Transforming Our Community
Volume 11, Number 1
Part One
By Glenn Daman
The church is not merely called upon to exist within the community at large, being isolated from it and having no impact upon it. When Christ states that the will of God is not to remove the church from the world but to protect it from the negative influences of the world, he clarifies our role (John 17:15). We are to be a visible and real presence within the community. While the church community has long wrestled with how we are to influence society at large, there is little question that we are to have an influence. In a number of places within the New Testament the writers draw attention to the fact that we have a responsibility to those outside the church. We are not merely to enter the secular world to do financial business and earn a living and then retreat into the church community for "spiritual work." Within the pages of Scripture there is not the dichotomy between the "secular" and the "sacred." Rather we are to enter the secular community in order to engage it.
This holds the greatest potential for the small church as well as it being its greatest weakness. Especially in small communities where the church still plays an important role in community life, we can often have an influence that far exceeds the size of the church. The pastor is seen as a spiritual leader in the church and a social leader in the community. In times of crisis the community at large looks to the pastors and church for assistance. In rural communities there is often a significant shortage of social programs and resources to assist the poor, provide help in times of natural disasters, and deal with the social and economic pressures that confront the community. In answer to these needs people often look to the church. However, in this critical juncture often the small church has been so preoccupied with not being "of the world" that we are no longer "in the world." In our quest to avoid moral compromise we have so isolated ourselves that we have lost our moral influence.
This isolation and lack of influence is further aggravated by the lack of resources available in the small church. Even if we desire to engage our culture and community, we often resist utilizing our resources for fear that in the use of our resources we may threaten our very existence. For example, we are reluctant to have the community use our church building for fear that the wear and tear will exceed our resources to maintain the facilities. What we fail to recognize is that in our fear of risking the future of the church we undermine the very future that we are seeking to preserve. If the small church is to continue, then it must seek to be an integral part of the community and seek to influence the community. As Os Guiness points out, "If we today stress the spiritual aspect of the gospel without the social, we lose all relevance in modern society. But if we stress the social without the spiritual, we loose our reality altogether." ( James Boice, Transforming our World, (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1988), 69.)
Understanding Our Prophetic Role
While it is true that the gift of pastor/teacher is distinct from the gift of being a prophet, there is nevertheless a prophetic role we play. Often when we think of the role of a prophet, we focus upon the predictive nature of the prophetic message. What we often overlook was that in the Scripture the primary role of the prophet was not predictive, but rather addressing current social and spiritual issues through the proclamation of Scripture. Leon Woods describes the role of the prophet, "The manner of speaking by the prophet may be best characterized as preaching. Here the idea of preaching is used as over against the idea of teaching. In teaching one addresses primarily the mind of the hearer, while in preaching he addresses the emotion and will. The interest of teaching is to impart information; the interest of preaching is to stir reaction and response. The work of Israel’s priests was to do the former; that the prophets was to do the later." (Leon Woods, The Prophets of Israel, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1983), 67-68.) He goes on to state, "Though the prophets did predict at times, as God gave them this kind of information, the greater part of their declarative ministry was in preaching to the people of their own time. They were really much like preachers today, urging people to live in a manner pleasing to God. They used prediction in their preaching only on occasion, whenever it was necessary to impart a message God wanted given." (Ibid, p. 68-69) The prophet was one who sought to challenge people with the truth of God for the purpose of transforming the person individually as well as transforming the whole community. This they did as they addressed the leadership of the community. Within Scripture there is the recognition that the health of the country is dependent upon the leadership. The prophet sought to alter the course of society in order to bring about moral and spiritual change and they sought to do so by contacting the leadership. As society continues to grapple with more and more morally complex issues it needs the prophetic voice of the Word of God to address them. The community needs Biblical leaders who are willing to relate Scripture to these issues and challenge the leadership of the community with moral and social ills. If we are to be effective leaders we must recognize that our leadership must go beyond the church walls and into the community at large. We are to seek avenues to have an influence; we are to be advocates of the socially disenfranchised.
