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Is the Church a Fortress or a Force?
Brian Mashburn
September 23, 2018
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Force or Fortress?
Go with me into a church leadership meeting for a moment. Imagine that they list every single ministry effort that the church was currently undertaking, and then categorizing them into two. The first is entitled "ministry to us", and the second, "ministry to others".
What do you think would happen?
I was in one of these meetings, and the results were revealing. The white board was full of ministry efforts, over 100 of them. Out of all of them, only three fit the category of "ministry to others", and just barely.
This was not our church family, by the way, as we have always made an intentional effort to bless those who are beyond us, beyond here. But it does reveal something that every church, including us, must guard against.
There is an unseen gravity that exists, that pulls the church out of the world, rather than sending us into it. We subscribe to the idea that the church to be a "fortress" that protects us and our children from the evil world. While there is some truth in this, the church is better seen as a "force", not a fortress. Ironically, the Kingdom values that we are so eager to protect from the world are the very values that require we go into it.
This is not to say, obviously, that we neglect each other. On the contrary, Paul says that "As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:10)
See, the church that is Christ-like, "breathes". That is, it lives in a rhythm of "gathered" (ministry to us) and "scattered" (ministry to others), and it does not neglect one for the other.
May the God who breathes His Spirt onto us make us into a force, and not just a fortress.