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3 Questions About The Church: Charles Lee

// February 3rd, 2010 // church, church relevance

You may be familiar with Charles Lee as a public speaker and creator of The Idea Camp, but Charles’ home base is as the lead pastor of New Hope South Bay in Torrance, California. Here is how Pastor Lee responded to the following three questions about the church:

1) How would you define the (local) church?

The local church is a local expression of God’s people gathered for a common mission.

2) Is the church relevant? Why?

I think “relevant” describes a reactive culture. It lacks the proactive nature of culture-making that the church should be embodying. Is the church relevant? Sure. Many churches are reacting to the cultural changes and adapting their ministries accordingly. Nevertheless, I believe we need more churches that proactively create the kind of Kingdom culture that God desires.

3) Do you see the church looking different in the future? Please explain.

I think the church will most definitely look different in the future. I think more churches will choose multiple and viable networks over one central organization (e.g., traditional denominations). This is not to say that people will leave centralized organizations like denomination. Rather, churches will find themselves needing to connect with people outside of their tribe or family. I think more churches will start leveraging the strengths of the various streams within Christianity, especially with the growing access to networks online.

Also, I think the future church will re-integrate compassion and justice into their Gospel storytelling. It will become more central of what it means to express God’s love for the world. As the result, more in the world will come to know a God who practical cares for their deepest needs.

Learn more of Pastor Lee’s perspectives on his blog: charlestlee.com or by following him on twitter: @charlestlee. Find out more about New Hope South Bay at: newhopesb.newsong.net.