Boundaries!
An experienced pastor came to talk about outreach. The question came up, 'what about the church?' He had given sound advice about what to do and what not do when 'playing away' and contacting 'outsiders' but what about 'at home'? What sort of a church ought we to be at home? The answer was that we should preserve the distinctives and make sure the members know where the boundaries are. We don't want suspect professions of faith or people coming in with the wrong expectations. I understood what he was getting at - be honest and avoid compromising the gospel. For me at least, he was pressing the 'right buttons'.

However, the boundaries-word left me trifle uneasy. Having spent time in a highly controlled, well defined, church situation, where the boundaries were always clear and mobility from the inside out and the outside in correspondingly difficult, I wondered how this would marry up to the the notion of outreach. My recollection is that it required almost superhuman strength of will to cross in either direction. I also remembered something in the Bible about people who were unwilling either to enter the kingdom themselves or permit others to do so.

How the church continues to be the church while reaching out to the lost seems to be linked to the dialectic of being passionate for truth and passionate for the lost. Does either require the surrender of anything to the other? I don't think so, for if it did, we would not be able to rely on Christ's work for our salvation. Mercy and truth meet together in him.