As preachers we are to be brokers of truth to the world. We have something to say not only to the church and to individuals within the church but to our culture and society as well because God has something to say to our society. The basis of this prophetic role stems from the very nature of God’s Word and the order God has established in creation. Wisdom literature recognizes that God’s morality is absolute and the universe is governed by these moral absolutes. The strength of a nation is not determined by its military might or economic strength, but by its adherence to the moral absolutes established in the universe. While the intent is not to establish a theodicy in governmental politics, we are called upon to influence our society so that people adhere to the moral laws that form the foundation for society. (Carl F. Henry, The Christian Mindset in a Secular Society, (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1984), 99.) While our task is not to save the country, nor does making a nation "Christian" result in the individual redemption required for salvation, we are to be involved in our society in order to encourage an environment where the gospel may be readily proclaimed (1 Timothy 2:2).
Being Salt in the Earth
Christ, in admonishing and preparing the disciples for ministry, instills within them the concept that they are to be salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). Concerning this statement of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, D.A. Carson comments, "Implicitly he is saying that apart from his disciples the world turns ever more rotten: Christians have the effect of delaying moral and spiritual putrefaction." ( D.A. Carson, Sermon on the Mount, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984), 30.) The church is to do more than co-exist with secular culture; it is to have a positive and moral influence upon the culture and society at large. We do this as we become positive models for the world to both examine and follow. This goes beyond merely the message we convey to the world, but to how we act and react to the world in which we live. Paul states that we are to "be wise in the way you act toward outsiders" (Colossians 4:5). That is, we are to be both cautious (i.e. so that we are not negatively influenced) as well as interactive, responding both in message and deed in a way that reveals Christ to them. We influence our world when we are working diligently on the job, when we are honest in our business, when we are positive in our attitudes towards the government. When we are mistreated by the world, we respond with kindness and blessing (1 Corinthians 4:12-13). Thus in the process we develop a positive reputation with those outside the church (1 Timothy 3:7).
The Role of the Church in Rural Society
The church always has had and will continue to have a significant impact upon the social, cultural and moral framework of any community, but this is especially true in rural society. Students of sociology point out that we do not inherit a specific culture or knowledge of cultural expectations. Rather through the process of socialization, we learn our culture and the expectations it places upon us. This socialization "takes place within the social organizations closest to us—the family, school, and church. Other institutions, including community organizations such as civic groups or social clubs, play a lesser role. Collectively, the social organization through which culture is transmitted are called agents of culture." (Cornellia Butler Flora, et al., Rural Communities: Legacy and Change, (San Francisco: Westview, 1992), 61.) There is no debate concerning the extent of the influence the church has upon the social, moral and even economic shape of the community. As agents of culture the church "can preserve the past or work towards change; which course they take depends on the character of their relationship with the community." (Ibid, p. 63)
The church shapes the community as it instills moral and ethical standards that not only govern people within the church but significantly influence those outside the church as well. It has this influence because it is not only a spiritual center, but a social center as well for both the people in the church as well as the community as a whole. ( Arthur Vidich and Joseph Bensman, Small Town in Mass Society, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968), 228.) Often when a church has social events (such as a supper or ice-cream social) the people who come are not only from the specific church, but from other churches as well.
The church shapes the community by being an agent for social change and providing for social and economic needs within the community. In many small communities, the services that provide assistance for people facing emotional or economic crisis are not in close enough proximity to provide help. As a result the church, rather than governmental programs, become the resource people turn to in order to obtain help. Flora reports, "Community solutions, when they do occur, are often the task of voluntary associations rather than a responsibility of local government. This puts a heavy burden on rural churches, for example, to organize meals-on-wheels programs and care for the elderly or to provide the kinds of food, clothing, and shelter for the poor, both those who live in the community and those who pass through." (Rural Communities: Legacy and Change, 278.)
Because of our position as leaders within the church and because the church has a significant role within the community as a whole, we often are viewed as community leaders as well. However, to have an influence we must recognize the importance of being a contributor within the community. In rural areas people measure others by what they contribute to the whole community. A pastor who isolates himself in the church and only serves the church will become isolated from the community and not respected by it. A pastor who is involved in the community and is seen as a positive contributor (through volunteerism in community service organizations) will be respected by the people and have a greater voice within the cultural formation of the community. Being a part of the volunteer fire department, serving as the chaplain for the local sheriffs office, and becoming part of the PTA are more than avenues by which the Pastor can build relationships with people outside the church and in the community. They are avenues by which the pastor gains respect, as the pastor becomes a part of the community and a contributor to the well-being of the whole community.
