Hundredfold Ministries, Int'l

Several years ago I heard a pastor tell this story on himself. He said that when he was pastoring a very liberal church, he himself was not even saved. His standard preaching included jokes, poetry, and social issues with very little Scripture. Then he attended a conference of pastors and got gloriously saved. For the first time in his life, Jesus was a reality to him. He went back to his church and began to preach Jesus crucified, buried and resurrected for our sins. Again and again he preached this message, trying to make Jesus as real to his congregation as He had become to him.

His custom was to stand at the door after every service and greet the parishioners as they left. After several weeks of his new preaching, one old woman came up to him and angrily said, "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! That's all I ever hear you preach anymore. Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Why the way you talk you would think He was God or something!"

With this woman's statement, the pastor had proof that he was finally doing the work of the local church. He was preaching Jesus to the lost and doing everything he could to make Him real to his own congregation!

In this chapter we are going to examine the local church.

Nowhere in all of Scripture is there a more vivid and exciting description of how a local church should function than in Acts 2:42-47.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (NIV)

This passage is a clear scriptural model of how a local church should function. Notice that the believers praised God, devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, prayer, gave to those in need (even to the point of selling their own possessions), and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.

The result was that everyone was filled with awe, many signs and wonders were done by the apostles (church leaders), they enjoyed the favor of all the people, and the Lord continually added to their number.

How exciting! These people were indeed in community as they experienced the reality of Christ in every aspect of their lives together.

What Is the Church?

We are all familiar with the truth that the church is not a building; the church is everyone who is born again having accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I am impressed with the wording of signs I have seen in front of some churches which say, "The Church of Jesus Christ Meets Here." These Christians know what the church is!

The actual word church comes from the Greek word ?????s?a, or ekkleesia which literally means "the called out ones." In the original secular Greek, the word was often used to describe a political gathering or assembly. Jesus took the word and applied it to those whom He called out from the world unto Himself. Hence, the assembly of believers is the ekkleesia, or church of Jesus Christ. Of the 114 uses of ekkleesia in the New Testament, 109 times the word is used to describe the community of God's people. 19

1. The Church Universal

Let's look first at the broader, universal church. The universal church consists of every believer in Jesus Christ all over the world. This includes all truly born again people of all Christian churches or denominations. Of course, I do not include non-Christian cults, such as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, although there are certainly individuals within such cults who have experienced rebirth through calling upon the name of the Lord, (See Acts 2:21 and Rom 10:13.) but for various reasons have not yet come out from the cult. It goes without saying that I am excluding the non-Christian religions of the world such as Muslims, Hindus, and so on.

The universal church also includes those who have gone on to be with the Lord in heaven. Certainly these include those in the category of the Hebrews 11 and 12 great cloud of witnesses down through the ages.

2. The Church Local

Now we are getting to that part of the church that we can see, the local church! The local church is simply any group of believers who gather together to celebrate the good news of the gospel. In the best sense, it is a true community of believers committed to Christ and to each other. Every Christian should belong to a local church. It is this church that we interact with on a day to day basis. It is within this context that we relate to other Christians, we worship God, we give our tithes and offerings, and in which we serve the Lord. Any organized gathering of believers who meet together regularly for worship, prayer, communion and fellowship is essentially a church, even though they may also relate to a larger body of believers or even to different churches.

A local church may or may not have its own building in which to meet. In the early days there were no church buildings. All Christians simply met in some convenient place, usually someone's house.

Perhaps the smallest church one can imagine is the meeting of two or three believers. Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them." (Mat 18:20 KJV) Thus, one might say that it is the presence of Jesus that distinguishes the church from any other gathering or group of people!

What Is the Church Supposed To Do?

Let us now look more closely at what the local church does. First we must recognize that no two churches are alike, nor should they be. Each church is a unique expression of Jesus' body here on earth. Nor will any two churches perform the same functions exactly alike because again, each is unique. However, there are certain basic identifiable functions that should be common to all churches.

1. Praise and Worship God

In my view the primary and highest call of any church is to praise and worship God, Jehovah, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Many of our most beautiful worship songs encompass our adoration of the three persons of the Trinity. In the local church this act of worship is usually done during what we refer to as the worship service. However, there is a real difference between those Christians who merely sing songs and those who truly have a vision of the Lord and fully express themselves to Him in humble adoration and unrestrained worship!

