Church as Being or Doing

Fascinating discussion this morning with Kevin Luce comparing church experiences of Mars Hill in Seattle and New City here in Chattanooga. Among a number of dimensional differences we emerged with the suggestion that some churches are more about the doing, and others are more about the being. Now neither of our churches are at the extreme of liberal social gospel (only do) or hypercalvinist isolation (only be), but some exploration or nuance is in order. I find that a church that does not have proper emphasis on its discipleship becomes a revolving door. A church that does not have a proper emphasis on its influence becomes staid and ingrown. Our church practices a “discipleship in the work” model where spiritual growth and connection to the church occur in the doing. I worry about two things in that model. If we do not have a dedicated clearing house for promoting involvement, or a very focused effort on the part of staff and leaders to ensure that new members or visitors are plugged in – then there is no real encouraged discipleship, and the myth is perpetuated that New City is a hard place to get connected. The additional complication with our church is that a very rich socio-economic and racial diversity does not contribute easily to relationships of genuine fellowship and accountability. There is a lot of effort required to come together and work on the being. While this is not insurmountable, and our challenge is to prepare folks on all sides to surmount it – it has presented obstacles in the success of small groups throughout our church. Kevin described what he saw in Seattle as the primary being model led to less and less outward public ministry. That is dangerous – but again, the call from the leadership needs to be “what is your discipleship calling you to do in ministry?” “What is your being moving you out to do?” I think the reality should be that a church that seeks to be a “being” church, should always be “doing” - reaching out to others in order that more might “be.” While on the other hand, a church that seeks to be a doing church should always be intentionally reaching out to encourage the “be” of those met through ministry. One won’t work without the other.