David Kinnaman, president at Barna, recently reported the results of a study on if and how churches contribute to the community. Here are his results:
1) Churches are perceived to be an important element of a community, even among the unchurched. This positive view is partly due to the fact that most unchurched adults arede-churched, or former churchgoers. So, although they may be wary of personal involvement, they have an understanding of the service and assistance that churches can provide to their communities.
2) Indifference toward churches is a key feature of skeptics’ opinions. Even among the most non-religious adults—atheists and agnostics—the majority simply express neutral perspectives about the role of congregations. Only 14% of this segment is negative toward churches. Despite the aggressive posture of leading skeptics, most Americans who have no religious affiliation or belief are not overtly hostile to churches. Their response is better characterized as benign indifference.
3) Churches are not thought of as contributing to civic enhancement, beyond poverty assistance. Most people do not connect the role of faith communities to civic affairs, particularly local efforts like assisting city government, serving public education, doing community clean-up, or engaging in foster care and adoption, and so on. There are opportunities for faith leaders to provide more intentional, tangible, and much-needed efforts to assist local government, particularly as many services have been diminished by the economy.
4) Introducing people to a transformed life in Christ is rarely perceived to be an act of community service. There seems to be a disconnect for most Americans between serving the community and helping individuals find their way to God through Christ. Ministry-related goals – such as teaching the Bible, introducing people to Christ, and bringing people to salvation – are infrequently viewed as a primary way to serve the community. Even among many churchgoers, contributing positively to the community is perceived to be the result of offering the right mix of public service programs. Yet, this seems to miss an important biblical pattern: you change communities by transforming lives.
“There are opportunities for faith leaders to provide more intentional, tangible, and much-needed efforts to assist local government, particularly as many services have been diminished by the economy.”
Unfortunately in the church that I most recently served, it was the opinion of one of the elders (who was over stewardship, of all things) that said God didn’t call the Church to solve the world’s problems. When key leaders take this stance, it’s hard to be a church that meets the needs without first having to jump the hurdles within your own four walls.
It’s interesting how God is drawing folks in our new community. Our first contacts seem to need of the balancing & stabilizing effects of Christ’s Body, and family. Now, in just the last few weeks, we’ve been getting to know 3 young African American men, related by family breakdown – 1 in early 20′s (a step-brother to #3), a 2nd who’s in his 5th year of high school (struggling with passing English) and the 3rd who is brother to the 2nd (1/2 brother? and step to the 1st). They all live together with an aunt in the neighborhood. They’re interested in Bible study, but all of them have varying degrees of difficulty reading. So, we were talking today about how we can build them up in Christ while being brothers & sisters in Christ & helping them with school work or GED.
This will be a challenge to the predominantly middle-class white church which has welcomed us to form a church plant/cluster among them. We’re trusting God to enable and inspire!
“Ministry-related goals – such as teaching the Bible, introducing people to Christ, and bringing people to salvation – are infrequently viewed as a primary way to serve the community.”
That because they are not serving the community. It’s advancing our brand of religion and nothing more. Take that senatence and replace it like this
“Ministry-related goals – such as teaching the Koran, introducing people to Mohammaed, and converting people to Islam – are infrequently viewed as a primary way to serve the community”
Would you feel the above statement qualifies as community service or advancing an agenda upon a community?
@Jimmy (#3)… if soul-care were part of it, then yes.
Sadly, “salvation” has been disconnected from being more human. It’s other-worldly, unassociated with civic-life. It’s more associated with good behavior or obeying the codes of the sub-culture of the community to remain included in the church-community, rather than benefitting the larger community. I take it that you interpreted the survey’s #5 that way.
AA is an example of Jesus helping souls in a true community-service way… and if Muslims were serving in this way, I would call it community service. Another service would be education…
I believe the gospel requires us to meet the needs of the whole person. Yes we should serve the various needs of people in our communities in the name of Christ. I am not sure we should be concerned about whether people know about it. Didn’t Jesus instruct us to do such acts without concern for the praise of man? I believe we should obey the gospel of Christ in its fullness and be content with God’s reward.
Dale,
Part of the flaws in our Church that I observe from my experience are the dispensationalist views.
I was in it most my life. I have heard from the pulpit the view that “why would we want to help fix satan’s world”?
The misunderstanding they have that Jesus did NOT assume rule and totally defeat satan on the cross and that He is waiting to rule in the future millenium leads them to see it this way. They believe satan is still ruling earth.
I thank God He converted me into the view that when Jesus screamed out “Tetelstai” He meant He had concluded the mission His Father sent Him to complete, which was to destroy the works of the devil in total.
That = more than just redeeming us, to the dispensationalist it doesn’t. I think God will continue to convert His people out of these flawed man made systems.
One aspect of community service that I have learned, sadly not in the church, is giving the poor and marginalized a voice in helping themselves. When we let them tell us how we can best be of assistance, we honor them and grant them dignity that too often has been run down by people who claim to serve or help, but also come “knowing exactly what ‘these people’ need.” When we do this, people are remarkably open to hearing what we have to say about what we do and why.
Peace,
Randy G.m