by David Dixon
District Team
Have you ever noticed how God built so many rhythms into His creation?
Evening and morning. One day.
Oxygen in, carbon dioxide out. One breath.
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. The cycle of seasons.
Precipitation, collection, evaporation, condensation. The cycle of water.
I’m hoping you see the point: that rhythms, when properly aligned, can create an ecosystem for life to grow but rhythms, when not aligned, can create an ecosystem that leads to stagnation or loss of life.
Just as the rhythms of creation properly aligned with God’s design are necessary for life on our planet, the rhythms of our church, when properly aligned with the Gospel, are necessary for life in our churches.
Each church has rhythms or habits that contribute to its ecosystem. That ecosystem either has the needed elements for life to flourish or it is an ecosystem where it is difficult for life to take root. The question in your church, “What kind of ecosystem have your rhythms or habits created?”
For example, take how we go about baptizing someone in our church. There are rhythms or habits that we have around baptism that contribute to the ecosystem of our church.
When I was a church planter at Iron Mill Church in Danville, PA, I was convinced that when we baptized someone it had to be a big celebratory moment. I have been to many baptism services where people come out of the water and the congregation clapped more like their grandmother won bingo than like someone’s life has been transformed by the risen Jesus. I wanted people to scream and cheer, bring their bells and horns, and rumble the church like a stadium full of crazed football fans. So, every time we had a baptism, I would take 3-4 minutes to explain what is happening, give them permission to be super loud, ask them to join me in cheering like crazy. At first, people were timid, but eventually people grabbed hold of this rhythm and the Gospel value behind it. We kept pursuing this rhythm, even when it was a little awkward for people.
Why? It’s an ecosystem thing. If people clap half-heartedly, it becomes a rhythm that creates an ecosystem where lost people being baptized isn’t that big of a deal. But if it’s a rhythm where people cheer on those who are coming to faith and genuinely celebrating with them, then it becomes an ecosystem where people moving from death to life is celebrated, honored, and cherished.
You see why rhythms that are properly aligned with the Gospel are so important. Same act of baptism, but different rhythms, leading to a different ecosystem.
Considering this should lead to a host of questions about how the ecosystems of our churches and how our rhythms and habits have shaped them. Consider some of these:
How do the rhythms of your Sunday morning service promote faith and repentance? Is there space for people to genuinely respond to the Word of God together? Does how you talk about the service promote people sticking around to get to know one another? When strangers come to be a part of your gathering, what are the habits of your people? Do they contribute to an ecosystem of hospitality? When songs are sung in your church, how are they sung? How do the rhythms of what you do or don’t do around the music build an ecosystem of worship and reflection on the glory and goodness of Jesus?
How about the rhythms of what you expect people to be involved in to be a part of your church? If someone is involved in the ministries of your church, are they at the building so much that they lose all opportunity to connect with unbelievers? If you have small groups or community groups, what are the things that you ask them to do on a regular basis? Do those rhythms create an ecosystem of insular or comfortable Christians that are unwilling to reach out to others or multiply to reach new people? What does it take for someone new to belong in your church? Do the rhythms of church create an ecosystem where people who are questioning faith in Jesus are welcomed and free to ask tough questions?
There are so many questions like this that we can and need to be asking. Underneath it all, our habits are revealing what we believe is most important in our church. Those heart values are crafting an ecosystem that can either lead to life or in the alternative lead to stagnation or death.
Yes, our rhythms and habits are just that important.
Would you consider taking the time to have a conversation with others around the question, “What kind of ecosystem have the rhythms or habits of your church created?” I believe that this is a part of an essential conversation that we need to have as the people of Jesus today.
If you would like to discuss how rhythms and habits contribute to the ecosystem of your church, and how they reveal what is most essential in your church, I would invite you to listen to the Essentials Podcast and join in the conversation with us.