Reaching the Community

The Calvinist tradition of worship is considered a very traditional, Presbyterian, frozen chosen worship. In their tradition, the pastor is a teaching elder, who speaks the truth of the word to the congregation. The emphasis within the church is discipleship for its members, and not as much reaching out into the community. The worship is reflective and very conservative, consisting of mostly hymns. I went to a church like this my freshman year of college, and there is a problem with this system. I love the Presbyterian beliefs and doctrine; however, if the church spends too much time looking into doctrine during worship instead of a new life found in Christ, non-believers will not be reached when they go to that church. I had gone to an Orthodox Presbyterian church. The people there were some of the nicest people that I had ever met, but the church itself was dead. For the whole year I attended, I never saw the church grow in numbers, or try to reach out to the community, or preach a sermon on the saving power of Christ, or vary their music to reach more people. It was a church for the members, not for the outsiders. If someone were even to come late to the service, it seemed that they would be looked down upon by the congregation.  

            If this type of church were to apply their passion for God and truth in the lives of others who were not Christians, the church would be doing a better job of reaching out into the community. Christian love should not only be given to others in the “Christian club.” If the church applied more of a Lutheran form of worship, teaching to the common man and not focusing so much on tradition, the church would probably reach more people. Luther believed in using songs that many people knew, and changing the words to something that related to theology to teach the message of the saving life in Christ. In this form of worship, Luther was recognizing that the world needs to be reached, not just the church itself. If that church that I went to for my freshman year, and other churches like it, started to apply more of this principle of reaching out into the community, they could better follow the Great Commission, and reach out to the lost in their area. Doctrine can still be incorporated into the sermon, but the emphasis and point of each sermon should relate back to Christ and the salvation we find in him. As it says in Matthew 28:19-20, ^“therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

            Christian brothers and sisters, let us try to reach the world and not just keep the good news to ourselves!