The “Git R Done” Church
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Sun, November 27, 2005
- Viewed 238
- (57) comments so far
Too bad churches don't go with that mentality. What if we said, lets do it. Lets reach people for Christ. Lets be all things to all people. Lets throw out tradition if it isn't relevant. Lets be real. Lets make a real difference in our communities. Lets really love people. Lets accept them no matter what their background or how they dress or how much or little money they have or what are their sinful patters. Lost people will act like lost people. It is time to get serious church and do whatever it takes, I mean whatever it takes to reach our lost and dying world. This is my one true passion that I am willing to take to my grave!"
So... the question for all of us to ponder this week is, "What if...?"
What if your church did everything they could to reach the lost in your community? What would that look like?
And what is keeping you from getting there?
I find it amazing that most churches I've seen have a rather complicated formula in place to make sure that this type of ministry never has a possibility of ever happening.
Committees halt progress. Some churches have so many committees that nothing ever gets done (except meetings).
Tradition holds many churches back. How many times have you heard, "We've never done it that way before?" (Talk about a leadership killer!)
Ministry keeps many churches occupied. Many of your best workers are right now 'getting tired in well-doing'. Many churches are so over-programmed for in-reach, outreach is just not even a possibility.
But what if?
What if the whole committee structure somehow evolved into a team approach where teams were empowered to make decisions and carry out ministry? What if we stopped doing things just because we've always done them this way? And what would happen if we just stopped doing some ministry programs that just aren't effective; and took that time and energy to reach out to our community?
Dream a little.
What would happen?
What steps can you take today... this week... in 2006... to help make this happen?
What measureable steps can we make today that will help our church 'Git R Done' in the next year?
Reminds me of an old saying that goes (something like this)... "If we keep doing what we've always done; we'll always get what we always got."
It's time to try something new. Let's, "Git R Done!"
Have a great week!
Todd
At his blog "Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee" Kevin Bussey says, "I love the apostle Paul. He was all about reaching people for Christ. He was the first relevant minister after the death of Jesus. Paul said in I Corinthians 9 that he was going to be all things to all people in order that he might win some. He was willing to do whatever it takes! He was like [Larry the Cable Guy], GIT R DONE!
Comments
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Brian La Croix on Mon, November 28, 2005
Thanks for getting us back on track, Todd. And I apologize if I contributed to the hijacking of the thread in any way…
I think a lot of our churches (mine included) would have a different “look” if they honestly examined their ministries in light of the Great Commission.
Too many are more worried about not upsetting the “good thing” they’ve got going - the perfect church with just the “right” kind of people coming each week. And they don’t want to risk losing that, all the while disguising their concern by citing “separation” and “purity” as their reasons for not doing more to reach the lost. By the way, I am not saying that all those churches who do cite separation and purity are not working to reach people for Christ. I know some churches around here are very concerned about evangelism. My point is that there are some who use these as excuses to not be concerned about people going to hell.
I’ve had people say, “We don’t do enough for fellowship here.” To which I say, “Maybe you’re right, and if you’re willing to do the work to do something about it, you have my blessing, as long as it doesn’t turn into a clique and is in line with our stated purposes. But while you’re looking for the ‘comfort of the already convinced,’ I’m worried for those who aren’t yet convinced about their need for Christ, and are facing an eternity in hell. Which do you think is the more important of the two?”
Brian
Al1 on Mon, November 28, 2005
Git-R-Done.
I think your right on target. It would be wonderful to be in a church that has this mentality. Maybe our moto should be “What ever it takes”? Time as we know it is running out and we must be about the fathers buisness of reaching our world for Jesus Christ. Everything we do must revolve around sharing Jesus with people. IF we are not doing this we are taking up space.
Al1
Kevin on Mon, November 28, 2005
Todd,
Thanks for putting me in prime time. I’m honored.
First, I never meant to imply that the church should water down the Gospel. Never would I approve of that! Second, I have never seen Larry the Cable Guy accept on commercials. I don’t approve of his language. People need to lighten up! I just meant that in order to reach our lost world, we have to use different methods. We have to be about winning people to Jesus. I agree with those who say we need Discipleship!!!! I was discipled in HS and College and have been actively discipling people my entire ministry. Third, I’m not against tradition!!! But when tradition gets in the way of reaching people for Jesus, I say do whatever it takes. These are thoughts from a former legalistic man who has been changed by the life-changing power of God’s Grace.
