MISSION MATTERS

A monthly take on some of the mission work the Free Church is involved in by our Mission Director, DAVID MEREDITH

Who is church for? It’s a fundamental question but one which is barely asked. In my travels I attend churches which clearly do not expect any non-believers to be present. They are usually correct. Sadly, no-one gets saved; it’s been years since an adult has been baptised. Funerals outnumber admission of new members by profession of faith. If that’s the case, we have a problem.

The sermons in these churches are usually erudite, accurate, but totally in-house. There is no assumption that anyone in the room may be a sceptic. Clearly, the church has become a club for the already-convinced rather than a refuge for the lost. The whole ethos of the church is inward looking, it is taken for granted that everyone knows what’s going on. Jokes are seldom good ideas anyway but in-house banter screams ‘clique’.

What’s the argument for defending the indefensible? Usually, I’m taken to Ephesians 4 and told that the role of the teacher/pastor is to ‘equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.’ (Ephesians 4:12) The main function of the church is to provide a teaching ministry. An expert is employed to teach the Bible to the saints. We love experts, and the modern minister must be an expert who is able to rightly divide the word of truth. However, discipleship is a continuum which begins with evangelism. If the sceptic is never addressed, the spiritually hungry fed and the doubter challenged with apologetic arguments then that church is stagnant.

Honestly, we don’t know much about the detail of how churches in the New Testament conducted public worship. There is virtually nothing about how or what they sang. The liturgy is obscure. We do have some hints about the culture and expectations. Don’t you just love the Corinthian church? Totally dysfunctional but frighteningly normal. In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul encourages clarity in our public worship services. The chapter assumes that ‘unbelievers’ and ‘enquirers’ will be present. The church service had elements (tongues) for unbelievers and other features (prophecy) for believers. The gift of tongues has disappeared, and prophecy has morphed into relevant Bible teaching so unambiguous, crystal clear relevant preaching must be a baseline for all churches today.

Take the greatest sermon of them all, the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5-7) Yes, it’s addressed to the believer, ‘You are the salt of the earth’. We also have one of the most solemn evangelistic closers ever, ‘Enter though the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.’ Jesus saw that both the fool and the wise were in the room.

The epistles were designed to be read in church. Famously, Romans touches the world of Greeks and non-Greeks — or Jew and Gentile, to use Paul’s favourite words. John’s epistles tease out the genuine from the wannabees in terms of possession of genuine faith and love.

Acknowledge that non-believers are in the room. Simply address the fact that not everyone will be on board with our beliefs. State that you understand where they are coming from. There was a time when we were that person. Speak of them and to them with grace; our agnostic friend is not our enemy.

Speak and listen to their world. You cannot go two pages in the Bible without a realisation that the authors and speakers were engaging with the world as it was in their day. There may be a reference to the lyrics of their songs, ‘even a prophet of their own said…’ (Titus 1:12) If you open a Spurgeon sermon, within a few sentences you will get a reference to the London of the 1880s. The sermon I read this morning mentioned London aldermen and the Hudson Bay Company, as well as a quote from The Lancet. Make it clear that there is a decision to be made. This edition of The Record has an emphasis on Mission. You will read of Lausanne and our new work in the Glasgow Merchant City. Different singers but one song: follow Jesus. (Matthew 28:18-20) Be fishers of men. Splashaway Bay in Ayr is reckoned to be Scotland’s largest water park. It’s fun, noisy but devoid of fish. No self-respecting fish would ever venture there because there’s nothing for them. Your church should be a well-stocked nutritious gospel reservoir. •