Do you remember the famous soliloquy by James Earl Jones in the movie Field of Dreams? He said, “The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.” Through the past 150 years, America had endured a civil war, two world wars, strong economies, weak economies, and even a Great Depression. But there had always been baseball.
Until 1994. The year of the strike.
That year baseball insiders were busy doing what insiders in any organization naturally do — discussing, debating, and negotiating with each other. The collective bargaining agreement had elapsed, and the season had begun without a new contract in place. Every decision made during the spring and summer months that followed reflected the interests of those who profited monetarily from baseball, and America learned that when it came to their beloved game, there were two groups of people. There were the insiders: the owners, the players, the lawyers, and the unions. And there were the outsiders: the fans.
It’s easy for the needs or interests of insiders to ultimately drive the priorities of any organization. It’s just the natural tendency of any group to become insider-focused. Over time you find yourself inclined to completely disregard the concerned voices of those positioned on the outside.
From the start, it’s been the goal of Imagine Church to design a ministry with outsiders in mind. There are churches all over the Charlotte area; still, a majority of people in this region aren’t going to church. What if our dream wasn’t simply to minister to people who are already going to church, but to reach everyone else for Christ?
The problem is that most of the churches in this country are dedicated to meeting the interests, values and needs of the people who are already attending. The church today is primarily characterized by insiders reaching insiders. Yet church attendance in America is declining and those on the outside seem to have a growing indifference toward what the church has to offer. Millions of outsiders see what the church does as irrelevant, and yet most churches continue to do business as usual.
Jesus said he came “to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). He commanded his followers to go into all the world and “make disciples” of those who were not followers (Matthew 28:19). One day Jesus told the story about a shepherd who had a hundred sheep, and who left the ninety-nine that were safe in order to find the one that was lost.
In the years I’ve been a pastor, nothing has been quite so threatening to the insiders than my claim that we need to focus on who we’re trying to reach, and not who we’re trying to keep. What if we lose some of the insiders? Chances are, you will, especially if the insiders are used to having their church world revolve around them. Some church members warn against an approach that is “too evangelistic” (as if it were possible to be too evangelistic). Others will caution us to move slowly in order to get everyone on board (as if everyone will ever get on board).
Imagine Church believes that we’re called to invest in outsiders strategically. We strive to find balance between facilitating the growth of believers and reaching those who are unchurched. But we don’t ever want to make the mistake of piling up excuses and saddling our ministry with an insider mind-set that paralyzes our potential to reach outsiders. May we never be a church that hides behind what is convenient and comfortable while an entire generation is being left in the dark.