As Christians we are called to worship God, the Creator of the universe, the bright and morning Star, the great I AM, the Lord of lords and King of kings, the one who humbled Himself and gave His life as a ransom for our sins-the Lamb of God! Worthy of our highest praise and worship is the Lamb! I highly recommend that every church present a series of messages on worship, teaching the people not only how to worship, but why we are to worship.

2. Express Jesus To the World

I believe the second most vital function of the church is to reach the lost through evangelism. The church is the only qualified entity on earth capable of telling the unsaved of the world about the love of Jesus. This can take place in a number of different ways. One obvious way is to invite unsaved people to church. But remember, the church is primarily for the believers.

Every church needs to have on-going, well planned evangelism programs to reach beyond its walls. The main objective of evangelism is to get the message out to where lost people are. Getting them to come to our church should be a secondary goal; getting them saved is the primary goal. Here are some ways that churches have used to evangelize the lost.

a. Neighborhood Bible Studies-Schedule Bible studies in the homes of Christians where friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors can come to hear the word of God. This kind of atmosphere is friendly, casual and non-threatening to unbelievers, including those with strong non-Christian beliefs. This is a highly effective way to evangelize the lost.

b. Neighborhood Children's Fellowship-Statistics tell us that over 80% of the people who become believers do so before their 18th birthday. It is therefore extremely important to have active child evangelism efforts in your church! Have regular gatherings of neighborhood children for games, refreshments and story telling. Of course, the stories are from the Bible! Any loving, Christ-centered parent or teenager can have this kind of neighborhood outreach.

c. Witnessing Classes-One of the first things every believer needs to be taught is how to lead someone to the Lord. Periodically teach classes on how to witness to others. The local church should also have an ongoing effort to teach people how to do door to door witnessing, street evangelism and so forth.

d. Open Air Meetings-From time to time schedule open air meetings in vacant lots, parks or wherever. Have contemporary Christian music and different evangelists speak. Sometimes several churches can work jointly to sponsor these meetings.

3. Minister To Itself

The third very important function of the local church is to minister to itself. Paul drew an analogy between the human body and the body of Christ. In his analogy he clearly demonstrates how we, as members of the body of Christ, are to care for and minister to one another.

As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.

But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Cor 12:20-27 NIV)

I have divided the ministry to the body of Christ into eight categories. I believe these demonstrate specifically how we are to be committed to one another.

a. Teaching and Preaching - One of the central functions of church life is to continually preach and teach Scripture. No Christian can mature without growing in Bible knowledge and in an ever increasing understanding of biblical knowledge. This growth takes place during the Sunday services, Sunday school, Bible classes, midweek services, and home gatherings. As time passes, some members will move on from one class or group, while new converts enter the preaching/teaching cycle.

Peter makes a powerful statement regarding our need for knowledge of Scripture. "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Pet 1:3 NIV)

Thus we see that Scripture knowledge is an absolutely essential element of a successful Christian life. Every church should have in place an active, on-going preaching/teaching process for every age group in the church. Scripture memorization should be included and encouraged for all ages.

b. Prayer - The fundamental business of the church is to pray, pray, and then to pray some more. We are all familiar with God's call to His people in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray . . ." Every leader should be a praying Christian. Every leader should teach his or her people to be praying Christians. Every leadership team in every local church should pray together as a unit on a regular basis. And I don't mean to just open a meeting in prayer. At least once in a while every area of leadership in a church, or a department or unit within the church, should set aside times for prayer, not for planning and discussing, but just for prayer. Nothing that comes from the mind of man can substitute for seeking the mind of Christ in prayer.

c. Body Ministry - Body ministry means that the various members of the local church body are to use their gifts and callings to minister to each other. For example, one who is gifted in teaching is to use his gift to teach others; one who is an intercessor is to pray for others who are in need; one who has an abundance of material things is to share them with those who have material or financial needs, and so forth.

