The spring, 2003, issue of Leadership magazine [pp. 24ff] presents an interesting article about an exciting transformation that has taken place in Jacksonville, Florida’s, Westside.  In the last twelve years this area has gone from being a depressed, problem-ridden section of the city to being a reformed, rejuvenated place of vitality.  The biggest reason: The Potter’s House Christian Fellowship, led by pastor Vaughn McLaughlin.  They have sponsored numerous ministries connecting them to the needs of the community around them and ushering in positive change.  Community leaders respect the Church and seek its input.  As exciting as it was to read about this transformation, what was sobering was a question asked by McLaughlin, “If you’re in a community, then you ought to affect that community…If your church were to leave the community you’re in, what impact would that have?  Would they miss you?”  We can’t help but wonder about that on two levels: the congregation we are a part of as well as the larger Church of Tukwila.  To be sure, there is enough influence here that we are sure we would be missed.  But how much? 

To put it another way: how much influence might we have in Tukwila if we, collectively and individually, became more faithful to God’s call on us as His people?  How much more would the community be open to the gospel if there were a more visible manifestation of the unity of Christ’s followers?  Jesus prayed that His people might be one [John 17:23] as a witness to who He really is.  Jesus also said that we, His children, are to be salt and light – i.e. have influence – so that praise will be given to the Father because of our ministry of good works [Matthew 5:13-16].

In order for this to happen, there needs to be a sharpened collective focus and intentionality in our ministries.  We are all aware that we live in an age of not only rapid change, but of a significant paradigm shift in how people view the world.  Of course, the gospel of Jesus Christ is unchanging, but the wineskins through which it is offered to the needy harvest around us must be adapted.  While we are not to follow every fad or to let “the world around you squeeze you into its own mold…” [Rom. 12:2, Phillips], we would be foolish not to prayerfully seek what the Spirit is saying to the Church in this period of great transition in order for us to be all things to all people so by all possible means we may save some [cf. I Cor. 9:22]. 

But how can we figure out what steps the Lord may want us to take to more effectively live out the gospel, whether in our individual ministries or collectively as the Church of Tukwila?  We believe that key insights into answering this question can be found in a passage in Luke’s gospel, a turning point in Jesus’ earthly ministry.  The passage is Luke 9:51-56, which reads as follows in the NIV,

"As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village."

We believe that by reflecting on Jesus’ heart and methodology in this passage, we may gain a valuable perspective on who we are and what we are about.   

There came a point in Jesus’ public ministry where all that He was about became very focused.  His teachings, miracles, preaching, and all that He was doing to touch peoples’ lives was a demonstration that the Kingdom of God had arrived in Him.  Yet his ultimate purpose for His earthly walk was not just to spend many years being a nice guy.  Rather, it was the cross and resurrection.  The culmination of His love for people was His atoning sacrifice for our sins.  So, as v.51 shows, He “resolutely” set out for Jerusalem.  He moved with a clear, set purpose.  On the way to Jerusalem, He didn’t stop doing all the wonderful things He had been doing but He also didn’t let them keep Him from His greatest purpose.  What we see, therefore, is that at this particular season, discerning the divinely appointed time, He headed a specific direction because of:

A. His Identity – He knew who He was.
B. His Purpose – He knew what He had come for.
C. His Method – He knew that He was an instrument for blessing, not cursing.

[Note:  He already knew these, but this was the point that His identity, purpose, and method came into sharp focus so that through completing His work the world might know as well.]

So we are convinced that it must be likewise with Christ’s body, for we are His presence now in our community.  Both in our individual ministries and corporately as the Church of Tukwila we have hit a season where it is time to focus in these same areas…

A.  Our Identity - we are the Church, the Body of Christ.  Yes, there are historical, denominational, and stylistic differences in our congregations.  Yet we are told in Ephesians 4:4-6 that the Lord sees His people as one, bought with His blood.  We are not isolated units.  All who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and find Him the center of their lives, are one in Him.

B.  Our Purpose – we are to live for the glory of God as we go and make disciples of all nations, loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves.  These pivotal scripturally based purposes are something we all know – at least in principle.  However, subconsciously we can find that our real efforts may be more on such things as our own organizational survival, or advancement.  Just as Jesus resolutely focused on His ultimate purpose, so the Church of Tukwila needs to do so.  This is only possible when we honestly and prayerfully continue to evaluate whether our ministries and relationships are truly motivated by the mandates the Lord has given us in the scriptures. 

C.  Our Method – we are Christ’s representatives; we are to love and bless one another and, in His name, bless others with His love in word and deed.  Jesus needed to teach His disciples His methods.  When the Samaritan village resisted welcoming Jesus some of His disciples, in self-righteousness, wanted to bring God’s judgment upon those heathen.  Jesus, though, had come to bless, not curse.  As we think about our impact upon the community as the Church of Tukwila it seems that we will face similar challenges.  While many will be blessed and will rejoice at seeing an increased unity among and ministry from the Church in our area, others will be threatened and resistant.  It strikes us that it is probable that the Samaritan village reacted against Jesus because of His “label” (i.e. a Jew going to Jerusalem).  They didn’t really know Him.  Likewise, there will be those who react against us if for no other reason than our “label”, Christian, because of their negative perspective of the word.  Obviously, we are not to respond as James and John and get on our self-righteous bandwagon.  Was that Samaritan village wrong?  Yes.  But Jesus had come to bless.  If they weren’t open, He’d go another way where there was openness.  So it needs to be with the Church of Tukwila.  We need to know and live out the method by which we proclaim Christ and His kingdom.  Prov. 11:11 says, “Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed”.  We are to seek to bless the city in Jesus’ name.  Where we find resistance, we bless and then turn and look for open doors. 

It is in this light, a need to be strategic in understanding our identity, purpose, and method in ministry that this “Strategic Plan” is put forth.  It is one suggestion as to a framework of how we may resolutely set our collective face towards the call of the Holy Spirit this season to be the Church of Tukwila…  

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