Four Ways to Move Your Church from Inward Focused

The following article written by Dan Reiland entitled, “Four Ways to Move Your Church from Inward to Outward Focused” recently featured on the Clergy Coaching Network’s Facebook page and I felt it was quite pertinent to repost 🙂

Dan writes; The natural trajectory of the church is to drift inward, but its design and destiny is to move outward. 

An inward focused church is not a bad church, it is merely a church that has become consumed with taking care of its own, solving the problems of the church, and investing its energy to keeping the programs good and going.

An outward focused church also cares for the congregation, works hard to keep ministries meaningful, but directs a substantial amount of thought, energy and resources to those who are outside the church.

The natural trajectory of the church is to drift inward, but its design and destiny is to move outward.

Over the last few years, we’ve experienced an elevated level of influences that pull churches inward. For some, it was a sense of what was required, for others it was perceived as a means of survival. For all of us, it was not expected.

Pulling back is a natural response to the punches that life can serve up at times. Like a boxer in a ring, when the opponent is advancing and the hits are hard enough, you can’t help but retreat. The problem with that retreat is that once you are in a corner, it’s easy to get stuck there. Then you’re in trouble.

For the leader, like a boxer, it takes intentionality, willpower, and strength to get out of the corner, away from the ropes and back in the fight.

When a church has drifted inward it’s more difficult to see it than you might expect, and it takes a leader with a strong team to lead the church outward again.

The following are a few common reasons a church can drift inward:

Concerned about safety and security
Safety & security matters to everyone, but if it dilutes the effectiveness of the vision, or pulls the leaders & congregation inward, it may be more about fear than security

Progress meets with resistance
The book of Acts is quite clear throughout the narrative of the early church that progress and problems are inseparable. Progress for the sake of the gospel will always meet with resistance, yet it remains our responsibility to press forward.

Setbacks and discouragement
We can all relate to the reality of setbacks and discouragement. Over time, that drains a leader’s energy and vision which allows drift toward inward rather than reaching outward.

Disconnect with current culture
The moment we fail to connect with or understand current culture we automatically begin to drift inward. It doesn’t mean we don’t care, but it translates that way to those outside the church because we don’t understand how people think and therefore can’t connect or communicate our compassion well.

Leadership has a comfortable sense of busy
It’s easy for churches in general to become “busy machines,” and to eventually find a kind of comfort in that place. The church operates well, but there is little sense of urgency or energy to reach the community.

Progress for the sake of the gospel will always meet with resistance, yet it remains our responsibility to press forward.

4 Ways to Move Your Church From Inward to Outward Focused:

1) Shake off the past

Whatever reasons may have caused your church to drift inward, you don’t have to remain stuck there. Determine to shake off the past and re-engage the passion and confidence you once had to move intentionally outward.

This is not meant to sound like an annoying platitude. We know it’s not easy. The church wants to drift inward, but the pain of remaining stuck there is greater than the risk of pressing forward.

Let me offer you some starter ideas.

• Remember your dreams and vision when you first came to the church.
• Simplify your ministry.
• Take a few days for a quiet retreat to find spiritual rest and resolve to make some changes.
• Ask others to help you. You may have all the gifts and talent you need, and still need a little help to get a breakthrough.

2) Become a student of human nature

To be a compassionate spiritual leader requires more than merely heart to consistently care about people, we must also understand human nature to truly connect and care.

If we are distant from the realities of everyday life because we’re consumed with the inner workings of the church, it’s easy to lose touch with what’s happening around us and therefore lose relevance.

We then lose our salt and light.

We need to take our heart for people and add to it time with people who are outside the church, think and live differently. That will always change the direction of our ministries.

Engaging new friends through kindness and meaningful conversation creates a hunger to do so all the more! It’s a gospel-centered way to lead a church toward outward in nature.

3) Focus on forward

There is a unique leadership nuance that tethers us to the truth that outward must also be forward.

Why?

Because progress is always forward. That’s not so easy to see when you are in the trenches of daily ministry.

It’s far too easy to be busy but not productive, and surprisingly common to work hard but stand still. This is nuanced because there’s a subjectivity connected to your definition of forward.

The definition and measurement of forward must always aligned with your purpose and vision, or again, you may fall into the not so apparent trap of busy but not moving forward.

Here’s a good starting point. It’s difficult for most of us to say no and cut favored but unproductive projects and ministries. Nonetheless, what are the irreducible essentials that cause forward motion toward the fulfillment of your mission? Focus there. That list is nearly always shorter than you think.

4) Invest in the mission over the machine

The larger a church grows, the easier it is to become over-organized and under-evangelized. This results in feeding the machine over the mission.

The machine of the local church can become a monster that is always hungry and growls for more food.

We understand the nature of machine, the necessary but draining functions of operation. More policies, more meetings, more money, more systems, more staff, more stuff. You get it. Just more. Soon all your time and energy goes there — machine over mission, inward not outward!

The remedy isn’t easy, but it’s clear.

Mission over machine.

If we discipline ourselves to feed the mission, that is putting our best thought, time, effort and money there, we eventually move both outward and forward.

This is not to disregard the operations of the church (the machine); it is needed and necessary, but the responsibility of leadership is to keep the mission first.

The machine must always serve the mission.

One great way to do that is to elevate your ministry to the next gen.

