Church without an Edge!

By Paul Barnard as first published on http://paul-barnard.blogspot.com/2010/06/church-without-edge.html

Last night I couldn’t sleep. I sat up past the early morning hours I usually hit the sack. In my time with God I was extremely aware of the fact that we have become a ‘safe’ church. Safe not in a good sense, but in the sense that we are working on our structures every possible moment. We want to make sure we have everything under control! 
Al we talk about is structures, busy defining ourselves en redefining. The question is not what would Jesus do, rather the question is: What is Jesus doing? How much time would Jesus spend building Church structures, making sure everything is documented, clinical correct.

When I look around me I see Jesus reaching out with love to those who do not deserve it. The program driven church of the West evaluate success by the number of people involved in their programs or the overall experience of people in the congregation. We have highly successful churches according to ourselves, but alas there are so few people coming in from the outside making a decision to follow Christ. We look to leaders who are modelling Christ to us. A Christ sitting in meetings and programs, teaching the same people different fads over years and yet each time, proclaiming how wonderful it is.
For us to be Church with a Edge we need to be outside in the world and to model a Christ living grace and mercy. If we want to train people in the congregations to follow Christ we have to be living examples in the community we live in. This is not a program but a living example of a life of love. This can only be done if we are willing to bow our knees before the living God and realise that it is not our Church, but the body of the living God. We made the Church a wonderful organisation, neat, tidy and a place where we are always in control. With all our rules and dogma we are making it difficult for those on the inside and the truth is that those on the outside doesn’t even stand a chance. We could never be in control of the body of Christ, Christ alone is in control.
If we look at the early church we see a dynamic community, who prayed together, read the word of God together, ate together and then made a difference where they went. We want to make Church(congregation) much more than it need to be. We are so busy keeping people so occupied with al the ‘Church’ work, meetings and programs that the real Church does not have time to make a difference there where Jesus is at work in the world.
Church with an Edge is a Church who realise that they are nothing if they are not with Christ Jesus the Lord.
What would happen if all the leaders we have in the church commit themselves to be in the world every day making a small difference where there is a opportunity while proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ? We would see people coming to the Lord, needs being med and people in congregation inspired to go out and do the same. Who would miss all the meetings and programs when the world comes to Christ? We must lead people to Christ and give them a loving community where they are loved rather than a lot of programs, courses and dogma.
To be Church with an Edge I believe that we must realise that the power base we claim for ourselves are false. That the importance of our plans and programs are a illusion and that we must start to by a basic community of Christ again.
Lots of Love, few rules and Adoring Christ.