A mile wide and an inch deep

The deeper life

Many churches that have “seeker” style services for the purpose of reaching the un-churched are accused of being a mile wide and an inch deep. In other words, “They reach a lot of people but the people stay carnal.”

They expect the Sunday service to save, deliver, disciple, and train future pastors…all in one hour a week! This is not possible no matter how good a communicator the pastor is. It takes more than Sunday to deepen the relationship that members have with God. Sunday is not only a day for Christians to learn and grow but a time to focus on the un-churched visitor.

Okay, so we have great Sunday services. There are lots of visitors. Christians and non-Christians alike come and feel safe and secure, but what about the deeper God-experiences that we crave? When can people experience the deeper life with God? How do we answer the charge, “Your churches, ‘Are a mile wide and an inch deep.’” How do we deepen our relationships with Almighty God?

Sundays alone are not enough to bring members into the deeper truth and life of God. Let’s face it, one hour a week is not going to bring much change to a person’s life. It can have an impact, but real change comes through discipleship. Sunday is not discipleship day. It is the most important day of the week to share the Gospel as it relates to the felt needs of the members and visitors alike. To try to make it the day to go deep with the believers is to ignore the under-churched that might be visiting. There are seven days in a week, one of those days should be specifically designed to reach the lost. The other six can be devoted to intense Bible study, healing services, and the discovery of spiritual gifts. There can be days for recovery ministries, intercessory prayer, small groups and anything else that brings people into a deeper more meaningful relationship to God. However, if they don’t get saved, or if they don’t feel comfortable in the Sunday service, you will never have the opportunity to bring them into that closer walk with God. Simply put, if they are not there, all the deeper life programs in the world can’t help them. Sunday can build up believers but not anything like small groups and personal one on one ministry.

Bottom line; Make your Sunday services as powerful and exciting as you can while realizing that Sunday alone will never be enough to bring new or existing believers into a mature walk with God. Focus on both evangelism and edification and provide other days of the week for discipleship, teaching and training.

So, the Christian life is not just attending a Sunday service, but living daily with the “Church,” the body of believers, in a growing and maturing relationship.

Q. Where do you find the “deeper life” in God?

Is your church life-giving or life-taking?

Life-giving or life-taking

Ever walk out of a church service and feel like your life has just been sucked out of your body? You feel confused, condemned and worthless. The people, the service, and the pastor all played a part in making you feel like “dead meat” because you weren’t as perfect as they thought you should be. Or, it was so boring that you felt like  you had been sitting on a balancing beam trying to stay awake so you wouldn’t fall off and you are exhausted both physically and mentally. Yes, you just experienced a life-taking church service, the kind that you find in the majority of churches across the USA. 

It doesn’t have to be this way.

John 10:10 tell us “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of”

Churches should be a fresh expression of the life of Christ, loving God, loving others and loving life. This is 21st century-style church – people engaging and attracting modern man in our communities to Christ.   Our aim should be to develop healthy, growing local churches that make church real, sharing Christ naturally and effectively developing and exercising areas of gifting and passion in each person growing personally, professionally, spiritually.

A while back I heard a term describing a certain attitude or philosophy of ministry. The term life-giving was used to describe a positive, non-threatening, no-strings-attached, relational-based approach to ministry. I love that idea! In fact, most of the ARC churches have adopted that same terminology and certainly that same philosophy into the way that they “do church.” Thus, as you read this blog, you’ll see me often refer to the term life-giving. When you hear that, know that I am using this term as a way to describe this unique ministry approach, so prevalent in healthy, growing churches like the ones in the ARC.

Life-giving Church Values & Characteristics

Life-giving Church Values

1. Relational. Life-giving churches prioritize authentic friendships.
2. Generous. Life-giving churches strive to “go the extra mile,” equally sacrificing together.
3. Risk-taking. Life-giving churches and pastors are willing to do something new. They are not unwilling to fail.
4. Inclusive. Life-giving churches believe that every believer can be in ministry and they encourage God’s gifts in each individual.
5. Contemporary. Life-giving churches believe in engaging with our culture, embracing media & technology.
6. Fun. Pastors of life-giving churches understand that experiencing joy in the journey and laughing together is a key ingredient to a healthy, life-giving church.

ARC Celebrates 100th Church Plant

Pastor Matt Fry and C3 Church has the distinction of planting church number 100 for ARC. There were over 500 in attendance and their new campus in Raleigh, North Carolina. Campus pastor Rod Gray will oversee the new campus and provide leadership for church #100. We thank God for His faithfulness and for all the church plants and the leadership in those churches. 

Glory to God.