Building Experience: Multiple-Choice

by Whitney Kelley

Think of tests you took while in school, and the sigh of relief exhaled when you received the paper from the teacher and saw that the test was multiple-choice. Multiple-choice always seemed a bit easier and more friendly than essay or fill-in-the-blank test – at least the right answer was there somewhere. It wasn’t some nebulous answer lurking in your frontal lobe that you had to access. Unfortunately, life’s tests are so frequently not multiple-choice, but rather lab practicums, essay questions or, worse yet, oral presentations and extemporaneous speaking.

Some of life’s biggest tests or challenges are ones that take us to our limits and either push us closer to our Creator or tug at the strings that bind us, causing us to question His sovereignty and intentions for our lives.

In this day and age of climbing divorce rates, premature death, corporate downsizing and just the wear-and-tear of modern life, each day has the potential to pose some test, whether it be physical, professional, marital, emotional or spiritual; and the answers are not always laid out neatly in front of us with a clear-cut choice.

It is in these times of duress that people turn to the Church to find answers. Jesus is the answer. But for seekers who may not understand the transforming power of Christ’s love, conveying Jesus’ relevance is often shown through ministering to their immediate needs so that they can focus on their eternal needs. And that ministering most often comes in the form of addressing the specific tests that those individuals are going through in the immediate here and now.

Multisite, multicultural, multi-method – it seems that most churches have some "multi" component, whether it is the number of locations, service times, languages, ministries or music styles. One could look at the buffet of ministry opportunities and begin to think that our churches have become splintered and off-track. But lest we be discouraged about the tentacles of church focus running rampant in so many directions, it is important to step back and look at the picture in its entirety rather than each piece of the "multi" on its own.

Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, Texas, is a single-location church with multiple services and multiple ministries. Its small group structure is such that surrounding communities are divided geographically, with a pastor for each community and its small-group leaders. The ministries are too great to number, but include youth, college, singles, young marrieds, divorce care, after-abortion care, men’s, women’s, MOPS, grief share, infertility support group – the list goes on and on. Looking on, one might think that Bent Tree, like so many other churches, has lost its focus and is too busy trying to attend to everyone’s needs that it has lost sight of its priority.

In John 13:15, Jesus speaks to his disciples after He has washed their feet: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” It is safe to assume that, while Jesus isn’t necessarily opposed to our washing one another’s feet, the message of this passage is that we should meet others’ needs regardless of the glamour (or lack thereof) of the task. Jesus modeled this mandate during his entire ministry. He tended to people’s physical, emotional and, of course, spiritual needs. He didn’t turn people away claiming their illnesses, moral failures or spiritual problems weren't His ministry focus. People were His focus, and people continue to be the focus of His Church.

So multisite, multilanguage and multiservice are all genuine attempts by local congregations to meet people in their place of need. Each church must determine what those specific and prevailing needs are, and then respond. It may be tempting to fold our arms and shake our heads, declaring that the Church shouldn’t attempt to be all things to all people. However, if we truly believe that Jesus is all we need, and that the Church is His Church, then it makes sense that we should demonstrate this fact: there's no need so big that Christ Himself can’t or won’t deal with it.

Not every church should have multiple sites with multiple language services. And there are so many beautiful, vibrant and impactful churches that stick to the main course of offerings: Sunday School and worship. But like Bent Tree and countless other congregations around the world, there is certainly comfort in knowing that life’s tests can be met with meaningful, timely and relevant responses, leaving no one to have to make up answers on their own, but rather to draw on the choices provided – the choices that point to the One Choice.

Next time you are tempted to wonder why churches have incorporated so many seemingly disparate ministries, listen for that exhale of relief. It will come from the person walking through the door who would have never found the answers to life’s toughest questions had he or she not been offered a multiple-choice solution.