Clurch?

definition: A Church stresses the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, personal conversion experiences, Scripture as the sole basis for faith, and active evangelism.

definition: A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity.

I found myself asking this question recently. What is the real difference between a well run club, and an evangelical church? In a sense there is little difference. Each have a group of people who are interested in being together, united in a common subject or belief. Members, for the most part, will get along nicely with each other and will even meet up outwith the confines of the weekly gathering.

But note the BIG difference that the church has, and no other club can have and that’s the importance of preaching, teaching, telling the way of Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Some clubs are indeed good organisations, eg slimming clubs, keep fit clubs, camera clubs, lunch clubs, drama clubs, book clubs, and even glee clubs. However there is no way that a club will try to become a church. It wouldn’t fit or work, and clubs know this, because they’re savvy.

Why then, should a church want to become, or act like a club? I know some of the arguments for being inclusive in the community, and that we (the church) must try to be more relevant to get interest aroused, and increase attendance. Yes, numbers. I suppose that’s what it is mostly about. Which begs the question: What do you think is the church’s purpose? It’s a very good question, and one that brings different answers. The following verses are true at a personal, as well as a corporate church level.

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure heap; it is thrown out. Luke14:34,35NIV

Smart Move

It is nothing to look at from the outside, just a shop front, in a poor neighbourhood, with faded looking curtains framing a window, and a door. A very welcoming door. I had not been in that part of town for many years, even though it is the town of my birth. It had, and may still have, a reputation of being a tough place, housing some tough characters.

I was asked to meet someone there to discuss the launch of a town wide, one stop website for some twelve places of worship. It was a vision explained with some passion, and it was not difficult to see the worth of the venture. There are towns up and down our country where churches seem to always be on the back foot, frantically trying to keep up with falling interest, and matching income. It becomes a spiral of survival. Fewer worshippers means smaller offerings, which in turn means doing less with the little you have.

The vision is spearheaded by an enthusiastic lady who, by her own confession, knows little of the website business, but that has not stopped her from charging ahead with a dream she believes in, and it is contagious. Unwittingly, it also goes by another name, ‘leadership’. My meeting lasted an hour, some 30 minutes longer than planned, and I was only one of twelve volunteers who had to be met and fed the vision. I left with a belief that this vision could be realised, and maybe even used by people outwith our own local church group, to let us know we are not alone in the town. There are others who share this same gospel of Jesus Christ and also want to spread the good news.

On my way from the office meeting, I met two others who didn’t seem to be very busy. I asked what they did there, and with smiles they said they were there to all hours, just being available to the youth in the area if and when they were needed. No pressure, no hard sell, just a faith looking for an outlet and maybe, just maybe, making a difference in some young person’s choices. Who knows, but that one encounter might make an eternal difference. They were not ministers or professional social workers, only volunteers saved by grace, and making themselves available if they should be needed. And they make a good cup of coffee.

I left the little shop feeling a lot different than when I got there an hour before. I felt stirred that there are others ‘out there’ in the community, willing and able to help share their faith, not in a nice cosy church setting, but where the need was. It was, and is, a Smart Move and we should be grateful it is there, tucked away in that part of town where no one except the residents want to enter. I left with a fresh idea of evangelism at work. It wasn’t fancy, just real and sometimes effective between making cups of coffee and tea, and providing a listening ear with Godly advice. Smart Move indeed, and may God Bless the work in this little part of God’s Kingdom!