, and let me emphasize “sometimes,” contribute to this phenomenon by satisfying the desires of the fortress-minded believers by being one-stop shopping malls for everything Christian. Even though many large churches are doing amazing things to advance God’s kingdom; when every kind of ministry and need can be provided for right on the premises, it can work to strengthen the mindset which makes us look for a Christian form of every type of activity – sports, social groups, etc. For example, instead of joining a local Scout group to be “salt and light,” fortress-minded Christians start there own Christian version of the Scouts. (Been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.) Instead of joining a community chorale in an effort to make and cultivate new friendships outside of the fortress, we choose to invest great quantities of time connecting with other singers and musicians at the local church. Can we say that it is bad to get with other believers? Of course not! However it is vital that we consider everything we do in light of the Great Commission, which tells us, first of all, to GO. Jesus continually travelled the highways and byways in an effort to be with people, where all sorts of ministry opportunities popped up. When we further our isolation through spending most of our time at the “fortress,” it effectively removes Christian kids and parents from ready made missional opportunities.

Jesus gave clear instructions that his followers were not to isolate themselves. Instead believers are supposed to be involved in the world and are sent to the world to demonstrate God’s love, model Christlike behavior, preach the Good News, and  make disciples who will do the same. Our job as disciple makers is to go to those who do not yet know Jesus, and not merely congregate with other believers, expecting the world to come to us. Believers do need to meet together regularly to worship God, as well as mutually edify, equip, and bless one another, but this should be more of a refueling stop than a destination. The goal of such meetings is to equip disciples for what they will do during the rest of the week, when they are not congregating with the church. Unless the Great Commission is our priority, everything else Christian tends to replace mission. At least this has been our experience.

They make the Great Commission their main focus and understand that it is virtually impossible to influence people with whom we have little or no relationship. Army Special Forces troops are called “force multipliers” because their mission is to duplicate themselves in those they train. The Army defines them as “warrior-diplomat[s] who will influence, advise, train and interact with foreign forces and populations.” ²   SF soldiers penetrate and assimilate into communities, gather indigenous people around them, train them to fight, equip them, launch them in their mission, and then move on to do it all over again. They are the military version of disciple makers.

The same is true for embedded followers of Christ. Our job as disciple makers is to win, train, and equip others to do the ongoing work of the ministry. Our disciples’ success is our joy. This is in direct contrast with the publicity needed to pull off the vacuum cleaner version of the church.

If we are to influence people who are currently hostile to the gospel, we must be their friends first in order to gain permission to talk about deeper things. We must learn to connect outside the box of traditional church meetings.

Rather than force their culture on the indigenous population, SF troops learn about the culture and language of the target group. They accept the burden of responsibility of cultural adaptation in order to carry out their mission. Transferring this to the church environment, instead of asking nonbelievers to leave their world and enter the strange environment called the church, with all its special lingo and affectation, embedded Christians remain in the culture of those they are trying to reach, making it as easy as possible for them to connect. Embedded believers try their best to divest themselves of unintelligible Christianese and religious habits in order to come across as genuinely as possible. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a big enough hurdle to get past without our adding to it our particular religious and cultural baggage. This is more difficult than it might seem.

Embedded disciple makers also have meetings for disciples, but they are more neighborhood-oriented and positioned with their goal being to further the mission, not coddle comfortable Christian consumers.  The big idea is to keep Christ followers connected to their communities as a discipleship group which acts out its faith in the context of missional relationships.

First of all we are up against fortress mindset. The evil we know is often less scary than the unknown. Christians often isolate themselves because they are afraid of what’s “out there.” This is not as bad as keeping to ourselves because we are better than others. Actually, the two go hand in hand. It is not easy rubbing shoulders and dialoguing with people who don’t believe, act, or talk as we do. Many believers do not have non-believing friends or know how to do engage them in meaningful conversation without coming across as dogmatic or “holier than thou.” Sadly, we Christians often even isolate ourselves from other Christians who are not like us doctrinally. So the first thing we must conquer is the fortress mindset. The greatest form of deception is self-deception. The fact is that most “fortress” Christians don’t see anything wrong with hanging out exclusively with other believers, nor do they have any desire to change things.

Dear Lord of the Harvest, forgive me for being so blind to my responsibility to be your representative among those who are like sheep without a shepherd. I surrender myself to you and your mission. Use me as you see fit. Teach me how to closely follow you and become an expert fisher of men. Holy Spirit, fill me afresh. I depend on you to lead and empower me every step of the way. Amen.

^{1 You can read more about this sort of hybrid church in AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay.}

²   National Defense Article: Role of Special Ops Evolves Over Time

Expanding Our Borders

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