What Image for the Church?

Over the weekend, I was at a Pastor's Gathering before District Conference and one of the leaders, Doug Sider, shared some interesting insights.

He was asking what image best suits our church.

1. Museum - a place to look at past things and celebrate them.

2. School - a place to learn.

3. Hospital - a place to heal.

4. Fire station - a place where everything they do is focused on serving the community.

Not that choices 1-3 are bad. Part of being the church involves looking at the past, learning, and healing. But choice 4 is a very important image. Firefighters train to go out into the community to serve the community. Everything they do is about going out! When they raise funds, it is to better serve the community by purchasing new equipment, etc. When they train, it is to better serve the community.

What if the church were like a fire station? And everything we did was for the benefit of the community and world. What if everything we did was to go out?

After all, the very last thing Jesus said to his disciples and us was... Go therefore...