A Functional and Safe Community

What?

Our Vision

At our recent Congregational Meeting, we agreed on the following statement of vision:

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At Narellan CCC, we aim to be a healthy, functional and safe community of faith with members known for integrity.

Today we will continue this sermon series explaining our Vision and Mission statements by considering together the second and third qualifying terms describing the community of faith we aim to be,

At Narellan CCC, we aim to be a functional and safe community of faith.

Unless you are a leader of some sort, I am pretty certain these are not categories you routinely apply to our church. Yet especially in modern Australia, following The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013–2017), these categories are the most important for those who have not grown up in a local church.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

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A relevant example that demonstrates the importance of these terms is the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade. According to the Wikipedia entry,

The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to send the Light Brigade to prevent the Russians from removing captured guns from overrun Turkish positions, a task for which the light cavalry were well-suited. However, there was miscommunication in the chain of command and the Light Brigade was instead sent on a frontal assault against a different artillery battery, one well-prepared with excellent fields of defensive fire. The Light Brigade reached the battery under withering direct fire and scattered some of the gunners, but they were forced to retreat immediately, and the assault ended with very high British casualties and no decisive gains.[See Wikipedia contributors, "Charge of the Light Brigade", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://bityl.co/6TLR (accessed 21-Apr-2021)]

I am sure this tragic event is known to many of you, but let me try to describe the scene for those not so familiar.

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The British were lined up against the Russians at either end of a valley running West to East. The British force was made up of two brigades: a Light Brigade of fast, unarmored horses mounted by soldiers armed with lances and swords. This brigade of 670 was effective for reconnaissance and skirmish-style combat.

The British force also had at its disposal a Heavy Brigade of Dragoons and the Scots Greys. These were soldiers with metal helmets and swords for close combat, a shock force for leading frontal charges to break enemy lines. They had successfully attacked the Russians on the southern heights.

From a high vantage point, the Army General Lord Raglan could see the Russian troops on the south-side heights of the valley were in retreat yet were preparing to remove the guns from those redoubts. A quick attack from the Light Brigade would ensure that position and equipment would remain in the hands of the British. Lord Raglan therefore sent to Lord Lucan, in charge of the Light Brigade, written instructions which read,

Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front – follow the enemy and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. Troop Horse Artillery may accompany. French cavalry in on your left. Immediate.

Not only was this message cryptic and confusing, but from the valley floor Lord Lucan could not see what Lord Raglan could see. So he misunderstood the order as directing his calvary to attack the Russian artillery a kilometre away at the other end of the valley head-on. This failed manoever would see 670 British calvary attack 20 battalions of Russian infantry and 50 artillery pieces. The Light Brigade faced fire from three sides.

In the aftermath, the brigade was not completely destroyed, but did suffer terribly, with 118 men killed, 127 wounded, and about 60 taken prisoner. After regrouping, only 195 men were still with horses.[See Tim Harford, “The Curse of Knowledge meets the Valley of Death”, Cautionary Tails Podcast, 2-Apr-2021, https://bit.ly/3aoclt1 (accessed 20-Apr-2021).]

The Charge of the Light Brigade is a tragic example of weak systems of communication and a lack of trust and care for the safety of people.

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Why?

Our Adminstrative Assistant, Franz, and myself, along with the Elders and Ministry Team, are diligently working together to develop simple and efficient systems for our church. Yet it is up to all of us to own the vision and work together to make this a community of faith safe for anyone and everyone whom God would trust us to disciple.

So What?

To help us recognise what a functional and safe church looks like, let me highlight a couple of examples from the Bible.

A Functional Community at Jerusalem

The appointing of deacons at Jerusalem is an example of the development of good systems for the functioning of the Jerusalem church (Ac 6:1–7).

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Acts 6:1 CSB

In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

The first church at Jerusalem consisted of followers of Jesus who were converted from Judaism —although they would see their new faith as the fulfilment of Judaism, which it was and is. Among those believers, there were two groups: Jews living in Jerusalem who spoke Greek as their primary language and Jews who were more closely tied to their ancestral language and customs.

It is not surprising the Hellenists would feel they were being treated as second-class and neglected. According to commentators,

The circumstances that have given rise to this accusation are unstated, and Luke’s interest seems more practical than political —that is, he is concerned with the ineffective infrastructure that had resulted in unmet needs within the community of goods.[Robert W. Wall, “The Acts of the Apostles,” in New Interpreter’s Bible, ed. Leander E. Keck, vol. 10 (Nashville, TN, USA: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), pg 110.]

Whatever was really going on, the apostles recognised the problem and dealt with it by stepping in and running everything themselves, since they knew better and could do a better job than anyone else, right? … wrong!

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Acts 6:3–4 CSB

Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

The apostles recognised they were not called nor equipped to meet such a practical need in the community —if they were it would not have become a problem in the first place— so they called the church to pray and discern who amongst them would be better suited to this important ministry.

Notice these deacons chosen did more than "wait on tables”. Philip became an evangelist and Stephen a martyr for the Lord.

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To be a functional community of faith means we have simple and efficient systems helping us to meet the discipleship-oriented needs of all who come within our sphere of influence, those whom God would trust us to disciple, systems which do not overwhelm our resources nor burn out our people.

An Unsafe Community at Corinth

For my second example, I would draw your attention to the disruptive way the Corinthian church commemorated The Lord’s Supper as an example of an unsafe community (1Co 11:17–26).

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1 Corinthians 11:17 CSB

Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.

