Ridgell's Originals

So what would be my vision for the church I would most want to be a part of? And since I am currently at Southern Hills, what is my my vision for what I would have Southern Hills to be?

I want us to be a growing, evangelistic church. I want growth to come because we are reaching people who do not know Jesus. I do not believe we are here to "keep house" and maintain. It is heartbreaking to realize that we baptize on average about one first generation Christian per month. It's been a little better lately but that is frightening.

I don't care about growth that comes by swell. That is, people who come to us from other congregations. That is deceiving. If we start focusing on that, then we must worry about those who leave us to attend another congregation. Pretty soon, we are expending incredible effort to get -- or keep -- the dissatisfied.

I am happy to have move-in Christians worship with us but that is hardly kingdom growth. And I am not opposed to "restoration" growth. That is, people who believe in Jesus but come to us because they learn more about how to follow Jesus and please God. And we do reach many like that now.

But I want to be part of a church that burns to reach those who do not know Jesus... those who are without hope. I long for the day when we do baptisimal blessings every week in every service.

I want us to be a church that lives the Great Commission and not just preaches it. I want us to be an Acts 2 church. I want us to really catch the pattern of church life in Acts. And it is not about worship and organizational style. It is about exploding, blow-up growth because we are telling everyone the story of Jesus and what he has done in our lives.

So what about it? Are we evangelistic? Should we be driven by that? How do we do that?

More to come.