Kevin
Todd on Mon, November 28, 2005
Todd again,
Thanks, Kevin… but we ALL know what you MEANT:
Larry the Cable Guy = great role model for our kids and even for pastors and church leaders…
Tradition = bad / New = Good
Evangelism = Good / Discipleship = Bad
I think you may have even inferred in there somewhere that you prefer “The Message” over the original King James.
http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/smile.gif
I agree… let’s lighten up a little here… and yet take our job very seriously. Actually, I have a post for later this week about how blogging works and how people disagree so strongly on blogs my misreading what posters are actually saying. I think some like to disagree just to disagree sometimes. It’s great therapy… just like kicking the cat. (now I’ll have cat-lovers mad at me, taking me literally… I haven’t actually kicked a cat yet today; and it’s almost noon!)
Todd
Lainie on Mon, November 28, 2005
Ok - I like what you said:
“What if we said, lets do it. Lets reach people for Christ. Lets be all things to all people. Lets throw out tradition if it isn’t relevant. Lets be real. Lets make a real difference in our communities. Lets really love people. Lets accept them no matter what their background or how they dress or how much or little money they have or what are their sinful patterns.”
I’ve been a Christian since 1986 - I’ve worked in ministry for almost that long in youth, women’s, marriage and music ministry. Until recently, I was on staff of a large church. That said, I will tell you that my family and I are no longer attending church (ok everyone, pick up your teeth).
We relocated to a new community over five hours from our former church, and have tried every church imaginable in our town (albiet a very small town) and have not found anything but judgment, anger, unwillingness to change and people so steeped in tradition that they fail to recognize that it is no longer effective. We were summarily dismissed at almost every church as “new comers” and were basically ignored. Talk about your cliques!
No one there bothered to take the time to find out if we were, in fact, Christians. No one offered to welcome us to the community. Our children were equally ostrasized in the Youth and Children’s departments.
I was totally shocked!!! What kind of place is the church supposed to be??? Here we are “Christians” and we weren’t even welcomed.
Grant it, some churches did welcome us, but they were usually the ones who were so very small that they would have welcomed anyone just to get their numbers up (an assumption on my part), but after listening to the Pastor’s message and visiting a few times, we realized that it wasn’t in line with what we, as a family, believe. (ie, full gospel vs. traditionalists).
I know I’ll probably incite a riot here with my comments, but we need to wake up as the body of Christ and realize that if a Christian family (formerly in ministry) isn’t welcome in church, then a non-believer must feel totally unwanted.
I know this doesn’t happen everywhere in every single church, but if it can happen in my small town America, it can happen in yours.
We do need to reach out - and not just to the non-believers, but to the new people in our community who are looking for a place to worship God and to fellowship with like believers.
We haven’t given up - we are still looking. I met a nice lady yesterday who spent a lot of time talking to me about her wonderful church and she has invited us to attend next week. We’ll go and try it, and we hope that all the people there are as nice and welcoming as the one lady was.
She was the epitomy of what we all should be. She didn’t know me from Adam - she approached me as a total stranger and introduced herself - asked if I was new in the area - asked if I’d found a church yet - listened to my story of why we hadn’t - asked about our beliefs and our family - and then told me about her church and invited us to attend.
Now that’s walking out your Christianity!
Be blessed, and ...
BE GOD’S!!!
Scott on Mon, November 28, 2005
I was doing some research on evangelism and just happened by. “The fields are white for harvest.” Get back to work!
bishopdave on Mon, November 28, 2005
Todd, you wrote: A simple comment… let’s ‘git r done’; meant as an encouragement… now we’re going down that same road again. Let’s make a u-turn before it’s too late. Please re-read the original post and let me know how your church should change.
Oh, my dear boy—do you see now this is why we don’t “git ‘er done”? We’re too busy fighting over the exegesis of what “ ‘er” is. Discipleship vs. Evangelism. Gospel of Matthew vs Gospel of John. In church or out of church. Evangelism is as much a process as discipleship is. If you want to lead your church to just git ‘er done, this is the exact reaction you will find in the congregation—People equally zealous for and against. Jesus must really love us a lot to put up with this when so much hangs in the balance.
Pastor Bill on Mon, November 28, 2005
Good article—but not really hitting the problem.
You can not compare an evangelist/Apostle/apologist/1st century preacher to a CHURCH.
1) Paul as an evangelist did indeed become “all things to all men” for the sake of the Gospel message where he entered into the territory of the hearer. This territory was not just geographical, it was their basic belief system and the way they approached “religion.” Paul brought “relationship” with him.
2) The Church (body of believers) is not the apostle Paul although Paul is a part of the “Church.” We so often confuse buildings/programs/events with “church” and miss the life changing experience that can only be experienced through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
3) The individuals in the “CHURCH” should be equipped do specific work (IE) tasks/functions/programs/ with the “GIFTS” they have to make the body of believers attractive for the unbeliever. It is the denial of the individual “GIFTS of the Spirit” that is the real issue in our churches today. We play at CHURCH with people who deny the “gifts of the Spirit” and think that we can have “CHURCH” without the “SPIRIT” of God in the center of our Church. To me this is extreme foolishness!