Part One
By Glenn Daman
The church is not merely called upon to exist within the community at large, being isolated from it and having no impact upon it. When Christ states that the will of God is not to remove the church from the world but to protect it from the negative influences of the world, he clarifies our role (John 17:15). We are to be a visible and real presence within the community. While the church community has long wrestled with how we are to influence society at large, there is little question that we are to have an influence. In a number of places within the New Testament the writers draw attention to the fact that we have a responsibility to those outside the church. We are not merely to enter the secular world to do financial business and earn a living and then retreat into the church community for "spiritual work." Within the pages of Scripture there is not the dichotomy between the "secular" and the "sacred." Rather we are to enter the secular community in order to engage it.
This holds the greatest potential for the small church as well as it being its greatest weakness. Especially in small communities where the church still plays an important role in community life, we can often have an influence that far exceeds the size of the church. The pastor is seen as a spiritual leader in the church and a social leader in the community. In times of crisis the community at large looks to the pastors and church for assistance. In rural communities there is often a significant shortage of social programs and resources to assist the poor, provide help in times of natural disasters, and deal with the social and economic pressures that confront the community. In answer to these needs people often look to the church. However, in this critical juncture often the small church has been so preoccupied with not being "of the world" that we are no longer "in the world." In our quest to avoid moral compromise we have so isolated ourselves that we have lost our moral influence.
This isolation and lack of influence is further aggravated by the lack of resources available in the small church. Even if we desire to engage our culture and community, we often resist utilizing our resources for fear that in the use of our resources we may threaten our very existence. For example, we are reluctant to have the community use our church building for fear that the wear and tear will exceed our resources to maintain the facilities. What we fail to recognize is that in our fear of risking the future of the church we undermine the very future that we are seeking to preserve. If the small church is to continue, then it must seek to be an integral part of the community and seek to influence the community. As Os Guiness points out, "If we today stress the spiritual aspect of the gospel without the social, we lose all relevance in modern society. But if we stress the social without the spiritual, we loose our reality altogether." ( James Boice, Transforming our World, (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1988), 69.)
Understanding Our Prophetic Role
While it is true that the gift of pastor/teacher is distinct from the gift of being a prophet, there is nevertheless a prophetic role we play. Often when we think of the role of a prophet, we focus upon the predictive nature of the prophetic message. What we often overlook was that in the Scripture the primary role of the prophet was not predictive, but rather addressing current social and spiritual issues through the proclamation of Scripture. Leon Woods describes the role of the prophet, "The manner of speaking by the prophet may be best characterized as preaching. Here the idea of preaching is used as over against the idea of teaching. In teaching one addresses primarily the mind of the hearer, while in preaching he addresses the emotion and will. The interest of teaching is to impart information; the interest of preaching is to stir reaction and response. The work of Israel’s priests was to do the former; that the prophets was to do the later." (Leon Woods, The Prophets of Israel, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1983), 67-68.) He goes on to state, "Though the prophets did predict at times, as God gave them this kind of information, the greater part of their declarative ministry was in preaching to the people of their own time. They were really much like preachers today, urging people to live in a manner pleasing to God. They used prediction in their preaching only on occasion, whenever it was necessary to impart a message God wanted given." (Ibid, p. 68-69) The prophet was one who sought to challenge people with the truth of God for the purpose of transforming the person individually as well as transforming the whole community. This they did as they addressed the leadership of the community. Within Scripture there is the recognition that the health of the country is dependent upon the leadership. The prophet sought to alter the course of society in order to bring about moral and spiritual change and they sought to do so by contacting the leadership. As society continues to grapple with more and more morally complex issues it needs the prophetic voice of the Word of God to address them. The community needs Biblical leaders who are willing to relate Scripture to these issues and challenge the leadership of the community with moral and social ills. If we are to be effective leaders we must recognize that our leadership must go beyond the church walls and into the community at large. We are to seek avenues to have an influence; we are to be advocates of the socially disenfranchised.
