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Championing the Church

The shortcomings of the church are an easy target for criticism, but in this Cutting Edge interview with Vineyard pastor Phil Strout, we are reminded that local churches all over America are making a difference every day.

CE: These are really desperate times both in the U.S. and abroad, even dark. How is the church faring during this period?

Phil Strout: This is not the hour for the church to lose her collective nerve…but in certain ways, that’s what it feels like. This is not a time for us to back up and shrink away from who we are as the bride of Christ. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It is time for the church to recognize that we have been invited into the mission of God. We need to refamiliarize ourselves with Paul’s statement in Romans 1:1 (“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God”). There is an air of supreme confidence in this passage. I believe we’ve lost a little bit of that confidence, and we need to rediscover it. We can find that in the Scriptures by reading about men and women who understood their calling in the midst of a different set of dark times.

It’s popular sport to bash the church for what it is and isn’t. We criticize how it responds to the needs of the culture. But when you get out of the realm of the theoretical and see what is happening in the day-to-day, the nitty-gritty across everyday life, you find that good things are happening. Look at how church is providing a support system for people all across the country by using small groups. When people are in small groups that stem from local churches, those groups meet people’s real everyday needs. That is being the church; that is missional. It’s kind, and it’s outward-focused.

CE: When times get difficult for churches, it’s easy to turn inward and focus on the problems of the church…i.e. giving is low, pastors have to be let go, people are unable to give as much of their time. How do churches turn their focus outward, not inward, in these tough times?

PS: The church is the hands and feet and heart of God, the true people of God today. Wherever we find ourselves, we find ourselves on a divine assignment. It’s not just by chance we ended up in a place. The church is the only institution that serves people who “aren’t there yet.” The church honors people who have not arrived. If you’ve lost that premise and that direction, then you need to turn back to being a people for people who aren’t there yet. Be followers of Jesus for people who aren’t following.

And I truly feel that about my city. I look at the city of Lewiston, Maine, and think of this city as my parish. Some of those people get up on Sunday morning and gather in a public worship service. I can consider myself a pastor of the heads and leaders of this city. If you take that perspective, then you take on a different approach to ministry. We automatically get involved in people’s lives because the whole city is our parish. You’ve been placed in a certain community, and you’re there for the non-followers of Jesus. That makes you much more collectively part of the community than as an outpost trying to pluck people out of it.

CE: What are some practical ways you encourage the people in your church to do this in your own community?

PS: Encourage your people to be involved and volunteer for things that go on in the community. For example, in small towns and large cities, you can volunteer in places like libraries and hospitals. Sometimes, when we talk about volunteering in our churches, we talk about only what people can do in our particular church. But what about when we look at the volunteer fire department or Red Cross, there are so many citizens working to make the community better. Why wouldn’t Christians want to do that?

We encourage people to go to other places like hospice care or drug rehab facilities—any service that exists but is weak because of the lack of volunteers. What the church can give is a lot of work hours. When people know their hours will be used wisely, they’ll be more likely to volunteer.

If you only have 3-5 free hours per week and only give that time to the church, you will only minister to church people. But there is one group in our city that works with teens and has drop-ins, and volunteers tutor them in reading. Some churches aren’t big enough to develop their own community center, so they need to realize they can volunteer for some of these things outside of the church. We encourage our people to get involved in the community, otherwise, I don’t know if they’ll truly have a heart for the people around them.

Look around your community and see what’s already been built. The connection is holistic and integral. When you hang around in situations like that, Jesus always pops up. People are always running into Jesus in the middle of that. Sooner or later, there’s going to be some level of encounter. You couldn’t avoid it if you tried.

CE: Where are places you are seeing the church rise up? What are the opportunities?

PS: Marriage help is a big one. Marital problems can often boil down to three things: communication, money, and sex. How much time and effort does the church put into that? I think a sterling effort toward that is happening. It’s one way the church can help in an area that really needs it. I think financial counseling is another one. That’s an untold benefit that the church is doing in America right now.

There are opportunities for churches to make a major contribution to the redemptive history of their communities through caring for families with marital counseling, premarital counseling, divorce care, and also care for children whose parents are divorcing. Those are huge contributions. Or there’s Celebrate Recovery, which infuses Christian values into AA principles. Those are awesome contributions churches can make.

I’d love to look every pastor in America right in the eye and say, “Don’t forget, you were sent here by the Holy Spirit. And if you were called to do this, you are set apart.” The Bible says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” If we are given an assignment, then we have the power to do it.