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

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Effective Discipleship

Prior to the Covid pandemic impacting our world the way it has over the past 2 years or so, there was a huge variety of different discipleship approaches that were available for the church to use.

And I’m sure that each of us could point to an App, website, model or method that was sort of working in our setting.

Last week I touched on The Importance of Discipleship and how it is intrinsically linked to evangelism as Steve Murrell writes in his book WikiChurch; “discipleship is a call to “fish” for people“. Today I want to draw our attention to the need for Effective Discipleship.

You see, maybe it would be better to say that we thought our discipleship ministry or programmes and services were working – because in reality this may not have been true as the results (the fruits of our labours) were not necessarily bringing us what we had envisaged. The effectiveness of our discipleship was not being fully realised. We may have focused previously too heavily on one aspect of discipleship or another, and may have even gone so far as to separate the many aspects of discipleship and lost sight of their correlation.

Dare I say that this may be the case with many Western churches as we have compartmentalised discipleship and even created whole departments that don’t necessarily interact with others to remain committed to the ultimate vision of the Christian church to bring people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.     

The things is, some people may have been coming both to faith and then maybe coming to church, but as the affects of Covid on the church show in our days many people are not coming back. Admittedly that may just mean not yet – for we are forever hopeful.

But hearing from some trusted Officers within The Salvation Army, ministers and pastors from other denominations and the likes of this article entitled ‘They’re Not Coming Back‘ posted by James Emery White on Church & Culture, among others. We’ll most likely find that attendance levels and discipleship group numbers, and all the other metrics we use to gauge how well we have been doing in the church will remain low post Covid.     

There are multiple reasons for this, Covid obviously being one. But because our churches haven’t or won’t be fully returning to normal (as the people in our congregations would define it) or because they have simply moved on to other things – as church is not necessarily as higher importance as maybe it once was, many so called disciples, believers and Christians are not coming ‘back into the fold‘ so to speak.

They may still see themselves as Christians, although a word of caution is needed to be communicated in this space in a way that is as lovingly possible as we can to those that choose not to return, for Jesus may say to “them outright, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me – you didn’t follow God’s ways!’” Matthew 7:23 (Radiate New Testament) 

Now, that may seem a bit harsh for some – but the reality is God created the church, and He envisaged for it to bring Life and Hope to the world, and be His resource to impact the world in which we live for His glory. 

This is not a new issue! It is one that the church has been grappling with for eons, and Paul even touches on it when he writes to the church of Philippi according to Richard Lamb in ‘Following Jesus in the “Real World” – Discipleship for the Postcollege Years’;

Paul’s urgency in Philippians is rooted in his awareness of the very real possibility that people who begin as disciples may turn away from the path of discipleship.

Jesus himself also recognises this issue when in John 6 after speaking of himself as the Bread of Life the very people who were joining to be His disciples were offended by His teaching and “turned their backs on him and even refused to be associated with Him“. John 6:66 (The Passion Translation)

In 2010 Alan & Debra Hirsch in their book ‘Untamed: reactivating a missional form of discipleship’ write that they “sincerely believe discipleship has become a frontier issue for the people of God at this time in history.

And most commentators would agree that in sincerely seeking to appeal to the prevailing consumerist culture, the Western church has all but lost the art of discipleship.”

They go on to say that “rediscovering what it means to radically follow Jesus is an area of strategic, missional concern” and, that “to fail in discipleship and disciple making is therefore to fail in the primary mission (or ‘sent-ness’) of the church.“

So how effective have we been in our discipleship? I would hazard a guess to say that we as the church universally have not been very good at it for quite a while. Discipleship programmes although many and varied have not necessarily been as successful as we would like. Studies consistently show that the Biblical literacy in church is sadly lacking, over the past few decades involvement in frontline church ministry has been on the downward trajectory, and attendance levels in mainstream denominations has continued to decline. This is not all doom and gloom though – there is hope! God is not finished with us yet – for the church is the Hope of the world, and the Bride will get to stand with the Bridegroom.   

Now, in today’s world there is a plethora of information about churches facing a new change of pace due to the Covid pandemic and the state of our nations.

There are many conversations about attendance declines, discipleship issues, pastor weariness and the great resignation and Dan Reiland explores 5 Traits of Churches That Will Build Again post this season we have been in with Covid.

Thom Rainer and Kevin Ezell in a recent Church Answers Revitalise & Replant podcast also look at five consequences for churches in this season that don’t seem to get much attention which may just surprise you. The third point that they raise is that there is a reawakening of the need for effective discipleship ministries.

So, as we return to a level of normality with restrictions being eased may we focus on one of the areas that needs a fair bit of work to establish effective discipleship for our people.

Not just Bible Study groups and interest groups for the sake of gathering together with likeminded people to do stuff and learn, which remain absolutely essential, but ‘Life‘ groups that start to exhibit areas of ‘spiritual‘ growth in people.

God requires for us to go deeper and develop those people entrusted into our care so that they become Spirit-filled and exhibit what J. Oswald Sanders calls the Three Fundamental Principles that should guide us in our service; 

• The Continuance Principle – “Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.‘” John 8:31-32 (Revised Standard Version) 
• The Love Principle which is found in John 13:35 “by this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (New International Version)
• The Fruit Principle – “If you remain (continue) in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourself to be my disciples.” John 15:7-8 (New International Version)

All three of which need to manifest themselves in our lives.

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

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