Should the local church embrace change?

21 Mar Should the local church embrace change?

March 21, 2013

The local church is strategically placed among the people in the community. Its purpose is to impact that community with Christ. In our attempt to win many, our approach has offended countless. I believe that the church is Christ’s greatest tool of evangelism as it relates to the saving of the world, one community at a time. You and I make up the church that is in the community, so our lives and our households will speak of our churches and also of our Christ.

What are the responsibilities of the church to those that attend? The responsibilities of a local church to any attendee from the community can be summed up in the following:

1. The local church has the responsibility of hope to its members and attendees.

2. The local church has the responsibility of change to its members and attendees.

The moment someone comes through the doors of the local church, the pastor, the greeters, the members, the worship team, and everyone there has the evangelical responsibility of exuding the positive love energy that gives hope to all men. This joyful spirit that comes from every part of the church, will inspire and uplift all who attend.

The Bible tells us that the kingdom of God is an atmosphere of positivity, cheerfulness, and jubilation in Romans 14:17b. It is our responsibility to give that experience to everyone that comes into the local church. The church must be the center of hope in every community for all types of people.

The second responsibility of the church is change. Being a part of a local church should mean a life change.

It should not mean conformity to our customs and traditions, but it should be an impacting experience with the love and power of Jesus Christ that changes their life for the better.

We must make the shift that we can save all men. It does not matter what their race, sex, culture, gender identity, age, marital status, disability, religion, pedigree, or sexual orientation is. The church must be the center of hope in every community for all people. This doesn’t involve a compromise of anything Jesus said or what the Scriptures teach. It just means that the church and its bigotries and biases must be abolished that Christ can be lifted up and all men can be drawn.

These changes that will cause Christ to be seen instead of our “church steeples”, will not compromise Christ’s teachings that admonish holiness, divine order, accountability, sanctification, submission to authority, or servant hood. I believe that extracting the religious dogma from what we teach will allow Christ to be realized more readily by those who will visit our churches.

– Excerpts from the book Let The Church Say Change written by Dr. Larry D. Reid  (Forwarded by Dr. Mark Chironna)