One form of body ministry that is very effective is the home meeting. The home meeting is centered around a few believers who meet regularly in someone's home for fellowship and Bible study. After the worship and teaching is over, or sooner if the Holy Spirit directs, different people can voice their needs. As they do, gather around and lay hands on them and pray as the Holy Spirit leads. There may be prophetic words, and/or emotional and physical healings. Often it is in this small group setting that oppressive bondages and demonic strongholds are broken.

d. Water Baptism - Every church should have periodic classes on water baptism and regularly scheduled baptism services. When or where these services are held is not important.

e. Communion - Communion should be observed regularly in every church. Some churches have communion monthly, others weekly while some have a daily communion service.

f. Counseling - Every church should have counseling available for its members and their families. In smaller churches, this is usually done by the pastor. However, I mention two cautions concerning Christian counseling.

(1) Do Not Counsel the Opposite Sex Alone-The best counseling rule I can think of is to never counsel a member of the opposite sex alone. The devil is always looking for a way to smear or discredit Christian workers. Counseling a person of the opposite sex in private presents a golden opportunity for him. Even if you think, "I can control myself. It's no problem for me." Beware! A false rumor can cause as much damage to a pastor's reputation and destroy a church as if it were true. And if you are married, always keep your spouse informed and let the counselee know that you are telling your spouse that, at a minimum, the counseling session took place.

(2) What to Counsel-The best thing every pastor has to offer a counselee is knowledge and wisdom from the word of God. Many people do not want to conform to the requirements of Scripture thereby rendering biblical counseling ineffective. If a person is unwilling to apply biblical principles to his or her problem, there is little you can do for them.

g. Exorcism - There are times when a believer needs deliverance from demonic spirits. Every church should have one or more teams of qualified people who are experienced in exorcism. If you determine that deliverance is needed, I am not suggesting that it be done immediately after a person's conversion. It is wise to wait long enough to determine the degree of commitment to Christ the new believer demonstrates. The reason is simple. If there is only a lukewarm commitment to Christ, deliverance will probably not last.

I have purposely not gone into detail here as to how, when, where, etc. deliverance should take place. I refer readers wishing to know about deliverance to our book, How To Defeat Demons: An International Manual, by Jim and Carolyn Murphy, published and distributed by Hundredfold Ministries, Int'l.

h. Church Discipline - Scripture makes it clear that when the early Christians fell into gross sin, the church disciplined them. Unfortunately, this kind of gross sin is ignored in many of today's churches. The leadership of every local church should be prepared to discipline. The responsibility of church discipline lies directly with the pastor and elders. The failure to properly discipline is not only wrong, but it is also destructive. Why?

1) First, one day the pastor and elders are going to answer to Jesus for their conduct in these matters. The burden of leadership is both a sober and solemn responsibility. When a person has assumed responsibilities as pastor/elder of a church, God requires him or her to challenge those living sinful lifestyles. It is indeed sobering to read what God told Ezekiel when he said, "When I say to a wicked man, �You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood." (Eze 3:18 NIV)

2) Second, if the sin is severe enough, the person's very life may well be at stake. Look at Paul's admonition to the elders at Corinth over the man who was sleeping with his step mother.

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife.

And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Cor 5:1-5 NIV)

The King James translation says, "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." (1 Cor 5:5 KJV) I believe sin of this nature is what John meant when he wrote,

"If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that." (1 Jn 5:16 NIV)

We also see from this passage that not every sin is to be dealt with by the church, only those sins of a severe, gross nature.

3) Third, the spiritual health of the whole church can be negatively affected when gross sin is tolerated within the congregation. In some churches, if someone is an elder, deacon, a big giver, or is influential in the community, his sin is ignored. There is going to be little spiritual life in the services of a church where the Holy Spirit has been grieved over unrepentant and unchallenged sin among some of its members.

4) Lastly, unbelievers are watching. When the church tolerates blatant sin, it discredits our Lord Jesus in the eyes of an unbelieving world and makes Christianity appears hypocritical rather than attractive.

When there is a need for discipline I suggest the following. 1) The pastor and elders are to meet and prayerfully discuss the matter in absolute secrecy. 2) They are to discretely question all knowledgeable participants. They must be open to any misunderstanding or untruths. 3) They are to pray diligently about the matter, then meet again. 4) After these steps are taken, if there is a need for discipline, they should proceed in the spirit of Galatians 6:1 which says, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted." (Gal 6:1 NIV) Remember, restoration is the object of all church discipline. Only if there is no repentance is expulsion appropriate.

