This is part of a series of letters Elizabeth writes to a fictional pastor. Have you read Taking Down the Ministry Pedestal or watched What We Wish Senders Knew (Senders’ version or the Goers’ version)? You can also read the full survey results in the white paper Let’s Talk About It. You can find previous letters from Elizabeth to Pastor Jerry here.
Dear Pastor Jerry,
Thank you for the gracious and generous gift Pine Creek Church sent us last week for our anniversary. We appreciate your partnership and care and will use it for something fun!
We were a little puzzled, though, by the questionnaire from the Global Outreach Committee asking what kind of church we were establishing here in Asia. The committee wanted to know what our church structure was, how many were attending, and how the elders were selected. I don’t believe we’ve ever been asked that question before.
Honestly, that is a very hard question to answer. We are not sure that Pine Creek Church members understand that those who come to the Lord in our current ministry are not ever going to be comfortable in a church like Pine Creek. Don’t get me wrong – Pine Creek is a wonderful church doing a great ministry in the community. As in the book of Acts, “new believers are added to the church regularly.” There are welcoming services on Sundays, and many activities during the week that meet the needs of your community.
A visible church like Pine Creek just isn’t possible here. And probably never will be.
Most people in our city have a long history that is anti-Christian. When they see a church, a building with steeple or a cross on top, they immediately think of war and persecution. While we know they are far from the Lord, and their religious practice is dead wrong, they see Christians as enemies. The shadow of the Crusades, a millennia ago, is still alive.
Many years ago, when we were working in a different part of this country, we DID see a church established that resembles Pine Creek. But it took seven years before anyone was baptized, and when we began to meet regularly, we as a team asked ourselves, what would be comfortable for these people, not what did we think church looked like. It was several more years before there were elders, and then, even more time before they built a church building.
Those people were familiar with church buildings, just very traditional and empty buildings, not the vibrant congregation they became. They needed time to understand the biblical concept of church. Where we now work, because of the very different religious background of these people, they associate “church” with, as I said, pain and conquest.
So, what will “church” look like among these people? First, there is no church building. Our goal is to draw neighbors and friends into small Bible reading groups in homes, and see who will be touched and influenced by what they read. Though we launch these groups, we are not the primary teachers. We facilitate and they are taught by scripture. If the group goes well, they invite others from their family and close friends. Some groups grow, and divide, and form new groups.
As long as the groups are in homes, others will come. If they were held in a church building, no one would cross the threshold. It is too foreign, too intimidating, too Christian.
Please understand, we are NOT anti-church. It’s just that, in God’s economy, there are different ways of gathering believers. Did Jesus have a church? He said he would build the church but he didn’t say how or what it would look like! Paul talks about churches but those gatherings probably looked a lot more like our Bible study groups than an organized church.
I do hope you can see that our goal is to lead these people to the transforming power of Jesus, to life eternal, and to whatever way they as Christ followers decide to gather. As they read and study scripture, they will find structure in the early church, but we want them to discover that structure, because if we start with a building and an organized meeting, they will never come.
What do we do with the questionnaire? Can you share this letter with the Global Outreach Committee?
With blessing,
Elizabeth
I’m re-posting this on FB. It speaks directly to the experience I had on the field, and now continue to desire after returning to the States. I experienced those vibrant home Bible study groups as a means of facilitating love for Jesus and all the One Another interactions with genuineness and spiritual fruit. Thank you for putting words to these perspectives in a respectful and honoring way.