Here is my most recent column in this month’s Outreach Magazine. The November/December issue this year focuses on evangelism, so my column is reflective of that theme. I tried to address some issues that Christians will need to address in the coming years to be vibrant churches engaging their communities. As such, it is not just about “do this” but about the need to recognize where we are, regain a focus on clear gospel proclamation, get more adept at disciplehsip, and then use tools and innovations as tools.
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It has already been over ten years since we were preparing for the Y2K bug, using the new tool known as “IM,” and talking about the post-modern movement. Today, they are barely applicable to anything that we do or discuss. It simply shows that the church must be vigilant to see what is next and ready to address new issues. Let me discuss a few of the issues that are on the horizon.
The first is the navigation of a post-seeker context. When I use this term, I do not mean that “seekers” no longer exist. (The Spirit is still at work to enliven the hearts of people and draw them to their need for Christ.) Rather, churches that once targeted seekers are finding that portions of subsequent generations do not have any religious memory at all–and it is harder to appeal to their seeking. They are the “Nones” – those who, when asked about religious affiliation, check “none.” In a post-seeker context, churches will have to create new models to lead their people to engage their neighbors who might not find appealing an invitation to church.
Secondly, churches in the next decade need to regain a confidence in the Gospel. The Apostle Paul wrote about the gospel that “the message of the cross is… God’s power to us who are being saved” (1 Cor 1:18, HCSB). Lots of people are talking about what the gospel is, why it matters, and how we are to understand it. I think that is because some are unsure of its merit–if it produced these consumer Christians, maybe we have misunderstood it. Perhaps they are right. I am convinced that churches must think through what the gospel is, and, as we seek to understand all of its implications, how we live it out. Too many have assumed that people in our culture understand the gospel. Sadly, I fear also that too many have been inoculated with a weakened presentation of it. In the future we need to make the Gospel more explicit.
Thirdly, Christians must (and I believe will) rethink discipleship. LifeWay Research is currently building off of the research released in The Shape of Faith to Come and Transformational Church to better understand personal discipleship. We are studying it in three languages and with the help of church leaders in multiple countries. Discipleship is not something that must be reinvented but refined. In the Great Commission from Matthew 28:20, Christ assigned part of the church’s work to be: “teaching them [disciples] to observe everything I have commanded you.” Once we have a person who has crossed the threshold of faith, our work is not done. We need to engage believers in worthwhile disciplines rather than just intellectual downloads. The work of making disciples must involve a robust approach to the gospel’s implications to the whole of life.
Lastly, churches will need to engage in new innovations–thinking through them, considering their implications, and implementing them when appropriate. These can include trends like multisite, ministry-based evangelism, and globally and locally serving those in need. OK, so some of these are not new, but they are finding new life for new generations of believers.
Perhaps ten years from now, the issues with which we are dealing will make these issues that I mentioned a long-gone memory, like Y2K. Hopefully, however, many of the churches will have addressed these areas so that the issues are long forgotten, rather than the individual churches.
The article is based, in part, on a talk I did on at the Evangelical Press Association. I used parts of it to, I hope, minister to the readership of Outreach Magazine.
