Serving Our Community And Potential Neglect of the Gospel

Church Ministries that serve our communities are important and necessary, living out the love of Christ by being His hands and feet in our communities.  However, there is a danger that serving in these ministries, for many Christians can become an excuse to neglect the hard work of evangelism.  Why? Their reason is serving can often seem easier and much more humanly rewarding than having a hard Gospel conversation with people in our communities.  When a community ministry is up and running for many years, whilst there is no spiritual fruit, there becomes a problem.  Church renewal expert Paul Borden warns,

"Ministries to the community are important, but if they are not done properly and strategically, they don't cause congregations to grow and often eventually hasten their demise."1

Let's not forget that the main ministry in the life of a Christian is leading people to Christ and discipling them in Christ, this means seeking out Gospel conversations, regardless of how I feel.  Gospel ministry seeks to serve the people of our communities who diverse needs, however, their most import need is spiritual reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. Any Christian who does not obey the command of Jesus to make disciples are living in disobedience. My concern is that there will be many who will come before Christ after this life who will be turned away because Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commands," Jn 14:15.

As your church serves your community make sure the Gospel is central to all that is said and done. If a community program has been functioning for years with no Gospel fruit, though it may be a good ministry, either the program needs to be shut down or a new focus needs to be thought through in order to become more effective, Gospel-centered.   When individuals are changed by the power of the Gospel, our communities change!  Our communities begin to reconcile, forgive, love, serve and come together, looking more like Jesus everyday!

Gospel ministry must have a balance of love in action along with speaking the truth, in words, sharing the truth of one's problem of sin and the need for reconciling people to God, through belief in Christ's work on the cross to bring reconciliation on our behalf.  Otherwise, we end up meeting temporal needs at the demise of eternal needs.

1. Paul Borden, Make or Break Your Church in 365 Days, 2012, p. 126.