| Rescue Station |
| Rescue Station |
The above story, various versions of which can be found on the internet, is an
analogy for the church today. We used to be a rescue station for people from
all walks of life. Rescue can have some unusual implications to it. It might
be better said that church was a place where people got their lives together,
felt the support of many others and built strong relationships with each other
and with God. They recovered from their addictions, stabilized their
marriages and were able to bring about healthy change for themselves and
their families.(This still happens today to some degree) Church was a place
where people used to attend in droves and come to the altar in droves. But
times have changed. Those who have come out of addictive life styles or out
of poverty or have moved out of high crime areas are, like the rescue station
members in the story above, now give high priority to the condition of the
rescue station. This is not just a concern for damage to the church building
but also a concern for protecting themselves and their children from a culture
that looks more and more foreign to us. Unfortunately this has led we who
are in the church to often have a hunker down bunker mentality. We have
become more concerned with keeping our church neat and tidy physically and
emotionally and spiritually. Like the rescue station members, we gather
together and in our conversation, talk will sometimes drift to the ‘good old
days’ when people flocked around the altar and the church was the center of
everything. But we regard the change in attendance as a function of the
times. It just couldn’t be us!! Meanwhile all around us are a people that we
have no knowledge of.
Like the rescue station, the church has often become a place where protecting
the church has become more important than the commission of Jesus to share
Him with everyone. I am not saying that we have no concern for those
outside the church. Many people have a great concern. The problem comes
with how we carry out that concern and whether our methods are effective.
To learn more about these methods and church models please explore the
links to the left.
Go to: Attractional Church Model
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