As we consider the future and how Indy Metro will be a sending organism, galleries, bars, coffee shops, schools, etc all have to be considered. As long as we stay true to the Gospel and the marks of the Church, everything else should be on the table.

I love exploring these important issues with you, and I look forward to doing more of this in the future. Your insights and comments are incredibly important to me. So, once again, thanks for joining the conversation.

As a campus of a suburban church we’ve learned a lot about what works and doesn’t work in an urban environment that we try to cookie cut from suburbia. One big one that you touched on is the need to have a building.

We launched our urban campus 6 years ago. We felt we needed to purchase a building right away and did so. I believe God called us into that building (a former swingers club) for a reason, but it has been a thorn in our side.

It’s in the roughest part of town. Just this morning police responded to two hookers out front fighting, I get subpoenas from crack dealers dealing within 300ft of a worship center, theres an open air asylum across the street, and we only use the building 4 hours a week. It’s hard to go on mission and be a bridge to families and the rest of the urban area from the worst part. It’s much easier the other way around. However the building has locked us in, it’s too big for us and has become a resource hog. The cost to cool it down in the hot Florida summers, the cost to repair the roof, the cost to clean, etc. has been a drain on all of our campuses. It’s not a parachurch or mission that has multiple sources of resources. Because of the social economic status of the zip code our building is in (median salary of $22k and 46% living below the poverty line) it’s hard to be self sustaining with only the few strong families and business men God has blessed us with. We can’t afford to offer it as a resource for our community or other church plants. It hurts. It’s nice to have a presence in the community but you don’t need the giant building to do so. Don’t do it!

Our building is currently on the market (buy it!). We plan to downsize to a coffee shop/art gallery in the center of town and have multiple services.

Regardless of our building, we know God won’t keep us in there a minute longer than he wants, the gospel is still relevant, and we’ve had some AMAZING testimonies of lives changed in some of the most radical ways. I love how messy ministry is here! God is up to something. Love and miss you broseph. It’s awesome to see how God is using your family and IMC to reach Indianapolis. Proud we could be a small part of it.

As a full-time pastor, the Lord has been dealing with me personally on this. While I love great books, speakers, conferences, pod casts, but He had better be my primary source of everything (identity, mission, purpose) or I will continue to live in the broken cistern that I was born as and the process of being made into the image of Jesus (sanctification) is stymied. Obviously, my application is different but again the same issue for every Christ follower.

So often in our attempts to serve “the poor” we send consumer signals if you just had this, owned that, etc you would be happy. IE sometimes we model that if you only weren’t poor you would be happy? Yet, do I really need to point out examples in mid and upper economic class America the lack of contentment and pure joy?

This should have no impact on our command to act as stewards of 100%, love our neighbors, releasing resources to fulfill the Great Commission, etc. Clearly we are commanded as the Church to love the widows, orphans, etc. However, we need cautious about the other messages we communicate along the way. As the Church is to be the living organic conduit of the Gospel, only the Church offers a message of abundant access to right relationship vertically and horizontally. That is the living hope of the Gospel we must celebrate, teach, tell, offer, cry out, and claim to all economic classes around the world. When someone experiences this Gospel only then will they experience contentment in All circumstance (Phil 4:10-13).

Also, I want to clarify this statement, “Authentic Christianity is all or nothing.” This doesn’t read correct taken out of the context here… My error. Following Christ is a journey towards a lifestyle of worshiping Him with everything and removing all barriers. Christian liberty allows us the freedom to each respond differently. One man’s barrier isn’t anthers. Legalists force a standard set of “religious” rules onto every one and therefore remove one of the Holy Spirit’s roles as advocate and guide of the believer to obedience.

“While God can speak through special conferences or powerful books, there is a difference between doing those things and making those things an idol where they take the place of God at the center of my life. In a sense they become my source for God instead of going to God himself.”

This hits super close to home for me. Thanks for pointing me to truth!