Of Tactics, Systems, and Beliefs

“Of Tactics, Systems, and Beliefs”
A State of the Church

OK, so the title sounds a little technical. And, honestly, this report may actually be just a little bit technical, more information than the average person might want to know. However, I expect that, in general, if you are taking the time to read this (unless you are just killing time during my sermon), you are more interested than the average person on where I perceive we are as a church.

As we look at what we are and dream of what we want to be, there are at least three tools that will get us from here to there. This past year has been a year of tactics. Tactics are relatively easy to institute, especially in a church group as encouraging and supportive as ours. This year, we tried several tactics, or projects, to enable us to love God, love others, and serve our community and world. We began our Big House service for children and families, a pretty significant undertaking which just about all of our youth and many adults are committed to each and every week. I began a (somewhat) weekly e-newsletter that many members and friends of our church are taking advantage of that keeps us up-to-date on what is going on in our midst. You have probably noticed a change in certain aspects of our worship service, both in content and style. We have had many gather in small groups over the past year from Bible studies to subject area groups. We have attempted to reach out to our community through candy and water give-aways. We began a relationship with North Grade Elementary School. We invited our community to a festival here at the church. Each and every one of these, many organized by people in our congregation who saw an opportunity, has been valuable and has nudged us closer to our goals of loving God, loving others, and serving the world.

Tactics alone, however, will not move us all the way to where I believe God wants us to be. At least two other tools are important. And they are a lot tougher to comprehend and to change than tactics.

A foundational concept is our beliefs. Do we really see our purpose as loving God, loving others, and serving the world? Stop, go back, and read the last question again. Loving God, loving others, and serving the world is what we have been required, commanded and commissioned to do (see Micah 6:8, Mark 12:28-34, Matthew 28:16-20). It is very, very easy for those of us who have been in churches the last several decades to fall into the trap of believing our purpose is to maintain and operate a church. In other words, the means have become the goal. So it is a significant intellectual leap for us to understand what our purpose is. But then we have to live it! Together as a church, we will be exploring this issue all during the month of March.

One way we begin to live and experience our beliefs corporately as a church is through the systems we have in place. There is an anonymous quote I have scrawled on my office wall: “Every system is perfectly designed to achieve the results that it yields.” James expressed it well when he asked in James 3:12 “My brothers and sister, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs?” Do the systems we have in place at First Congregational Church of Lake Worth produce followers of Christ who love God, love others, and serve the world? I will suggest that we must be ruthless in answering that question. Our participation in God’s will and work depends on it.

The reason that I am at this church is that I see the potential for us to become a great church. In my short time here, I have seen adventurous people who are excited about trying different tactics. And I have experienced a willingness to examine our beliefs and systems.

May we continue to enjoy God’s blessings as we continue to respond to God’s movement in our church and community.