The way the early churches celebrated The Lord’s Supper was very different to the way we share this sacrament today. For them it would have looked more like how we shared the sacrament on Maundy Thursday in conjunction with a community meal.

For the Corinthian church however, their community meals became corrupted by the divisions among them (1Co 11:19). They had lost the sense of the sacrament and these occasions became merely meals.

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1 Corinthians 11:21 CSB

For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk!

The sharing of this meal by the community was supposed to be an occasion of worship and fellowship and service, not merely an opportunity to fill one’s belly! Also, it was most certainly not an opportunity for those who had much to embarrass those who had little.

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I had an experience of this in my childhood. For a time, my family lived in a triplex. Each of the families had children the same age, so we all got along together and would occasionally come together for a barbeque.

On one occasion, the family at one end of the triplex hosted such a barbeque and invited the other two families. My family lived in the middle. The family at the other end wanted to contribute, so brought a casserole to share. Casseroles are not really a barbeque item and this was clearly a casserole which a poor family would eat.

The host made such a big deal about this faux pas, thoroughly insulting the family’s gesture, made his other guests feel uncomfortable, and ultimately embarrassed himself and brought shame to his own family.

1 Corinthians 11:22 CSB

Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!

The apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthians to eat at home if they were hungry, but when they came together for The Lord’s Supper to not act toward others in such a way as to humiliate them and bring dishonour upon the Church of God.

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To be a safe community of faith means we care for all those who come within our sphere of influence, those whom God would trust us to disciple. And to do so in such as a way as to demonstrate the ideals of the Kingdom of God.

Now What?

So what then can be done to become a functional and safe community of faith and maintain those qualities?

The Systems of a Local Church

Nelson Searcey is the founder and lead pastor of The Journey Church, an evangelical Christian church in New York City and Boca Raton, Florida. An author of many Christian books on church leadership, Searcey has identified the eight systems required by a local church:

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The Weekend Service System helps us plan, implement and evaluate the weekend service at our church.

The Evangelism System helps us reach people with the good news about Jesus.

The Assimilation System helps us move people from being first-time guests to members.

The Small Groups System produces small groups for the purpose of discipleship.

The Ministry System mobilises people for significant ministry.

The Stewardship System develops extravagant givers at our church.

The Leadership System develops leaders at all levels of our church.

The Strategic System helps us to constantly evaluate and improve our church.

According to Searcey,

The eight systems of every church are interconnected. While some may be more developed than others, none of these systems can stand alone. And since a church is a living entity, like us, the well-developed systems run whether we are thinking about them are not. Just as you breathe while you sleep, strong systems operate without constant supervision. Still, to make sure that all of our church’s systems are running correctly, we should take them in for a periodic checkup.[Nelson Searcey, "Healthy Systems, Healthy Church", pg 11.]

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To be a functioning community of faith means we have systems and we take those systems seriously.

Yet systems are not abstract. They require people to do something!

The friends of Jesus are called to service in the Kingdom of God. Yet God does not call the equipped, he equips the called.

Every member should have a ministry (service in the church) and a mission (service in the neighbourhood).

Our church is not only a family of brothers and sisters by faith, it is also a body of Christ. A body has many parts that serve different functions. Some of those parts deserve and receive special attention, while others work in the background often unnoticed, but each are interconnected and equally important to the whole.

From Projects to People

Once our systems become a ‘well-oiled machine’, there arises the danger of it all becoming too easy to focus on the regular programs and occasional events, in and of themselves, that we forget about the care of people.

The Church, or “ekklesia”, is any gathering of disciples making disciples. We do not need systems to be a church, but we do need systems to help us grow our people. This is reflected in this description from the apostle Paul,

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Ephesians 4:11–16 CSB

And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

The leadership of a church maintains the systems and it is up to all of the members to care for each other so we all grow in unity and the knowledge of Jesus the Christ.

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Treating programs as more important than people is one danger. Another is letting our differences divide us.

The purpose of a local church is growing people into disciples who make disciples. To that end therefore, our church must be a safe space for anyone whom the Lord may draw to us for growth. Remember, the Lord adds to our number and influence, meaning he will draw people to this community because he can trust us to care for new converts placing their faith in Jesus and to teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded (cf. Mt 28:19-20).

That means we must be a safe space for anybody and everybody who comes through our doors and is looking for a spiritual home! ANYBODY, period.

Last week we had a lovely family visit with us. It was really nice to meet them and hear a little of their story. However, at one point I noticed how both had their backs to the wall as they were surrounded —some might say “cornered”— by some of our regular members. I hope in that position they felt safe :-)

As Paul recognised in his letter to the Corinthians, there will be “factions” among us. Some will be leaders and others will be helpers. Some are male and some are female. Some are young and some are old, some are well off where others struggle from paycheck to paycheck, some are employed some are looking for work. Some are Australian and some are Canadian, or Filipino, or Scottish, or Irish, or any number of other possible ethnic backgrounds.

There are differences among us, but what is the ideal of the Kingdom of God?

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Galatians 3:27–28 CSB

For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.

It is not up to us to decide who enters the Kingdom of God. Our job is to love our neighbours and especially to love those who God leads to become one with us.

To be a safe community of faith means we do not let our differences divide us. Further, we strive at all times to protect the dignity of those who are vulnerable.

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It is up to all of us to own the vision and work together to make this a community of faith safe for anyone and everyone whom God would trust us to disciple.

To better understand how we maintain a safe community, we are going to all complete the Safe Ministry Awareness Course on next Sunday, 2 May, during Morning Tea after the service.

Until then, let us pray: