"Without cause, you're just another civic organization"

My friend Andy, a fellow operations leader out in Colorado, read about the "Failing Forward" awards I recently posted about. It reminded him of the quote from Erwin McManus below, taken from the blog post "The Cause Driven Church":

The early church existed with a dynamic tension: it was both expanding and consolidating—growing and unifying. The Bible tells us that the first century believers “shared everything in common” and that “the church was being added to day by day.”

This tension is illustrated by two biblical images—the body of Christ and the army of God. The body of Christ is centered on community; the army of God is centered on cause.

Healthy community flows out of a unified cause—not the other way around. Jesus called his disciples and said, “Follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men.” This was not an offer of community. “Follow me and I will give you something worthy of giving your life to” is a statement of cause. But the neat thing is, when they came to the cause, they found community like they never knew could exist.

One danger of the American church is that we often try to offer people community without cause. Without cause, you’re just another civic organization. You don’t have life transformation.

Jesus said, “I have come to the world to seek and to save that which is lost.” The cause of Christ is accomplished by expanding the kingdom of God.

The bold emphasis was mine. Thanks for the tip, Andy.