Sometimes, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, even with repentance, there may need to be a public apology before the church. But once the matter is dealt with, and repentance has been demonstrated and forgiveness granted, put the matter behind you and your church. Church Government

Every church needs some governing structure. We know that the Lord Jesus is head over the church. He is in control of the church, which is His body, in and through the Holy Spirit. But, humanly speaking, each church must have a government or decision making group.

Generally speaking all church governments fall under one of three biblical forms of government, though the actual form of government may vary slightly.

1. Democratic

Since the church described in Acts 6 democratically elected deacons, some have taken this to mean that the church is to be governed democratically. For example, most Baptist churches have a democratic form of government. By that I mean every member has an equal voice in all matters concerning the church. There are advantages as well as disadvantages to this form of government.

a. Advantage - In a democratically run church every member has a sense of importance. He or she has a feeling of belonging and ownership in the issues of the church.

b. Disadvantage - There must be frequent business meetings. Even small details have to be put before the congregation for a vote. Often this pits member against member because of differing opinions. This can cause hard feelings which could have been avoided. If an issue continues long enough, it often becomes divisive. The devil has split many churches over minor issues. I recently heard this sad joke. Someone asked, "Why are church politics so bitter?" The answer, "Because the issues are so petty!"

2. Presbyterian

Paul often addressed the elders (presbyters) of a church, giving them instructions for their local church. Based on Paul's writings, some have concluded that the local church is to be ruled by its presbyters, or elders.

a. Advantage - Control of the church rests in a small group, making it fairly easy to govern. Decisions can be made quickly. It is much easier and quicker to discuss the pros and cons of an issue within a small group that meets regularly.

b. Disadvantage - The congregation rarely knows about or has a voice in governing decisions. This sometimes makes the people feel insignificant and like sheep who are being herded here and there without any say so.

3. Episcopal

There are times in Scripture when we see Paul, as a overseer of a church (or churches), addressing another individual with instructions for that church. (See 1 Tim 1:3-7.) Overseer in the Greek is ?p?s??p??, or episkopos. In actual practice today an overseer may govern several churches. The advantages and disadvantages are similar to those of the presbyterian form of government.

You may ask, "Of these three forms of government, which is the right one?" My answer, "The one you chose." Any of the above forms will work well as long as the individuals in government are godly, Spirit-led, prayerful people. What matters is that the Holy Spirit controls the church. If those with governing authority are willful and insist on doing things their way, the church is doomed to following man's course rather than God's.

I personally favor the presbyterian form of government, but that doesn't mean it is infallible. Since all three forms of government are biblical, I don't think it matters to God which form is used, as long as He has the final word.

Public Meetings

Every Christian church has public meetings. Public meetings are those meetings to which anyone is invited and may attend.

1. Sunday Worship

The most basic and common public church meeting is the Sunday morning service. In these meetings the whole church comes together to worship the Lord, to be taught and to enjoy a time of fellowship.

The worship time in these Sunday services should be alive and manifest the presence of Jesus! Don't just continue to do it the way you have always done it. That can be death to a church! Go before the Lord and diligently seek Him as to the order, style and form of worship. And be careful not to simply pattern the service after another church. For example, I have been to churches in Africa where the only instruments are a piano and an organ! Why should those lovely, talented people, who have their own musical instruments and style of music, be forced to abandon their heritage for music that is totally foreign to them? Some of the most beautiful worship I have ever heard involved nothing but hundreds of voices accompanied only by drums! It was magnificent!

Another vital part of the Sunday morning service is teaching. This service is the only time each week that the entire congregation is together. The pastor should take very seriously these opportunities to teach the Word and principles of God. To teach is to increase knowledge. Increased knowledge and understanding is the key and foundation to discipleship and personal spiritual growth.

The pastor's approach to teaching on Sunday morning should be different than if he or she were teaching a Bible study. The congregation needs good, lively, motivational preaching on Sunday mornings. The teaching should be carefully structured within the context of preaching. To do this well is more of a challenge than to simply get up on Sunday morning and preach. Always, always have the goal in mind of increasing knowledge and insight as you speak, no matter the context.

