• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Church Leadership External versus Internal Focus

External versus Internal Focus

Posted on July 15, 2017 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments


Twin FocusI’ve been involved in some discussions recently regarding the focus of the church. Should our focus be toward the outside to bring new people in or should our focus be on building people up that are already in the church?

I struggle to see how these two can be separated without doing damage to what God intended the church to be.

The same Lord who said, “come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28) has also given “some as apostles, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11).

These twin foci are intertwined and mutually dependent.

To focus on bringing people in without the intention of building them up and developing healthy body life will only cause ineffectiveness and burnout. Or, that church will have an unhealthy dependence upon a gifted preacher to draw people in. Either way, the church will be less than what God intends the church to be. We may get a lot of people attending, but are we really making disciples when the gifted preacher is the draw?

To focus on building people up in the faith without any intention of reaching out to the surrounding community will cause a spirit of superiority to develop. I have written previously about our natural tendency toward Phariseeism. Without a proper understanding of the mission of the church to make disciples, our inner Pharisee will be alive and well. We do not need fat sheep who fail to reproduce.

Anyone who has played a team sport should understand the necessity for a balance between these two foci. Not only does the team need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of its opponent, it needs to develop its own capabilities in preparation for meeting the opponent on the field of competition. Individual players need to hone their skills and they need to learn how to use those skills as part of a team. One of the things that enhances teamwork is when the individuals feel that they are part of something larger than themselves and experience the fellowship that develops from people pursuing a common goal. The practice is done with the goal of winning the game.

The church’s mission (given directly to us by our Lord) is to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). To accomplish this mission, every member of the church needs to understand and develop his own gifting and he needs to understand how his gifting contributes to the success of the whole. Each of us is dependent upon the gifts of the others to form a complete unit (See Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12).

It is therefore necessary for church leaders to provide an environment where a balance of internal and external focus is maintained.

Perhaps it would be helpful to look at this another way. We cannot confuse ends and means. Our mission is to make disciples; that should be the goal of every church. Building up the saints for the works of service is the means by which this end is accomplished.

Without the building up of the members of the body, the goal of making disciples cannot be properly accomplished.


Filed Under: Church Leadership

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

Six

Six Daily Affirmations

I found these affirmations by Frank Viola to be quite helpful to me and thought I would bring them to the attention of my readers.

Leadership

Why the leadership movement is leaving your church leadersless – Mike Breen

A link to an excellent post by Mike Breen on church leadership which is worth the time to read.

Miles Stanford

Miles Stanford on Christian maturity

Miles Stanford quote concerning Christian maturity. Maturity comes through the work of the Cross.

Beyond the Gospel

Moving beyond the gospel?

In some churches I have attended, there is a sense that the gospel entails the elementary teaching of Christianity. To move toward maturity then requires that people move beyond the gospel into more “meaty” doctrinal teaching.

I have come to realize that this is wrong headed and leads not to maturity, but to immaturity. The effect of this teaching is the exact opposite of the desired result.

A follow-up to some comments

In February of last year (2012), I published a post entitled “The temptation of anger in response to militant atheism.” That post received a number of comments from those who challenged some of my assertions. The commentors also asked some very good questions. In this post, I attempt to answer some of the challenges and questions.

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
February 2023
SMTWTFS
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728 
« Jan    

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2023 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in