My ideal image of a great church is very selfish

One of the first books that I wrote was published in 1965 in New Zealand (Stereo Publishing). It was called ‘The Gospel According to Jonah’. At that time I was an Anglican. When the book was republished in Australia by Philadelphia Publications in 1985, I changed references to Sunday to use the word Sabbath, which for the biblically literate is the seventh day, and Sunday for others.

At the close of chapter 3 on pages 16-18 I wrote the following prose-poem, with the heading: 
My Ideal Image of a Great Church is Very Selfish.

My ideal image of a great church is very selfish:
It will be composed of ordinary people just like me.
It will epitomise family fellowship if I treat each member as a much-loved brother or sister.
It will welcome visitors if I make the effort to talk and listen to strangers.
It will be friendly if I am friendly -- I will only make friends by being one.
It will have reverence if I remember always to respect the sanctuary.
It will help me to grow if I am amenable to counsel.

My ideal image of a great church is very selfish:
It will do a mighty work for God if I also work, volunteer, participate and become involved.
It will have filled-to-capacity prayer meetings and evangelistic programmes if I support them.
It will be humble if I don’t brag or seek kudos for myself.
It will make munificent gifts to many worthwhile causes if I am generous.
Members will be true saints if I uphold them daily in prayer (and if they are not, I must continue to pray for them and me).
It will be a true Sabbath-keeping church if I honour the Sabbath, especially at the opening and closing of God’s gift in time.
The rustle of pages will be heard if I, too, open my Bible and read along with the preacher.

My ideal image of a great church is very selfish:
It will have a vibrant Sabbath School lesson if I balance participating in the discussion with keeping quiet to let others contribute.
There will be an authentic and personal concern for the welfare of attendees if I am genuinely sincere in my concern for them.
It will have the best possible pastoral and leadership team if I daily pray for them.
The leaders will feel valued if I tell others of their virtues and give to them personal words of affirmation and acknowledgement.
It will bring others into its fellowship if I help to bring them also.
It will have seats that are full if I attend regularly and invite others to fill them.
The neighbouring community will want to be involved in my ideal church if I go door-to-door and invite them.

My ideal image of a great church is very selfish:
Nothing negative will ever be heard about it if I only talk about the ‘positives’.
It will be a place of nurture if I stop to listen to people and help them where I can.
It will be a witness to the community if I do my part in telling others about Jesus.
It will resonate with joyful music if I join in the singing.
Absent members will feel valued if I notice their absence and contact them during the week to let them know that they were missed.
Visitors will want to come back if I radiate warmth, genuine love, diplomacy and tact.
Pleasant conversations will fill the foyer if I let others talk about themselves rather than me talk about me.
It will stay alive if I am faithful to its mission.
It will be a church of loyalty and love, of faith and service if I, who make it what it is, am filled with these qualities.

My ideal image of a great church is very selfish:
I will get much from my ideal church if I contribute much to it.
Therefore, through the power of God, I must be everything that I want my church to be.

-- Lionel Hartley, The Gospel According to Jonah, Philadelphia Publications, 1985, Pp16-18