Two Worthy Commands

On Friday I was at a church growth seminar where the speaker, Paul Borden, made the point that the Christian Church’s inner nature is usually rooted in one of two ways. Oversimplified some churches are rooted in The Great Commission: Go make disciples of all nations. These churches have a heart for evangelism and want to reach as many people as possible with the Good News that God loves them. They are out there with the message, seeking ways to bring people into the fold. Other churches are rooted in The Great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your mind, with all your heart, and with all your strength AND love you neighbor as yourself. They are seeking to love people into the fold.
If I’m not mistaken, I’ve come to learn that a substantial root of John Calvin Presbyterian Church is The Great Commandment. Listen to our list of Fall 2008 activities: CROP Walk, Walk for the Homeless, Alternative Gift Market, Support for Iraqi refugees, ACCA financial support as well as support for its activities, Bread for the World Sunday, supporting a Ugandan child’s education, Children’s Worship and Arts, Kid’s Musical Theater, and protesting genocide in Sudan. I’m sure I’m leaving something out but the point is, this is a church that believes in loving its neighbor as a sign of God’s influence in our lives.
We have much to celebrate and much to be proud about. Yet, if Paul has a message for us today, it is that God is not done with us yet. “Our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” We each are ‘works in process’; so too, communities of faith are also ‘works in process’. God is working in us to transform us from one degree of glory to another.
The idea of God’s transformation does not mean that whatever has gone before us is old or used up or in need of elimination. It means God is expanding the root system and that God intends for us to bear more new fruit. In a sense, we are always in process of being “Re-formed.”
With the decline in numbers of most of the mainline churches, I would venture to guess that God would like to transform us to be a little more like our sisters and brothers who, like Paul, say “I believe, and so I speak”. On the other hand, folks like Rick Warren who are really good at The Great Commission have recently been paying more attention to The Great Commandment. Praise God for both transformations!