Radically Effective

Okay, I promised a post specifically defining what a radically effective church might look like. Instead of pointing to any individual church here's a set of standards that I would consider the marks of a radically effective church.

1 - Regularly serves the immediate community. By immediate community I mean being directly engaged in the lives of the people living within a one mile radius of your church building. By regularly serving I mean that everyone within one mile of your church knows you exist because at some point within the last three months someone from your church has served the people. Service could be mowing lawns, washing dishes, repairing plumbing, providing babysitting at no charge, delivering meals, in some way attending to the real, physical needs of those close to your church.

2 - Provides resources to others. By others I mean people who are not members of your church or, for that matter, even necessarily Christian. God has blessed the church with buildings, computers, copiers, kitchens, etc. Invite those who could use those resources to use them. This could be in a structured way like hosting homeless folks one or more nights a week or opening an employment support center. It could be in an unstructured way like allowing folks to use the space for family reunions or birthday parties. Do this without charging a fee for use or for maintenance. And don't freak out if the kitchen utensils aren't put away in the right drawers.

3 - Serve the larger community. The larger community is defined as the city or county where your church is located. Service could be training and equipping members to be after school tutors for the public schools or assistant coaches. You might adopt a road and keep it clean. Visit local nursing homes. Plan an annual community-wide home repair event.

4 - Lovingly receive everyone. Receiving everyone is not accepting their sinful behavior, bad theology, or destructive life choices. It is being winsome and invitational so that the curious, hurting, angry, wounded, belligerent, and lost people can find the love of Christ in ways that they will eventually hear the truth of Christ and ultimately know the salvation of Christ.

5 - Anchor everything in the Word. The service of a radically effective church is driven exclusively out of the Word of God. Engage people in deep Bible study that ignites a passion to respond to all God has accomplished for us through Jesus Christ. Challenge those who claim to be Christian to get into the Word thoroughly, regularly and fervently. Build a culture soaked in the Word seven days a week.

Each of these five points can be expanded with all the many details needed to make these things happen. Every church striving to be radically effective will work out their own ways to accomplish these five things. You may notice I didn't say anything about great sermons, killer music or impressive worship services. In my humble opinion there are many, many churches already providing those things while still completely missing out on being radically effective. So maybe those elements aren't crucial to achieve what I'm talking about.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you would define radical effectiveness.