It’s annoying when it happens to socks and t-shirts. You pull them out of the dryer and go to put them on, only to find out that all the tossing and tumbling has turned them inside out. Not a good way to start the day. Grrr.
But sometimes, turning things inside out is helpful. The image that comes to mind is that of a sack or storage bag that needs to be cleaned. We have one of these in our pantry that we use for storing onions. About the only way to clean it is to turn it inside out so that all the dirt and onion skins that have accumulated on the inside can be removed. And when that’s done, it’s a good as new...ready for the next batch of onions.
I wonder: Is it possible that churches need to be turned inside out occasionally, too. Here’s what I’m getting at.
For a long time, we in the church have been convinced that our number one job was to get more people into the church. It makes sense in a way. If this is where God is celebrated, wouldn’t we want more folks to be a part of that celebration?
The problem is that, over the past 1700 years or so, this focus on attracting people to the church has nearly blotted out the fact that our real number one job is to be the body of Christ in the world, i.e. to be Christ...to carry on the mission of Christ. Rather than getting people to join the church, our job is (in fact) to be Christ’s servant church. And that means turning things inside out...not focusing so much on getting folks in the door as we focus on getting the church out into the world, doing what
Inside-out church. Hmm. There’s an idea that has some potential. Start with this question: how are you Christ to others in your daily life? Where has God put you to be his missionary? With whom are you sharing the Good News?
I think we need to talk about this some more. Stay tuned.