As preachers we are to be brokers of truth to the world. We have something to say not only to the church and to individuals within the church but to our culture and society as well because God has something to say to our society. The basis of this prophetic role stems from the very nature of God’s Word and the order God has established in creation. Wisdom literature recognizes that God’s morality is absolute and the universe is governed by these moral absolutes. The strength of a nation is not determined by its military might or economic strength, but by its adherence to the moral absolutes established in the universe. While the intent is not to establish a theodicy in governmental politics, we are called upon to influence our society so that people adhere to the moral laws that form the foundation for society. (Carl F. Henry, The Christian Mindset in a Secular Society, (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1984), 99.) While our task is not to save the country, nor does making a nation "Christian" result in the individual redemption required for salvation, we are to be involved in our society in order to encourage an environment where the gospel may be readily proclaimed (1 Timothy 2:2).
Being Salt in the Earth
Christ, in admonishing and preparing the disciples for ministry, instills within them the concept that they are to be salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). Concerning this statement of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, D.A. Carson comments, "Implicitly he is saying that apart from his disciples the world turns ever more rotten: Christians have the effect of delaying moral and spiritual putrefaction." ( D.A. Carson, Sermon on the Mount, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984), 30.) The church is to do more than co-exist with secular culture; it is to have a positive and moral influence upon the culture and society at large. We do this as we become positive models for the world to both examine and follow. This goes beyond merely the message we convey to the world, but to how we act and react to the world in which we live. Paul states that we are to "be wise in the way you act toward outsiders" (Colossians 4:5). That is, we are to be both cautious (i.e. so that we are not negatively influenced) as well as interactive, responding both in message and deed in a way that reveals Christ to them. We influence our world when we are working diligently on the job, when we are honest in our business, when we are positive in our attitudes towards the government. When we are mistreated by the world, we respond with kindness and blessing (1 Corinthians 4:12-13). Thus in the process we develop a positive reputation with those outside the church (1 Timothy 3:7).
The Role of the Church in Rural Society
The church always has had and will continue to have a significant impact upon the social, cultural and moral framework of any community, but this is especially true in rural society. Students of sociology point out that we do not inherit a specific culture or knowledge of cultural expectations. Rather through the process of socialization, we learn our culture and the expectations it places upon us. This socialization "takes place within the social organizations closest to us—the family, school, and church. Other institutions, including community organizations such as civic groups or social clubs, play a lesser role. Collectively, the social organization through which culture is transmitted are called agents of culture." (Cornellia Butler Flora, et al., Rural Communities: Legacy and Change, (San Francisco: Westview, 1992), 61.) There is no debate concerning the extent of the influence the church has upon the social, moral and even economic shape of the community. As agents of culture the church "can preserve the past or work towards change; which course they take depends on the character of their relationship with the community." (Ibid, p. 63)
The church shapes the community as it instills moral and ethical standards that not only govern people within the church but significantly influence those outside the church as well. It has this influence because it is not only a spiritual center, but a social center as well for both the people in the church as well as the community as a whole. ( Arthur Vidich and Joseph Bensman, Small Town in Mass Society, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968), 228.) Often when a church has social events (such as a supper or ice-cream social) the people who come are not only from the specific church, but from other churches as well.
The church shapes the community by being an agent for social change and providing for social and economic needs within the community. In many small communities, the services that provide assistance for people facing emotional or economic crisis are not in close enough proximity to provide help. As a result the church, rather than governmental programs, become the resource people turn to in order to obtain help. Flora reports, "Community solutions, when they do occur, are often the task of voluntary associations rather than a responsibility of local government. This puts a heavy burden on rural churches, for example, to organize meals-on-wheels programs and care for the elderly or to provide the kinds of food, clothing, and shelter for the poor, both those who live in the community and those who pass through." (Rural Communities: Legacy and Change, 278.)
Because of our position as leaders within the church and because the church has a significant role within the community as a whole, we often are viewed as community leaders as well. However, to have an influence we must recognize the importance of being a contributor within the community. In rural areas people measure others by what they contribute to the whole community. A pastor who isolates himself in the church and only serves the church will become isolated from the community and not respected by it. A pastor who is involved in the community and is seen as a positive contributor (through volunteerism in community service organizations) will be respected by the people and have a greater voice within the cultural formation of the community. Being a part of the volunteer fire department, serving as the chaplain for the local sheriffs office, and becoming part of the PTA are more than avenues by which the Pastor can build relationships with people outside the church and in the community. They are avenues by which the pastor gains respect, as the pastor becomes a part of the community and a contributor to the well-being of the whole community.
posted at 2:05 PM
<< Previous Posts
Discuss this article at SmallChurch.org