2. Bible Study

Hold weekly Bible studies where structured teaching and Bible study is the rule. These studies may be in the church building or in various selected homes. Be sure that both the meetings and the subjects taught are monitored by the appropriate church authority such as the pastor or elders.

3. Home Meetings

Today many churches all over the world are large, having several hundred or thousand members. It is impossible to meet individual needs in such large local churches. In order to fill individual needs, and to keep the biblical concept of a New Testament church alive, many of these large churches have developed a system of cell groups, or home church meetings in which the same 10 to 20 people gather regularly, preferably weekly. In effect these home meetings become a small church in themselves. People are prayed for, ministered to, taught, and enjoy personal fellowship. In turn, they have opportunity to minister to others.

Home meetings may be grouped around some commonality such as young marrieds, seniors, teens, singles, a study of a specific topic or book of the Bible for all ages, recovering drug/alcohol users, etc. These meetings should focus on Bible study, worship or body ministry. The Holy Spirit should be free to lead and direct.

Departments

As a church grows it helps to make functional departments such as music, children, young people, adult, home visitation, and so forth. But don't make departments just for the sake of having departments. If you have only one musician, it would be foolish to designate a music department! Wait until there is a pressing need for a department, then establish it.

Leaders

A church can be no more effective than its leaders. Strive to develop skilled leaders with integrity, diligence and vision. Continually look for those who have a call on their lives or a gift in some area of ministry. In some areas the call is more important than in others. For example, I firmly believe that it is vital to have someone with a call to children's ministry to minister to children, or a call to work with teens to minister to teenagers. Don't appoint someone who is simply available if you can possibly hold out for someone with a true call to that area of need. As a leader, I have often allowed a pressing need to go unmet until God provided the right person for the position.

If you don't know a person well make the leadership appointment temporary or probationary. Make it clear to that person that there will be a trial period after which a permanent determination will be made. Feelings are always hurt when someone is removed from a position and, although you can't avoid all hurt feelings, you can try to minimize them.

As a church grows, it should have an effective leadership development program. Carolyn and I ran into this great example some years ago in Manila, Philippines. The pastor of a quite poor church was making the Sunday morning announcements concerning the church bus ministry. Carolyn and I looked at each other in wonder, "What is he talking about? Does this poor church actually have buses?" Later that day we asked the pastor about the church bus ministry. We were both delighted and amused by his answer. Bus ministry to them was indeed different than in America. You see, the main transportation for most people in Manila is to ride the hundreds of public buses around the city. Teenagers, young pastors, and developing evangelists in training are given bus tokens and then sent from training classes to board a bus, get the driver's permission, and stand in the front of the bus and preach the gospel! I can think of no better way to train young Christians. And this is just one example. Be creative in your leadership development program.

Tithes & Offerings

God has ordained that the tithes and offerings of His people should finance His church and the evangelization of the world. To tithe means to give ten percent (10%) of your gross income to God's work. (See Lev 27:30-32.) If every Christian tithed there would be enough money for the church to have everything it needed, both to meet the needs of the congregation and to evangelize the whole world.

But sadly, percentage wise, few Christians tithe. Why? I believe there are two reasons. One, as the Holy Spirit begins to sanctify a believer, often one of the last things he or she is willing to give up control over is his money. I know it can be hard to begin to tithe for the first time in your life if you are already having trouble paying your bills. It takes faith to step out in giving.

The second reason is that many churches simply do not teach their people to tithe. See chapter 42 for an extensive teaching on this subject.

Church Administration

Every church needs to be properly organized and run. Bills have to be paid, schedules arranged, announcements gathered for public proclamation, supplies ordered, church property accounted for and secured, and so forth. These activities come under the general head of church administration.

Not everyone has the gift or ability to administrate. In small churches the pastor often does these things, or they may come under the management of a deacon or deaconess. If the church is large enough to have a church secretary, he or she often assumes much of this burden. As the church increases in numbers and finance, the number of people needed to administrate will also increase. It works best when those who are involved in church administration are gifted by the Holy Spirit in this area. Proper church administration should always include an accounting of all tithes and offerings as well as of all expenses. These accounting systems should be maintained with confidentiality, but not secrecy. They should always be open for inspection by church officers and anyone else who has a need to know. Church members should know that the records exist and are under the oversight of the church deacons or officers. In churches that I pastored, we published a quarterly financial report for the members and announced it from the pulpit. Because of our openness, few ever bothered to get a copy of the report. This church policy denied the devil the opportunity of using church finances as a weapon against us.

