2) If so, how do we get there?
3) If not, what's the alternative?
Church and World
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
1) Is shifting from figure #1 to figure #2 a good idea?
2) If so, how do we get there?
3) If not, what's the alternative?
2) If so, how do we get there?
3) If not, what's the alternative?
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3 contributions:
I'm guessing that you weren't really asking me, but since no one else has put in their 2 cents worth...
I don't just think it is a good idea, I think it is necessary and essential. The first view at least recognizes that the Church is "sent" - which is a huge step forward from many views. However, to view the Church as something disconnected and separate from the world misses the point entirely.
I hope that we can understand that the Church is located here and now and has a function for the here and now. Not only that but this model also recognizes that our local expression of church is just that, a local expression of a much larger Body.
Part of what gets us there is precisely what we've been focusing on in our gatherings and other conversations lately - the realization that Church is not place and it is not a service...it is a gathered people, a sent people, a people who participate in a community dedicated to reconciliation, healing and restoration of relationships (between us and God, between us and others and between us and creation.)
We get there by realizing that to be the people of Isaiah 58:12 - the ones who rebuild ancient ruins and raise the age-old foundations - we have to be the people of the rest of Isaiah 58 - who loose the chains of injustice, untie the chords of the yoke and set the captives free; who feed the hungry, clothe the naked and speak up for those who have no voice.
We get there by developing actual real world relationships with the people in our neighborhood, in our workplace, at our schools. We get there by treating the person at the drive-thru window and the clerk at Wal-Mart as an actual human being rather than a name tag. We look people in the eyes. We listen. And we don't do this so that we can get close enough to give our sales pitch.
We do it so that we can get close enough to share life; close enough to bring hope where there is despair, light where there is darkness and life where there is death. in short we do it so that our participation in the Kingdom of God and our reconciliation in Jesus is itself an invitation for others to participate as well.
those are my thoughts anyway...
In the words of Uncle Rico, "Right on...man...right on."
I think that figure 2 is the goal, but I don't have words like the amazing B.Wells. Basically, we've grown up in Figure 1, which is just to maintain, so that we can eventually get to heaven. Like getting on a lifeboat and off a ship that's going down. But that's not a kingdom mentality really at all.
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