4) The “Church” can not be “all things to all men” BUT people (for the sake of reaching the lost) can. This does not confuse the church being the “body” of Christ with the “gifts” that the Body of Christ should possess although articles like the one we read often confuse the two.
5) The Church—should not change and should hold to the strict standards that Jesus in His Word holds for the “Church.” This is accomplished when we the “Body of believers” want to become more “Christ like” as individual members of the BODY.
6) The same problems still face the CHURCH today that the first century apostles faced as they come with different names and titles! We have the Pharisees who are politically offended by the “right way (singular) that God insists on the Church to function.” We have the “Gnostics” that think that their education and knowledge is the key to their “faith.” We have the same old Satan running around to see who he can devour! Satan’s game is still on and our game players are still debating on how we should do it when the WORD has specific instructions. FOOLISHNESS! (I used the word GAME as an analogy when it is a real life and death struggle for those who need a close up relationship with Jesus—it is NO GAME)
7) We think that we can lower the STANDARDS set for HOLINESS and find a PROGRAM or become “seeker sensitive” to make our numbers grow and we are then successful. The Church is filled with people who think the “CHURCH” is a “SOCIAL event” and not a STANDARD for life that is headed by JESUS! Church is a SUNDAY thing as lives are lived the other 6 days with more conforming to the world than to Jesus.
WOW!! I will stop here—I think I am very passionate on this subject as an Evangelist who sends people into social events where they hear about each other—when they should be there to HEAR FROM GOD! God is our great physician as He works those miraculous CHARACTER CHANGING EVENTS THAT ARE ONLY ACCOMPLISHED WHEN THE WORD OF GOD ENTERS IN. PREACH THE WORD!
Pastor Bill
Debbie on Mon, November 28, 2005
I have worked with churches since 1977 on “Outreach and Nurture or Evangelism Programs/Committees”. Some churches are too comfortable with “play groups” to want new growth in their church. Their need to control the running of the church is exclusive of new people coming in and taking leadership positions. Paul knew this. He wanted to assure that his newly formed church continued to stay on the true mission of the church….Reaching HIS people outside those doors.
Git it Done…means personal discipleship to not just share Christ with others but by example saying “Here I am Lord, Use Me.” That would put Churched believers out on the streets, in the schools volunteering,on the playgrounds, in laundromats, and under bridges at night giving blankets to the homeless. We would have to reach beyond our 10% tithing and give as much as we could for outreach ministries. It would involve alot of time, sacrifices. It might mean missing a board meeting to serve dinner at the local homeless center.
It might mean sacrificing some personal time. Lets see…Saturday golf verses rebuilding a porch for an elderly lady. Which will you choose?
As for me and my house…well we are gonna serve the Lord 110%. But if two families say that…. hmmm just think of the ministry we could do. If three families said that…. we can truly say ....Lets Git It Done!
liz on Mon, November 28, 2005
Thanks Todd, the seeker/discipleship argument takes over too often & gets really old. We should do what God calls us to do..and stop trying to mold everyone into the same thing. Several people have been e-mailing their thoughts regarding this exact question to me for the last year. Here are some fun/quirky and provoking dream “what if"s.
1. What if we bought a tow truck and helped people who got stuck, in a time of immediate need…no charge just an invite to church for the “bill”.
2. What if we met in the food court of a mall then offered to buy people coffee if they would talk to us for 5 minutes. (a group in England was doing this on campus)
3. What if we went out on Sat. morning and actually went into neighborhoods to say hello! (or servant acts)
4. What if we opened a stand up comedy venue with only clean comics.
5. What if we went to a local park and started a spontaneous game of kickball or soccer and invited all the neighborhood kids.
6. What if we actually said hello to people we didn’t know outside of our “cliques” at church.
7. What if we Gasp…reconstructed the entire “service” for non-believers (please no dumping on this yet, work with me for a minute) by creating a narrative story style with interactive modules, and media. (by the way I am hardcore Baptist, no easy believism. Cmon we don’t even talk the language of our congregations let alone the “lost” People endure most of our services)
Go Ed & Jeff!..new paradigm thinkers would be welcome at Community Arts. (notice no “churh” insert palpatations of shock here).