How Should the Church Relate To the Community?

The church is properly a spiritual entity while the world is a natural entity. The world hasn't the capacity to understand spiritual things. The world sees the church as a building with people who occasionally meet there. But we see the church as a body of believers in Jesus Christ.

We, then, more than the world, have the capacity to understand their difficulty in understanding us and we should use this knowledge to our advantage. We need to develop various ways to relate to the world around us, but without allowing the world to overly influence us.

1. Theological or Philosophical

Sadly, in an effort to relate to the world, some churches have forsaken biblical standards and conformed to the world to such a degree that they are no longer recognizable as part of the true church. This change usually takes at least 2 generations. It happens so slowly that few, if any, are aware of it. This drift away from the Lord to the world may be philosophical or theological, or both.

One denomination in America began it's drift in the early part of the 20th century. They began secular music concerts and poetry readings to attract the unbelievers of the community and "to be more appealing to the educated people." Next, they introduced secular theater for the same reasons. Then all offensive subjects such as blood atonement, the universal sinfulness of man, the virgin birth, etc. were deleted from the sermons. The focus of church outreach became the physical needs of man, to the utter neglect of his spiritual needs. Today, this particular denomination bears little or no resemblance to a New Testament church. How tragic.

Or a church may drift away from the Lord theologically. For example, today in America there is a cult named the Unitarian Church. They were once among the main line true churches. Tragically, they began to reject the Trinity, holding that God manifested Himself in different forms at different times, that Jesus was simply a human aberration of God, and that the Holy Spirit was His spiritual manifestation. As a result of this theological error, the Unitarian denomination is now a cult specializing in mysticism with Jesus being simply one of the ways "god" is manifested.

These two examples are why it is extremely important that no plans, programs, decisions or doctrines should ever be allowed in our churches that are against, or contradict, Scripture. Everything we do should reinforce the gospel. Even so, we must continually try to make our church as appealing as possible to the unbelieving world.

2. Practical and Functional

Jesus, during His earthly ministry, was extremely practical and He related easily to unbelievers. He should be our pattern today. In my teaching I often ask the question, "If Jesus were physically here in this town tonight, where do you imagine He would be? Would He more likely be in some prayer meeting . . . or would He be in some bar talking to someone whose life was broken?" I think He would be in the bar! If so, where should we be evangelizing? I know an evangelist who regularly trains people to witness in bars. I know another who trains people to witness in drug houses!

Now let's look at some ways our churches can attract or offend outsiders.

a. How to Attract Outsiders

(1) Be a Good Neighbor-By this I mean make every effort not to offend anyone who lives near your meeting place. Go see them. Ask them, "Is our music too loud? Do our prayer meetings at night disturb you?" Take steps to correct these offenses. And while you're there, find out if there are any ways you can help them.

(2) Make the Church Attractive-Keep the building and grounds clean and painted. Keep the grass cut and trash removed. Make your facility a plus in the neighborhood, not a minus.

(3) Have Community Service Plans-There are a number of ways to reach your community. Here are only a few:

- Day care for infants of working mothers - Feeding program for poor children - Food distribution for the poor - Family counseling services for the community - Errands for the sick and infirm - Instruction classes for young mothers on child care, hygiene, discipline and training - Vocational training classes for young people - Periodic medical clinics (depending on the availability of health care workers)

These are only a few suggestions. I know one church in Mexico City (where there is a strong Catholic influence) that offers free grave side services. To most of us, Catholics included, grave side services are important. In Mexico City there are over 24 million people, and thousands die there daily. The Catholic church charges a fee for grave side services which the poor are unable to pay. A large evangelical church posts young ministers at the graveyards every day to hold free grave side services and minister to the grieving loved ones who can't afford to pay anything! That's creative! There are many ways a church can positively touch its community. Let the Holy Spirit give you inspired imagination.

b. How to Offend Outsiders

(1) Speak "Biblease" to Them-When speaking or witnessing to outsiders, many Christians use common Christian terminology that is often not understood or is offensive to outsiders. For example, we know that the Bible is the word of God but there are many today who don't even know who God is. How would such a person respond to being bombarded with Scripture? Not very well, I think. We must learn to meet the person where he or she is.

