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Business As Unusual Every year in October we celebrate the Reformation. Four hundred and eighty-one years ago this coming October, Martin Luther posted his ninety-five invitations to debate on the door of the Wittenberg church, thereby launching the protest movement against the Roman Catholic Church. Luther took that courageous action because of his concern that other people discover the life-transforming truth about Christ he had found. As the Coordinator of Outreach, I propose we at Good Shepherd in 1998 begin our own Reformation. In Luther's day, the world was going to hell in an ox cart, and the church seemed unconcerned. I wonder how many of us see the urgency in developing a "Passion for the Lost". While the world was going to hell in an ox cart then, it is going to hell in a rocket ship now. People by the thousands, within arm's reach of us every day, are never touched by the Good News of Jesus Christ. Why don't people go to church? Are they opposed to God and Christ? Are they so selfish with their time they have no time to go to church? The vast majority of unchurched people do not come to church because they assume that the church is irrelevant to their lives. They do not consider coming here because, in all honesty, they cannot imagine that anything we might be doing or saying would have any meaning or relevance for their daily lives. So why bother? Let's face it. In many churches their assumption is correct. There is nothing that happens in most churches today that makes any sense at all to people outside the fold. The language spoken in most churches is an in-house dialect for the in-group, a kind of Christianese. The insiders spend their time talking only to themselves, warming themselves by the coals of their own inward focus. Everything that happens in these churches is "business as usual". Why would an unchurched person ever consider entering such a place? And if, by chance they did, why would they ever go back again? Is this happening at Good Shepherd? Jesus Christ calls his Church to be "business as unusual". We are called to a lifestyle in the body of Christ that is fresh, alive, relevant, meaningful, dynamic, unselfish and inviting, that when outsiders observe what we have, they want some for themselves. What we need at Good Shepherd today is a new Reformation, a new revolution, if you please. We need something that gets us up and out of our usual, ingrown, self-centered ruts. The fuel that will fire that new Reformation is the conviction that Luther began with, the conviction that the church does not exist for itself. That is the conviction born in the New Testament. It is the conviction that has propelled the mission of the church for centuries. The Christian church is unique in that it alone exists for the benefit of those outside its life. Many times we mistakenly assume that the church exists for the benefit and blessing of those inside. We forget the message in the New Testament. We as Christians cannot quibble about our fundamental agenda. Our agenda is to concern ouselves chiefly with those outside the family. To have a "Passion for the Lost". This conviction aside, the next matter is strategy. When we know what our agenda is, how do we go about reaching the objective? How do we design the steps that enable us to accomplish the goal? What is our strategy, our philosophy of ministry? What are we trying to do for the kingdom of God here at Good Shepherd? This is where you enter the picture. As the elected Coordinator of Outreach I do not want to form a "committee". I want to involve all of the men, women, and children in the outreach effort. I need input from you on how we can move from "business as usual" to "business as unusual". What we can do to make our church more attractive to outsiders. What we can do to fulfill our mission "To Fully Know Christ's Love, and Make Him Fully Known". Please call me, write to me, email me, or see me in church with your thoughts and ideas. Yours in Christ, John Ladner Former Coordinator of Outreach Return to GSLC main page

This page posted: Monday, May 31, 1999 ... Mail comments to Inga