When my brother and I went to WinterJam in Indianapolis in February, we couldn’t figure out where to go to get into Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the building where the concert was taking place. There were too many doors! We went through this one set of doors, but quickly learned that wasn’t where we wanted to be. So we went to the other side and we eventually figured out what set of doors were for concert-goers. There were doors for security to use, doors for the bands to use, doors for volunteers to use, and doors for us to use.
While this might be confusing, it’s a picture, I believe, of what the church should look like. We want doors for people. Now, I’m not talking about literal doors that we walk through to enter the building. I think we’re ok on those for now. But what I do mean is opportunities for different people to get involved in the church. If we are going to reach people with multiple kids, how can we create an atmosphere that they are going to enjoy and learn about God? If we want to reach a single mother of 2, how can we help her get involved and fall in love with the perfect Father for her kids? You see, we can’t do that with a small amount of opportunities. We need more doors, better outreach. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Paul understood that to reach certain kinds of people, he had to adjust his outreach and methods. We fight the same fight today. Just in our little corner of Ohio, we have so many different kinds of people with different demographics. That means we need to open new doors for different people to be involved here. If we want to grow, we, in a sense, have to become all things to all people so that we may save some, to paraphrase Paul.
The reason I bring this up is that we have created a new door, and I’m really excited about it. We start our children’s ministry program in September, RCC Kids. After seeing the success of VBS, I saw an opportunity to get kids more involved here, and I’m so grateful to the people that have helped me make this a reality. Jan Campbell, Lana Lowry, and Sarah Williams have volunteered to help on Wednesday nights to help kids learn more about God and what the Bible says. Each week will be a different story from the Bible and I’m so excited to see where this goes!
Something that has stuck with me the last 4+ years is what my home pastor told me at my college graduation party, just a few weeks before I moved here. He told me that if I want to build the youth ministry, and the church in general, start with the kids. And he would know. He and his family moved to my home church in 2009 and we weren’t a big church, but we weren’t small either. We were running I think about 200 people a week. In the first few years he was there, the church started blossoming as our children’s program, under the leadership of his wife, gained a lot of traction. Today, even post COVID, they have over 300 people each Sunday morning. This is something I would love to see at RCC, and I think opening this door for children will help us get there as we seek to reach more families here in Allen and Auglaize counties.
In Luke 18:15-17 we are told, “ People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Jesus valued children, even when the disciples didn’t. He goes so far as to say that we should be like children. And I’ve seen the love all of you have for children, particularly around the time of VBS and the Trunk or Treat each year. So I’m really excited about what may come of this new door we’re opening for kids and families to be involved at RCC, and I hope you are too.
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” -Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)