(2) Be Self-Righteous-Christians often approach unbelievers with a self-righteous attitude. This pride is easily discerned by the unbeliever and is offensive. Jesus never did this. He always approached people with a simple, "I love you" attitude. We need to do the same.

(3) Loud Music-Have a large, powerful sound system that is heard several blocks away. This can really offend outsiders.

(4) Become Political-Preach politics from the pulpit and criticize those whose views differ from yours.

Again, these are only a few of the more obvious ways a church can be offensive to its community. This needs to become a major area of prayer for the church leadership. I know of one church that composed a well thought out questionnaire and spent weeks canvassing their community in order to find out what unbelievers thought about church. They then made major changes to eliminate those non-biblical things that gave a negative impression. Today that church numbers in the tens of thousands in membership while still preaching a strong gospel!

How the Church Should Relate To Other Churches

First we must truly understand and believe that all who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and Lord and Savior, are our brothers and sisters. Once we understand this, it is much easier to relate to others in the body of Christ.

1. Relating Financially

One of the most effective ways to break down walls between churches is to become involved in the needs of another church. If a church in your town is in financial trouble, take a special offering for that church.

In my last pastorate we became aware of a neighboring church whose pastor had left, leaving the church with such a heavy debt payment that they were unable to afford to pay a new pastor. Our church deacons agreed to pay their new pastor's salary for a year, allowing them time to financially recover from their debt payments.

2. Relating Through Prayer

There is no more effective way to relate to other churches in your community than through common prayer meetings. Begin with the leadership of the local churches meeting at least once a month for prayer. These meetings will build trust among leaders. As that trust and fellowship develops, the leaders can share burdens and the others can pray for them. This kind of prayer meeting takes only 2 or 3 hours a month, or a week, and is so valuable. I have noticed that here in America, where the churches of a community or region have leadership prayer meetings on a regular basis, the Lord is blessing and moving in those churches, and in the lives of the leaders who participate.

Another very effective way to relate to other churches through prayer is by praying for that other church. There are times when a church, or a key person in a church, is in desperate need of prayer. It would be most charitable to call your church to special prayer for those needs. This tells your people that you are aware of the whole body of Christ and are committed to it. And let that other church or leader know that your people are praying for them. God will bless both those doing the praying and those prayed for.

3. Pulpit Sharing

Another way to relate to other churches is to invite the pastors of other churches to preach in your pulpit. I used to do this often. When our church sponsored a local Bible school with 6 to 8 hours per week of instruction, we invited pastors of different denominations to teach various subjects. We also scheduled various classes to be held in different churches across the city. For example, on Tuesday evening a Baptist pastor would be teaching the book of Romans in an Assembly of God church, and so forth.

4. Sharing Services and Projects

Another way to build strong community churches is to share in joint Easter or Christmas services with various pastors participating in the services. Last Easter Carolyn and I attended a community-wide Easter morning service and it was wonderful. The leadership of several local churches were gathered on the platform and the people rejoiced as one. I know it pleased the heart of God. Or your church can join other churches for athletic games or picnics just for fun!

Another important and God honoring way to build community is to share common projects and community outreaches. Do a joint feeding program, or organize a community wide clean up of some area in your town or village, or help to paint a church in your area that needs it. Do a joint prayer walk through the rough area of town claiming the residents for Jesus. The ways are endless and with prayer, the Holy Spirit will show you what will be the most effective outreach in your community.

Make special efforts to cross denominational and doctrinal lines when relating to other churches. When the people see the leaders truly loving each other, regardless of differences in doctrine, it sends a strong message to them, teaching Jesus' love for His body. After all, Jesus did pray,

Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. . . that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. . . (Jn 17:11,21,22 NIV)

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19. Edited from the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Edited by Walter A Elwell, Baker Books, A Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids MI 49516, page 95.