8. What if fellow believers would stop “dumping” on pioneer idea people who do take action. Hmmmm.
Let’s excercise some imaginuity!When we run up against the walls that exist, think about do we want to be in a “club” playing church for the next 10 years or can we excercise a deep Christian walk, disciple others and be innovative by changing or going outside of the current parameters of “church”?
To continue the dialogue: [removed]
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James on Mon, November 28, 2005
There is some great discussion here. I wish we could all get in a room and talk face to face. There seems to be common threads in our discussion. 1). We have to do church differently 2). We sense and feel the desire and need to reach out, go out and be out in our community 3). Church folks somehow have to change their perception of who they are and what they can be to the lost.
I’m a worship leader and have been for 30 years. I’ve seen and done most of everything in the field of music and the arts. A common thread or tension I run up against is folks who want church “their-way” even though they know we should be changing to reach out.
We are in a huge paradigm shift from modernity to post-chrisitan age. Even the “seeker” sensitive churches are changing to meet the needs of the new generation of unchurched or what Brian Mclearn calls pre-christian generation.
I totally understand where many of our dear Christian people are coming from. Many see going to church, reading their Bible, regular prayertime as the “work” of being a Christian. Many do not see that those disciplines are just the preparation for the work of reaching out. How many Bible studies do we have going in our churches? How many of those studies reach out on a regular basis? I’m sure there are many, but in my last church…none! It became a club to join, outsiders were not welcome, even tho’ the motto of the small groups were to, “Reach Out”.
In the last two to three years my heart has grown increasingly irritated with church stuff, and more inflamed to see the lost come to know Christ. I confess, I personally am uncomfortable sharing my faith because I grew up in an era that sort of thing was only welcomed until called upon or requested. I grew up in the area of the “I found it” campaign. I’m not putting it down, I’m simply saying that programs aren’t going to bring the pre-christian to Christ. It will be the New Testament model of one to one, or one to two or three.
The fire has to be in our “belly’s” to see and desire the lost come to Christ. Our hearts need the fire of Christ’s heart. When we teach, preach, model that before our congregations, transformation can take place.
I’m not against strategies, plans or even programs. I am against sitting around thinking that a program will bring people to Christ. People introduce people to Christ, and His Holy Spirit renders their heart open to receive.
Not every Christian believes or feels this way. There is a real threat that “Our comfortable churches” will get messy and dirty when the unsaved start entering our sanctuaries. Even the word sanctuary has an aire of refuge away from the world, and that was the correct definition years ago. But now our “sanctuaries” will need to become shelters, healing rooms, safe houses, worship centers, if we are to reach this generation. Thanks for some wonderful thoughts, you’ve encouraged me with your discussion.
Wendi on Mon, November 28, 2005
Here are some things we’re talking about related to “Getting R Done”
We look pretty much like the church over-programmed with things to disciple the already found with very intentionally designed to reach the lost. We’re just brainstorming at the moment, but its pretty serious brainstorming. Some would be pretty hard for the church people to swallow.
Our mission statement is “we exist to help people find Jesus Christ and learn to follow Him fully.” We want to tag every budget dollar as “primarily find” or “primarily follow.” We know it’s not really that neat, but it will still be telling. We already know what we’ll discover.
We thought about requiring every ministry to balance their activities equally (find and follow). For every event that is designed for growth and discipleship there must be something that involves touching our community and people who are not part of the church.
We want to spend some significant time examining how it would “feel” to be a newcomer at our church (seeker or not), and then also how it would feel to someone completely unchurched. Once I visited with a young man named Jeremy before services. He told me he was an agnostic and exploring all the major world religions for a class at the university. Today he was exploring Christianity. He had never stepped one foot onto a church and recalled that he “thought he knew a Christian guy in Jr. High.” Found us on the web. He asked me “how does it work here – is there assigned seating or something?” – now that really is unchurched!! I chatted with him a few minutes and introduced him to one of our college students. I did not pull out my Four Spiritual Laws and ask him who was on the throne of his life. I prayed for him throughout the service. The first song was a hymn “Oh the blood, the blood the precious blood” (are we filming an episode of CSI?) Then came a worship chorus – “I want to see you, touch your face, feel you near me.” My mind was racing about what on earth Jeremy must have thought.
So we want to look at every detail (bulletin, program, activities, signs on the campus) through Jeremy’s eyes – still sing about the blood, but explain it, describe how one comes to “see, touch, and feel” the God of the universe. This will help “seeker” (yes – it is seeker sensitive), while reminding the rest of us what we are singing about.
We want to find a way to evaluate the success of every program and ministry by both “find” and “follow” criteria. If new people are not becoming part of or being impacted by a ministry – then we should not consider it successful. We’re all putting our ministries on the table for evaluation.
