From the April-June 2009 Issue
Challenges without and challenges within
Jorg and Heike Muller
WarburgSome people seem to be always looking for new challenges in life, a stimulating task or even a problem. In church life one never needs to look for new challenges. The challenge of going and evangelizing the world next door is as old as it is new every day – at work, in the bus or the underground, the kindergarten or wherever. It is at the same time a truly stimulating task when we are then challenged by those who don’t believe to explain our faith and our hope. And, what about problems? Well, in a church context we are not talking about a mathematical problem but about moral problems – and at times it looks as if they thrive well in church. Here we have what I am happy to classify as challenges without and challenges within. We are facing some particular challenges in both categories here in Warburg, Germany.
Challenges without
The most obvious challenge in the past twenty-four months has been the overhaul and redecoration of our new building. The work is slowly but steadily coming to its end. The official opening is planned for early summer this year. This is still a challenging time schedule, but possible.
Now that we have geographically moved into the heart of Warburg we want the townspeople to know that we also have a heart for Warburg, a love that goes beyond the helping hand. In the past two years the church has gained a very good reputation in the town and we have increasingly more contacts with people. Now we want to invite them to the church. We want them to know what we stand for. We want the people to hear the Good News.
Our next big challenge is the new meeting hall. The plans for the hall and the foyer have been well received and we are currently getting everything ready for the planning application. This new meeting hall, which will seat between 120 to 150 people, is a great financial challenge to a small church like ours with 32 members. Every member will need to invest a lot of time in this project as we will do most of the work ourselves. We therefore need the commitment of ‘all’ for this ‘challenge without’.
An additional challenge is that I have been asked by a small church about 13 miles away to help with the pastoral oversight of the fellowship. That fellowship has about 16 members, some of whom are very committed. I have known the church for a good number of years and have agreed to help them initially for one year. After that we will have to review the situation.
Challenges within
The outward challenge of planning and constructing a church building is a continual reminder that the far greater challenge is the building up of the body of Christ, the church. But how do we ‘do church’? How do we meet the challenges within? How we ‘do church’ inevitably reflects our fundamental convictions about the Word of God. As we live for Christ in increasingly post-modern times, the greatest challenge seems to be to know the biblical pattern for the church and to put our trust in the Head of the Church to bless, rather than in ministry methods and management techniques. One of the most important challenges within is the challenge for unity in spirit and truth, so that our mission cause will not only be the lowest common denominator, but the heartbeat of the church.
Related to that is loving one another’. I find that ‘loving one another’ is a special challenge when a building project is a prolonged challenge. But the backdrop of our sanctification is the fellowship of the church. In this context we as Christians grow spiritually and are being sanctified more and more. However this means that every member needs to be integrated into church life and to participate in church life, so that individual needs can be met and each can minister to others. Obviously, the closer we live together the more we will have to be honest about our sin. None can claim to be without sin. Sin is not to be denied but to be confessed. This is why we need the gospel, because our Lord wants to forgive and renew the inner fellowship of His body. As we meet this challenge we will be renewed in our corporate fellowship – and have renewed dedication in serving Christ with heart and hand.
In an age of secularism and materialism the obvious and continual individual challenge within is for practising discipleship, i.e. commitment to living for Christ and His cause. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a major book on the cost of discipleship. A summary of his book is: ‘the cost: everything’.
In closing it is good to remember that God is on our side, giving us an eager heart to will and to do what is for His glory. And let us also remember what is written in Jeremiah 50 verse 44: ‘Who is like me and who can challenge me?’