Two Way Street

Mark Batterson post:  One-dimensional Churches

We have a new mantra at NCC. It may not be super catchy. In fact, you may be nonplussed by it. But it's the way we're thinking about church. It's the way we're welcoming guests. It's becoming part of our DNA. Here it is: we invite YOU to be part of what God is doing at National Community Church and we want to be part of what God is doing in your life.

That may not seem like much, but I think it's huge. Most churches leave off the second-half of that statement and the result is a one-dimensional church. When people walk through our doors I assume it's because God is at work in their life somehow, someway. We want to be part of that. I think too many churches invite people to be part of what God is doing at their church. That can come across as self-serving. Don't get me wrong. We've got a huge vision at NCC. God is on the move. And God wants each of us to be part of something bigger than us and more important than us. But we've got to be two-dimensional. And that means discerning how God is already at work in people's lives and becoming part of that.

I think we had an example of that at our Kingstowne location this weekend. A woman came forward for prayer who has been coming to NCC for quite awhile and runs a missions organization. The miracle she is believing God for is the monies to open an orphanage in the Congo. They raise the cash first and they need $15,000. Her vision is our vision. That is the way God is working in her life and we want to be part of it. That doesn't always equate to a financial investment. But on this occasion I just felt like it was wrong to ask God to do something for us that we had the power to do for ourselves. So we took an impromptu offering at the end of the service. Our giving is going to translate into a miracle for those sixty kids waiting for a home!

My point? We need to have a church vision and we need to invite people to be part of it. But we also need to discern the way God is already working in each individual's life and be part of that too. Church is a two-way street.