Finally – we want to become very intentional about helping people connect after they identify themselves. When someone fills out a card or makes a decision and tells someone about, we want to develop some systematic ways to keep track of them. I once read a statistic that only 7% of people will self-engage. All the information we give people about our church and its ministries is for the 7%. We leave the 93% to find their own way with our plethora of information – and I’m afraid they are not successful. So we want to learn how to keep close track of newcomers.
Few of our thoughts about “Getting R Done”
Brad on Mon, November 28, 2005
First off Larry the Cable Guy hijacked the phrase “Get-R-Done”. I grew up farming and ranching in the south so I can testify that phrase was in our vocabulary long before it reached today’s pop culture status.
Second I have a hard time understanding people who find a way to take almost every one of Todd’s blogs and try to turn it into a “seeker sensitive” debate. Over and over we hear the “anti-seeker” movement argue that the “church” is made up of the “fellowship of believers”, and to this I agree. Most would also agree with me when I say that the “church” is not a building, but I would also argue that “church” is not “the Sunday morning service” either. And if a “fellowship of believers” pray seeking God’s direction and feel led to do something in their worship and teaching services that makes it more welcoming, inviting and enjoyable for non-believers and creates an environment where people who come in off the street can come into that saving relationship with Jesus then I fail to comprehend why other believers continue to have a problem with it. Different is not always wrong, just different. And if the problem is that your church has been stuck at 100 people for the past few decades and a new “seeker” church in your area that started a few years ago has 500+ people and is continuing to grow, then you may need to see if you don’t have an envy/coveting problem.
I have been in both what would be labeled “traditional” and “seeker” churches. I spent the first ten years of my “rebirth” at traditional Baptist and Bible churches. While there I would always here negative things about the new “seeker” church that had stared in our town (mainly because they were only two years old and were larger than most of the old established churches). Comments like they “water down the gospel”, they are “all gimmick and no substance”, “people there aren’t really saved” and the list went on, however when I ask the critics if they have ever attend as service at a seeker church the answer was always “no”. So for fun I attend a service at one of these churches for myself, and I have not been a member of a non-seeker church since! Why? Because none of the critics knew what they were talking about.
Today not all, but most of the churches I see with the Get-R-Done attitude are what most would label seeker churches. The church I attend builds into the congregation an evangelistic attitude and then provides an abundance of opportunities for them to put their faith in action.
The key however is that outreach and evangelism is not a program, it is not just something we do, but it is who we are.
Kevin on Mon, November 28, 2005
James,
I’m with you. Wendi great thoughts!
My thoughts are there are no cut and dry strategies. The Bible is God’s word and must not be tampered with. However our methods have to change. Major corporations are no longer making long-term plans because the world is changing so rapidly. The church has to recognize this and adapt its methods to reach people for Christ. Discipleship involves leading people to Christ and helping them grow in their faith. It is not an either or. It is both!
BeHim on Mon, November 28, 2005
What if we taught the Word to new Believers about Who God Is, His Attributes and Charachteristics and how He is the only True and Real WorldView.
How excited would they be that they not only see but know who this God is. They’ll never be in danger of standing before Christ and hearing ... “depart from me you workers of iniquity for I never knew you”
Knowing Him is how we know ourselves BOTH the natural man and the New Born Man (spiritual).
This is where evangalism begins. Believers who are excited about Him, His Salvation, and simply talking about Him ALL THE TIME.
The “opportunity” to talk about Jesus is already there, it’s our first love but we leave this to find other opportunities to talk about Him - let’s buy coffee and create an opportunity ... let’s give away gas and create an opportunity ... let’s do this, let’s do that… when in fact, the opportunit is already there it’s just we’re to afraid on how to “start” the conversation. Start with passion about Him and His Word and everything else will flow from that.
BTW. Amen Debbie, very muched liked your post.
Lanie,
Is the purpose of gathering together (Church) to make people (Christians or unbelievers) “feel wanted/welcomed”?
Many of the churches I attend don’t believe as I do, or do what I would do (thank you Lord), or say what I would say (thank you Lord), many times, from the top down; but I still go to church…. why?
Because I’m commanded to: “… not forsake the assembling of yourselves together…” We don’t go to church for unbelievers or Christians; we go to Church for HIM. To WORSHIP Him (praise Him, thank Him, etc).
As a privledge of our “gathering together”, I get to speak to other believers, some nominal, some VERY authentic, but still an opportunity to talk about Him/The Word.
BTW, like the nice lady, I usually DO ask people what they believe and about their family, what they like/dislike, how they came to the church, etc… I even try to speak to the leaders of the church about these same things… I also believe this is what EVERY Christian should do… but why don’t we???
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