Averageyouthpastor

The Monkey and the Fish - Question #2

(Part 2 of 3 to the questions presented in my recent blog post, "The Monkey and the Fish")

How important is it for a church to limit what happens at the building and lead people to live their lives away from it?

WELCOME TO OUR CHURCH!  

We have our main service every Sunday morning at 10 am.  This is the big show.  If you really want to be a part of our church you MUST be here every Sunday. 

We have a more intimate Sunday evening service at 6 pm every week.  This is the service where the incredible always seems to happen.  This is similar to our Sunday morning service except we will maybe sing an additional song or spend additional time in prayer as a group.  If you are having issues in your life that you need to overcome..you really need to come to this service.

Wednesday night is our discipleship night where we have all of our children's programs and bible studies for adults.  Sunday mornings are great, but they don't really allow us room for discipleship.  We have curriculum we use on Wednesday nights that we use for this.  If you don't just want to be a "Casual Christian", you must come on Wednesday night's to become a Disciple!  

We also have Church Clean Up Days, Men's/ Women's Ministry, Small Groups, Special Events, Missions Trips and so much more.  

The great thing is, making it easy for you, these all meet at our church!

I am not saying any of these things are bad.  I think each one can serve a great purpose and have an impact on people.  I also understand that a church has a building that should be in the ministry and that means it should be open as often as possible.  I just happen to wonder if there could be another way?  

I wish I could provide the solution to my question, but I don't have the answer.  I just think for me personally, I need to do a better job of entering the world more often than I ask the world to enter mine.  It's seems to be that learning to live life with others away from church could be much more effective in creating true discipleship than a dvd curriculum series or reading the latest Prayer of Jabez book together.  What if we were more intentional in the time we spent at church to train people how to duplicate themselves away from church.  Not the latest witnessing technique or asking people to invite their friends to our new outreach oriented sermon series, we equip people how to mentor and be mentored in their daily lives.  These are just some thoughts I have.  Nothing all that practical.  Just thoughts.

I recently did come across a video explaining how a church plant in Chicago is trying to do things a little differently.  It really caught my attention and I look forward to seeing what it looks like.  The name of the church is Soul City Church and the Lead Pastor is Jarrett Stevens.  Check it out...

The Monkey and The Fish

A hurricane stranded a monkey on an island. In a protected place on the shore, while waiting for the raging waters to recede, he spotted a fish swimming against the current. It seemed to the monkey that the fish was struggling and needed assistance. Being of kind heart, the monkey resolved to help the fish.

A tree leaned precariously over the spot where the fish seemed to struggle. At considerable risk to himself, the monkey moved far out on the limb, reached down, and snatched the fish from the waters. Scurrying back to the safety of his shelter, he carefully laid the fish on dry ground. For a few moments, the fish showed excitement but soon settled into a peaceful rest. – An Eastern Parable

I am currently reading The Monkey and The Fish by Dave Gibbons.  Dave Gibbons is the Lead Pastor of NewSong Church in California.  It's a multi-ethnic church that looks to find ways to bring the gospel message to those that need to hear it most and truly change a city. In this book he deals with the importance of engaging culture where culture is at.  He calls his new way of thinking Third Culture and in this video clip below he explains this thought. 

The parable that was emphasized in the book has stuck with me and really challenged my thinking.  

How can I do a better job of engaging people where they are at?  

How important is it for a church to limit what happens at the building and lead people to live their lives away from it? 

Could there be times where I feel I (monkey) am helping someone (fish) when I am actually doing more damage than good?

Over the next few posts I will share some of my thoughts on these questions. Today I wanted to share the parable with you, get you thinking, and interest you in a book if you haven't heard of it yet.  

Side Note: The title of the book is highlighted above, clicking it will direct you to where you can purchase the book on Amazon. 

I AM A MANLY MAN!

I am looking forward to having Bradley Hathaway at our church on Thursday, Feb. 28.  He has a unique style and way of addressing issues that are sometimes not easy to talk about.  We will be selling tickets for $8.  The concert is open to students in 10th grade on up through College.