John Ortberg – the chap who wrote The Life You’ve Always Wanted (our recent sermons series was based on this) – has an interesting article over on LeadershipJournal. He reflects on the question ‘How is your church doing?’:

I was talking with somebody in our church recently about his work. He said: “Publicly we would talk about excellence and quality and service, but the reality was we would wake up every morning and think: ‘How can we put the competition out of business?’ We didn’t put this on our website. But we wanted to demoralize and defeat the competition”

Who is your competition?

It’s not other churches. Every church is our partner and ally. Thank God for Lutherans and Episcopalians and Methodists and Quakers and Congregationalists and Non-denominationalists. Jesus, our Founder and Leader, defined the competition: “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:16ff)

In other words, our competition is hell. Hell is at work wherever the will of God is defied.

Every time a little child is left unloved, unwanted, uneducated, unnoticed. Every time a marriage ends. Every time racial differences divide a street or a city or a church. Every time money gets worshipped or hoarded. Every time a lie gets told. Every time generations get separated. Every time a workplace becomes de-humanizing. When families get broken up. When virtue gets torn down. When sinful habits create a lives of shame or a culture of shamelessness. When faith gets undermined and hope gets lost and people get trashed. That’s when hell is prevailing.

It is not acceptable to Jesus that hell prevail. Your job is not to meet a budget, run a program, fill a building, or maintain the status quo. Your job is to put hell out of business.

That’s what it means for your church to do well.

Full article “How’s Your Church Doing?” | LeadershipJournal.net