The calling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost began to produce what 1 Peter calls a “race, priesthood, nation, and people” (1 Peter 2:9-10), a worldwide multicultural fellowship of witnesses. The people of God, in all their cultural diversity, may be understood as a universal community of communities. The particular church community is, in an essential sense, an expression of the universal church. Thus specialization and segmentation advocated for by church marketing compromises this universal personality of the church.
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word; that they may all be one; even as you, father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as we are one; I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)
This prayer is a central New Testament passage defining the purpose and relatedness of the church. It teaches us that the dimensional connectedness of the church is not merely a matter of institutional unity, and even less of efficiency, stewardship, good public relations, or effective growth strategies. The oneness spoken of here is a matter of obedience to the Lord of the church, obedience that centers on his mission, “so that the world may know that you have sent me.”
The church is not only a community of communities, but it does share in the Trinitarian relationship of Father, Son and Holy Sprit. As Metzger notes in his book “consuming Jesus,” one of the ways the communal and commissioned church of the triune God repositions itself as a divinely communal entity is through the Lord’s Supper. The supper illuminates and intensifies the profound reality of participation: the whole church is present in each assembly, and each local assembly is present in the whole through Christ, their head. In its own community and beyond, each church is to exist for the whole church, not as a specialized enterprise that only cares for its own existence.
This communal nature of the church removes the emphasis from the organization and places it on the collective relationality of its members. The church as an organization must serve the purposes of the triune God within the body. Thus the mission of the church goes beyond self-preservation to becoming an instrument for building community. The church’s goal is not serving the organization’s own ethics and purposes, but leading the organization to fulfill a more universal purpose as a representative servant of God on earth. The church works for the ultimate order of manifesting the glory of God, of becoming a people of God, of serving the purposes of God, and of fulfilling the plan of God.
A community-centered people of God must orient their desires not towards their personal good feelings but towards the broader category of the will of God on earth; which brings me to discussing personal desires as compared to religious desires.
A community-centered people of God must orient their desires not towards their personal good feelings but towards the broader category of the will of God on earth; which brings me to discussing personal desires as compared to religious desires.
Until next time,
Happy new year to you all!
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1 comment:
So, what do we do?? Seems to me that if we make church growth, or 'ministry success' our main goal, then there is high risk of compromising the fundamentals of love, obedience and discipleship - because we are thinking about how to get people into the church, or how to be 'successful' rather than, primarily, how to please Christ. Mega-ministry or mega-church models are inherently less relational than models that focus on simple obedience - which usually includes sacrifice, loving your brothers/sisters, neighbor's etc., and motivation driven by God. ("Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful", Lk. 6:36)
I am reminded of the Moravian brethern, famous for their 100 year (24-7) prayer meeting, who out of a small community of committed believers, sent missionaries to several points on the globe, prior to the supposed start of the modern protestant missions movement, and strongly affected protestantism though conversion of John Wesley, and other influences. I doubt they knew too much about church growth theory, but they knew something about loving God and each other, and the Holy Spirit was pleased to bless their work.
I think the world is longing for the real thing today, but there are these forces that would lead us to something less, and make us content with a compromised version. In missions, we quickly recognize when indiginous peoples carry pagan customs into the church, but what about the religion of consumerism, convenience-ism, personal success-ism, that we seem ready to accept in our own church? Why are we content with massive infrastructure and numerous pastoral staff (to meet our needs) when the poor remain poor, and too often heaven't even heard of God's love? How can they hear if they don't see us acting with compassion, as our father in heaven has compassion? What kind of Gospel comes through a convenience oriented culture? Was it convenient for Christ to die for us??
Both we and our leaders are complicit in this compromise. A great many Christians seek a more radical and courageous walk with Christ - seek the ability to break from our selfish, convenience oriented culture. We don't necessarily want to break with the established church - she is still God's bride, despite the spots, but how we long for something more! Too often we lack the courage or discipline, and become duscouraged. I admit, it's easy to rant, but harder to live it out...
Amon, please be encouraged to keep up your ministry and leadership. We need courageous leaders who dare to act and walk against the tide. Jesus' parable of the wheat and tares suggest that there would be weeds in the church (if you interpret it that way), but it also promised a harvest of wheat. Let's work toward cultivating the real grain, and not the weeds.
Mike in Nova Scotia - didn't want to taske time to register.
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