Can a Milkshake lead to Ministry?
Programs or People? Attracting or Going? The typical way of ministry is to bring people to church. The untypical way of ministry is going to the people. This means, however, that people will have to risk relationships to do ministry. It means that people must be empowered and released to do ministry. While this may reduce control and oversight, it enables ministry born out of the character and nature of a Triune God.
By Nature God is Relational
God is Perichoretic by nature. Perichoresis in theology, “refers to the mutual inter-penetration and indwelling of the Father and the Son. The doctrine is based on John’s Gospel (17:21) that ‘the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father.’”
“The relationship of the Triune God is intensified by the relationship of perichoresis. This indwelling expresses and realizes fellowship between the Father and the Son. It is intimacy. Jesus compares the oneness of this indwelling to the oneness of the fellowship of his church from this indwelling.”
Wikipedia contributors, “Perichoresis,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perichoresis&oldid=233713884 (accessed September 17, 2008).
The idea is one of fellowship and relationship. There is a fellowship and relationship within the Father and Son and the Spirit. A genuine personal relationship exists within them. Because we are formed in the image of God, we are perichoretic by nature.
God Initiated Relationships with Humanity
As you read the scriptures, you find that God was not formulaic or programmatic in his dealings with humanity. He was relational. In the garden, he walked and talked with Adam and Eve. He was not far off; he was personal. In addition, he initiated the relationship.
He was personal as dealt with individuals before and after the formation of Israel as his people, which implies relationship. When he met with the Israelites at Sinai, he wanted to speak directly with them, but they were afraid and wanted an intermediary. He wanted relationship; they wanted an intermediary.
The metaphors used to speak of God’s love for his people are metaphors of relationship. Even the “knowing” of God is not intellectual or propositional, but relational and experiential.
Jesus was not attractional; he was relational. Out of his relationships, he drew a crowd. He did not get relational after he was attractional. It was his healings and ministry of touch that brought the crowds.
God Initiated a Salvific Relationship
The incarnation was an expression of relationship. It was the second member of the Trinity taking on flesh, coming to be the new Adam, the Christus Victor, the Redeemer, the Substitution. Initiated by God and his love for the world, Christ died so that we might be in relationship with the Godhead directly.
God did not choose to bring salvation to the world by attracting them to an event. He gave that a trial run in Genesis. They were not attracted to the Ark despite the best preaching of Noah. Therefore, Jesus put on flesh, stepped out of heaven, and touched humanity where they were.
How do we begin to cultivate a relational mentality in our churches?
1. Move ministry away from the church campus.
Really? Yes. Not your entire ministry, just parts of your ministry for now. Let people “sponsor” the ministry, do not make it a church event. This empowers people to be organic with their friends and neighbors, not programmatic in execution. It also helps the church think of ways to use their own training, gifts, and passions to do ministry. We have to begin emphasizing that ministry does not always have to take place on the campus and in worship gatherings. Most ministry should take place outside of the building.
Another idea would be to use the buildings of your church for something other than the worship gathering. Ask yourself, “How can we offer our buildings and facilities to the community as a gesture of love?” Go to city leaders and ask them what you can do.
Do you have a gym? Offer it to the city for a basketball league or to the schools for plays or concerts. And do it free of charge. Host family-friendly concerts – they don’t have to be exclusively Christian – or movies and provide child-care so parents in the community can have a cheap date night. Do a dinner and movie – again, not explicitly Christian and without an explicit gospel presentation at the end. In tough economic times, a free meal or an inexpensive, but healthy meal for families would be a great ministry to the community. Find ways to use your building more than once or twice a week!
2. Help people see that a dinner party to build relationships is evangelism.
You mean we do not have share the Roman Road or the Four Spiritual Laws or F.A.I.T.H to do evangelism? Well, did Jesus? Not at all. Read the New Testament and see how often all Jesus did was invite himself to dinner or accept a dinner invitation. Evangelism can be done through dinner, vacations, or a gift card to someone sitting in a coffee shop.
There are a myriad of ways that families can build relationships with the unchurched, de-churched, and I-don’t-want-to-go-to-church. However, churches have to emphasize that. It has to be talked about in the gatherings, in the sermons, and in the small groups.
3. Celebrate publicly families who cultivate relationships
What gets celebrated gets repeated. When you celebrate how people have developed relationships and used those relationships to SHOW the love of God, people will be more inclined to integrate that behavior into their own lives.
When this relational nature is encoded into the DNA of the church, the institutional church does not then have to have many large, attractional events. The church organic is drawing people because of the relationship.
How can your church start being more relational in ministry?
New blog post: The MIROR: Relational God and Relational Ministry http://tinyurl.com/3kxpnu