The Walls Between Church and Community

In Matthew 23, Jesus tells his disciples: “Be careful so that you don’t build a religion and in the process build walls.”

Having started the New Life Community Center, I have been doing a lot of reading and research on the different walls between church and community. Some we didn’t even know we were building. Here are three types of walls we have to tear down.

#1 The Wall of Weirdness: Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18: “The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hell-bent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation, it makes perfect sense.” We think it makes perfect sense to people, but from their perspective, it’s just weird. Stories of guys being swallowed by giant fish. Red Sea being parted. Virgin birth. Jesus being crucified somehow forgives sins?

Levi, also called Matthew, one of Jesus’ disciples, figured out a simple way around the Wall of Weirdness. He threw a party for his friends who were not following Jesus. In fact, Jesus’ reputation was tarnished for even attending this party with so many people known as the worst sinners in society. (Luke 5)

We might say that we don’t discriminate and that the people in our sphere of influence are always welcome, but are we being proactive?

We’ve created networks to remove the walls between our community and us. We gather for social events, learning opportunities, and to work together to meet spiritual and physical needs in your immediate vicinity. Medium size groups are a more natural place to connect with people. They are spiritual families. Networks are all about helping you do what you really want to do – remove the church weirdness for you and your friends.

#2 The Wall of Hypocrisy: In ancient Greek societies, hypocrites were actors. Rather than having a large cast to perform a play, there were only a few actors, but they switched multiple masks in order to play various roles. A hypocrite is someone who wears a mask, who preaches one thing, but does another. Church hypocrisy bugs people who are outside the walls.

We represent Jesus to those near us. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says: “You are the light of the world so let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Wall #3 – The Wall of Indifference: We never meant to create a wall between the church and the community, but the more we ignored real needs right in front of us, the higher the wall towered between us. James 4:17 reminds us: “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” When you have a strong sense of the right thing to do, but you equivocate, you leave it for someone else to do and walk away, you’ve violated your conscience. The pain of other people is our business!

In Matthew 10:5-8, Jesus says, “God intervened in your broken life; now it’s time for you to get involved in the brokenness of others.” With our families, small groups, and networks, we can make a difference in the lives of others far beyond what we could do on our own.

There are real walls between the church and the community. We don’t notice them because we are so used to being on the inside; we forget what it’s like on the other side of that window. Tear down the wall of weirdness. Decimate the wall of hypocrisy. Break through the wall of indifference.”

Welcoming Visitors to Church

Smaller churches have a distinct advantage over larger churches in welcoming first-time guests. First-time guests are easily recognizable since the regular attendees know everyone.
What can a smaller church do to be more effective in welcoming those people? The following are four effective initiatives in welcoming first-time guests:
1. Demonstrate practical hospitality.
The strength of smaller churches is relationships. Take advantage of this by encouraging members to not only greet first-time guests but also to include them for lunch or in your home.
• Simple gestures of introduction, invitation, and inclusion can pay enormous dividends.
• Friendliness is expected; hospitality shows you care.
• Friendliness is the first step; hospitality is the walk that welcomes people into the church.
2. Welcome without commotion.
A fine line exists between being friendly and being desperate. And I don’t know exactly where that line lies. Smaller churches, since they know who the first-time guests are, will often go overboard in welcoming an individual or family.
This gesture of friendliness can be misinterpreted as being overkill for your guests if too many people make too much “fuss” over the new people. Treat a first-time guest how you would want to be treated when you visit a place for the first time. The next initiative may help...
3. Employ a two-minute offense.
Since everyone knows everyone in smaller churches, the opposite tendency is to speak only to your friends or family, leaving the first-time guest alone. A way to break this behavior is to encourage members to speak to guests before they speak to friends immediately before and after the service.
In a first-time guest’s mind, the most important time of a church service is the few minutes before - do they feel welcomed, and the few minutes after the service - does the church care. Simple gestures of smiling, a handshake, introductions, invitations to lunch, to play softball, etc. will go a long way in making first-time guests feel comfortable.
4. Repair, replace, or remove the cracked mirrors.
Cracked mirrors in our homes, if left that way over time, are often overlooked and ignored. (The mind plays a trick on us and we don’t notice the crack any longer.) Show that same cracked mirror to someone, seeing it for the first time, and the crack is glaring and obvious.
Churches have cracked mirrors that have become overlooked and ignored to its members. The cracked mirror may be something as simple as the frayed carpet in the foyer or the hollow sound system in the sanctuary to something more complex, such as the kind-hearted person who is overbearing and obnoxious to new people or the music leader who sings every song at the same tempo.
Cracked mirrors need to be repaired or replaced or removed. To a first-time guest, these “cracks” are glaring. They cause the newcomer to question, “Why doesn’t someone do something about this? Doesn’t the church care? How could this church be so blind?”

Home Pastors Articles for Pastors

I'm not sure what to think about this; I found this while looking for sermon illustrations...New iPhone App Forgives Sins Penance, a new iPhone app, allows users to confess their own sins and absolve the sins of others.
Penance, a new iPhone app, allows users to confess their own sins and absolve the sins of others with anonymity. In a story from the Religious Dispatches, the app is reported to require every user to play the role of both sinner and saint as they trade ‘horns’ and ‘halos’ from their accounts. The app allows users to select from seven sin categories they wish to confess—one for each of the Seven Deadly Sins. The details of the user’s sin is anonymously sent to other iPhone users, who then reply with a description of the 'penance' that the user must carry out to be forgiven. The iPhone app owner’s description says that the app is “structured to create a self-sustaining community rather than be a simple whiteboard for posting confessions.”

What do you think: In your view, is the Penance app harmless fun, a dangerous device, or somewhere in between?